Hunk and Thud Read Online Free PDF Page B

Warg and the goblins joined in.
    â€˜No!’ shouted Big Rock and Jack together, as Robin was dragged away towards a hut that had the word “Kitchen” over the door. Robin struggled, trying to break free, but there were too many goblins holding him, on his back, and hanging onto his mane and tail, stopping him from fighting back.
    As he watched his struggling friend being dragged towards the kitchen, Jack felt tears come into his eyes.
    Then he realised … they weren’t tears. They were … hard. Like transparent shale. And a tingly sensation was starting to go through him.
    He also realised that he was no longer looking
up
at Lord Veto, but down at him.
    GRRRRRAAAARRRRRR!
    Jack had meant to shout out
Stop!
, but instead it came out as a deep slow roaring sound. Everyone turned towards Jack. Or, rather, where Jack had been. Because now, in his place, stood a huge troll who simply broke the chain around his ankles. That chain had been too strong for Jack, the small, thin boy, but for Thud the Wrestling Troll, the chain snapped as if it was paper.
    Lord Veto and Warg and Govo and the goblins stared up at Jack, their mouths open, stunned. As did the goblins who had been dragging Robin towards the kitchen.

    â€œWhere did that Troll come from?” yelled Lord Veto.
    Thud reached down and grabbed Lord Veto up in one huge fist, and Govo, the goblin leader in the other.
    â€˜Help!’ yelled Lord Veto in a panic.
    Warg leapt into action, throwing himself at Thud and grabbing him round the waist.
    Thud kicked out, but Warg hung on grimly.
    Big Rock, now free of being chained to Jack, but still shackled, grabbed Warg by the back of the neck and tried to pull him off Thud; but the orc had now got a firm grip of his long arms around Thud’s waist. The other goblins had recovered after their initial shock and now joined in, jumping on Big Rock and Thud and climbing up the huge trolls, determined to topple them both by weight of numbers. Thud could feel himself being dragged down as more and more goblins climbed up on to him … this was it … he was being brought down!

CHAPTER 10
    The goblins who had climbed up him began to beat him with their clubs and Thud heard a ringing in his head … Then the noise changed from a ringing to what sounded like trumpets blowing, and the sound of hooves.
    And then he realised that the noise wasn’t inside his head – it was real! It was here!
    With a sudden effort, Thud shook off the goblins hanging from his shoulders and head, and saw that a small army was drawing closer to them, soldiers in armour mounted on horseback, with a banner flying at the front of the column: the flag of Princess Ava of Weevil! The sound of trumpets and the clatter of hooves panicked some of the goblins, but a desperate shout from Govo stopped them from running away.
    â€˜We must protect our gold!’ yelled Govo.
    Meanwhile, Lord Veto had wriggled free from Thud’s grip.
    â€˜Run for the carriage, Warg!’ he shouted.
    Lord Veto and his orc ran as fast as they could towards their purple coach. Thud saw them scramble aboard, and Warg shouted at the two yellow horses, and the coach raced off, throwing up dust.

    Big Rock was busy, picking up goblins and banging their heads together and throwing them unconscious on the ground, then picking up another pair and doing the same.
    By now the column of mounted soldiers had reached the mine head. The first two to dismount were Sam Dent, the wrestler, and a smaller figure wearing a wrestler’s leotard and a mask.
    â€˜Princess Ava!’ called Robin.
    â€˜The Masked Avenger!’ corrected the small figure.
    â€˜Of course,’ Robin apologised. ‘My apologies, your Highness. Er … your Masked Avengerness.’
    â€˜Where’s Milo?’ asked Sam.
    â€˜In cave,’ said Big Rock, pointing to the cave entrance with one hand, while with the other he picked up another goblin, turned him