Elliot and the Pixie Plot

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

  If you have an evil spell on you, dump all of your mother's salt on your bedroom floor, then stand on your head and kick your feet in the air. Your mother might be mad at first, but if you explain that you're just getting rid of an evil spell, she'll probably understand.

  So Elliot walked deeper into Demon Territory, but after only a short distance, something changed. He heard a whisper in the air, a breath, a hiss.

  Elliot looked at the tree beside him, with claw-like branches and long, spiny, gray leaves. The leaves were perfectly still. There was no wind here.

  Then something moved on his right. Elliot's heart pounded. Cold sweat licked his palms. He had an itch in the middle of his back too, but that wasn't from fear. It just itched sometimes.

  Elliot swung to his left at another sound. The trees beside him shivered as if something terrible was hiding there.

  The Shadow Men had come.

  With trembling fingers, Elliot grabbed the bottle of invisibility potion. That voice inside him said to test it on his finger first, but Elliot told the voice to be quiet. It was one thing for the voice to be sitting safely inside Elliot's head giving him orders, and a whole other thing for Elliot to be alone in Demon Territory with Shadow Men coming toward him.

  Elliot pulled out the cork stopper and dumped the potion all over him. It tingled on his skin, like extra-fizzy soda pop. As quickly as he could, he rubbed it in, on his clothes, his skin, in his hair, everywhere but his eyes. For a brief moment he wondered if the potion would make his eyes go invisible, or if the Shadow Men would see nothing but a pair of eyes floating in midair. Maybe that would scare them for a change.

  The tingling slowly faded, but the potion left his skin feeling greasy, even slippery. He didn't care. If Harold was right, he'd soon see himself start to become invisible, then he could slip right past the Shadow Men and get to Kovol.

  Elliot raised a hand in front of his face. It was so dark, it was hard to tell whether he actually was fading, but he thought he could still see himself. Maybe that was how invisibility potions worked. Maybe he could always see himself, but nobody else could.

  He decided to continue walking, conducting a little science experiment of his own. If the Shadow Men reached out and grabbed him in a few minutes, then, no, he was not invisible at all.

  Experiments like this were why Elliot didn't like science projects.

  There was more shuffling in the trees ahead. Something was definitely in there, watching, waiting for him to come closer.

  Elliot walked a little farther, but he must have been moving away from Kovol now, because the area around Elliot seemed to be getting lighter, almost like he was carrying a soft yellow lamp.

  Elliot was not carrying a soft yellow lamp. In fact, he wasn't carrying anything either soft or yellow. He had Agatha's flashlight strapped to his side like a sword, but it was turned off.

  So what was causing the glow?

  Elliot raised his hand in front of his face and gasped in horror. The invisibility potion was supposed to make him invisible, supposed to make it possible for him to slip past the Shadow Men without them being able to see him.

  But somehow it had done just the opposite. The soft yellow glow was coming from him. Every part of his body that was covered in the potion was glowing. Elliot was the lantern!

  And instead of being invisible to the Shadow Men, he was a beacon of light in the darkness. They could all find him now.

  He was homesick, tired, and so scared that he could barely move a muscle. But mostly Elliot felt stupid. Harold probably did believe the potion would turn Elliot invisible. So even though Harold was trying to help, maybe that annoying voice inside Elliot's head was right. Elliot should have tested the potion on his finger before pouring the entire bottle all over himself.

  Dumb voice, being right all the time.

  There was nothing for Elliot to do now but run. He ran the way he used to when Tubs would chase him across Sprite's Hollow. No, he ran faster, the way he did that time he'd run from Cami when a game of kissing tag broke out during recess.

  He was lightning. He was a cheetah. He was--Elliot groaned as his foot landed in something familiar--he was stuck in gripping mud again.

  Elliot struggled to pull his feet out, which only got him stuck deeper. Patches had told him before that he couldn't get out of gripping mud on his own. She was right all the time too.

  Around him, Elliot saw the dark outlines of dozens of Shadow Men swarm in a circle around the gripping mud. He could feel the heat of their anger that he'd invaded their territory. Or maybe it really was heat. It was a warm night, after all, and he was beginning to sweat. They hissed at him and held out shadowy hands to pull him free. Yeah, they'd love to help him get out. Help him get out so they could finish him off.

