Elliot and the Last Underworld War

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

  None of the items hurt Kovol, but they distracted him. He couldn't defend against everything, so he tried just zapping the items as they got close to him.

  The distraction gave Elliot a chance to run behind Kovol. He might not have any magic yet for a fight, but when he did have magic earlier he had prepared something special for a moment just like this.

  Once Elliot had gotten a good head start, he yelled at Kovol, "Tubs was right. You're nothing but a bully. I'm not afraid of you, and you'll never catch me."

  Then he ran. If Elliot had learned anything from his days of being bullied, it was how to run away.

  Still, Kovol was catching up to him fast, and the place Elliot wanted to get to was farther away than he remembered. But every plan has a point where there's no turning back. Elliot was way, way past that point.

  Kovol started sending shots of magic forward, almost like lasers. They hit the trees beside Elliot, punching huge holes through their trunks. Elliot began running in a zigzag pattern so that Kovol wouldn't know where his target would be next.

  The zigzag slowed Elliot down, and Kovol was still getting closer. If he hadn't been so interested in hitting Elliot with magic, he might have figured out that he could probably grab Elliot if he reached out far enough.

  Just ahead was a patch of ground with a brown haze over it. Elliot headed directly for it. He recognized the carefully laid-out leaves where he had magically marked the place where he should jump. When he reached it, he leapt forward as far as he could.

  Kovol clearly didn't know the leaves were a signal to jump. He continued running forward...straight into the gripping mud...again.

  "There's no gripping mud on the surface world," Kovol said, thrashing at the mud.

  Elliot stopped and turned back to him. "There is now." He raised his hand to see if he had any magic to use on Kovol, but still there was nothing. He didn't think Kovol had gotten all of his magic, but he'd taken a lot of it, and he needed time to build it up again. Time was the one thing Elliot didn't have. (Well, that, and a solid gold time machine, but he wasn't thinking about that just then.)

  "I can still fight you from here," Kovol growled.

  "Not if you can't see me," Elliot said, already running away. "Until then, you're stuck."

  Elliot left the mud pit and ran toward his brothers and sister, who were on their way to find him. Wendy grabbed him first and closed him into a hug almost as tightly as the way Kovol had squished him before.

  "Okay, okay." Elliot pushed away until he could breathe. "I'm fine."

  "Hey, Elliot," Kyle said. "Me and Cole were thinking that if you're the king of these cookies--"

  "Brownies."

  "Yeah, Brownies. If you're the king, then what can we be?"

  Cole punched a fist into the air. "We want to be your royal knights of the round table."

  "I don't have a round table," Elliot said. "And I don't have any knights."

  "Still, this is pretty big news," Reed said. "I thought it was exciting when I got that promotion last month at the Quack Shack, but that wasn't nearly as cool as this."

  "I'm sorry I didn't tell any of you," Elliot said. "I couldn't, or else the Brownies would have gone away forever. And they needed my help."

  "That's forgiven," Wendy said. "But now that we know, we want to help you. Cami said you have magic."

  Elliot shrugged. "Kovol pulled most of the magic out of me. The Brownies say that when they use their magic too much, they have to wait a while until it works again, sort of like recharging a battery. All I can hope is that I have enough magic left to charge up."

  "Where's Kovol now?" Cami asked.

  "Stuck in gripping mud." Elliot didn't have time to explain what gripping mud was, but his siblings didn't seem too curious. As long as Kovol was stuck, that seemed to be all they cared about.

  "So send all of your Underworld friends to get him now," Reed said.

  Elliot shook his head. "That won't work. Even stuck in the mud, he's still powerful enough to put up a good fight. As soon as it's dark enough, he'll call his army to help him get out. They're called Shadow Men, and they're just as scary as they sound. I don't want to fight Kovol anymore until I know I can win. It's time to end this." He looked at Cami. "Where's Harold?"

  "He's still afraid to make another mistake." Cami frowned. "He said if he does, then I might not like him back. I told him nobody cares when people make mistakes. They only care when people don't try to fix them."

  "So is he coming?"

