The Three Furies (Erec Rex) (33 page)

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on the spot." She jerked her thumb toward a Harpy flying overhead.

"Hey, guys. Cut it out." Jack put a hand on each of their shoulders. "I know it's hard to believe, Erec, but Bette is on our side. She was friends with the Stains, and Ward Gamin, and Rock Rayson. But she hates them all now. You know Balor. He thinks he's ten cuts above everyone else. Now that he has more power than ever, he's even worse. Bette's come to her senses about him."

Erec thought about Balor stuck with King Augeas and felt sorry for him. "He doesn't have as much power as he makes out."

Bette stuck her chin out. "I still like Ward. He's cute. But Rock won't even talk to me anymore."

Jack said to Erec, pleading, "C'mon. Give her a chance, okay?"

"After everything we've been through? Can I talk to you in private?"

Bette retreated, in a huff, to a bench not far away.

Jack crossed his arms and waited, with a look on his face like Erec had kicked a kitten. Patient and considerate as ever, Erec thought. Jack didn't have a suspicious bone in his body.

Erec, on the other hand, had more than enough suspicious bones to make up for ten of him. "Jack, this is confidential information. Please don't tell Bette anything, in case she still has connections with the Stains. We're going to Baskania's fortress in Jakarta to try to break Bethany out of there. I just wanted you to know, in case . . ." He didn't want to suggest that Jack come, or put any pressure on him at all. It had to be his idea entirely.

"Cuz we know you'd want to come and fight for her," Griffin said. "Yer a man, not a meece, right?"

Jack pulled back from Griffin in shock.

"Sorry," Erec said. "This is my friend, Griffin. We met in . . . somewhere far away from here. But he's helping me in Jakarta. Listen, don't feel like you have to come. I mean, don't come with us,

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okay? It's going to be really dangerous. The only reason we're going is the Fates said it was the only way to get Bethany out alive."

"The Fates said that?" Jack bit his lip. "Well . . . of course I'm going to go with you. This couldn't be any worse than the Path of Wonder, could it?" He laughed, remembering their past quest.

"
Yes
. It will be much worse. Picture every horrifying monster you know. We may not come back alive."

"I know. Look, it's Baskania's fortress. But Bethany is trapped in there. What am I going to do, just sit here when I know something we do could help her? I'll go nuts if I don't go. Just like you would."

"You would risk your life to save her?"

"If it comes to that. But I may not have to. You might need a lookout, or there are other things I could do to help. I'll come along and play it all by ear. Okay?"

Erec was filled with relief. He had not realized until now how much Jack's company made him feel better.

"We should ask Bette to come with us. She's pretty smart, and she might be able to help."

Erec's eyes narrowed at Jack. "How long have you been hanging out with her?"

"I dunno." Jack shrugged. "A few weeks?"

"You don't know anything about her. What if she was lying to you? Listen, Oscar is working for Baskania now. He thinks Baskania is his friend. Baskania has been feeding him stories, and using him to get information. That's probably what Bette is doing with you."

Jack looked over his shoulder at Bette sadly. "You really think so? I hate to just leave and not tell her where I'm going. We've been hanging out, and she'll think we're ditching her like the Stains did."

"So? Look, Bethany's life is on the line. There is no room for mistakes. If you would rather stay here with Bette, I understand--I think. But don't tell her a thing."

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"Okay," Jack agreed. "I won't. But you have to let me tell two other people. They've been worried sick about you, and would really want to help too."

"Who, Rock Rayson and Ward Gamin?" Erec tried to calm down.

Jack held up a finger. "Be right back." He ran off and returned shortly with two girls. Erec immediately recognized them as Melody Avery, Bethany's good friend and old roommate, and Darla Will, a pal who had helped him out in the past.

Melody plunged past Jack and scooped Erec up in a hug. "Where have you been? I can't believe you let all this time go by. Hey, Jam!" She embraced the blushing butler. "Good to see you not steaming mad anymore."

Jam turned a darker shade of pink. It was hard to imagine polite Jam as spitting angry. But that was what the Awen of Harmony had done to him when he had held it on their last adventure.

"You were pretty funny then too, Melody." Erec laughed, although it had not been funny at the time.

A grin spread across Melody's dark-complexioned face and she pulled on one of her tight black curls. "All pretty fun to look back on. I'm glad you let me go with you guys."

