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."