The Mask Wearer (12 page)

As he let himself be escorted away by a group of fairies, the old man turned toward Amos.

“I’ll pay you back a hundred times for what you just did for me. I swear it on my life, on my soul, and on my parents’ heads. See you soon, my friend!”

Very solemnly, Gwenfadrille picked up a magnificent crystal mask that was by her side. It had the shape of a fine-featured man with a bulging forehead. She handed it to Amos and asked him to try it on. The mask adjusted itself perfectly to Amos’s face. The fairy then set into it the white power stone sent by Crivannia. Amos got the immediate impression that he was breathing in rhythm with the wind.

“This mask will grow with you,” the queen of the fairies declared. “It is your property and your dearest possession. You’ll discover its powers on your own. It’s not very potent yet, but when the four stones are set into it, you’ll have the ability to raise a hurricane and the strength necessary to walk on air. Now let us all pay homage to Amos Daragon and feast in honor of the first human in the second generation of the warriors of equilibrium!”

Everyone present stood up and applauded. Then a joyous music was heard.

K
armakas had installed himself in the castle at Bratel-la-Grande. With the gorgons’ help, he had placed all the villagers—more than one thousand statues—outside the city gates. They were displayed along both sides of the road leading to the capital. The scene was terrifying. Itinerant merchants, travelers, adventurers, and troubadours refused to come close to the city. Everyone who saw the ghastly statues doubled back, vowing never again to set foot in that part of the country.

The gorgons had ransacked the town. Houses were entirely demolished or burned to the ground. A deadly silence had replaced the shouts of children heard in happier days. There was no sign of life—no flowers in bloom and no human activity. Yaune the Purifier’s army had been totally defeated. A black flag in the shape of a snake, its mouth open as if ready to strike, flew over the city. The water from the river had been
poisoned, the fields were fallow, and the birds had deserted the area.

Karmakas’s powerful magic had enabled him to double his army of gorgons. The city was swarming with snakes. Cockroaches, the gorgons’ food of choice, crawled over the walls of the castle, into the ruins of houses, and everywhere over the ramparts of Bratel-la-Grande.

For the last three days, Beorf had been buried up to his neck, and had been suffering terrible agonies. He had been blindfolded so that the stare of the gorgons would not petrify him. At night, the monsters often walked over his head and deprived him of sleep. During the day, the sun scorched his face. And every morning, the naga came to visit him. Karmakas was aware of the humanimal’s weak spot. He knew that bear-men had unmatched strength and physical endurance. The only thing they could not tolerate was going hungry. So every morning Karmakas tantalized Beorf with bread and honey.

“If you tell me where the pendant is, I’ll give you,
ssss
, all the food you want,” the sorcerer said. “Tell me where the pendant is and we’ll,
ssss
, become a team. I know that,
ssss
, you’re hungry. Talk to me,
ssss
, tell me,
ssss
, where my precious pendant is hidden.”

Blindfolded, Beorf smelled the fragrance of fresh bread. He imagined the taste of honey on his tongue. His stomach churned with hunger and his whole body begged for food. His taste buds filled his mouth with saliva. Every morning, the torture weakened his will a little more.

“I’ll never tell you! I’ll die before you get any information out of me,” Beorf answered day after day.

Frustrated, the naga always left hissing with rage. Toward the end of the fifth day, Beorf was so exhausted by the pain in his stomach that he wondered if he could hold out any longer.

“Have no fear, I’m here to help you,” the voice of a young girl whispered in his ear.

Beorf could feel hands digging around him to remove the dirt. The girl freed him and helped him up.

“I have to warn you that I’m a gorgon. Be very careful never to look into my eyes or you’ll straightaway turn into a statue,” she warned him. “To make it safer for you, I’m wearing a cloak with a hood that covers my eyes. Now I’ll remove your blindfold.”

Stunned, Beorf opened his eyes and saw the lower half of the gorgon’s face. She was lovely and had a beautiful mouth. Her lips were brown and lush. A few golden-colored snake heads that did not seem to be malicious were sticking out of her hood, moving the fabric gently. Her skin was a pale green.

“Come, we have to flee this place before the sorcerer catches us,” she said, extending her hand to him. “Do you know how to get out of this city without going through the main gate?”

“Yes, I know a way,” said Beorf. “Follow me!”

Together they made their way to the tunnel that Beorf had dug under one of the city walls. They fled quickly and reached the forest without any problem. Beorf led the young gorgon to
a cavern that his parents had always used as a pantry. There, the humanimal plunged headfirst into the food rations, stuffing himself with dried fruit, nuts, honey, grains, and salted meat. Once he was full, Beorf remembered his manners and offered the gorgon something to eat.

“Thank you,” said the girl. “I don’t eat this kind of food. I only devour insects. I love roaches cooked in toad blood. Delicious! Since you love good food, you should try my recipe sometime.”

Beorf felt a little disgusted. His cheeks were pink again and he now felt restored. His body was loosening up after his ordeal, and he was unable to control a noisy, long burp. The young gorgon laughed a crystal-like giggle. Beorf couldn’t imagine that this charming creature could be the offspring of such a horrible race. He apologized for his burp.

“Who are you and why did you come to my aid?” he then asked her.

“You would not be able to pronounce my real name,” answered the gorgon. “Call me Medusa. That is the name humans often give us. It’s a name inherited from Princess Medusa, who was transformed into a hideous woman by a nasty goddess. Many legends exist on the subject of gorgons, but no one really knows the origin of my species. I know that your name is Beorf. It is said that you can morph into a bear. Is that true?”

