The Search for Truth (26 page)

Foggy wisps fluttered in the air, gradually forming into the hazy shape of a boat. Its vague edges churned like a cloud, and soon figures appeared—the wraithlike sailors who had taken them to Avalon. The ghost ship shimmered in the sunlight. Soon it slid onto shore, silent as the mist.

Lugh spoke to the ghosts in a strange tongue that Erec could not understand. They seemed to be nodding, but when Erec looked straight at them they were hard to see.

Lugh said, “They will not bring you back here after you bury the Awen. Let us not bring Jam onto the boat first.”

They carried Jam, spitting and growling, into the ship. As soon as
Erec walked off the ghost ship he felt wonderful. He grinned, “It's over! The Awen of Harmony is leaving Avalon. It feels great here now!”

Lugh was prancing and spinning through the air, singing songs in a strange tongue. “You did it, Erec! You saved us!” Then his face grew sober. “At least for three weeks. Yet even three weeks of freedom will be pure bliss. I cannot wait to celebrate with you when you return.”

“I hope it will be forever, not just a few weeks,” Erec said. “Once I hook the Awen to the Twrch Trwyth—”

“The what?” Lugh looked a little disappointed. “That can't happen. It's been tried again and again. It's not impossible. I mean, it's impossible.” He smiled faintly. “Sorry, it's hard to drop the opposite thing.”

Erec said, “There is a small chance it might work this time. I have the Fates on my side.” He did not tell Lugh that the Twrch Trwyth was missing, and he had no idea how to hook the Awen to it safely.

Dagda and Brigid were celebrating and hugging when they returned. “I've never felt this great!” Brigid sung.

“Who would be best to put on the boat next?” Erec asked. “I suppose Jack. He won't cause too much ruckus there.”

The ground shook under the tree where Melody was tied. Branches fell around her. She called to Erec, “Hey, down there! Sorry about all I said before. Just got caught up by the Awen, I guess.” She looked at Erec with a doleful expression, then immediately turned away in revulsion.

“You okay hanging like that?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Better than causing avalanches and falling into pits.”

Erec went to the tunnel and said to Jack, “Climb out now.”

Jack did as he was told, leaving Bethany there asleep. Mist swirled after Jack into Avalon, and soon it was very hard to see. Jack perked up when he stepped out. “Where are we?” He felt around him until Lugh and Brigid grabbed his hands.

“We're in Avalon now,” Erec said. “We've got all the Awen. Jam's in the boat. He's a mess now.”

The druids led Jack into the ghost ship, and soon Avalon cleared again.

“Time to get Melody, I guess,” Erec said.

Lugh shook his head. “I think it's best to put your other friend on the boat first. Melody will cause titanic waves. Once she is on board, you will want to cross fast.”

They returned to the cave entrance. “How will I get her there?” Erec asked.

“Your crystal will lead you,” said Brigid. “There are two Awen on that boat. It will pull you there.”

Erec rehearsed in his mind, “Follow the crystal into the boat. Follow the crystal into the boat.” He reached in and picked Bethany up, throwing her over his shoulder.

She was heavy, though, and he wondered if he should put her down. “Follow the crystal into the boat.” What was that in his head? Something he should do. The crystal was in his hand, pulling him. There were no instructions about putting the heavy weight down, so he just followed the crystal.

Soon they came upon a sea of mist. The crystal pulled him into it. He started feeling awful. Angry. He couldn't see anything. He did not know what to do. This stunk. He threw down the heavy thing on his shoulder. Strange ghostlike hands shoved him out of the mist and down a plank.

Then his head cleared. He was standing on the shore, relieved he had managed to load Bethany onto the ship. With Lugh, Dagda, and Brigid, he went back for Melody. “You ready?” he called to her.

“Ready as ever,” she said. Lugh climbed the tree and let her down. When she landed on the ground it started to cave in, but Erec and Dagda grabbed the rope and lifted her high, carrying her with their arms over their heads.

Dagda only tripped once over the shifting ground, but when Melody dropped, a tree fell right next to them. They swooped her back up and swung her onto the ship.

“Will she sink it?” Erec asked.

“The ghost ship won't be affected,” Brigid explained. “But the water around it will. The sailors will do their best not to lose you on the way. And they will push you ashore when you get there.”

Erec could not see anything through the mist except for a strange shape high in the air. Looking closer, he saw that the sailors had tied Melody up onto their mast.

