The Search for Truth (23 page)

“This must be it.” The crystal pulled him to a crack in a stone. Erec tugged at it, and a rock came out in his hand. A beautiful chord rang from his singing crystal. Under the rock rested another dodecahedron, a few inches in diameter like the others. This one seemed to glow an eerie blue, though Erec could not be sure. When he looked at it, his vision fuzzed.

He placed the rock back and let the crystal pull him farther. “Stay with me,” he called. Each of them held the shirt of the person who walked in front of them. Erec took the lead. Soon they reached the small entrance of a rocky tunnel cut into the side of a grassy hill.

 

After a brief rest in the tunnel, they climbed out onto a perch in the mountains. It was hot, so they all dropped their coats by the tunnel entrance. Bethany pointed out that it was summer in the southern hemisphere now. Erec was glad to be able to see what was happening around him again.

“Where are we, Jam?”

“The Andes Mountains in Peru.”

Something seemed odd, although Erec could not put a finger on it at first. He knew that Bile, the powerful old druid who had invented the Awen, had designed the Path of Wonder to pass through his favorite places. But something about this place did not seem as majestic as the others.

Erec checked off a list in his mind. Craggy brown mountains reaching for the sky? Yes. Bright blue overhead with fluffy white clouds? Yup. Wooded hillsides, a condor swooping in the sky, snowcapped ridges above, and tropical forests in valleys below? Uh-huh. Well, then, what was wrong?

A bright orange bird perched on a rock, staring at them, its head tilted. Something was also wrong with this parrot, or whatever it was. It just looked…

Ugly. The bird looked hideous. The whole setting was somehow plain and disappointing. “I don't get it,” Erec said. “I thought the Andes mountains were supposed to be beautiful.”

“I'm sure they are,” Jam said. “Just not in this spot. The Awen of Beauty is close by. It wouldn't affect the whole mountain range.”

When Erec looked farther in the distance, he could see that the mountains were, indeed, beautiful. But everything close by looked unappealing. Well, he thought, if this was the only problem they would have with this Awen, he could handle that. This one must be the easiest to deal with.

Erec let his singing crystal lead him along a path carved into the mountainside. It felt good walking on solid ground without worrying about crashing into fjords a mile underfoot. He looked back to make sure everyone was okay, then tripped and stumbled when he caught sight of them. His friends looked terrible. Erec stopped and swung around, concerned.

“Are you all okay?” It didn't seem so. Bethany's cheeks and forehead swelled with blotchy red marks and sores. Her hair hung oddly, the left half drooping into her face. Jam looked sick, his skin pallid. Dark circles ringed his sunken eyes. Jack looked red and shiny. His skin seemed drawn tightly over his face, and his lips bulged like sausages. Melody's skin was covered with strange growths, and her features had changed so that she looked like a male wrestler.

What was happening to them? Erec wondered. Were they allergic to something?

A horrified expression bloomed on Bethany's distorted face. She squealed, “What is wrong with you? You look awful. Are you sick?”

Erec touched his face. It felt normal. “You all look pretty bad too.” They all looked at one another, screeching and jumping. “Hey, guys.” Erec was glad at least his voice sounded normal. “Let's try to keep our eyes on the path so we don't have to see each other too
much. It's just the Awen of Beauty. No big deal.” He turned around, glad to be facing forward with everyone else behind him.

Soon they approached a village. Small circular homes with round stone walls were topped with thatched roofs of dried grasses. People spinning wool, husking beans, chewing on sugarcane, and tethering unkempt llamas outside their homes stopped what they were doing. Crowding around Erec and his friends, they pointed, laughing, but Erec could not understand their language.

Erec was sure they were giggling at how awful he and his friends looked. But then he got a better view of the villagers. Most of them were shorter than he was. The men wore colorful ponchos with bright geometric designs, and the women wore bright loose skirts and blouses. Beads and pendants hung around their necks. Yet they were so badly put together they were difficult to look at. Their skin seemed to hang off their frames at odd angles. Noses bulged sideways, black teeth jutted forward, scars and warts covered most visible skin. Each was so unpleasant to look at that Erec had to keep shifting his gaze from one to the next.

