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

others wanted to say. Because the answer was probably pretty cool.
    “Get out of here while you still can,” Elliot warned. He had tried to sound brave, but it felt like something inside his belly was doing somersaults.
    They took a step forward and all said, “You will serve Kovol forever or else pay the price of doom.”
    Elliot snorted, not sure exactly what the going price for doom was these days. “No way! I’ll already be in trouble if my mom finds out I’m down here fighting an Underworld war without permission. Can you imagine if she found out I promised to serve some ugly super villain?”
    They laughed, all of them with the exact same laugh. Which would have been fine if Elliot had told a joke. But he hadn’t. So it was actually sort of creepy.
    “Then you will be the first human Kovol destroys,” they said. “Leave with us now, and save this place from doom.”
    Sheesh , Elliot thought. The Shadow Men really had a thing for doom. Although he very much liked the idea of their leaving, no way was he going with them. His family had a very strict rule about never going anywhere with strangers. And even if they didn’t have the rule, Elliot knew that leaving with the Shadow Men was a terrible idea.
    Elliot’s hands folded into fists. “I said to leave while you still can.”
    “We’ll only leave with you as our prisoner.”
    Elliot shook his head. “You’re trapped inside this dome of light. I think that you are my prisoners.”
    Another laugh, even creepier this time. Then the Shadow Men spread out, surrounding him. They flew to their left, faster and faster, swirling around Elliot. He sank to the ground as they pulled air away from him, sucking it from his lungs. He was really scared but also sort of annoyed. They were supposed to be his prisoners, yet he was the one who was trapped. This wasn’t fair!
    Elliot should have been used to things in his life not being fair. It wasn’t fair that when he was five, Tubs stole his sandwich every day for a whole month and he had to eat napkins for lunch. It wasn’t fair that his house had been blown up by the Goblins, or that day when Wendy had accidentally shaved the middle of his head and given him a backward Mohawk. But somehow this not-fair moment seemed worse than all the others combined.
    Just as Elliot felt the last of his air being sucked away from him, the Shadow Men let out a pained screech as in their swirling three of them crashed into a wall of light. Air filled Elliot’s lungs again and he looked up. Agatha had transformed into her angel self and, with her hands held high, created a light so white it hurt his eyes.
    Her wobbly cane was still in her hands, but now it was as bright as the sun. It created a line above her head that seemed to give the Shadow Men pain if they came anywhere close to it.
    Elliot stood and ran to where the Shadow Men could hear him. “Tell Kovol to go back to Demon Territory and stop this war,” he warned. “If he doesn’t, we will defeat him.”
    “You’re only a human,” the last two Shadow Men said. “We’ll tell Kovol nothing for you.”
    “Fine! Then he’ll find out on his own!” Elliot threw up his hands and began walking away. Add stubbornness to the list of things he didn’t like about Shadow Men.
    “Elliot, look out!” Agatha cried.
    Before Elliot turned, he felt the hot claw of a Shadow Man grab his shoulder. Even through his shirt he felt its burn.
    “Catch this!” Agatha tossed her cane at him, and Elliot ripped free and dove for it. As soon as it was in his hands, he swerved around and struck the Shadow Man in the chest. It screeched for only an instant before its cloak dissolved and fell like ashes at his feet.
    “This is over for now, but we’ll be back,” the remaining Shadow Man said. “And next time it won’t be so easy for you.”
    He fled up in the air toward the light dome. He tried to push through it but disappeared, as shadows will. Nothing came through on the other side.