The Secret of Ashona Read Online Free PDF Page B

when we’re gone?” Erec asked.
    June’s shoulders dropped. “What am I thinking? I’m so upset, I forgot all about Nell coming home. I’ll just call her now. . . . No.” She sighed. “I’ll stay here. You two will be fine with Jam. Just hurry back and let me know what is going on.”
    “Okay, Mom.” He gave her a hug, and Jam and Bethany followed him into the Port-O-Door. They closed the vestibule door behind them and a screen lit up with four colored quadrants and an orange bar at the bottom labeled UPPER EARTH . He pressed the orange bar, and a world atlas sprang into view.
    “The Oracle’s in Greece.” Erec tapped a finger on the eastern Mediterranean Sea and that part enlarged to fill the screen.
    “There it is.” Bethany touched the city of Delphi, and when it enlarged she found Mount Parnassus. “The Oracle is right here. Remember?”
    Erec did not want to think about the last time he had spoken to the three Fates at the Oracle—back then he had thought that Bethany was dead. But now poor Trevor might be soon if he didn’t work fast. He placed the Port-O-Door into a tree trunk near the base of the mountainside and swung the door open into the sunshine.
    The Castilian spring that trickled from Mount Parnassus sprung into view as soon as they stepped out of the Port-O-Door. Erec took off running for it, hope building, but then his mind filled with questions. What would he find out from the Fates? They knew the future. What if they said that he could never talk to the Furies again? Then he would not be able to save his brother or his soul.
    Which brought another thought into his mind. What about his other lost brother? And his missing sister? Now was the time to ask the Fates about them, too. Erec was one of King Piter’s triplets. His other two birth siblings were supposed to join him on his quests so that they could become the next three rulers of the Kingdoms of the Keepers. He needed to find them—they would help with everything that he was doing. It would be great to find his missing mother, too. Queen Hesti had disappeared at the same time as his siblings did, and he was raised by June, who used to be one of the castle nursemaids when Erec was little. The Fates knew everything, so maybe they could help. They usually didn’t mind telling him things—at least when they were in the right mood.
    Soon the Oracle, a plain-looking stone well, was in view. Nothing about it seemed unusual at first glance, other than that the water inside was extremely dark and deep. Erec swallowed his nervousness and thought about what he had to do.
    “Oh, no.” Bethany backed away, her hand up blocking her vision. “I don’t want to watch this.”
    “Sorry.” Erec flashed her a grin. “It’s probably going to look awful.”
    “Oh, yes.” Jam cleared his throat. “I forgot . . . I mean, you look perfectly respectable when your dragon eyes are out, young sir.”
    Erec took a breath. In order to call the Fates to the Oracle, he had to act as a medium, using his dragon eyes to look into the future. With all of his excitement about talking to the Fates, and worries about Trevor and his soul, he had forgotten that he would have to glimpse into his own future. And it was the last thing he wanted to do right now.
    Sometimes Erec could direct what he saw in his future. His magic tutor and guardian, the Hermit, had told him that deep inside his heart he already knew all of the answers. When he looked intothe future with his dragon eyes, he was simply showing himself what he needed to see. Maybe he would just ask himself to show what would happen to Trevor, and find out if he would be okay.
    Then again, he was terrified to learn the answer to that. What if Trevor would not be okay? Then Erec wouldn’t be able to keep on going.
    He fought to overcome his fear, then he leaned over the well so the Fates would sense when he looked into the future. He closed his eyes.
    Please, show me something that has nothing to do with