Flattered that this beautiful young gorgon knew his name, Beorf changed into a bear on the spot.

“True,” he said, standing proud and hairy from head to foot.

“Hide your eyes,” Medusa said. “I’d like to look at you.”

Beorf put a paw over his snout.

Pulling her hood back and uncovering her eyes, Medusa exclaimed, “How magnificent a bear is! I’ve never seen such an animal. You know, there are only gorgons and snakes where I come from. There are also many stone statues,” she added, laughing her enchanting giggle. “To answer your question, I helped you because I too need help. Karmakas is a wicked sorcerer. He controls my kind through his magic, and forced us to come to this realm to do his bidding. If we defy his orders, he tells our snake-hairs to bite our shoulders and backs. It hurts so much that we cry out in pain loud enough to make mountains shake.”

She pulled her hood back over her eyes and told Beorf it was safe to look at her.

“We are nocturnal creatures and cannot bear the sun easily,” she went on. “This does not mean that we are nasty and cruel. It’s true that our power transforms all living creatures that we come across into statues. To avoid such misfortune, my people live in hiding in the arid hills of the east desert. It’s the gorgons themselves who sent me to free you.

“I beg you to believe me. We don’t want to harm anyone and we know how to bring back to life the stone statues that we create. It’s a little complicated, but it can be done. We don’t want to wage battle any longer; we only wish to go home and live in peace. But we are unable to fight Karmakas. Our power does not work on him, so we remain his prisoners. The gorgons are his slaves. We must serve him or suffer horrible pain. Look at the skin on my shoulders and you’ll understand what I mean.”

Medusa pulled down a sleeve of her dress, exposing her shoulder. It was covered with open wounds and scars.

“You see!” she said. “It’s difficult for me to believe that my own hair can do this to me.”

“Why don’t you cut off those nasty beasts, then?”

“Would you cut off your arm or your leg even if it hurt you?” she answered, a little upset. “My hair is a part of me. I love it very much. Each of the golden snakes that you see contains a part of my life. To cut them off would be my death. They’re my only friends and my solace. I’ve known them since I was little, and each one has a name. I feed them and take good care of them.”

“May I ask you something?” Beorf asked very politely.

“You may ask whatever you want,” Medusa answered.

“I’d love to see your eyes, your entire face.”

The gorgon giggled again. “You don’t seem to listen to what I tell you, young bear. It’s impossible—you’d be instantly turned to stone!”

“I know that it’s possible to look at the reflection of a gorgon in a mirror,” declared Beorf rather proudly. “I know because I’ve done it by accident. I have a mirror here and—”

When she heard these words, Medusa panicked. “You have a
mirror
? A mirror! Did you bring me here to kill me? I knew I was wrong to believe in you! I always said to my fellow gorgons that we had to be wary of what looked human. You’re vicious and you always wish to kill whatever does not look like you! If you want to kill me, do it now, but stop torturing me by mentioning a mirror!”

Beorf rushed to the mirror that he had noticed a moment earlier among the provisions of food and smashed it on the floor of the cavern. He stomped on it to break it further into pieces.

“There! No more mirror! No more danger! Calm down, please, calm down. I didn’t mean to offend or threaten you. I wanted to see your eyes because you are very beautiful. That’s all! I swear!”

Medusa calmed down. Beorf saw drops of perspiration running down his friend’s neck.

“Always remember, Beorf, that my kind are scared to death of mirrors. A gorgon must never see her reflection in a mirror. She dies immediately, ripped apart completely from the inside, and then she crumbles to dust. It’s the worst death that we can imagine. I’d rather cut the snakes off my head one by one than stay in a place where there is a mirror.”

Beorf laughed uneasily. “That’s fine! I never liked girls who spent their time combing their hair in front of mirrors.”

After a moment of silence, and feeling even more ill at ease, he asked, “But tell me, Medusa, there’s something I don’t understand. I’ve seen gorgons in the forest and … how do I say this? Well, they weren’t very pleasant to look at, but you …”

The young gorgon started to laugh again. “I see what you mean. When we turn nineteen and a half—the exact age that Medusa was when she was struck by Ceto’s curse—our face and body change. We become ugly, just as Medusa did. Some of us escape this curse, but I don’t know why. None of the lucky ones has revealed her secret.”

“Maybe you’ll discover it before you reach that age,” Beorf said.

Medusa remained pensive a moment. “You’re very sweet, Beorf, do you know that?”

Beorf smiled. “Yes, I know,” he said, a little flushed.

D
uring the feast that the fairies organized for him, Amos ate a lot of dishes he had never tasted before. He drank the nectar of daffodils, daisies, and lilies. He also attended a concert given in his honor, where the tunes he heard were surreal, infinitely pure and delicate.
It’s not surprising that Junos was bewitched
, he thought as he remembered his friend’s adventure in the forest. Amos went to sleep on the grass as he listened to the celestial music.

In the morning of a new day, the fairies brought him a large glass filled with dew and a piece of cake made of rose petals. Amos then left the forest wearing his mask in which the white stone was set, his ivory trident slung across his shoulder. He took the long path that led in and out of the woods of Tarkasis. When he reached the edge of the forest, he was surprised to see several posted signs that said
BY ROYAL EDICT
,
THIS FOREST IS FORBIDDEN TO TRESPASSERS
. Astonished, he reached the road and observed that it was now paved.