The Three Furies (Erec Rex) (34 page)

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Nobody knew what to say to that. Erec felt bad--Spartacus was such a nice guy. He shouldn't feel responsible for things he had done by mistake.

Spartacus broke the silence. "Have you all heard about the clown problem? Too bad I can't do anything for them. I tried to take some in, but as soon as they stopped wandering they got sick, and a few died. I made them go--I thought they would last longer on the move. Poor things roam around Otherness and get into trouble, searching for someone to guide them. Some get too weak to go on, though. They're not going to last long." He sighed. "It's such a shame what happened to their rulers ten years ago. And now with the Clown Fairy gone, it's a mess." They sat a while thinking about it. "So, why do you want a mynaraptor?"

Erec was not sure how much he could safely tell Spartacus. "Well . . . my father suggested that they know a lot about other creatures, and they're really smart. He said they make good companions."

"That's for sure." Spartacus laughed. "As long as you can stand the chatter. You have to know how to be firm with them, or they'll talk your ear off. Some people tape their beaks shut." He immediately became concerned. "You have to promise me you'll never do that. They're not the most popular pets, because people don't know how to handle them. I guess if you really want one, I can show you some." He asked the Serving Tray for a steak for Wolfboy, who was getting more and more spoiled.

"Okay." Erec remembered the baby mynaraptor that Bethany had rode upon during the Tribaffleon race. It was true--the thing babbled nonstop. Was that really what they needed?

Outside, Erec noticed a gazebo filled with beautiful women laughing and chatting. On a second glance he saw that they were not wearing bright plumed clothing, as he thought--instead, the lower

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half of their bodies was feathered and shaped like human-sized bird legs.

Spartacus caught Erec and Jack staring. "Those are Kinari. They weren't doing so well in Otherness. Kinari like to live close to humans, so they end up drifting across the border into Upper Earth sometimes. They need more Substance around them, though, to live, and there isn't enough there. So when they wander too far into Upper Earth, they don't make it back."

Jack frowned. "Kinari? They look like regular girls to me. I mean their clothes are--" His eyes widened when he noticed that the feathers were not just an outfit. "Ooh. Never mind."

Spartacus told them that the ducks with sharp, pointed beaks and long claws that he had been talking to were mynaraptors.

"That couldn't be right," Erec said. "My father said that they were enormous, and we all could ride on one of them."

"You could." Spartacus nodded eagerly. "They are huge."

Erec looked at the ducks skeptically. Even the baby mynaraptor that Bethany had ridden was much larger than these.

"Oh, excuse me." Spartacus laughed, then explained. "Right now they're small. The birds can hide their size. Look." He petted one of the birds on the back. The creature started babbling to him about water and noise levels on the farm. "
No
. Stop talking," he commanded. Then in a nicer tone, "Would you please show my guests your larger size?"

The thing gave a quick nod, then grew before their eyes until it loomed over all of them. Its legs stretched so that it resembled an enormous ostrich, and its elongated duck body widened. Soon it was twenty feet tall, with a broad back and immense wingspan.

"Whoa." Griffin looked up at it in awe.

The bird preened, enjoying the attention, then shrank back to duck size and hopped into its nest. "You know," it informed them, "I had an aunt once who met a little girl when she was small. I don't

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remember what her name was, but she was a bright one. My aunt loved her. They talked about many things--I think they even spoke of fish at one point. Fish are one of my favorite snacks, you know. If I had my way, then all the time I would just--"

"Stop."
Spartacus held a hand out and the thing shut its beak. He motioned for Erec and his friend to follow him back into the house. "It's getting dark. Why don't you all stay here tonight? Make yourself at home. I don't know what your plans are, but you can't do much right now. I'd love the company, anyway." He smiled. "Tomorrow morning I'm interviewing two guys for jobs. Other than that I'm just hanging around here, as usual."

The idea suited Erec fine. They might as well rest up. Who knew what tomorrow would hold?

Erec warned Jack and Jam before he put on the Seeing Eyeglasses in the small guest room they shared that night. Jam had insisted on taking the couch, leaving two cots for Erec and Jack.

"I'm going to talk to Bethany, so . . . if I sound like an idiot or get choked up, just try to ignore it, okay?"