  Cami shrugged. "He said he'll think about it."

  "Oh, good grief," Elliot said with a sigh. "Where's the turnip juice?"

  She handed it to him. "Here. But you said it isn't ready yet."

  "It's not. And I really don't know how to get that last ingredient." Then he remembered that his sister's food sometimes tasted a little strange. "Hey, Wendy, you don't happen to cook with earwax, do you?"

  She made a face. "Ha-ha."

  "No, seriously. Last week you made some cookies. I kind of thought--"

  "I don't cook with earwax!"

  He held up a hand. "No, I didn't think so." At least a big part of him had hoped not.

  "You need earwax?" Tubs stuck his finger in his ear and pulled out a slimy clump. "I've got some."

  "Thanks, Tubs," Elliot said. "But I need a lot of it for this potion to work."

  "How much do you need?" Tubs reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic sandwich bag with a huge blob of earwax inside. It was every color of gross, and so large he must have been collecting it for years.

  "Disgusting!" Cami said. "How long have you had that?"

  "Since I started preschool," Tubs said. "Do you like it?"

  "No!" Cami and Wendy said together.

  "Yes!" Kyle and Cole said at the same time.

  Reed said nothing. Either he didn't have a very strong opinion on the subject of earwax collections, or else he was too grossed out to speak.

  Elliot held out his hand for the earwax. "Well, I love it. Can I have it?"

  Tubs pulled it closer to himself. "I dunno. I almost threw it at Kovol before, when we were all throwing things, but then I remembered how long I've been working on this collection. I can't just give it away for nothing."

  "How about to save the world?" Elliot said.

  "Yeah, I guess that is pretty important." Tubs thought it over. "Will they print my name in the newspaper about what a hero I am?"

  "Probably not. We'll never really be able to talk about what happened here."

  Wendy stepped forward. "But I'll make you some of those cookies that Elliot says tasted like earwax. A whole plate of them. And maybe they'll be helpful in getting your head to make more earwax."

  Tubs smiled as if that actually made sense to him. "Yeah, I'll save the world with this bag of earwax. And who knows? Maybe I can use the next glob to save the universe!"

  Elliot didn't think earwax worked that way. But at least Tubs handed him the plastic bag.

  Cami knelt on the ground and opened the bottle of turnip juice. Being careful not to touch any of it, Elliot pushed the earwax out of the bag and into the bottle. It plopped to the bottom in a big clump.

  "Now stir that in with a stick!" Wendy said.

  "Or just shake it up," Reed said. "That's how we mix things at the Quack Shack."

  While Wendy and Reed argued about whether the drink should be shaken or stirred, Elliot put the lid on and held it under his arm. He didn't think either one mattered. Minthred hadn't mixed it up, so neither would he. Besides, if he got Kovol to drink it, it was all going down in one swallow anyway.

  "How's your magic doing?" Cole asked. "Is it back yet?"

  "I don't think so," Elliot said.

  "It had better hurry," Kyle said. "It's getting dark."

  Elliot had noticed the same thing. In the woods, the trees were taller and the leaves denser, so it always felt dark earlier here than it would in Sprite's Hollow. And it definitely was getting late. At least, Elliot had felt his hungry
stomach rumbling for some time.

  A cool wind washed over Elliot's face. As long as the breeze was cool, that was only the weather. But any moment now the wind would shift, coming from Kovol's direction. And it would feel warm, even hot. It would be a signal that the Shadow Men had come.

  "What happens now?" Reed asked.

  Elliot's original plan with the potion had required the use of magic. He didn't have that option now, and he really wasn't sure how to trick Kovol into drinking the potion.

  "Tell him you have this yummy drink and he can't have any of it," Cami said. "People always want things more if they know they can't have it."

  This wasn't always true. One day each month, the school cafeteria had Mystery Meat Day. All the kids were pretty sure that meant the lunch ladies took the leftover meat from every other meal that month and ground it all together. And each month, the principal got first in line for lunch, then told the students they couldn't have any because it was all for him. It was his way of getting the kids to hurry into the line with him. But it never worked. As far as the kids were concerned, the only mystery with that meal was how many of them would lose their lunch before the day ended.