  These Shadow Men were far more frightening than the one Harold had turned into back at Sprite's Hollow. He could see into their eyes, or the empty holes that served as their eyes. They were without souls, just smoke and fire without light, whose only order was to serve Kovol. And serving Kovol meant killing any human who dared enter Kovol's territory.

  Elliot braced himself for the worst. There was nothing he could do to fight them from here, and obviously his attempt at running away from them had failed. Would they get stuck in the gripping mud too? They didn't seem to touch the ground, so probably not.

  They were trying to reach him, but Elliot noticed it didn't seem to be working. A Shadow Man would almost touch Elliot, but about the time he reached the glow on Elliot's skin, he'd stop and back off, then hiss in anger.

  Elliot didn't like the hissing. It was different than a snake's hiss--which he didn't like too much either--but instead was a whispered screech. It made the hairs stand up on his arms and neck. Even in the warm night, goose bumps crawled down his spine.

  They were angry. But they weren't coming any closer.

  Another Shadow Man tried. He pushed just inside Elliot's glow with a shadowy hand, then Elliot noticed the hand disappeared. The Shadow Man yanked his hand back into the darkness with a different sort of hiss. This one was of panic, of pain.

  Elliot raised his hand to his face again. He was putting off light. Light makes shadows disappear. Which means light makes Shadow Men disappear.

  The glow from the invisibility potion may have called all the Shadow Men in Demon Territory to him, but as long as he glowed, they couldn't touch him. In a really strange way, he was safe.

  Except, of course, that he was still sinking in gripping mud.

  Someone needed to poof here to help him. Not Mr. Willimaker, who was currently locked in a Fairy prison. Not Patches. She'd come if he called her, but Elliot refused to put her in danger.

  The only one he could think of was Fudd.

  But was Fudd working with the Fairies? Mr. Willimaker had thought there was a chance that Fudd was helping the Fairies stop Elliot. Then the Fairies had taken Mr. Willimaker away, leaving Elliot alone against Kovol. If Kovol succeeded in getting rid of him, Elliot had already asked Fudd to be the Brownie king.

  Elliot didn't want to believe that Fudd was betraying him again. And lately everything about Fudd told him that the Brownie could be trusted. But if he was wrong, asking Fudd to help him get free of the gripping mud might be the very worst plan possible.

  Elliot sank a little deeper into the gripping mud. Whether it was a good plan or not, it was his only choice.

  Elliot cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Fudd, I need you!"

  The Shadow Men didn't like that. They began spinning in a circle around the mud. The air around Elliot thinned as the Shadow Men sucked it away from him. He wanted to call Fudd a second time but couldn't get a deep enough breath. He had to hope Fudd heard him the first time.

  Elliot wanted to push his hand into the mud and find Agatha's flashlight. He could turn it on and chase all the Shadow Men away. But he knew that once he put his hand in the mud, it would be stuck in there too.

  "Fudd!" he called, more softly.

 
; Although the Shadow Men were removing the air, if anything, the heat around Elliot was building. He wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead and then groaned as drips of light fell from his hand. Elliot was alone, surrounded by Shadow Men, stuck in gripping mud, and the one thing keeping the Shadow Men from reaching him was slowly sweating away.

  Elliot was about to move to plan B in his hope of escaping the Shadow Men. Plan B was to cry like a baby and hope the Shadow Men became so embarrassed at being around him that they would decide he wasn't worth it. It wasn't a perfect plan, because Elliot knew that if he did it, he'd never be able to show his face in the Underworld again, but he was out of options.

  And there was no plan C.

  "Fudd," he breathed one last time.

  "Your High--" Fudd said as he poofed in front of Elliot. His feet were at the very edge of the gripping mud, and he teetered forward as if he was about to fall in.

  The Shadow Men advanced on Fudd, so Elliot stuck his arm as close to Fudd as he could reach, spreading barely enough light to protect him.

  Fudd flapped his arms wildly to balance himself away from the mud, but it did no good, and he fell forward. A half second before he landed, however, he poofed himself away, poofing back almost instantly at a safer distance from the mud, though still within Elliot's light.