“See you soon, I hope.” Erec waved to them as he walked onto the ship. Where was he? He couldn't see and he felt terrible. Angry. He didn't know why, but everything was wrong. He caught glimpses of people here and there in the mist. They looked ugly and horrible. He hated them. Waves crashed overhead, soaking his clothing. He hated the waves, too. It was all their fault that he felt bad. Someone close by was raging and screaming. It was bad, very bad, and it would never end. He crossed his arms tight around his chest, wanting to fight someone.

Before long someone was pushing him. “Leave me alone!” he shouted. He stumbled onto a rocky shore and was clearheaded once more. Now he had to secure the Awen.

E
REC SPLASHED WATER
on his face, and in a moment of stillness between the waves, he caught a reflection of himself. He choked. How could his friends have managed to look at him all this time? His face looked like a rotting zombie out of a horror movie. Erec backed away, terrified. He had to find a place to bury the Awen fast.

The shoreline was rocky, and the ocean waves pounded against it relentlessly. Better not to bury them near the water, he decided. He
walked toward a cliff, through a strip of icy grasses. Nearby he spotted a huge rock by a spiny furze shrub. That seemed like a good spot.

Erec found a stout stick, dusted the snow off it, and scraped the ground. He was going to lever it out of place. But the ground was hard and icy. As hard as he tried, he could not poke a hole into it. Finally, in frustration, he ran back to the ship. “Send Melody out,” he called to the ghost sailors.

He could hear noises and Melody complaining, and then she stumbled down the plank toward him. A pit formed underneath her when she tripped on the shore. Waves crashed around them, and a stormy wind began to blow hard pebbles into their faces. He explained quickly what he needed her to do, and helped her to the spot by the rock, pulling her out of pits she was creating with each step. When she got to the rock, she kicked the frozen dirt a few times, and it soon crumbled under her into a hole.

“That's great, Melody,” Erec said. “Now let me give you my Awen.”

Melody opened her backpack. Erec pulled out his Awen of Beauty and placed it in her pack with the Awen of Creation. They dropped it into the hole and backed away.

Melody stamped her feet a few times, but nothing happened. Overjoyed, she threw her arms around Erec. “Thank goodness. Plus, you look so much better.”

Neither of them would look normal, though, until they were away from the Awen. Wind whipped stones through the air at them, but Melody could now stand without the earth melting beneath her since she was no longer holding her Awen.

“Who should we get next?” she asked.

Erec thought about it. He could not get Jam until there were more people to help hold him down. And Erec wanted to put off bringing Bethany out as long as possible. “I guess Jack.”

Erec called to the sailors to send Jack off the ship. Fog rolled out with him onto the beach, making it hard to see. “This way, Jack.” Erec led him to the hole. He took the Awen of Sight out of Jack's backpack, and suddenly everything was black.

“Awesome, I can see again!” he heard Jack say. Then, with relief, “You look a lot better, bud. I mean, not great, but still…”

With a stick, Melody lifted the backpack from the hole and brought it to Erec. “Just drop it,” she said. Erec let go, and the Awen of Sight joined the other two in the backpack. That helped a lot.

“Think we can handle Jam?” Erec asked them. He called to the sailors to send Jam out, and a snarling, rolled-up Jam slid down the plank. His face was red and sweaty. He growled, trying to reach Erec and bite him.

Erec almost lost his temper, but he said, “Don't speak in opposites, guys. Don't follow me.”

They laid Jam down by the hole and unrolled him. As soon as he was loose, he dove at Jack, but the three of them wrestled him down. Melody lifted the backpack from the hole with the stick and laid it next to Jam's. Erec tilted the side of Jam's pack up and let the Awen roll into hers. Melody lowered it back into the hole. Jam collapsed, exhausted.

“Now we just need Bethany,” Erec said, growing angry. He stopped himself. “We do not need Bethany. You three, do not go on the boat. Then do not give me instructions from there.”

As soon as the others boarded the boat, Erec called, “Don't send Bethany out here.”

Bethany slid down the plank, unconscious, into the mist. Erec felt angry at how helpless she was.

Someone yelled to him, “Take Bethany to the big rock.” They kept yelling it over and over. He didn't like being told what to do. It wasn't nice. But he didn't know what else to do. He grabbed Bethany by the hair.

“Pull her by her arms,” someone shouted. Why were they always yelling at him? He grabbed her arm and tugged her over to the rock. “Take the backpack from the hole,” someone yelled. He made a face toward them. Fine. He could lift it out with a stick.