He put the glasses on. Bethany sat in the same spot as before. The room was dark, but he could see her silhouette nodding to sleep and jerking upright again. He guessed the time difference was less than when he had been in Americorth North.

"Hey, Bethany!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice quiet. "Wake up. It's me."

After a long while her eyes opened and searched the room fearfully. "Erec? Is that you?"

Bethany looked even more exhausted than before. Dark circles sagged under her eyes and she wore a look of defeat. Erec felt bad to have woken her. From now on he would just watch her sleep, and only wake her if he had to.

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"How are you holding up? It makes me sick to see you so sad."

"Not great." She shrugged as much as she could with her arms chained down. "I don't know how much longer I have. We're already up to age eleven of my life. That's only three more years until we hit my age now. Then I bet he'll take another route to seeing what's in my head." She sighed deeply. "I'm really afraid, Erec. I heard Baskania threatened the Memory Mogul within an inch of his life to find out where my earliest memories went. Turns out the guy keeps no records at all of who gets what memory. In a way I'm glad--that's less for Baskania to find out about me. But at the same time, it would at least give me longer to live."

Erec's skin prickled with hot anger. "Bethany, I'm coming to get you. And I'm not alone. A group of us are going. All you have to do is drink the dragon blood from the vial I give you. That will break the Draw that Baskania has on you. I know this is going to work, so try and hang in there."

"No," she begged him. Tears poured down her cheeks. "Please. You don't understand. You don't want to be anywhere near this place. You coming here would be the perfect gift for Baskania. Do you get that? He would love it. And it would kill me, to see you going through what I am--or worse. Knowing you are safe is the only thing holding me together. Baskania would probably take your eyes and destroy you right away. Think what would happen to the rest of the world if he gets your dragon eyes. You can't risk that."

Erec paused. He had not thought about his eyes. Of course Bethany wouldn't miss a point like that.

Well, he'd just have to be careful, and make sure Baskania didn't capture him.

He gulped. "It's going to be okay, Bethany. I promise you. Just remember to drink the dragon blood, okay?"

"Don't come, Erec." Her voice shook. "Promise me that you

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won't come."

Erec was torn between telling her what she wanted to hear, to comfort her, and telling her the truth. So he thought of something else he could promise. "Bethany, I promise it will all be okay."

He hoped he was telling the truth.

Erec woke with a vague memory of dreams that involved Bethany and Wandabelle escaping a prison on the backs of huge mynaraptors while he waved good-bye from inside a barred cell. He was relieved that he was okay after he woke up, but then he realized that he would rather have things the way they were in the dream, with Bethany and Wandabelle safe, as compared to now.

At least he had not had that awful dream with Earl Evirly starring as his father. Then he remembered--that dream had been removed by the Nightmare King. He smirked. What a great gift the king had given him. Erec hoped the king enjoyed keeping that horrible nightmare on his little glass collectors shelf. Good riddance.

It was hard to get out of bed, knowing that this might be the last morning of comfort he had in a long time--maybe forever. While he was dying to run straight to Jakarta, he was also terrified. His mother's words--and Bethany's--echoed in his mind. The Fates never said that
he
would get out safely. Was it possible?

By the time he walked into Spartacus Kilroy's kitchen, everyone else was feasting on a table full of foods from the Serving Tray. Omelets were passed around, along with chocolate blackberry pancakes, peanut butter-chocolate chip Belgian waffles, fried egg-sausage-cheese-honeybread stacks, and hearty gruel--ordered up by Griffin.

"This tray makes having guests easy." Spartacus laughed. "I have to find one of these things." A doorbell rang and Spartacus glanced at the clock on the wall. "Ooh--it's ten. Almost forgot about the fellas coming to interview for jobs. Do you mind if I talk to them first, and

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then get you your mynaraptor? I'd appreciate if you told me what you think about these guys too. Have to say, I don't trust my own judgment about people anymore."

Spartacus disappeared for a while. When he walked back into the room, two men followed him. One was short and squat, wearing an eye patch and a dirty brown sackcloth tied at his waist with a rope. Sparse gray hair drooped around his face, circling a mostly bald scalp. The other was very tall and dressed like a hunter, with broad shoulders thrown back and his head held high. Soft blue eyes gazed out under tousled dark hair.

