Amos Daragon_ The Mask Wearer - Bryan Perro [39]
Amos was speechless. Everything was happening so fast.
“By the way,” Junos went on, tears in his eyes, “I also asked my men to search all the lands of Berrion, and we found your parents. They’re in one of the rooms of the castle. Come, let us go see them!”
The reunion was very moving. Amos threw himself into his parents’ arms and they in turn jumped with joy. Urban explained to Amos how he and Frilla had barely had time to flee Bratel-la-Grande. Immediately after Amos and Beorf were banished, they had devised a plan. They packed their belongings and loaded them onto a horse. Since they knew where Barthelemy kept his armor, Urban slipped it on. At the door of the city, riding his mount proudly, he presented himself as a knight. Walking by the side of the horse, her hands tied behind her back, Frilla pretended to be a prisoner. Urban gave the order to open the gates of the city once more to expel the mother of one of the two boys banished earlier. The guard obeyed. As soon as the gates closed behind them, Frilla got rid of the rope and jumped on the horse, and she and Urban sped off into the night. That was how they had managed to escape before the gorgons’ attack.
In turn, Amos wanted to tell his parents his story, but Junos had already related to Urban and Frilla how he had met their son, and told them of their journey into the woods of Tarkasis.
That night, before going to bed in the room Junos had chosen for him, Amos tried on the mask again. He was alone, and the moment seemed propitious to test his new skill. For the first time, he noticed that the mask disappeared completely when it touched his skin. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, Amos was surprised to realize that although he could feel the mask move over his face, it remained invisible to the human eye. Amos confirmed this when he opened the door of his room and asked a guard posted in the corridor to come inside and open a window that was stuck. The man obliged, oblivious to the mask Amos still wore.
Once the guard left, Amos grew dizzy. He was breathing as he had never done before. It was as if the air were entering every pore of his skin. He lifted his head and saw the Lady in White. She was now eight years old and was playing with the pillows on the bed.
“Do not worry,” she said casually. “The mask molds to your features. It will take a bit of time before it knows you. Right now it is probing you and soon it will be in touch with your mind. Then it will send a spark.”
As the Lady in White had warned, Amos suddenly felt as if a bolt of lightning were shooting through his body. He cried out. The pain in his head was so intense that he fell to his knees, paralyzed by the throbbing that kept getting worse. It felt like torture. After a few agonizing minutes, the pain disappeared and Amos was able to get to his feet again. The little girl in her white dress was jumping up and down on the bed now.
“That’s it! You’ll never be able to remove this mask from your face,” she told him. “The other masks, should you find them, will fit together over this one. The power of the wind is now in you! This force will return to the mask only when you die. Come, now!”
The Lady in White took Amos by the hand and led him toward the balcony. From there, they had a splendid view of the city of Berrion. Night had fallen. Torches and bonfires illuminated the nocturnal activities.
“Go ahead,” she said. “Raise the wind!”
Amos extended his left arm. A strong and steady breeze made the torches flicker over a large part of the city.
“Since you are now endowed with a great gift, I believe that you no longer need me,” the little girl in white said. “You’ll come to realize that you can also move a large quantity