A girl's voice yelled, “Dump Bethany's backpack into the other one,” again and again. So he did it.

“Drop it in the hole,” someone shouted. He did, and then Bethany started to move.

She sat up, dazed. Then she made a face at Erec. “I don't like you.”

“I don't like you, either,” he said.

With his friends' directions, he covered up the backpack with dirt, then shoved the rock over it, angrily. Then he and Bethany followed their friends' calls back on to the ship. Grumbling, the two of them walked to the plank and climbed aboard.

Cheers echoed over the waves as the five congratulated one another. It felt so good to see again, be happy, and know what was going on, let alone feel safe and not look disgusting.

 

Erec had never felt happier than he did in Avalon that night. They had done it, taken the awful Awen away from those poor people. Even if he did not succeed, and the Awen returned in three weeks, he would have given his druid friends and the Peruvian villagers a needed break. They kept dancing, singing crazy songs, and jumping with joy.

“We want to give you gifts,” Brigid smiled. Erec had not noticed how nice the druids looked, like storybook fairies come to life. They were kind and playful now that the Awen was gone. “We will read your spirits,” she said, “and decide your gifts from that. It is a tradition that druids give fun gifts. We love jokes, you see. So they will be practical gifts, like practical jokes.”

The three druids studied Erec and his friends, then disappeared into the tunnels in their cave. Erec heard hysterical laughter coming
out. He was glad, because it must have been a long time since they had laughed like this. It reminded him of the Hermit, who was always laughing about something. Erec would need to find him soon.

When they returned, Brigid pulled out a tall black bag tied with a silver tassel. She announced, “This is for you, Erec, for all you did for us.” She burst into a fit of giggles, and at that point Erec didn't care if the gift was a smelly sock. It was enough of a present just to see her so happy.

He was shocked when Brigid pulled three golden scepters out of the bag. For a minute, he froze. They looked just like the ones King Piter, Queen Posey, and King Pluto had. How did they know? He edged away from them, shaking his head. What would he do? The last thing he needed was a scepter, never mind three of them.

But something was different about these. He couldn't put a finger on it at first, but then he realized. He wasn't drawn to them. They just seemed like ornate gold posts that held no attraction for him at all. He was curious to look at them closer but did not want to make the mistake of touching one and getting sucked in by it.

Brigid's hand covered her mouth, and she was giggling despite her efforts. Dagda snickered. “These will be good for you to practice with.” He picked one up and tossed it to Erec.

When it fell into his lap, Erec was stunned a moment, waiting. But nothing happened. He could feel no magic at all coming from it. It was refreshing in a way, seeing a scepter that did nothing. “Are they fake?” he asked.

“These are for you to get used to being around scepters without losing your mind.” Lugh laughed.

“You can program them,” Dagda explained. “If you put a hair or two from someone into a slot at the base, it will work for them.”

“Cool,” Erec said. “What can they do?”

“Try it sometime,” Lugh said, laughing. “You'll see.”

“Now Jam.” Dagda handed him a shining silver tray. “This is a Serving Tray. But a different kind than the one you had. Try it out.”

“Thank you, kind sir.” Jam looked at it hesitantly. “Um, may I please have some ambrosia?”

“A sensible choice.” Lugh laughed again.

On the silver platter appeared a bowl of something chunky, like ambrosia, but it had a terrible smell. When Erec looked closer, he saw it contained rusty, bent nails, rotten apple pieces, and crawling slugs.

“Oh!” Jam politely took the nasty food off the tray. He dusted the new tray off and put it in a pocket in his vest that fit it perfectly. “Thank you so much.” He nodded as if greatly pleased.

Lugh handed a scroll to Jack. “For you, Jack, a treasure map. You like treasure, I'm sure.”

Jack nodded. He unrolled the scroll and studied it. “This map leads from here to my parents' house in Aorth,” he said. “Is there treasure in my house?”

The druids doubled over laughing. “Yes. Of course.”

Jack thanked them, folded the paper, and put it in his pocket, smirking a bit at Erec as if he thought the druids were crazy.

“Now Bethany,” Brigid said, dragging a big plastic bag over to her. “For you.” She took out a big rock and set it by Bethany.

“Wow, thanks.” Bethany patted the rock. “I've always wanted my own rock.”

“This is a nice rock,” Dagda said. “It screams when a rightful king is crowned, during a coronation, or when it first meets them, whenever you want.”

