The Secret of Ashona (58 page)

The Furies were much larger than life. They were so awe-inspiring that he had been a tiny, meaningless grain of sand in their presence. They were so terrifying that nothing else should ever intimidate him again. They were so brilliant that they made humans look like ants, trailing after one another in mindless streams. Yet, at the same time, they were flawed, which made Erec realize that even the best that the world has to offer is still not perfect.

He would miss them.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The Other Scepter

B
ETHANY WAS IN THE LIBRARY
bent over a stack of books. Erec watched her for a moment before he realized that she wasn’t reading at all. Tears fell from her cheeks onto the open pages, and her shoulders shook.

He rushed over to comfort her, careful not to make her jump in surprise. “Bethany? Are you okay?”

She sniffed, then threw her arms around him. “Erec! You’re back!” She hugged him a minute before asking, “How’s Trevor?”

Erec’s heart sank. He had felt so good, so relieved about the souls
and getting his own body back in one piece. He had thought that he would be stuck in Tartarus forever, and never see his family again. But thinking about poor Trevor brought all the sadness back. It was time to get him away from Baskania.

“I haven’t seen him. I was just locked away in Tartarus with the Furies.” He told Bethany everything that had happened.

She gazed at him in awe. “I can’t believe they got out of there. So everything worked out, then.”

Erec nodded, still dumbfounded at the turn of events. “Yeah. It all worked out just right.”

“Look!” Bethany picked up his Amulet of Virtues and showed it to him. “Your seventh segment is lit up!”

And it was. The seventh pie slice on his gold disc glowed a bright, sparkly gold, with a small black symbol printed on it. Erec closed his eyes and made his dragon eyes come forward. When he opened them, the room was green and he could see thick tangles of the Substance hanging in the air. He was now able to read what the symbol said.

“Bravery.”

He laughed right away, then thought about that for a while, letting his regular eyes slip back into place. Had he been particularly brave? He guessed that he had—going to his death like the Fates had told him to do. He had not put his own safety first when he tried to save the captive souls. He was terrified the whole time, but he just didn’t let it stop him.

He smiled a minute, thinking that maybe he did deserve to be called brave.

But then he remembered about Trevor and his smile went away. It was time to save him.

“What did you see in the future about Trevor?” Bethany asked. “He was still alive when you went back, right?”

“He was, but he wasn’t looking good. For some reason I was still Baskania’s friend in that vision. I was giving him the scepter, which is hard to believe. But, you know what was weird? I told him that I had gotten it back from the Furies for him. That doesn’t even make sense. The Furies never had the scepter to begin with. It was just something I made up so he would leave me alone for a while.”

Bethany frowned in thought. “So, in your vision you were telling Baskania a lie. Maybe you weren’t under his spell, then. I wonder if it was some sort of plan.”

“Why would I give Baskania the scepter as part of a plan?”

“Maybe so you could get back in there? You want him on your side to help get Trevor out.”

That actually made a lot of sense. Baskania was fully aware that Erec had removed the influence of the pill from himself and from Spartacus, and also that Erec broke his blood oath that let Baskania take his dragon eyes from him. Baskania might also know that the Furies had gone back to Tartarus and had been freed forever—Erec wasn’t sure about that. And he was expecting to get that scepter back from Erec now.

If Erec sauntered in and tried to kidnap Trevor from the Inner Sanctum it might not go well. But if he came with the scepter as a gift . . .

“But that would be crazy,” Erec said. “Yeah, I’d get Trevor out of there. I saw in the vision that Baskania will get totally absorbed with the scepter. I could probably do anything then. But how can I give it to him? I just can’t—”

“I know!” Bethany bounced up and down in her chair, excited. “We could use the fake scepter! Then it won’t matter if he keeps it.”

“That sounds great—but he would realize that it was a phony right away. And we’d never get out of there, then.”

“I could program it to work for him.” Her eyes sparkled. It made
Erec happy to see her feeling better, even though he was skeptical. “It can’t be as powerful as the real scepter, but it does work. Remember how Cutie Pie filled that whole room with sardines? I mean, if it does things for him, then he won’t get suspicious right away. Maybe that will be enough. You could even make a trade for Trevor that way.”

Erec thought about making a trade. That might work, but it would blow his cover as Baskania’s protégé. If Baskania considered Erec a friend he could get away with more. . . .

Was that possible, though? Baskania had forgiven him for stealing the Master Shem—in fact, it seemed he liked Erec even better after that. He was proud that Erec was crafty and wily like he was. And he wasn’t afraid that Erec would really get away with anything if he was watching over him.

That was it. He would go back to Baskania with the peace offering of a scepter—only it would be the fake scepter. When he was there, he would plan an escape for Trevor. Maybe Baskania would think that Trevor had been killed, but really Erec could secrete him away. . . .

“The trash compactor!”

“What?” Bethany looked completely confused.

“I need to figure out a way to make Baskania think that I’m getting rid of Trevor for good, when I’m really sneaking him out of there. In my vision I gave Baskania the scepter—and it worked for him—and then got Trevor into some kind of trash compactor. That would be perfect. I could sneak him out in that thing.”

“It doesn’t sound safe at all. What if it gets turned on and smashes him?”

“I know. But it has to look like we’re really doing away with him for good.”

Erec wished that Spartacus was still around to help him. It was
so much easier to do things with a silent, powerful, invisible friend. He would always miss him.