“Hi,” he announced. “We're traveling through, on a quest for something hidden near here. Have you heard of the Awen?” He wondered if the villagers had any idea why they all looked the way that they did.

The villagers seemed not to understand, but they crowded around Erec and his friends, reaching out craggy hands and touching them. Erec began to feel uncomfortable in the crowd and stepped away, pushing a few hands aside.

Some of the villagers pulled a man from one of the houses and shoved him forward toward Erec. The man looked just as awful as the others in the village.

He shook Erec's hand. “I Hakan. I Englis.” It took some thought for Erec to decipher from his heavy accent that he was saying he
spoke English. “I from Ollantaytambo, near Urubamba. We talk Quechua. I know English from tourist in Ollantaytambo.”

Erec was fairly sure that this village would not get many tourists. Tour guides would probably want people to come away thinking how beautiful the Andes were. Not only were the people here difficult to look at, but the village was stark and unappealing.

Hakan nodded his head a few times. “You eat?”

“Um, okay.” Erec wasn't looking forward to whatever food they produced, but he did not want to be rude.

Shouts in Quechua resulted in people running in different directions, excited. Soon Erec and his friends were presented with steaming bowls of quinoa laden with potatoes, beans, and corn. It looked terrible, but it actually tasted delicious. Erec found that if he closed his eyes when he was eating, it was a truly wonderful experience.

Hakan explained that this village had a curse. They had offended Pachamama, the Earth Mother spirit, and she had taken their beauty away from them. Hakan said that he once looked nice, but after spending time with the villagers here, he too had been affected. He still managed to fall in love and settle down. “Love deeper than looks.” He pointed at Erec and said it again.

They thanked the people and talked about moving on. Erec would be glad to take the Awen of Beauty away from this place. Soon they might experience life differently, see the mountains around them as they were meant to be seen.

Jam paused. “Do you kind people have some rope we might take with us?”

Erec was glad that Jam had remembered to ask. He was sure that some rope would come in handy when they were back in Norway with the Awen of Creation. It was strange, here in the summer heat in Peru, to think that he had just been in freezing Norway.

Hakan spoke in Quechua to the villagers. Soon they were shouting, giggling, and slapping each other on the backs. Hakan turned to Erec with a grin. “We have rope. You can have. But trade. Rope for you.”

“Rope for me?” Erec repeated, shaking his head to show he did not understand.

Hakan pointed at a girl who stood under a thatched roof of one of the nearby homes. “That Chinpukilla. She like you lot. She need marry now. Want you marry.”

Erec choked. Never mind the fact that Chinpukilla looked like a cross between Godzilla and a slimy giant slug. Never mind that he would sooner kiss Tina, his many-eyed Hydra friend, than this human. Regardless of all that, Erec was not in the market to get married. He was a bit young. And staying here, or carting his new wife around with him, was not an option.

“I…don't think so.” He put his hands up in front of him. “I mean, no offense, but—”

“Chinpukilla love Rec. She never see so beautiful man ever.”

Bethany made a gagging sound near Erec.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Bethany,” he said.

“Not like any of us look good now,” she said.

It was true. Erec knew he must look terrible. But compared to these people, living near the Awen of Beauty for their whole lives, he probably looked like a movie star.

A man walked forward with a stern look, calling out something in Quechua. Hakan said, “This Qhawana. He Chinpukilla father. You new father.”

“Not so fast,” Erec said. “I can't get married. I'm sorry.”

Hakan spoke to Qhawana and then said to Erec, “We give you rope, three llama, and new house. Okay?”

“No!”

Hakan and Qhawana had a quiet conversation. Erec was glad he could not understand them. Then Hakan said, “Rope, four llama, house, and corn patch. Final offer.”

“Think hard, Erec,” Bethany said.

Jack laughed. “Drive a harder bargain, dude. Maybe you can get them to throw in a little money, too. Hey, that's an idea. Maybe we could trade you for the rope, some money, and some more of that great stew. Sounds like a fair trade to me.”

“Shut up.”

Hakan looked like he was considering Jack's words. Erec said, “I'm not getting married. Sorry. Could you give us the rope anyway? We're trying to take this Awen away and help you out.”

“Awen?” Hakan looked confused. “No marry, no rope.”

