The Three Furies (Erec Rex) (16 page)

A
guard stepped forward with his gun pointed at
E
rec.
H
e looked around nervously, hesitating.
T
hen another guard behind him rushed forward with a wild grin, as if to claim the glory
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for himself.
S
hots rang through the air.
E
rec crumpled to the ground, dead.
B
ullets continued to fly at
L
ittle
E
rec.
A
t first they bounced off his scales, but one eventually found a softer spot.
A
moment later, the dragon fell to the floor, face first.

Erec trembled. No, not Little Erec. He had told his mother that he would bring him home safely. Anger surged through him as his arms rippled with new muscles. His breath was hot and steamy. No. He couldn't let this happen. He had to get that quest for Bethany.

A guard stepped forward with his gun pointing at Erec. This was first one that Erec had seen in his vision. It was happening now. The guard looked around nervously, hesitating.

No!
Erec stepped forward, and his roar echoed through the huge glass and chrome lobby. Everyone stopped and stared. He had to stop the second guard from shooting. Erec took a deep breath and felt something hot burst from his mouth. Fire spread everywhere in a huge gush.

The guards stepped back, confused. Curtains and plants were burning, and charred ash drifted through the air.

"Get him!" A guard rushed toward Erec, gun out, and fired.

D
uck.

The command of his cloudy thought was loud in his head. He fell to the ground and rolled as bullets sailed over his head.

L
eap.

His legs were stronger than ever before. Dragon muscles running through them let him sail over the guards, leaving Little Erec behind.

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R
oll.

He knocked over ten soldiers like bowling pins.

The door to the side room where Janus kept the paper pad was locked. Men behind him picked up their guns, and a stray shot whizzed over his shoulder, lodging in the wooden door.

B
reathe fire.

Erec focused his anger and desperation on the door that was blocking him from where he had to go. With a deep breath, he blasted an immense hole in the wood. He stepped through it into the little room that looked like an old curio shop. Looking up in surprise was Janus.

Ashes and dirt whirled around him like a miniature cyclone, but even the wind was not enough to remove the piles of dust on Janus himself. Scrawny limbs with knobby joints jutted from under his dingy gray smock, making him look like a prisoner who had been locked in a dungeon for all time.

Janus looked Erec up and down with admiration and amusement. "Well, good fellow. What an interesting way to pay a visit."

Erec ran to Janus's desk, trying to slow his breathing. "I'm Erec Rex. I need to sign the paper so I can draw a quest."

Footsteps scrambled behind him, and guards appeared at the doorway. One reached through the hole, unlocked the door, and swung it open. But then he froze, shouting, "Whoaaaa . . .!"

The man, along with others behind him, screamed, looking up the hallway. Then they all disappeared, thrown to the floor as Little Erec butted his horns into them like an enormous ram.

Janus shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. . . . whoever you are. But I know Erec Rex personally. He's a boy, not a scaly creature. Whatever

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you may be." He tapped the pad in front of him. "Besides, the paper can't be fooled. It knows who the real Erec Rex is. And"--he pointed at the door--"you won't be able to go back through that door unless you are Erec Rex. So I'm afraid you're trapped in here now."

Erec saw the shimmering bubble that filled the far doorway. It would only let him go through if Janus's paper pad recognized him. But would it, now that he had become part-dragon? For the first time he realized he might be trapped in this small room.

"Listen, Janus. I know I look funny. But it's really me. Let me sign it, okay?"

Janus seemed quite pleased at how odd this all was. "Well, there's nothing to lose, I suppose. You can't fool the paper."

Erec took the pen, though he had a hard time holding it between his claws. He had to turn his hand upside down to write, which made his signature look completely different than usual. If this wasn't his real signature, the paper really might not recognize him. He bit his lip, hoping . . .

The letters he had scrawled onto the page turned dark, then fissured deep into the writing pad. Each letter cracked open, and beams of light shone from them.

"Well, look at that." Janus regarded Erec in wonder. "It really is you. What an . . . interesting new look." He shook his head and smiled. "Good luck on your quest, Erec."

"Thanks."