“And what makes you think that I’d leave you high and dry?”

Erec almost fainted when he heard Spartacus’s voice. “Is that really you?” He looked around, and there stood Spartacus right behind him. He jumped up and threw his arms around his friend, forgetting that they would sail right through him.

Bethany watched Erec clap his arms together with a big grin on his face, and looked at him like he was crazy. “What are you doing?”

“Spartacus is back!”

“I never left. Thanks to you I have my soul again. I can’t believe how amazing it feels to be in one piece. And I don’t have to be Baskania’s servant anymore, since that pill is gone. I’m free, the way I’m supposed to be. I couldn’t be better.”

“Did you hear what happened with the Furies?”

“I did—as soon as you disappeared I tracked you to Tartarus. I was waiting outside, trying to figure out how I could possibly rescue you. But there was no way I could get in without the Furies taking my soul and escaping, so I just waited and listened.”

“Why didn’t you go on to . . . wherever you’re supposed to go?”

“That’s the funny thing about being a ghost. When there is something left unresolved, you have the choice to stay around for a while and help settle it. So, that’s what I’m doing.”

“You’re staying on earth to help me?”

“Of course. You helped me, didn’t you?”

“Wow. Thanks.” Erec was at a loss for words.

Bethany chimed in. “Spartacus is going to help rescue Trevor? Thank you, Spartacus!” She hugged the air near where Erec tried to hug Spartacus. Erec laughed when he saw that she was hugging the space next to the ghost, one of her arms passing through his midsection.

“Wait a minute.” Erec had a sobering thought. “Baskania is going to want my eyes again when I’m there. He knows that his contract with me for the eyes is void, so there is no way that he’ll let me out of there with them again.”

“Could you just sneak out fast with Trevor after he has the scepter?” Bethany asked.

“I don’t think so. This whole thing is a game, and the minute he suspects that I’m faking, then it’s up.” Erec’s heart sank. He remembered that in his vision of the future everything had gone black. He was going to have to trade his eyes for his brother. It was as simple as that.

But really, that was no choice. He would just learn to live with it. “Spartacus? Could you make sure that there is a trash compactor in Baskania’s Inner Sanctum? I saw it when I looked into the future, so there should be one there.”

“Yup. If not, then I’ll put one in. And I’ll scan the place to see where we can sneak Trevor out.”

“Thanks.”

Spartacus disappeared.

Bethany was all smiles. “I thought I’d never see either of you again. Now everything seems like it will be perfect.”

Erec wasn’t so sure that it would turn out perfect at all. In fact, there was a good chance he would never see Bethany again—even if he did make it back home.

Bethany pulled the fake scepter out of her closet. Erec was surprised she had brought it with her.

“I never leave magical objects behind, even silly things like this. But I did take Cutie Pie’s hair out of its base, so it won’t work for her anymore. She was getting fat from the sardines, and she completely stunk up the apartment.”

“How does it work again?”

“The Druids said that all I have to do is put a few hairs in here and then it will work only for that person. . . .” She froze, staring at the thing. “Wait a minute. How are we going to get Baskania’s hairs?” Her smile disappeared.

Erec thought about it. “Maybe Spartacus could yank some before he comes back? Or find Baskania’s hairbrush somewhere?”

It seemed hard to imagine that Baskania ever brushed his hair or did anything that mundane. He probably fixed it magically with a permanent spell. What if his hairs were inaccessible?”

But Bethany was happy again. “Great thinking, Erec! All we need is to put it in—”

“Wait! I have a much better idea!” Erec had used scepters enough to realize that there were ways of getting around problems like this. “We’ll use one of your hairs.
You
command the scepter, and tell it that it should do what Baskania orders it to do. That way you can tell it to only work for him for a short time. Maybe twenty minutes—long enough for us to get out of there safely. And then you can tell the scepter to fly away from him and come right back here to us.”

“That’s a great idea! Then he won’t be able to keep it. Who knows if he’ll be able to get much magic out of the thing, but I’d rather not leave it with him too long just in case.”

Another idea perked Erec up. “I’m going to give Baskania my dragon eyes. I have to—it’s the only way that I can convince him to trust me. If I don’t, he’ll just take them anyway. Let’s program the scepter to get my eyes back when it leaves Baskania, and put them back into me.”

Bethany looked dubious. “You would trust this joke scepter with something as important as your eyes?”

“I don’t have a choice. We have to give it a try.”

Bethany stared at him. “You’re really serious, aren’t you? I can’t imagine giving up my vision.”

A look passed between the two of them, and Bethany nodded solemnly. She plucked two hairs from her head and slid them into the small slot at the base of the scepter. Erec marveled at how much it resembled his own. But when he put out a finger to touch it, he felt nothing at all, instead of the massive drawing power that the other held over him.

“That should do it,” Bethany looked it over. “Let’s see. I guess I just tell it what to do?”

“Try it.”

“Okay. Scepter, Erec is going to bring you to Baskania. When Baskania takes you, then you are to do whatever he commands you to, just like you are his scepter. But in twenty minutes, you need to come straight back here to me. Okay? And also, if Baskania takes Erec’s eyes when he’s there, you need to take his eyes back from Baskania twenty minutes later and put them right back in Erec—and make sure that they work for him again too. Then you can go back to not doing anything again, and just stay in my closet. And make my hairs disappear from you then, so nobody can make you do anything until we plan it next.”