Jam bowed to Hakan. “Sir, we will think about your kind offer. We must go now on our errand. When we come back we will discuss it.”

After they left, Jam said, “They have rope. Now we just need a plan to get it from them.”

“But first, the Awen of Beauty,” Erec said. They followed the singing crystal around the mountainside into an area that looked even uglier than what they had just seen. “It must be this way.”

N
ASTY STEEL-GRAY ROCK
jutted up on either side of the barren path. Erec tried not to look at his friends; their features were becoming coarser and more disturbing. He knew he must look awful as well, but at least he felt fine.

The singing crystal's pull grew stronger, leading him to a small hole in a rocky ledge under an orchid tree. The tree was in bloom, but its flowers looked like droopy red welts. Erec felt sick looking at it.

Right inside the hole sat a shining green dodecahedron. Black symbols gleamed from its twelve faces. Although the chord ringing from his singing crystal sounded clear and beautiful, the Awen itself looked nasty.

Fear gripped Erec for a moment. He had yet to touch one of the Awen. Would it permanently affect him? Well, there wasn't much choice, and he'd come a long way. He reached in and grabbed it, but it would not move from its spot.

Erec remembered that Lugh had said removing the Awen was almost impossible without the singing crystal. He had called the crystal the master of the Awen. So Erec touched his crystal to the Awen of Beauty. That did the trick. The green twelve-sided object rose from its crevice, lifted by the tip of the crystal into the air, and then dropped into Erec's hand.

Erec felt a rush of satisfaction. He had done it! This quest was possible after all. Soon all of these cursed places would be fixed again.

He spun around with a grin. Melody looked at him and screamed, and Bethany gagged and fainted. Jack, after one glance at Erec, retched several times into the grass. All of them looked even worse than before, so Erec figured he must too.

Jam turned away, a hand out as if to ward off the sight of Erec. His voice shook. “Are you okay, young sir?”

“I'm fine,” Erec said. “I look that bad?”

Jam nodded, facing away. “Put the Awen in your backpack, if you please. Maybe that will help.”

Erec dropped the green glowing dodecahedron into his backpack. “Any better?”

After a quick glimpse, Jack said “no” and threw up again.

“How bad can I look?” Erec asked. It seemed impossible to look bad enough to cause the reactions his friends were having.

Melody's hand sheltered her face from him. “Let's just say the new you features a lot of pus, bones, and bugs.”

Erec's hands flew to his face without thinking. What he touched felt nothing like a face at all. But at least it didn't hurt him. “I'll walk ahead of you so you won't have to see me.”

“Don't look at his back, either,” he heard Bethany say, choking.

As they followed Erec's footsteps up the path, Erec's mom's voice echoed around him. “Listen, Erec. I'm really upset ab—” She gasped, then screamed. After some sputtering, Erec heard nothing else.

“Mom?” There was no answer. She must have taken the glasses off.

Then her voice reappeared and she gagged, crying. “What happened to you? Oh, Erec!”

He stopped and covered his face. “Don't look at me, Mom. Just listen to my voice. I'm fine. I just look bad because I picked up this Awen. It will go away. I promise.” He thought back to the last time they had talked, and he said, “I'm really sorry about what I said to you before. There was another Awen there making everyone angry. I didn't mean any of it.”

Erec heard her breathing hard. She spoke slowly, “Well, I'm glad you're not mad. Are you sure you're not hurt?”

“I'm fine. Just forget what you saw here. It's not real. Okay? I'll talk to you later.”

She murmured something and then was gone.

Jam said, “I think getting the rope may be easier than we thought. Do you agree, Erec? Maybe young Chinpukilla will be less inclined to marry you now.”

Erec laughed. “I'll tell her I agree to the wedding. See what she thinks.”

When they got to the village, Erec paused and let the others go ahead of him. He heard Jam explain to Hakan how much they needed the rope and how Erec had agreed to marry Chinpukilla.
“But I warn you,” Jam said. “Your curse here is not affecting him well at all.”

When Erec walked into the village, people ran away, screaming. Chinpukilla put her hand over her mouth and ran off like she was being hounded by dogs.

Sweating, Hakan said to Jam, “You must take him away. He will bring greater curse. He not stay here.”

