The Secret of Ashona (21 page)

Erec felt optimistic for the first time in what seemed like forever. He was going to get out of here—and very likely without becoming a lifelong prisoner of his worst enemy. They kept the pipes inside of them so they’d be prepared at any time, then found the general who had talked to Erec. Before long he finished with the group of trainees. More spirits rushed forward than could be in the next group, and the general turned them away.

Erec caught the general’s eye. He stood perfectly straight and
saluted. “My friend and I reporting for duty, sir. As you asked, sir.”

The general saluted back, a glint in his eye. “At ease, soldier. What a pleasure to see this attitude in a recruit. I remember you . . . Rick, right?”

“Yes, sir. Rick Ross, sir.”

“Pleasure to have you, Rick Ross. I’m General Guff.” He pointed at two spirits in the training group. “You two—out of here. You’ll take the course later.” He nodded to Erec. “Hop on in, you two. Let’s see what we can do with you here.”

The trainees stood in a line. General Guff handed each an immense crossbow and explained how to use it. Each ghost shot at tiny specks on a wall—Erec’s pierced right through his mark. After going through several weapons, Erec realized that the training was easier for some than others. He only had to be shown things once or twice before getting them near perfect. General Guff kept an eye on him and seemed pleased with how well he was performing. After trying out various weapons, they listened to strategy sessions where the general taught them how to handle various situations. Since spirits had no need for food or sleep, there were no breaks.

“Tell me,” General Guff thundered. “You’re alone in a desert town. You have been commanded to kidnap a man wanted by the Shadow Prince. Thirty spirits descend on you—they are here on earth to do nothing but protect this man. And let’s throw in a few specters, too. They’re all coming after you, and they know how to grab you and stop you. What do you do?”

The general paced a while, disturbed that nobody had an answer. “Here is a clue. As a ghost, you can hold anything that is around you. If a large crowd of humans are in your way, grab the air and spin, like this.” At once the general was spinning in place so fast that his features were no longer visible. The air around him whirled fast, turning into a visible cyclone. Erec could feel the wind rushing
through his body—strong enough to devastate a village.

At once General Guff stopped and the tornado disappeared. “A perfect strategy for clearing out human crowds. But how would you get rid of spirits that are in your way? Any ideas?”

Nothing that Erec could think of would work. Objects would pass right through them, unless they wanted to hold on to something. The only things that Erec had seen destroy spirits were the tunnel that led out of here, and the three Furies—neither of which would be at his disposal.

The general paced some more, and then stopped. “This is important for you to know. It’s a technique devised by our leader himself, the Shadow Prince. There is something else that can be held on to that can tie spirits up into knots. No ideas at all?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“The Substance. Ever hear of it?” General Guff looked disgusted, as if each one of them was pathetic. “It’s all around us. Doesn’t matter if you can’t see it—just feel for it and you know that it’s there. You can hold onto the Substance all around you and spin, just like you do when you create a whirlwind. The Substance network will bind up the spirits, and it will be a long time before they can get loose. Watch this.” He proceeded to spin again, fast.

This time Erec was blown back into the mass of other spirits. In moments he could not move at all. It was as if a giant net was binding them all tightly together. The general moved his fingers in the air a few times and soon they all fell apart again.

“And that’s the next thing I need to teach you. How to get out of a Substance net. You need to know finger magic. Who here can do that?”

Erec and one other spirit raised their hands. Erec had not even thought about finger magic since he had died. Was he able to use it as a spirit, then? That was good to know. . . .

The general sighed. “The rest of you will be worthless if this happens to you. I’d suggest that you stay far away if you see a ghost start to spin. Probably would be too late, though. But you two—Rick Ross and Velma Patterson? Step forward.”

Erec stepped forward alongside a young woman spirit.

“It’s just like all other finger magic,” General Guff said. “Except that you have to make a snipping motion with your hand. Picture the Substance that is holding you, and imagine that you are cutting it. At the same time, you have to
ask
the Substance to open up for you. Time to try it now. Step back, everyone else.” He motioned for the rest of the spirits to move away from Erec and Velma. Then he spun again, just long enough to tie those two up together. “Okay, now see what you can do.”

The Substance was so tight around Erec that it was hard to even move his fingers. He concentrated, feeling the bands around him, and imagining how they looked.
Cut
, he thought. He pictured the strands being chopped apart by his scissorlike fingers. As he moved them, he focused his thoughts on the Substance.
Would you open for me, Substance? Will you let me out, please?

His movements allowed the magic inside of him to gather together and course out through his fingers. Power surged through him, reminding him slightly of how his scepter had felt. As he cut the space around him with his fingers, he could feel his body free up. In moments he was able to move again.

Velma had a harder time, but she soon freed herself through the hole that Erec had made. The general did not seem too concerned. “Good enough. You’ll have to deal with this on your own if it happens to you.”

General Guff taught the group how to survey a large area and find a small object using a kind of ghost radar, but Erec already knew that he could do that. They talked about a few other
situations, until one in particular made Erec perk up.

“Any ideas about how to deal with specters that get in your way?” The general gazed around, a snarl on his face.

