Elliot heard Kovol running behind him. The Demon's feet shook the ground, and rocks tumbled to the ground beside Elliot with each of Kovol's steps. Elliot cleared the cave and paused briefly to decide which direction to run in to leave Demon Territory. Which way were the Shadow Men? Which way was the closest border?
As if he knew.
So he chose the easiest path, where there was a sort of trail between thorny bushes and dense, overgrown trees. Kovol crashed through the trees behind him and emitted a howl that Elliot instinctively knew was calling the Shadow Men to him.
Elliot kept running. His heart pounded so fiercely inside him that he could barely breathe, but as he found out, you don't really have to breathe to run, not if you're running to keep from having your legs ripped off.
The air warmed around Elliot, which normally he would have thought was because he was running so fast. But this was hardly a normal time, so he knew it was warming because the Shadow Men were getting closer. In the light from the flashlight he saw smoke rising like black vapor from their bodies. They were coming to serve Kovol. They were coming for Elliot.
It sounded like the Shadow Men were coming from the right, so Elliot darted to the left. He almost darted into an area with a brown glow hanging over it, but this time he stopped himself, barely avoiding landing in the very same patch of gripping mud where he had fallen last time.
Elliot tiptoed around the gripping mud, but he had to hurry. With the flashlight on, it was easy for both Kovol and his army to know where Elliot was. He had to get away.
Or did he?
A plan formed in Elliot's mind. It was dangerous, and his mother would have killed him if she had known what he was about to try. But not getting killed was the whole idea of his plan.
"Help!" Elliot cried. It wasn't hard to make his voice sound panicked. Even with a plan in mind, he was still in a pretty good panic.
Somewhere behind him, Kovol adjusted his path to run more directly toward Elliot. He heard Kovol's laug
h as he sent another howl into the air. Elliot could feel the Shadow Men getting closer. He hoped Kovol would reach him first.
He crouched low in some thick, prickly weeds beside the patch of gripping mud. Within seconds, Kovol crashed through, and just as Elliot had almost done, Kovol ran straight into the gripping mud.
Kovol thrashed around violently, which of course made him stuck even worse. Elliot shook his head. When Kovol had time to think about this moment later on--and Elliot intended to make sure he had a long time to think about it later on--he was going to feel pretty stupid about the thrashing.
Elliot stuck the handle of the flashlight into the dirt, too far away for Kovol to reach it, but at such an angle that it threw light all around the Demon's body.
The Shadow Men swarmed in to the sound of Kovol's angry screeches. They seemed to have forgotten all about Elliot. They kept trying to push into the light to reach their master, but each time any part of the light touched them, they vanished within it. They hissed in anger and frustration. Trapped inside the mud, Kovol gnashed his teeth and cursed his army for their failures.
Kovol turned to Elliot. In a voice that was so calm it sent a chill up Elliot's spine, he said, "One day a solar eclipse will put out that flashlight. When it does, my army will free me. Watch for me that night, human, because I will come for you and destroy everything. You will regret the day you awoke me."
If Elliot had any ability to speak right then, he might have told Kovol that he already regretted this day. But it seemed a little too late for apologies. Kovol didn't seem like the forgiving type.
So he pushed out his chest and forced himself to sound brave as he said, "I'll be ready for you, Kovol. If you're smart, when you get out of this gripping mud you'll just go back to sleep. I've defeated you once, and I can do it again."
He wasn't sure that was true, but he liked the way it sounded. And it really made Kovol angry. Kovol began slapping at the gripping mud again, trying to reach Elliot.
Elliot stood as far from Kovol as he dared, but as close to the flashlight as he could. Here was an interesting problem. As soon as he left the light, the Shadow Men would get him. In trapping Kovol, he'd trapped himself.
Elliot was in the middle of what he called half of a perfect plan. This must be why his father always said to never do a job halfway. Although Kovol was stuck and the Shadow Men couldn't reach him, Elliot was stuck too.
Above Elliot came a familiar squawk. He looked up and his eyes went as wide as manhole covers (well, almost as wide. Eyes can only stretch so far). "Harold!"
Harold the Eagle circled in the air over Elliot. The Shadow Men leapt up, trying to reach him, but Harold could always fly higher than they could leap.
"Your Highness!" Fudd called from Harold's back. "We're here to rescue you! Hold out your arms."
Elliot obeyed. Immediately Harold soared down, moving faster than the Shadow Men had time to react, darting between them like a fly that can't be swatted. He picked up Elliot with a giant talon and yanked him back into the air.
As they lifted off, a Shadow Man leaped forward and grabbed hold of Elliot's leg. Elliot felt the burn of his grip and yelled, but he could not shake him off.
"I'll save you, sir!" Fudd jumped off Harold's back and landed on the Shadow Man, holding him by the shoulders. The Shadow Man hissed and spat something into Fudd's eyes. Fudd reared back, yelping in pain. In his flailing around, Fudd kicked the Shadow Man, who released Elliot's leg. Both the Shadow Man and Fudd started to fall, but Elliot grabbed Fudd by the back of his pants, and Harold lifted them higher into the air.
The Shadow Man tumbled to the ground, landing in a burst of smoke and flame. Other Shadow Men hovered beneath them as they flew, hoping for a chance at Fudd or Elliot.
"I can't see!" Fudd cried. "He blinded me."