Book 1: The Crown Prince (The Kid Emperor of Occultoria)
Page 26
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The group of three trembled as they stared into the bloodshot eyes of a gigantic ghost that towered above them. Max, the tallest of the three, reached up only to the spirit’s knees.
They wrinkled their noses.
This caveman of a Giant Spirit reeked of garlic and rotting dead fish.
Max examined the Giant Spirit.
He looked like a typical caveman. He had a broad forehead with a flop of messy dark hair. His eyes were huge, his nose was enormous and his mouth, full of crooked teeth, dropped pools of spit onto the ground as it hung open. The pools became mini ponds.
Bare-chested, he was wearing nothing but a loincloth that barely covered his legs. He had a very muscular build that implied he had spent a lot of time exercising and hunting when he was allive.
Max positioned himself so that he was in front of the group and then stood up straight. If he had been scared earlier, he wasn’t anymore. He had already outwitted two starving spirits. That, along with being reminded of the advice his mentor had imparted on him, had given him an extra boost of confidence. He felt like he could do anything now.
Just then, the giant spoke. “Where Ellie?”
He had an unpolished and deep kind of voice, the kind that indicated he was used to rough caveman living.
Max wasn’t sure how to answer him. “Who?”
The caveman’s eyes flashed anger. “Ellie!” he cried.
The volume of his voice shook the valentine candy-based walls, sending some chunks of hard candy shells flying off and hitting Eddie on the head.
The Giant began to advance on the group, his hands dragging along the ground, showing his hairy knuckles.
Ariel cried, “Run!”
The three of them turned around and bolted.
They could hear the loud footsteps of the Giant as he gave chase.
Max asked Ariel, “What do we do?”
Perched on Max’s shoulder, Ariel said, “I just remembered who that is now. His name is Ungal. He loved a woman named Ellie. One day, he told her to meet him at his cave so that he could express his love, but she never showed up. No knew what happened to her. Out of despair, he killed himself. A desperate act of a desperate man.”
Max felt compassion for the Giant. Waiting for a love that never came must have been hard.
Ariel went on, “As you can tell, Ungal was mentally unstable, but he was a romantic who believed in love.”
Hearing Ungal’s story gave Max an idea.
And he was glad he was getting an idea, because the group of them had just turned into a corner, only to discover that they had reached a dead end.
They had almost run head-on into a pink candy-made wall. There was no way out.
The Giant halted abruptly, kicking up dust.
He twisted his mouth into a goofy smile. Pools of drool splashed out, creating mini running rivers.
“Ungal hungry,” he grunted out.
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