Erec ran through the bubble material in the doorway and called for Little Erec. "C'mon." He wasn't able to fit onto the other dragon's back now, but he put an arm around its neck. "Straight through the windows, out back there. Let's go!"

Erec leaped alongside Little Erec, and the two of them crashed through a giant window onto the grass. Guards scrambled after them, guns firing.

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F
ly.

With an itchy feeling, wings sprouted from his shoulder blades. He leaped into the air, Little Erec at his side. They soared over the stone wall.

A slew of Harpies buzzed through the air around Al's Well like an overgrown mosquito convention. Their black hair was pulled so tightly into buns that their huge noses stuck out like beaks. They snapped at Erec with their sharp claws, spewing insults and threats.

"We'll get him, won't we, girls?"

"Yeah, we'll shred him."

"Don't forget to leave him a little bit alive. I know the Shadow Prince wants his eyes intact."

Erec breathed torrents of fire into the air, making them back off. Al watched, amazed. "Is dat really you in dere, Erec? Looks like you changed a bit."

"It's me. Let me try to get a quest, quick. Okay?"

Al gestured toward the toilet. Erec sprinted over, grabbed it, and reached deep inside. He couldn't feel the water through his scales, but in a moment he noticed a warm slip of paper and pulled it out.

"Let's go, Little Erec." He squeezed the dripping paper in his hand, afraid to look at it. What would it make him do? He hoped it would say something like "Save Bethany." That would be perfect.

F
ly.

A few breaths of fire scared the Harpies back. Erec stretched his wings and lifted from the ground beside the dragon. The wind felt good on his face. He was putting his troubles behind him. He couldn't climb fast enough into the air, the higher the better.

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He made it. Got the quest. Now he could relax. Whatever it was, at least he and Little Erec were out of danger.

Erec felt his dragon eyes slide back into his head. The sky around him became a beautiful blue, no longer the vivid green that his dragon eyes imparted to everything. His flying felt a little jagged, like his wings weren't working right. For some reason they seemed too small. He saw the scales disappearing from his skin in time to realize that his cloudy thought was over. He wasn't part-dragon anymore--how would he be able to fly?

"Whoa--help! Little Erec--I'm falling!" Erec tumbled straight down through a cloud toward the ground. Moments before he hit, the small dragon grabbed him with its claws and yanked him back into the air. He felt like a mouse caught by a hawk, watching the ground go by right under his hanging limbs, but he held tight to the quest paper.

They landed next to King Piter's house, where Patchouli was waiting. Little Erec set him down, and he collapsed onto the ground.

After he caught his breath, Erec smiled. "You saved my life, bud. Now you don't owe me anymore."

Patchouli breathed hot steam at Little Erec. It seemed like that would fry him, but the little dragon seemed to like it. "That is not our way, Erec," she told him. "My son will owe you his life forever."

"Really, it's okay. I'm calling it even now."

Patchouli shrugged. "Is there anything else we can do before we go?"

"No . . . Wait. There is one more thing." Erec hesitated, not wanting to ask. But he had to. "When I find Bethany, I am supposed to make her drink dragon blood. The Fates said that that would break the Draw that Baskania put on her to keep her prisoner."

"He put a Draw on her?" Patchouli said, upset. "There is only one place he could have gotten that."

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"I know. The Three Furies. My father told me about them."

Patchouli nodded. "I can't imagine how he persuaded them to give him one of their Draws. This is very troubling. He must be doing something terrible to gain their favor." She shook her head. "Of course you can have my blood. If you get a container from the house I'll give it to you."

Erec found Jam inside, who produced a vial the size of a large test tube with a screw top. Erec brought it out back to Patchouli.

"Little Erec insists on giving you his own blood, if that's okay."

"No, he's done enough for me. He already saved me a few times today."

"It would make him happy, and it won't hurt him one bit." She reminded him, "You used your own blood to feed him when he needed it."

"All right, then," Erec said. "As long as it doesn't hurt him."

Patchouli brandished a claw and stuck it into the scales on Little Erec's shoulder. She scraped until a small stream of blood appeared. Erec quickly filled his vial. Patchouli breathed more steam onto her son, and the bleeding stopped.