“Like the Lia Fail?” Bethany looked it over. It did look a lot like the Lia Fail, which was placed at the side of King Piter's throne. That one definitely screamed when the rightful king arrived during a coronation.

“Exactly!” Lugh grinned. “Except this is a fake. You can program
it to scream for whoever you want. There is a little microphone underneath it, and you tell it what to do. Have fun with it.” Lugh fell over laughing.

“Oh, goody,” Bethany said sarcastically. “This will be fun.” She turned it over and saw a small “Made in Avalon” printed on it. Then she thought about it a while. “You know, there might be a time I can use this to surprise Balor Stain. Hmm…”

“And Melody.” Lugh sat next to her. “I really think you need this.” He handed her a case. Inside was a shiny golden flute. “I'm sure you could learn to use it.”

Melody regarded it in surprise. “Thanks.” Everyone in the room knew that she had no need for instruments. She could produce any music she wanted without them.

“Try it,” Lugh insisted.

So Melody picked it up and blew. Instead of music, a horrendous screech came from the thing. “Great.” She shuddered and put it away quickly.

“Oh, almost forgot!” Dagda tossed a package wrapped in paper to Erec. “You have a dog, right? This is a gift for him.”

The package smelled bad. Erec opened it and saw poop inside. “Ugh!” He threw it across the floor.

“Don't want it?” Dagda cracked up. “Lots of different kinds of animal droppings in there. Your dog would love it. You could set up a little showroom for him, like a hands-on museum.”

“No,” Brigid said with a laugh. “A nose-on museum.”

“I think,” Erec said, “I'll pass.”

After an evening of celebrating, Lugh called the ghost ship for them, and the three druids thanked them profusely. “Come back anytime,” they kept saying.

Brigid put a lifting spell on Bethany's fake Lia Fail so she could carry it easily. They hopped on the ghost ship and set sail over
sparkling, calm waters. When the ship neared shore, they all looked uncomfortable, knowing what waited for them on the beach. But Erec spotted an open Port-O-Door on the side of a white cliff by the shore. The Hermit was inside, waving from the vestibule.

 

Erec returned to the small, dark rooms in his mind. His bed in the west wing felt so relaxing and quiet after all he had been through that the first two times he had tried to look into the future with his dragon eyes, he had fallen asleep. But now he was there, visualizing opening one door after another, until he was in the smallest room with the box on the table.

He needed to find out more. Before he had pushed time back to see what had happened earlier with Balor at the castle. He would just push it further now. The Hermit had confidence in him. Surely he would figure this out.

He opened the windows into the riot around the crumbling Castle Alypium. Again, he felt the fear, the rush of power. He stepped away and turned to see himself holding the scepter. Instantly, he was drawn to it, but his hands passed through it.

Not now. He dragged himself away. There were more important things to do. Of course, he thought, those fake scepters the druids had given him didn't help him resist the real one at all. Not that he had expected them to.

Balor stood as before, holding the bronze whistle in his hand. When Erec had backed time up, he had seen Balor blow the whistle to summon the bronze ghosts that were tearing the castle apart. Now he would go further back, find out how to stop this.

He closed his eyes and concentrated.
Go back. More. Further.
It was hard, like pedaling a bike up a cliff. But he could do it.
Move back. Pull time back
…

It looked like a slower version of his cloudy thoughts, a movie
playing backward. But this time he could control it. He let it rewind until they were somewhere else, then he let go and watched.

 

The room sparkled with the light of a hundred candles. Their glittering reflections bounced off of the golden statues, urns, and antiques that artfully filled the room. Balor, Damon, and Dollick Stain looked nervous. Dollick was licking the white, wooly fur on his shoulder until Balor slapped his head. “Cut it out, lamb chop.”

Tall, spindly President Washington Inkle stood nearby, anxiously biting his lips. The scabs around his mouth were worse than usual. Only a few strands of gray were left on his bald head, and he looked bent and shaky, like a noodle in the wind.

Behind a huge desk sat Thanatos Baskania. The circle of eyes rimming his face glanced disconcertingly in all directions. He leaned back in his velvet chair. His nose suddenly flattened, caving in. Skin grew over his mouth until his lower face became a flat plane. Then deep craters appeared in it, covering his cheeks, making his jaws wider, and eyes began to emerge from each pit. Soon his face was covered with eyes, looking everywhere, seeing things that were happening far away.