  Despite that, Cami's suggestion was pretty good. Except for Mystery Meat Day, an idea like that usually worked.

  "I'll try it," Elliot said. "But I've got to hurry. I want Kovol to drink this before he calls his army. All of you, stay here."

  Elliot returned to the patch of gripping mud where Kovol was still stuck. With mud pulling at Kovol's arms, he still folded them and frowned at Elliot. Kovol said, "The only reason I'm not attacking you now is that it will be much more fun once I'm free."

  "Yeah, whatever." Elliot held out the bottle of juice. "I don't care, because I just drank some of this...um...yummy stuff. And you can't have it."

  "Why would I care about that drink?" Kovol asked. "I have a much better drink, and you can't have it either."

  "Why not?" Elliot asked. "I want some!" If it was good enough for a super villain, it was good enough for him. Then his eyes widened. Kovol was only using Elliot's own trick against him. Rude!

  So Elliot stuck out his chest and said, "My drink made me stronger than you. I could snap you in half with my two fingers."

  Kovol rolled his eyes. "You couldn't snap a twig."

  "Oh, yeah?" Elliot picked up a nearby twig to prove him wrong. But he must have grabbed a really strong one, maybe one made of metal or something, because it wouldn't snap, even when he used all of his fingers. With a sigh he dropped it on the ground and broke it with his foot. "Aha!"

  Kovol yawned, then pointed at a nearby tree branch. It cracked in half and almost fell right on top of Elliot's head.

  "Show-off," Elliot muttered. This wasn't going so well.

  He tried a different idea. "I'm sorry I pulled out your hair. I never planned to make you go bald. But if you want my opinion, it looks better now than if you tried to comb over that one hair to fool people."

  "I'm not doing this because of the hair," Kovol said. "I'm doing this because I'm evil."

  "I've met other evil creatures in the Underworld," Elliot said. "You're the worst, of course, but from what I've seen, if you decide that you want to change and become good, you can do that."

  Kovol smacked hard at the mud, sending the message that his current life plans had nothing to do with becoming good. He would never help old ladies cross the road (unless he could eat them on the other side), or plant flowers (except maybe a prickly cactus), or do anything that a good creature would.

  "Maybe you should just sit there and think about it a while longer." Elliot eyed the bottle of turnip juice. "Do you want a drink while you wait?"

  "The last time I had a drink like that I fell asleep for a thousand years," Kovol said. "The great wizard Minthred tricked me."

  Elliot snorted. "Oh, yeah, you were tricked by the most powerful goat-herding wizard of all time, no doubt. All right. I'll be back in a while and see if you changed your mind about the drink." He started to leave, then froze. Something in the air had changed.

  He looked up at the skies, but the dimming air suddenly became as black as midnight. It wasn't that late yet. Which meant only one thing. The Shadow Men were coming. There were so many of them overhead that they had blocked out any remaining light.

  Kovol sent a charge of energy straight toward Elliot. It hit the bottle of turnip juice first, throwing it high into the air where it landed somewhere far away. The remaining energy crashed into Elliot's chest, and his body hit against a tree with a hard oomph before sliding back to the ground.

  While Elliot lay there, breathless, the Shadow Men gathered around Kovol to pull him free of the gripping mud. Since they were made of little but smoke and flame, it took all of them to lift Kovol's massive body. But when they stepped away, Kovol stood on solid ground, dripping with mud. And well rested to finish the fight.

  Slowly, the entire army turned to face Elliot. Sweat from their intense heat rolled off his forehead. He had no magic to fight any one of them, much less this entire army. Yet he stood, prepared to give it his best try.

  Then a small body poofed in front of him. "Stand back, Your Highness," Mr. Willimaker said. He held a long stick of bright light. "I'll protect you."

  "So will I," Fudd said, appearing beside Mr. Willimaker. He wasn't facing in the correct direction, but his stick of light was held high and ready.

  "You're both healed too?" Elliot said.