"Thank you so much." Erec petted the small dragon on the head. "Listen, you've more than paid me back, okay? We're just friends now. No more owing anyone."

The dragon did not seem to listen. Instead it flew away with its mother into the sunset.

"Young sir, would you like some new clothing?"

Erec had forgotten how terrible he must look. His shirt had been shredded, and only a few patches of fabric remained around his cuffs. His pants were on, luckily, but the lower legs were torn.

"Yeah, good idea, Jam." He looked at the quest paper in his hand. How much longer could he put off knowing?

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Jam seemed to know what Erec was thinking. "Do you want me to read it for you, young sir?"

"Okay." Erec handed the paper to Jam and sat on a couch.

"Hmm." Jam turned the paper over and inspected it. Then he turned pale.

"What does it say?" Now that Jam knew what it said, Erec suddenly couldn't wait to find out. He snatched the paper back, sure it would say something horrible like "Kill the entire Alypian army in five minutes."

His hand shook as he read. "Visit King Augeas and introduce yourself."

That was it? Visit a king? He laughed with relief. This was perfect. Who better than a king to help him? His own father was out of commission, but another king would have some power at his command. That made sense--the king would have what Erec needed to free Bethany. Maybe he would send a whole army with Erec to Baskania's compound so he could set her free easily. All Erec would have to do was show this King Augeas how awful Baskania was, what he would do if he succeeded in taking over the world.

"Hey, Jam. This isn't so bad, after all. Is it? A king is just what I need."

For some reason, Jam was having a hard time responding. He looked sick.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling okay?"

Jam shook his head. "Young sir. You cannot follow this quest. I know you need to free Bethany, but this is not the way. It's not possible."

"I don't understand."

"I know, sir. You see . . . King Augeas is . . . not someone you want to meet."

"Why not?"

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Jam gulped. "Just his name tells you why, young sir." He looked around the room as if someone else might appear to say it for him.

"What do you mean? Isn't his name King Augeus?"

"Well, yes. But . . . he is called something else."

"What is he called?"

Jam gulped again. "King Augeas is the Nightmare King."

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CHAPTER TWELVE The Nightmare King

ELICIOUS SMELLS OF waffles, cookies, and hot chocolate wafted through Aunt Salsa's apartment. Erec didn't realize how hungry he was until she handed him a plate stacked with sandwiches and chips.

It was good to see his family safe. Erec found that he kept staring at his adopted twin siblings, Danny and Sammy. He kept wondering how he would look if he had their sandy brown

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hair and their height. If his looks had not been changed.

Luckily, they didn't seem to notice. "You should have heard her!" Sammy squealed. "The last time Dumpling Smith used Mom's Seeing Eyeglasses on us, she was almost crying, demanding we tell her where we were. As if! She keeps coming back every hour or so."

"She's persistent." Danny shook his head in amazement. "I mean, she says things like she needs to get us all to safety--which is really lame, since we're all safe and sound right now. But she can 'take better care of us.' I can't imagine what that means. But I don't understand why she still wants only me and Sammy."

Erec knew just why that was. He'd seen with his own eyes a vision of them becoming king and queen--his corulers of the three Kingdoms of the Keepers. Erec knew from his father that he was destined to rule Alypium. Maybe Sammy would take over Ashona from Queen Posey, and Danny would inherit Aorth from King Pluto. It was hard not telling them right now--they would be so excited. But after what happened to King Piter's castle when Erec learned who he was, he wasn't about to say anything. Who knew what other spells were in place, what other awful things might happen if they found out too soon?

But, on the other hand, who better to come along on his quest than the very two who were supposed to go with him? If they all went together, the three triplets destined for the crown would grow stronger and tackle evil.

The only problem was the Seeing Eyeglasses. If Dumpling Smith could tell where Danny and Sammy were, she'd come and snatch them up--or tell Baskania, who she must be working for. If he could just get those glasses back--

"What's wrong, Erec? Do I have snot on my nose? A pimple or something? You can just tell me. You don't have to stare me down all day."