Erec smiled remembering Melody's magical gift of producing beautiful music with her body. Each limb made the sound of a beautiful instrument, from flutes to violins. When he finally rescued Bethany he would have to ask Melody for an encore--he knew how much Bethany would love that.

Darla blinked behind her glasses, pulling on her stringy brown hair. "Hi, Erec. Glad to see you're okay."

"You too, Darla. Have you been out for a while?" Darla's unfortunate "gift" from birth was that she would get the same sickness or injury as anyone she knew or was around, only twenty-four

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hours ahead of them. She usually was recovering from one illness or another. This was the first time that Erec had seen her out of the royal hospital.

She nodded. "Luckily, everyone here has been okay. I mean, I've had a lot of colds and flus. But nothing too bad. Guess that means you'll all be in good shape tomorrow."

"Now that the castle is gone, where can you go when you're sick?"

"There's another hospital in Alypium." She shuddered. "It's more crowded, though. So when I was there, I kept getting one thing after the next, every time someone came in. It wasn't easy to convince them to let me out with pneumonia before I got whatever else was coming in next."

Jack sent Erec a meaningful look. "Tell them?"

Erec studied Darla and Melody, then nodded. Of course they deserved to know. "Don't tell a soul, okay? Only Jack and you two can know. Bethany is a prisoner in Baskania's fortress. He thinks she can tell him the secret to the Final Magic, because of that dumb prophesy. She has no clue what the secret is. I guess that's good, but he's not letting her out either way. I'm going to try and rescue her, and Jack--?"

"I'm going too."

"Count me in," Melody responded immediately. "She would go for me if I was a prisoner. I know that."

Darla sighed. "I'd love to go, really. But you know what would happen to me there."

Of course. Any fighting that happened would injure Darla a day in advance. She was pretty much guaranteed to be hurt or even die if anyone else did. Erec smiled at her. "Bethany would not want you to chance that." He added, "She doesn't want any of us to risk our lives. I talked to her with the Seeing Eyeglasses, and she was beside herself when I told her that I was coming."

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"You saw her?" Melody jumped up and down, excited. "So she's okay?"

"For now. Not great, but okay . . . You guys are really amazing to come with me. Thanks."

"Oh, shut up." Jack rolled his eyes. "Let me tell my tutor I have to go on a quest with you. This is kind of a quest, isn't it? That should cover us."

"Me too!" Melody squeaked.

They ran off and were back in minutes. "Did you say we're going to see Spartacus Kilroy?" Jack said. "I thought he was in prison."

Melody laughed. "No, he was let off. Well, we better go now, right? I guess a suitcase wouldn't work if we're sneaking into a fortress, would it?"

Spartacus Kilroy lived in what looked like the opposite of a prison. His ranch spread over a hundred acres at the border of Alypium and Otherness. Sunlit cliffs towered over green fields. Raptors soared through the trees above, and a waterfall tumbled into mist just within sight. The ranch itself was in Alypium proper, which meant that the huge golden dome kept it at a warm, perfect temperature year-round.

Jam didn't set Aunt Salsa's Port-O-Door to stay and wait for them, as he figured that Spartacus Kilroy would have his own. Still, Erec felt stranded seeing it disappear.

A tall wooden fence with metal railings surrounded the property. Erec and his friends gathered in front of a huge gate with a sign reading KILROY'S CUDDLES: PRECIOUS PETKINS, FURRY FRIENDS, STINKY SWEETHEARTS, AND CUTE COMPANIONS. The grass in the fields appeared to be swirling around like paint in a mixer, with bits flying up into the air. Erec squinted, trying to get a better look.

"Wow!" Melody pointed. "Look at all of those leaping lizards! I've never seen so many in one place!"

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The entire farm was swarming with the same leaping lizards that Erec had seen in the gardens of the Castle Alypium. They flew up into the air, often bashing into each other head on, and dropped onto the backs of others. Wolfboy watched, stock still, with a low growl.

"Man," Jack mumbled. "It's hard to hear them with all the commotion, but a few of them are talking about . . . what is it . . . 'fly worm stew'?" Jack's inborn gift was to understand animals. "Look, they're clearing a path down the middle."

Like a huge green zipper coming open, the hoards of leaping lizards parted down the middle, leaving a path of empty grass that widened until the lizards had nearly all run away. Straight down the path whirled huge blurs of green, like miniature emerald cyclones. Occasionally one of the blurs of motion stopped, revealing what looked like huge grinning toads.