  "Everyone in the cold comas has been healed," Fudd said. "They're only waiting in the Underworld long enough to get their light from Agatha. Then they'll come to help you too."

  And sure enough, one by one more creatures poofed in. As they did, the Shadow Men backed farther and farther away. By now they knew what those sticks of light could do. And with each new creature who arrived, their chances got worse.

  "Give the word and we'll attack," Mr. Willimaker said.

  Elliot nodded and then called out, "Creatures of light, we are the strong ones, not them! Darkness can only exist where there is no light. And each of you holds in your hands the power to chase away the darkness forever. They can give you a burn, or suck warmth from your body, or even take your eyesight. But you are holding the power to destroy the darkness. We will not leave these woods until the curse is ended and Kovol remains alone. Creatures of light, attack!"

  They rushed at the Shadow Men, swinging their sticks in every direction they could. With each hit, ashes fell to the ground like black snow. Kovol tried fighting in defense of his army, but everyone was moving too quickly, so he had no idea where to send his magic. From where Elliot stood, it was hard to see if anyone was winning, but so far his side definitely wasn't losing. Still, there were so many more on their side than his.

  From the trees behind him, someone whispered, "Hey, this is cool. Good job, little brother."

  "Reed!" Elliot hissed. "I told you to stay back."

  "Yeah, we ignored that. You're the Brownie's king, not our king. So where can we get some of those sticks?"

  "This is their fight," Elliot said, "but I need you to spread out and look for the bottle of turnip juice. Kovol threw it somewhere, but I don't know where or how far away."

  "So your Brownies get the fun job," Reed said with a sigh. "All right, fine. We'll find that bottle."

  Less than a minute after Reed left, Kovol must have had enough of the battle, because he let out a roar loud enough to shake the tops of the trees. Everyone froze. Kovol charged forward and grabbed Elliot, lifting him high into the air. "Drop the sticks, or I'll eat your king right now."

  Without a moment's hesitation, the sticks clattered to the ground.

  And unexpectedly, Elliot laughed. "I know the real reason you stopped the fight," he said. "You are so jealous."

  "What?"

  "You're jealous because all these creatures came to fight the Shadow Men. Nobody wants to fight you."

  "They can't fight me, because I'm so powerful." Kovol's voice was angry, but maybe a littl
e worried too.

  "There's only one of you, and there are hundreds of Shadow Men," Elliot said. "You're only as strong as the last thing you ate for dinner. You can't even escape gripping mud without them. But they're always strong. Stronger than you. Scarier than you. More powerful than you'll ever be."

  "I am the most powerful!" Kovol boomed. "They are my army. I cursed them to life!"

  "They're not alive, so they don't die," Elliot said. "But you could. That makes them the most powerful creatures in the Underworld."

  "I will win this war," Kovol said. "Me, and only me! And nothing is as strong as Kovol!"

  Elliot tried not to smile. "There's only one way for you to be as strong as them."

  Kovol might not have fallen for the turnip juice trick, but he fell for this one perfectly. Forgetting about his plans for Elliot, Kovol turned toward his army. He blew out all the air from his lungs, then began sucking it back in, tugging at the Shadow Men with his breath, just as he had pulled magic from Elliot's body. One by one the Shadow Men were dragged into his mouth, swallowed up whole. Large rings of smoke blew out of his ears, and with each eaten Shadow Man, Kovol's body grew larger and darker. He filled himself with their flames and their powers to curse. If he was bad before, then he was horrible now.

  "What have you done?" Mr. Willimaker whispered to Elliot.

  "We could never have beaten his entire army," Elliot said. "Kovol just made a big mistake."

  "But he has all of their power now," Mr. Willimaker said. "His entire army is within one body."

  "And in only one body. Don't worry, my friend, the best is yet to come." Elliot knew how to finish this now. He had a plan.

  Elliot ran out of the clearing and back into the woods. "Reed? Wendy? Where is everyone?"

  "We can't find the bottle," Wendy said. She was with Kyle and Cole near a grove of tall trees, each of them searching as fast as they could.