Jam looked like he was considering the suggestion. “Are you sure Chinpukilla will get over it?”

Chinpukilla was now shrieking to the mountains.

“Yes, yes.” Hakan nodded. “Take him away.”

Jam scratched his chin. “Hmm…I suppose we could, if you give us a lot of rope.”

“Yes. Rope.” Hakan rushed into the village. Soon everyone was carrying coils of rope out to them. “Please, take.” Erec and his friends grabbed as much as they could carry and then headed toward the tunnel.

“Thank you,” Jam said as he left. “I think your Earth Mother spirit will forgive you for doing such a good deed.”

 

The singing crystal pulled Erec ahead toward the rocky tunnel leading back to the Great Wall of China. He grabbed his parka and climbed in first, facing away from everyone else, and hanging his hood over his head to shield himself from their view.

Still, groans echoed in the tunnel behind him. “I think we all look a lot worse now,” Bethany said. “I mean, nothing near as bad as Erec.” Then after a pause she called ahead, “Sorry, Erec.”

“It's okay,” he said. “Just as long as it goes away eventually.”

They passed around the Serving Tray, but this time they did not share the food it produced with each other. All of them ate with their eyes closed, which was the only way they could enjoy their
meal. The Awen of Beauty made their food look bad, and looking at each other was enough to turn their stomachs.

“Maybe we should talk with our eyes closed too,” Melody said, relieved.

“Great idea,” Bethany agreed. “Hey, Melody, could I ask you a favor?”

Suddenly, Erec remembered what Melody's gift was. He knew what Bethany was about to ask her for, and he fully approved.

“Yeah?” Melody asked.

“Could you play us something? This trip has been a little intense. And we don't know what tomorrow holds. It would be so nice and relaxing. If you don't mind, I mean.”

Everyone born in the Kingdoms of the Keepers had a magical gift. Erec's gift was his cloudy thoughts, and Bethany's was her mathematical ability. Jack could talk to animals, and Jam was always prepared. Melody's gift was exceptional. She could produce the most beautiful music Erec had ever heard.

Soon, a mesmerizing, gorgeous refrain filled the tunnel. Erec immediately relaxed. The visual horrors of the day were washed away. He snuck a glance and saw one of Melody's legs sawing over the other like a bow across a violin and her arms and fingers waving through the air. He looked away quickly so nobody would see his face, and also because she appeared grotesque with the Awen of Beauty nearby. But with his eyes closed, the music was sweet and perfect. The sounds of violins, oboes, harps, and bells swelled together in perfect harmony. Erec remembered that she could make sounds from even the flutter of her eyelids.

After the concert they all felt considerably better. “Thank goodness the Awen still lets us hear beauty in music,” Jam said.

Bethany yawned. “I think we should get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be rough, I think.”

“I wish we could see what people back in the village look like now that we took their Awen of Beauty away,” Jack said. “They're probably celebrating.”

“And thankful that they sent all their bad luck away with Erec,” Bethany said.

They made themselves comfortable on their down parkas, and Erec asked the Serving Tray for big marshmallow pillows for everybody again. One glimpse at the pillows made him disgusted. They were full of gloppy green goo, but they felt comfortable. When he closed his eyes he fell fast asleep.

 

Erec awoke the next morning to shrieks and shouts. Someone had awakened and screamed upon seeing the others, which had set off a chain reaction. He glanced back to see what was going on, but then everyone's screams turned into sounds of full-fledged terror and gagging.

“Sorry.” He looked the other way, putting his hood over his head. “At least where we're going next we won't see each other so well.”

“That's a relief,” he heard Jack say behind him.

Erec remembered the way to the crevice in the Great Wall, even though the singing crystal was pulling him there anyway. He was glad the mists blocked everything, including his face, from view. It wasn't far. Soon, the immense shadow of the Great Wall of China loomed before him.

“I really hope I can see this someday when the fog is gone,” he said. “I'm sure it's amazing.”

“It must be,” Bethany said, “if that druid guy, Bile, picked this spot for his precious Awen.”

Erec jiggled the rock, and again a piece came out in his hand just as his singing crystal struck a chord. Behind it was a hazy blue
glow. If he squinted at it he could see that it had sides, another dodecahedron. He pulled it, but it did not budge from where it was wedged. Then Erec remembered and touched his crystal to it. The blurry blue object rose in the air at the crystal's tip. He brought it over his hand and let it fall.