Everyone shook their heads. At least nobody here knew that Erec was headed toward becoming a specter. The general might not let him train, then.

“It’s simple, actually. Of course you could spin a Substance Web and trap them—but not too many of you would be able to do that. Specters aren’t the brightest candles in the bunch. They go into destruction mode—which can be great if positioned in a strategic place at the right time. But all of them want one thing desperately: their soul back. All you have to do is tell them that you know where their soul is, and they’ll stop whatever it is that they’re doing. Make up some place far away, and assure them that they can get it back when they go there. They’ll be off in a flash.” He laughed. “Dumb things won’t even remember you the next time they see you, so no worries about revenge.”

This stunned Erec. Not only was he doomed to become evil, but he was going to lose his mind, too? Great.

The general mused to himself. “Souls. Interesting things, those. Ever seen one by itself, separated from its spirit?”

None of the group had.

“Slimy.” General Guff looked revolted. “They attach on to anything that they find—objects, each other, spirits. If you already have a soul, and a loose one gloms onto you it can feel nasty. Just keep flicking at it until it goes away.”

That sounded awful. Erec wanted his own soul back so much, but it seemed to sink in more when the general talked about it. After all of this time, Erec could actually start to feel a part of himself missing. No wonder he was turning evil. . . .

Something sparked inside of him—maybe it was the sad thoughts he was having. In a moment, though, he was furious—then
raging. The only thing that he could think of that would damage the others was to spin, hard. He grabbed the Substance tightly in his being and twisted. Then he whirled faster than the general had. With each turn, Erec cried out in fury. Why was he here? Why was all of this happening to him?

He kept spinning and spinning until his rage finally evaporated. The entire group of soldiers in training, along with the general and every spirit in sight, were lumped in a huge pile in front of him. Erec wondered if he had managed to tie up the entire Hinternom. If the tunnel that led out of here would not have disintegrated him, he would have made a run for it right now.

It was horrifying, however, to realize that he had gone completely out of control again. It was happening. He was becoming a specter. Would General Guff know? What if he kicked Erec out of the group? Erec had to calm down and finish this training before he lost it again—if it wasn’t too late.

He concentrated on cutting with his fingers, summoning all his power into his hand.
Substance, it’s me again. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do this. Please open for me—help me let these people go.

There was other slicing of the Substance in a few more places, where several generals were tangled. Before long everyone was free again, drifting off to where they had been before. General Guff called Erec over. “You!”

Erec was terrified. If he had ruined his chances of escape, he would be miserable forever.

“That’s right. You!” General Guff slapped Erec on the back—something only another spirit could do to him. “Show-off. You like to stand out in a crowd, don’t you?” He was grinning ear to ear. “We both know that not a lot of spirits could pull that off. Not bad at all. So, are you angling for one of the master weapons, then?”

Erec nodded, as if he knew what the general was talking about.

“We’ll see about that.” He slapped Erec on the back again. “Seems like you just might be able to handle one.”

The training session ended with each spirit receiving a weapon and practicing with it. Most of them sported rifles, and as many were terrible aims as good shots. One particularly uncoordinated spirit was given a slingshot. General Guff led a small group, including Erec and Spartacus, into a floating enclosure that looked like it was made out of cloud. He gestured toward a few rows of weapons resting in the rippled white substance.

“Here you have your special weapons. Your Speed Shooter, your Jolly Gun, your Rapid Transitator, your Stun Breeze. Take your pick.” He winked at Erec. “I have something special for you, kid. I think you’ve earned this.” General Guff pulled a long stick with a red ball on the end of it from the back and handed it to Erec. “A master weapon for you. It’s called a Calamitizer. Enjoy this one.”

The master weapon looked like a toy drumstick. “What does this do?”

“Just what the name says.” The general winked. “Causes calamities. If you don’t mind, just practice with it once—and not inside here. I’d like to see what you can do with that thing.”

Spartacus picked a Rapid Transitator—a weapon that moved both humans and spirits from one place to another in a second, as long as both places were within sight. He practiced shooting it, making spirits disappear and reappear where he wanted. It was fun to watch the faces of those who all of a sudden were someplace different from where they had just been.

After a while, Erec decided to try his Calamitizer. He took a breath and waved it. . . .

Power rocketed through his arm and out of the stick. In moments, the spirits around him tumbled through the air, spinning wildly. Substance was flung around, creating nets and capturing everyone in
its wake, and weapons fired on their own accord. Gravity shifted this way and that, and objects tumbled up sideways in the air. Thunder cracked and lightning shot through the Hinternom. Cyclones spiraled out in all directions—if this had happened in a city Erec wondered if any of it would be left standing.

Finally, the devastation settled down. Other than destroying a few Substance nets, there was not much damage that could be done in the Hinternom. But waving this on Earth would be another story. . . .

General Guff slowly clapped his hands. “Bravo! What a great demonstration of the equipment. I can see that we have a top-notch fighter on our hands here.”

Great,
Erec thought
. A Calamitizer to destroy everything around me . . . I’ll have to get rid of it before I change much more. It’s just what I’ll need when I’m an uncontrollable evil specter.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Storage Facility