  "My apologies for the delay," Fudd said. "It's very hard to find you in this darkness." He glanced back at the Shadow Men. "So this isn't going well."

  "Stay as close to me as you can," Elliot said. "We're surrounded, but they can't touch me in this light. The more I sweat, the more the light is gone, though. I need your help to get out of here."

  Fudd inched closer to Elliot. "I assume the gripping mud wasn't part of your plan."

  "Of course not."

  "Oh, good, because I couldn't help but think what a terrible plan that would have been. Like a rabbit hiding in the trap to escape the hunter."

  "Just get me out of here!" Elliot scowled.

  "Right away, Your Highness. Give me your hand." After a few grunts and several groans, Fudd pulled Elliot from the mud. Then he asked, "What do we do next?"

  "Stay close and let me think," Elliot said. Warm mud dripped from his clothes, pulling the glowing potion off him with every drop.

  Fudd didn't need to be reminded to stay close. He pushed so close to Elliot that there was no room for air between them.

  Fudd tapped Elliot's shoulder to get his attention. "Back in Burrowsville, I've been reading about Kovol. Patches reminded me about the story with Kovol. She's right. Either Kovol is awake, or he soon will be."

  "Kovol's awake?" Elliot shuddered. "That sounds bad."

  Fudd shrugged. "If you think it'd be bad for the entire human race to collapse and be ruled by an army of the undead, then, yes, I suppose it is bad." He paused for a moment, then added, "I can help."

  "I might not want any more of your help," Elliot said. "I'm not sure I can trust you."

  Fudd looked at Elliot as if he'd been slapped. "Your Highness?"

  "Mr. Willimaker is gone. The Fairies took him until I get Kovol's"--Elliot paused and wondered if the Shadow Men were listening--"until I do something for them too. Did the Fairies contact you?"

  Fudd's eyes widened and he drew his hands together. "Can we talk about this when we're not surrounded by hundreds of creepy Demon servants?"

  "Hundreds? Mr. Willimaker told me there'd only be fifty."

  Fudd shook his head. "Based on the numbers here, I suspect there's closer to fifty thousand Shadow Men in Demon Territory."

  A trickle of sweat rolled down Elliot's cheek. He wiped it free and saw the light so dim around his body that the Shadow Men could now get within inches of him. He began backing away with Fudd on his toes at every step.

  "The flashlight," Elliot whispered.

  "Not yet. It's for the darkest of dark places." Fudd's voice shook as he spoke. "I'm afraid there are darker places ahead of you."

  "It's dark enough. I can't see where we're going."

  "Your light is almost gone," Fudd said. "But I can't poof you away. My magic is too weak right now."

  "Last night, Mr. Willimaker made a cold fire in his hand. Are you strong enough to do that?"

  "Yes, but it's not enough light for the two of us." Fudd glanced up at Elliot. "The Fairies did ask for my help, but I told them no. After the Goblin war, when I said I'd never again betray you, I meant it. You are my king." Fudd flattened his palm, and instantly a spark of fire appeared on it. He placed it onto Elliot's hand, who thought it was surprisingly cool amid all the heat created by the Shadow Men. It gave off enough light to surround Elliot, but the light wasn't enough for Fudd. "This will only burn for a few minutes," Fudd said. "Run fast."

  Elliot shook his head. "What about you? Make more fire."

  "I can't. Not yet. I'll run in the other direction. Without a light, the Shadow Men will follow me instead of you. I'll run for as long as I can and then poof away."

  "Don't get caught," Elliot said. "That's a king's order."

  "There won't be much time, so don't you get caught either. That's a friend's order." After a short bow, Fudd poofed himself away. He must have reappeared at a close distance from the Shadow Men, because Elliot heard him yell, "Hey, Shadow Men! You can't catch Brownies or Goblins or Elves. You're so slow, you can't catch yourselves!"

  Almost instantly the Shadow Men turned from Elliot and swarmed toward Fudd. Elliot took off in the direction where Demon Territory looked darkest, although he didn't dare run too fast. Not only was he afraid the breeze would blow out the small, cold flame that danced on his hand, but it also didn't throw light very far ahead of him. The last thing he needed was to run into more gripping mud.

