Elliot and the Last Underworld War Read Online Free PDF Page A

still too much to be done. Elliot joined the Brownies in piling up kindling, making sure there were no gaps.
    “Hurry!” he said.
    “Elliot!”
    Surprised, Elliot jumped a little, then turned. When he saw who had come, he jumped again. He wasn’t surprised , really. Startled might be a better word.
    Dear Reader, even though the two words mean nearly the same thing, there is a very big difference between being surprised and being startled. Surprised is when it’s your birthday and you get a large gift from your brother that you had not been expecting. Startled is when that gift turns out to be a giant python. It’s a good thing that it’s not necessary to explain what the word horrified means, because otherwise we would have to discuss that giant python swallowing your birthday party guests whole. The good news is there will be lots of birthday cake left for you. Surprise!
    Unfortunately, it was not Elliot’s birthday. And his brother probably wouldn’t give him a giant python anyway, mostly because it wouldn’t hold still long enough for Reed to wrap it. So when Elliot was startled, it was because Agatha the Hag had just appeared beside him.
    Elliot had first met Agatha very soon after he became the Brownie king. In most ways she was the exact opposite of Fidget the Pixie. Fidget was young, fashionable, and beautiful. Agatha was older than dust and wore ragged clothes that were held together by little more than cobwebs. Her skin was dry and wrinkled, and she was dotted with warts. Worst of all, her left eye bulged out so far from her head, it seemed likely to fall out and land on him at any minute.
    “I came to help,” Agatha said. “It’s about time the Underworld started fighting back.”
    “The Underworld has some powerful magical creatures,” Elliot said. “Why aren’t they fighting?”
    “Nobody knows what to do. Kovol is stronger than any one of us. And we haven’t had to work together for a thousand years.”
    “Not since the first Underworld war.” Elliot remembered what the Brownies had taught him about the war that happened a thousand years ago when all the creatures of the Underworld had stood up to Kovol and the Shadow Men. “They worked together then, and now it’s time we do that again.”
    As the last of the kindling was put into place, the Brownies used their magic to light cold fires on their hands and quickly set them on the kindling. Elliot had first seen Mr. Willimaker light a cold fire while they were on their way to Demon Territory one night. It was bright and gave off a little warmth, but it wouldn’t burn on its own. As long as the Brownies used their magic to keep the fire alive and the Pixies kept the light above them, they could keep the Shadow Men out of Burrowsville.
    Patches ran to Elliot. “We’re ready. Are you sure this will work?”
    “If everyone does their part, it’ll work.” Elliot started walking, keeping his eyes open for any dark holes in the dome. Agatha hobbled beside him on her cane.
    “You don’t have to be here,” he said, thinking of how much older she looked and acted than when he’d last seen her. “You should rest somewhere.”
    “You forget that I’m really a beautiful young woman,” Agatha said.
    “Oh, right.” Elliot hadn’t really forgotten, but it was tough to look at her deep layers of wrinkles and remember that a woman even more beautiful than an angel was hiding inside.
    “Besides, you might need me,” Agatha added.
    Before Elliot could answer, a Brownie far from them shouted, “They’re here! The Shadow Men have come!”
    Elliot ran toward the Brownie who had cried out. It was hard to see through the Pixies’ light and the Brownies’ fire, but sure enough, an entire army of Shadow Men was on the other side, ready to attack.
    Elliot’s gut did a belly flop as he stood frozen for a moment. He’d faced Grissel the Goblin and a Shapeshifter posing as a werewolf, and even Cami Wortson when she was mad at him. But he feared