All went black. There was not even the hint of shape or color around him. Erec froze. “Guys? You okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” he heard Jack say. “'Cept my vision just got worse when you pulled that thing out. Hard to tell for sure through the fog, but the wall looks like a big blur.”

“I can't see anything,” Erec said, still frozen. “It's solid black.”

He could hear discussion around him. Some voices seemed nearer than others. Jam sounded close. “If young sir cannot see holding the Awen of Sight, I will gladly be the one to carry it.”

“Thanks, Jam. But I'm okay.” Right now, swamped in complete blackness, Erec just wanted to see a glimpse of what was around him again. But he dragged everyone here along with him. It was only right that he should have to bear the burdens of the Awen.

A strange noise came from nearby. It gave Erec the chills, not knowing what it was. Then he heard Jack say, choking, “I can't handle this. Don't walk over here, guys. I just threw up again. I mean, you'd think it would be better not being able to see you as well. But it's worse. I just got a glimpse of Erec, and it was like this distorted, rotting, worm infested corpse-thing coming at me through the mist.”

“Time for me to enter a beauty contest, sounds like.” Erec said. “Maybe I should compete against Baskania.”

“Yeah, you win, hands down.” Bethany's voice was choked. “Sorry. I see what Jack's saying. Problem is, it's so hard to see, I can't stop looking at you by accident. Not like looking at anybody here is fantastic now.”

Jack sounded annoyed. “It's not fair for you to carry the Awen of Sight, Erec. You're the worst one to look at. Someone else should get to have it. It would be a relief to be blinded if it means I don't have to see you again.”

A spurt of laughter popped from Erec's mouth at the idea that he looked so bad his friends might fight over who got to be blinded near him. Unfortunately, the sudden laugh must have made everyone glance his way because he heard more screams, moans, and throwing up.

“I'm happy to give this to someone else,” Erec said. “You want it, Jack?”

There was a pause. “You sure nobody else wants it?” Jack's voice said. “I'm happy to take it.”

“Go ahead,” everyone murmured.

Jam unzipped Jack's backpack and put Erec's hand over its large pocket.

“Now drop it, young sir,” Jam said.

The minute that the blue dodecahedron left his hand, vision sprang back to Erec's eyes. But he did not have quite the vision he'd had before. He could see what the others were describing. Even though he was right next to the Great Wall, the stones were blurred and distorted. Jam's red, puffy face seemed to pop out in odd blurs through the mist. It was a frightening effect, and he could imagine how bad looking at himself must have been.

Jack stood still. “I can't see anything.”

“Yeah, I know,” Erec said. “It's pitch-black when you're carrying that thing. We'll have to lead you out of here.”

“Yeah,” Jack said. “But it's still a relief that I'm not going to see Erec's face again.” He gagged, remembering it. “Hey, no offense, Erec, but could someone else lead me out of here?”

“I think this is a good time to use the rope,” Jam said. “We'll
need it for sure in Norway, with the earth cracking away under our feet, especially since we can't see well anymore.”

That's right, Erec thought. He would have to climb over a crumbling abyss to pick up the Awen of Creation without being able to see well. Chances were, the entire cavern would crumble into the sea a mile below after he picked the thing up. He wasn't sure how they would use the rope, but they definitely needed a plan.

 

Jam, as usual, proved amazingly helpful. He laid out the ropes and knotted the longest two segments together. With his eyes closed, Jam handed one end of the rope to Erec. “Wrap this twice around your chest, under your arms, and I'll knot it securely at your back.” He then measured out four feet of rope and told Bethany to wrap the next coils around herself the same way. After knotting her back, he did the same with himself, allowing another four feet of rope before handing the next part to Jack. “This puts you right between me and Melody,” he told Jack. “Erec is way up front, far away from you.”

Erec knew this lineup was meant to comfort Jack, and he couldn't get over the strangeness of looking bad enough to inspire that kind of comment. Jam measured out a few more feet and handed the end of the rope to Melody to wrap around herself a few times. He tied some extra knots around Melody's and Erec's rope ends.