  He ran until his lungs ached and then ran until worry made his lungs do little flips in his chest (which can really hurt, if you think about it). Fudd had said he wouldn't be able to give Elliot a lot of time to get away. But it had been a long time and Elliot still hadn't seen any more Shadow Men. Did that mean Fudd hadn't been able to poof away before they caught him?

  Elliot made a promise to himself. If he, Fudd, Mr. Willimaker, and, yes, even Tubs, made it out of this alive, Elliot would never enter Demon Territory again. Not even if they put up the best theme park ever and let him come for free. Not even if they had the fastest, tallest roller coaster and no long lines. But...what if they also gave free cotton candy?

  Elliot shook that thought out of his head. Now was not the time to think about cotton candy. That soft, sticky, sweet, chewy sugar rush. It was a good thing he wasn't thinking about it, because otherwise he wouldn't have noticed that his fire had burned out. And that the air around him was so black, it would have even put out a firefly's light (if a firefly were stupid enough to come in here).

  Elliot froze, not sure where he was or where he should go next. About the only thing he was sure of was that the snores he now heard could only be coming from the most evil tonsils in the Underworld.

  Somehow, Elliot had found Kovol.

  Kovol wasn't awake. Or at least Elliot was pretty sure he wasn't awake yet. He'd never heard anyone snore when they were awake, and that was definitely snoring.

  He thought back to the night when all of this had started, when Tubs's snoring had kept Elliot awake half the night. He sort of wished he hadn't complained about that snoring, because this was much, much worse.

  Elliot figured he must be in some kind of cave, because the air moved whenever Kovol breathed. When he snorted air in, a cold wind blew from behind Elliot's back toward Kovol. And when Kovol exhaled, the foulest smell rushed at Elliot's face, like rotting, decomposing eggs.

  Demon morning breath.

  So Kovol was asleep, but he seemed to be rolling around a lot, as if he was restless. As if he knew a human was in this cave with him. He could wake up at any second.

  Elliot kept one hand by his flashlight, ready to flip it on as soon as he had to. He knew he'd have to use it soon, because he couldn't find a sock and a hair without it, not in
this darkness. But he didn't want to turn it on too early and have the light wake up Kovol. He crept forward on tiptoes, testing every footstep before he put his full weight down. Snails moved faster than him, but he didn't care. He had only one chance at this.

  With every step, he was closer to Kovol. He stopped every time the snoring stopped and it sounded as if Kovol rolled over. Then the snoring would begin again, and he'd continue forward. Once or twice it sounded as if Kovol had stopped breathing entirely for a second or two, but he always started again with his next snore.

  Dear Reader, there is a condition known as sleep apnea in which a creature might stop breathing entirely for a second or two. This is not just for evil Demons. Several humans have it too. If you have this condition, you are lucky, because a doctor can treat it, and you'll be fine. Sadly, no doctor can help Kovol, mostly because Kovol would likely rip the doctor's arms off first. If you have a condition where you stop breathing for an hour or two rather than just a second or two, this is not sleep apnea. This means you're dead, and you should go see a doctor right away, even before you finish reading this book, no matter how exciting this chapter is.

  After twenty steps, the snoring was so loud that Elliot was sure Kovol was within an arm's reach of him. He silently pulled out his flashlight and then put the lens inside his shirt so that when he turned it on, it would give off only dim light.

  He flipped it on, then immediately turned the light toward his body. It was very bright. Bright like a miniature sun were inside it. Of course, Agatha had said it got its light from the sun. Elliot didn't understand how this flashlight worked, but magical tool design was hardly his biggest concern right now.

  Even with the lens pressed against his skin, Elliot had enough light to see the dim outlines of Kovol's body. He was asleep but kept stretching and rolling over like he was trying to wake up. It must be hard to wake up when you've been asleep for a thousand years.

  Kovol slept on a flat rock that seemed to have molded to his body while he slept. Like memory foam, but less comfortable. He was very tall, at least twice Elliot's height, maybe more. He was dressed with only a cloth around his waist and had leathery purple skin. His ears were long and pointed, and the horns on his head were gray, sharp, and twisted. His hands were gnarled with long fingers and fingernails that ended in spiked points. The skull of something that once might have been human was cuddled under his arm, like the Demon version of a teddy bear.