The Secret of Ashona (40 page)

This simple spell may not be usable by most—it is necessary for one to have a solid connection with the Substance which holds all magic in order to perform it. But for those who are able
to use this spell it can come in quite handy. Few situations are not fixable by the simple stopping of time. Even minor problems, such as being fired from a job, can be made pleasurable. Just use this spell, stand your boss up, put a few thumbtacks on his chair, and sit him back down. Once you start time again, you will feel far better than you did before.

Warning: Permanent stoppage of time is not recommended. If the user dies before starting time back up again, humanity will be on indefinite hold.

Erec laughed. “This would be great to know. Not that I need to risk trying another spell out of this book. I think I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Wait a minute.” Spartacus sat next to him. “This could help us a lot. We need to get the souls out of their prison. . . .”

Erec’s eyes lit up. “You’re right! If we went back to the Furies’ storage facility and opened the door to go in . . . and then we stopped time . . . Maybe this was what I was meant to get from Baskania before going back to Alsatia.”

“Hold up there,” Rosco said. “You’re talking to Spartacus? I’m not sure I like what I’m hearing.”

Erec was impatient. “I have to learn that spell. This time I’ll make sure I pronounce things right first. But it’s the only way I’ll get all of those souls out of their prison.”

Rosco thought a minute. “I guess if you’re careful . . . I’m going to help you, though. This spell is my specialty. But did you read the bottom of the page? It will only work if you have a talisman from a
living foe. Someone you have fought. That can be hard—it has to be from a person or animal that has attacked you or tried to hurt you. Also, they have to have enough strength to power the spell, not a mosquito that bit you.”

“The only enemy I can think of is Baskania. He has enough strength.”

“That’s not going to work. The Shadow Prince gave you the spell book—he’ll know exactly what’s going on if you swipe a lock of his hair. You have that book only because you’re supposed to give it to the Furies. What about finding an ear of the manticore that attacked you, or some other creature . . . ?”

“That manticore got eaten up in the Nevervarld. And there’s no other creature . . . wait! What about Tarvos? He tried to turn me into a Golem. I could take one of his horns.”

“Good luck with that.” Rosco laughed. “Do you think Tarvos is going to let you take his horn? That’s where he keeps his source of power. Find a new foe. We’ll go out into Otherness and corner a Minotaur. When it attacks you, I’ll paralyze it, and you can take a lock of its hair. That should work for your talisman.”

That made sense, but something bothered Erec. “You said that Tarvos stores the source of his power in one of his horns? Do you know which horn that is?”

“I don’t know. I’ve heard one horn is for his power source and the other will be where he keeps the Master Shem. Why do you want to know? Don’t worry about Tarvos anymore. There’s nothing you can do about that.”

“The thing is, I have to stop Tarvos. Soon. Didn’t you hear that Baskania is about to use him to attack Otherness and then Upper Earth?
I
gave him that Master Shem. I’ve been waiting to figure out how to stop him, and all I have to do is to take his horn. It can’t be that hard. There has to be a way.”

“There is
no
way that you are going to disarm Tarvos. Even
I
wouldn’t try that.” Rosco threw his hands into the air. “Erec, you have to stop trying to save the world.”

“I could help you,” Spartacus said.

Erec grinned. “Good point—Spartacus can lend a hand. Listen, I’m in about as deep as I can get already. I was sent here to get what I need to free those souls. This could be it. I was going to have to fix my mistake with Tarvos anyway.”

“But . . .” Rosco looked frustrated. “This can’t be what you’re supposed to do. You’ll get hurt. Or not make it back at all. Think about that.”

Erec did think about it. But he had sworn to himself that he would get that Master Shem back. Now he needed a talisman from an enemy—and getting it from Tarvos would disarm him. How could he not try? He winked at Rosco. “What are you talking about? It’s Tarvos who needs to be worried. What’s my track record, anyway? I mean, I’ve dealt with a lot worse. . . .”