Erec's jaw dropped.

"Let's keep this casual. May I introduce you to some friends of mine who are here? Then we can all chat about what the jobs will entail. This is Erec, Jack, Jam, Melody, and Griffin. And your names were Arthur and . . . Karen?"

"Kyron," the larger, younger man said, staring at Erec. "And my father here is Artie." His shocked face morphed into a huge grin. "Erec? You're
here
? I thought we'd never see you again."

"It's Erec Rex," Artie said slowly. "Youse saved us from that bad manticore beast that was after us." He lumbered toward Erec and gave him a hug.

Erec endured it a while, then pushed Artie gently away and stepped back. "Great to see you both. Are you doing okay?" His third quest had involved putting both Kyron and Artie in danger. Risking their lives was one of the hardest things he had ever done.

Kyron gave him a high five. "We can't thank you enough, man. It's so great to be free. We've been wandering all over the world, exploring and having fun. But Dad needs a place to settle down now. He's getting older, you know. I'm not too fond of Alypium--we've heard about all the crazy politics going on here. But this part seems more isolated." He shrugged. "Almost like farm life. And we're big

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animal fans." He laughed. "I haven't hunted a single dragon since we last saw you."

Erec shuddered, remembering Kyron's past profession. "Glad to hear that. I bet you'll like it here. This setup seems perfect for you guys."

"Yeah." Kyron nodded. "It's beautiful. As long as Baskania doesn't catch wind that we're here." He looked sharply at Spartacus, as if he had slipped. "That's something we need to discuss. My father and I are happy to work for food and a place to stay. A little money would be good, but we don't need a lot. But I have to find out where your allegiances lie. The fact that Erec is here is a good sign. You see, my father used to work for Baskania. 'Used to' being the key words. Baskania even took away his eye. Dad was the only one to ever quit service to Baskania and get away alive. He managed to get his eye back. One of these days I'm going to take him to Vulcan and see if he can reattach it."

Kilroy shrugged. "Allegiance? My allegiance is solely to my animals. I've learned my lesson and I stay away from the crazy power struggles that are going on. But I don't want you bringing any of that in here. This is a peaceful place--"

Kyron held a hand up. "We're as peaceful as they come. As long as you don't spread the word that we're here, we'd be grateful. I asked around about you before we called. I heard what had happened to you, and thought you might understand."

Kilroy considered this. "Baskania took advantage of you. Same happened to me. I'd be glad to help you out. You know anything about the type of creatures I keep here?"

"That's our specialty." Kyron glanced around the room. "Hey, Erec. Where's Bethany?"

At the mention of her name, Erec felt his stomach drop. Telling new people what had happened was like reliving it.

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Jack saw Erec's expression and said, "She's been captured by Baskania. We're going off to save her."

Spartacus's eyes widened and he jumped to his feet. "What? That can't be. I remember that girl. Poor thing had such a nasty uncle taking care of her. Now this? What's wrong with that Shadow Prince? Can't he just leave people alone?"

Erec had forgotten that he wasn't going to tell Spartacus where they were going. "Don't say anything . . . okay? If they know we're coming--"

"Don't worry." Spartacus paced the room. "I won't breathe a word. I'm sick about this news. Really."

Kyron's face was clenched into a red knot. He informed Erec harshly, "I'm coming with you guys."

"You shouldn't, Kyron. But thanks." Erec looked around the room. "
None
of you should. It's walking into a pit of danger with no guarantee of getting out again, ever. You've fought enough awful things in your life, Kyron. You don't need to do this. Just settle down with your father, okay?"

Jam nodded. "Young sir is right. The two of you should let us handle this."

"Not possible." Kyron grasped the handle of a silver knife that hung from his leather belt. "Baskania has taken one thing from me after the next. Bethany is my friend, too. And after all you've done for us--well, I can't sit this one out."

Erec understood. "Thanks, Kyron. Thanks to all of you. Bethany would be so happy to know that this many people have volunteered to free her." He choked a laugh. "Actually she'd hate it. She doesn't even want me to face that danger. Oh, well. I'd feel the same way, I guess."

Artie had been staring at Erec as he talked, and he lifted up a shiny object dangling from a black ribbon around Erec's neck. "This