"Dervish Toads!" Jack pointed with a grin. "I rode one of those during the baby animal race last summer, in the Tribaffleon contest. Almost makes me sick to my stomach remembering it. I think I was greener than it was at the end." He laughed. "I guess Kilroy was the one who supplied the animals."

They cautiously opened the gate, trying to avoid being knocked flat by spinning Dervish Toads as they walked toward a big white ranch house in the distance. Wolfboy, for all his bravado, stuck tight to Erec's side as they walked.

"Look at those." Erec nodded at an approaching herd of glittering white unicorns with golden horns. Several dozen pranced straight past them, gracefully dancing above the Dervish Toads without a problem. Erec did not blame Spartacus Kilroy for wanting to stay in such a wonderful place.

Other animals appeared as they approached a big red barn near the ranch house. Some of them looked almost normal, like turtles, rabbits, and mice, except that they were twenty times their normal

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sizes. Others Erec had never seen before. He recognized a triclops like the one he had ridden for the Tribaffleon contest. It looked like three horses connected together by a fur-covered bar through the center of their bodies. The three parts moved in tandem around the bar, one side going up when the other went down, just like carousel horses.

Erec immediately recognized Spartacus Kilroy, with his sandy blond hair and friendly green eyes. He looked more relaxed and happier than Erec had ever seen him. He no longer wore the starred blue cloak that used to be his trademark. Spartacus was tending to a shed full of sharp-beaked ducks in nests, deeply engaged in conversation with a few of them as he gathered their eggs in a basket and replaced their water buckets.

When he heard the group approaching, he looked up and waved. "Hi, folks! Spartacus Kilroy here. Best deals on all creatures you can--" He left off and stared in shock. "Erec Rex? I can't believe you're here. And . . . you're the head butler from the Castle Alypium, aren't you?" Spartacus looked at the others as if he might recognize them, then gave up. "Are you here to buy a pet? I see you already have a dog."

"No. Well, yes, I guess. I heard that you sell mynaraptors?"

"Yeah, I do." Spartacus gestured with his arm. "Come on in, guys. You want a snack? I've got some cookies. Not the best I've ever tasted, though. The flying cows like them better than I do."

As Spartacus turned to lead them inside, Erec wondered how much he could trust him. The way to saving Bethany was so fragile and narrow, he feared any wrong move could send them all tumbling into disaster.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO An Even Trade

REC PULLED HIS silver Serving Tray out of his backpack in Spartacus Kilroy's kitchen. "Don't worry about the snack. We can take care of it. Tray, some platters of warm cookies and brownies, please. And a pitcher of milk." He bit into a chocolate chip cookie that tasted fresh from the oven.

"Pretty nifty." Spartacus picked up the tray. "Can I have a lemon meringue pie square with chocolate melba toast topping?" The odd

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but tempting treat appeared on the tray and he took a bite. "Unbelievable. This is just like my mom used to make." He sat down and leaned back in his chair. "What brings you guys here? I've heard you've been up to some strange things, Erec, but I never know what to believe. After being lied to for ten years when I was King Piter's AdviSeer, I've lost my patience with people. I guess that's why I'm spending my time with animals now. They don't play games."

"I don't blame you." Jack laughed. "This place is amazing. If I wasn't a magic apprentice now, I'd love to work here."

Griffin stared in horror at the pie square until Spartacus asked the Serving Tray for another and slid it over to him. Griffin held it to his mouth, wavering between disgust and an effort to be polite. When he finally tasted a bite, his eyes lit up and he shoved the rest into his mouth.

"My door's open to you." Spartacus nodded at Griffin, stuffed the rest of his own pie square in his mouth and dusted his hands off. "I sure could use a hand. Seems like one creature or another is always in trouble. In fact, I got a call the other day. Two guys are going to stop by tomorrow for a job interview. First time anyone's been interested in working here. Anyway, even if they don't work out, I'm glad to be doing this. Some of these animals have been dying out in the wild, and now they're getting a new start here."

"Were you the one who brought the baby animals to the Tribaffleon contest?" Melody said.

He nodded. "This was my first job, way back when. It's really too bad I got sucked into that whole AdviSeer thing. I guess I let my vanity overcome me when I accepted that post. I should have known I couldn't do any of that stuff. They just wanted a dupe to follow orders. Someone who wasn't bright enough to catch on that there were problems."