Rosco laughed. “That’s the old Erec I know. You don’t like to take no for an answer.” He shook his head. “I think it might be harder to change your mind than to steal Tarvos’s horn. But it’s not something you can rush into. We need to find out more about him. Maybe we could look him up online—”

“Or go to the library in Alypium. The one that used to be part of the castle.” Erec had a surge of confidence. The Fates knew what they were doing. His last quest had sounded so simple, yet awful. Giving his life for five people who were slated to die at the Diamond Minds of Argos. But it had led him on a series of adventures straight up to this point. So, if he decided that he had to disarm Tarvos now, wouldn’t they have predicted that? That meant it might be something that he had to do. It was impossible to know, but he had to try what seemed right. . . .

“Ready for an outing?” Rosco asked.

“Never more than now.”

The librarian didn’t blink when she saw Erec and Rosco appear before her eyes. “Oh, hi, Rosco. Glad to see you have this hoodlum under control. He’s come in here so many times, disrupting everybody.”

Erec could not believe his ears. “I have not—”

Rosco interrupted him. “I know. It’s a good thing this rotten apple turned himself in. Hope I can reform him.”

The librarian nodded sagely behind her long cat-eye glasses.

Looks like word about him traveled fast in Alypium. He wondered what the renegades from his fan club with Janus now thought of him.

Rosco winked at her. “Do you have any books here about Tarvos—the underworld creature who collects soulless humans?”

“Of course.” She gleamed back at him. “Second floor to the right. In the section on bulls.”

They walked upstairs and found the heading “Bulls” in the Animals section. Rosco pointed to a book on the shelf:
Minotaurs: The Misunderstood Breed.
“The only thing misunderstood about Minotaurs is how fast they can rip you into shreds.”

“Look at this one.” Erec looked at the cover of a book called
Congratulations! You Got a Bull’s Eye—Now What Are You Going To Do With It?
“One hundred and one uses for the eye of a bull?”

“I think that’s something Hecate Jekyll would have liked. Look over here; there are a few books about Tarvos.”

Erec pulled out a book called
The Man Behind The Creature Behind The Shadow Behind The Myth. Tarvos Expert Unveiled.
“I wonder what this is about.” The book talked about a scholar who knew everything about Tarvos. It described his childhood, how he lost a parent to the creature, and his life story. “This isn’t about
Tarvos at all! It’s just about the author.” He put it back.

“This one’s better.” Rosco shoved a book in front of Erec called
Wave Your Own Cape: Dispelling the Tarvos Myth and Regaining Control of Your Soulless Life.

“But this makes it sound like Tarvos isn’t real.” Erec found a book called
The Total Loser’s Guide to Getting Your Soul Back
and flipped it open. Spartacus looked over his shoulder with interest.

Reclaiming your soul is simple—don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. Just as easily as it can slip through your fingers and disappear in a near-death experience, your soul can be found again and put back in place, giving you a full and complete existence. Keep Tarvos at bay with our three-step plan. Remember, any soul may be recovered for usage at any time.

How do you find the thing once it’s gone, you ask? Our book will go over the many techniques that can be used for each step, at any time frame you are in. Our proven steps are easy to do—even a newborn would have no trouble at all. First—the Recall. We will discuss methods such as séances, spirit nets, and the Tarvos Shuffle to bring your soul back to you. Second—the Cleaning. Although your soul can reenter your body at any time, a thorough scrubbing is always a good idea first. And third—the Attachment. This time, put your soul in to stick for good. Use our methods to ensure a complete joining that will never break again.

The Tarvos Shuffle? Erec flipped through to find that section.

Tarvos is a creature that has the appearance of a gigantic bull, and was originally free-roaming in Otherness. His appetite was tremendous, and his size and strength allowed him to devour even

magical creatures such as dragons. He also had a penchant for human meat, and would occasionally raid villages for his supper.

Fear of Tarvos spread far and wide. Hunters pitted their strength against him, but none returned to tell the tale. On a fateful day, Tarvos broke into the home of a sorcerer who had been working on a portable source of magic. Before the bull pounced, the sorcerer thought quickly and used his new invention. He surprised the bull by calmly walking up and placing the portable power source on the bull’s shoulder.

The sorcerer spoke—and, for the first time in its life, the bull understood. With the power source, Tarvos could also now speak, and he liked it. It is said that the sorcerer tried to make a deal to trade the power source for his life, but Tarvos simply destroyed the man. Before long he was doing magic the likes of which nobody had ever seen, creating bulls out of mud and melting houses in the village. Tarvos changed his horns into storage cones, and set the power source inside one to carry it with him always.

He became unstoppable. Nobody was safe in any village or town. He gave himself an impermeable coat so he could never be harmed. The Fates decided that, to protect humanity, he would be placed in a cave in the Underworld. To give him a purpose, they allowed him to rid the world of its soulless living beings. Using small toys to attract his mindless victims, Tarvos was able to gather masses of them and turn them into an army of Golem sand creatures.

In order to assure that no harm would come, the Fates gave the Master Shem, the only key to commanding Golems, to their sisters, the Furies, who are locked in Tartarus for eternity. This will assure that the Golem army is never used for destruction.

It is also thought that the Shadow Prince is working on inventing his own method of activating Tarvos’s Golem army, and possibly even freeing and harnessing Tarvos himself. If that is the case we can all be assured that something originally terrible will be used for the greater good—a wonderful thought for humanity.

Erec felt sick, and had to put down the book a minute.
He
was the reason that the Furies were out of Tartarus.
He
was the reason that Tarvos had the Master Shem. And he had to take it away again and fix things as they were before.

Spartacus pointed at the page and laughed. “‘Using small toys to attract his mindless victims.’ Like you’d be dumb enough to go into the Underworld by chasing a toy.”

Erec narrowed his eyes at him, remembering the wind-up bullfighter. “Shut up. It’s not like you’re mister perfect.”

He flipped ahead to find the part about the Tarvos Shuffle.

So, what do you do if you’ve waited too long to find your soul, and Tarvos has brought you to his lair? Hopefully you will have purchased this book before that happens! Unfortunately, most people do not know how to resist Tarvos. In moments, they become Golems, and will stay limp sand creatures until the day that the Master Shem finally mobilizes them. But there is a way out, even if you’ve come this far!

We like to call it the Tarvos Shuffle. Simply jump and swerve, back and forth, which will make Tarvos confused and throw off his aim. During this time, you must spit in your hands and rub them together well. With a deft move, jump high off the floor—it helps to wear gravity-defying shoes for this feat. Grab hold of one of the bull’s great horns, and twist. Tarvos’s horns are thick and tough,
and you must break through a layer before you can unscrew them. Be careful that he does not tear you apart or turn you into a Golem while you are doing this! Also, the three cranes that live on Tarvos’s back are there to protect him. They will likely try to kill you while you are twisting the horns.

Tarvos is known to keep his magical abilities in one of his horns, likely other important possessions in the other. Once you take his horns, you can use them to control him completely. Simply cut the sharp point off of one of his horns—its insides are hollow. Blow through it, and Tarvos will be under your spell. He will release you, if you ask him, and help you on your way. Then you may use our other just-as-easy techniques to regain your lost soul.

Erec could not believe his eyes.
This
was supposed to be so simple that a newborn baby could do it? It seemed doubtful that anyone could survive the Tarvos Shuffle. It was obvious that nobody had done this successfully yet, or Tarvos would no longer have horns.

But at the same time, Erec would have a ghost helping him. Taking one of Tarvos’s horns would either let him have Tarvos’s magical ability, or give him the Master Shem back—because Erec was sure that was where he was keeping it.

“We can do this.” Spartacus pointed to the page.

“You’ll never be able to do that,” Rosco said, at the same time, looking over Erec’s shoulder.

“Who knows? The book sounds a little crazy, but . . .” If Erec took the Master Shem back, that would save the world from invasion by those dreaded Golem creatures, and keep them out of Baskania’s hands. He shrugged. “I need to give it a try, with Spartacus’s help. I’ve been waiting to figure out a way. Then if I
learn the spell to stop time, I might save the three thousand souls from the Furies. Who knows?”

As he spoke, Erec realized how crazy his plans sounded. But were they any more crazy than being brought back from the dead, and morphing into spiders and smashed worms?