Read Elliot and the Last Underworld War for Free Online

Seeing what had happened inside the dome, the Shadow Men on the outside quickly flew away.
    Suddenly tired, Elliot fell to his knees. Agatha crouched beside him. “Are you okay?”
    “Sure,” he mumbled. The shoulder of his shirt was burned off, and the skin below it was hot and red, but he couldn’t worry about that right now. “What happened to that Shadow Man I hit?”
    “Kovol cursed the fire to create an army from the flames,” Agatha said. “That Shadow Man was nothing but smoke and ash.”
    “They said it won’t be as easy next time,” Elliot said. “Did they think this was easy?”
    “There will be more battles,” Agatha said. “And the next one will get much worse.”

When the last of the Shadow Men had flown away, a cheer rose up from the Brownies. Mr. Willimaker ran toward Elliot, then stopped and bowed before he said, “You did it, Your Highness! You saved us!”
    “Only for now,” Elliot said.
    Fidget fluttered down from above them. Her thick mass of hair looked wind-tossed and wasn’t nearly as bouncy as usual.
    “I hope you know that was a lot harder than it looked,” Fidget said. “They were, like, so totally mean!”
    “But you were…um…awesome,” Elliot said. “We couldn’t have done this without the Pixies.”
    Fidget arched her head in pride. “Totally. But now we’re even, right? We don’t owe each other anything more.”
    “It’s not about being even,” Elliot said. “It’s about stopping Kovol.”
    Fidget frowned. “Oh, fruit rot! If I have to fight in a war to save the world, then I’m totally going to miss Surfer Teen on TV tonight.” She punched a fist into her palm. “If Kovol wants to destroy the Underworld, then that’s totally rude. But now he’s ruining the awesomest TV show ever, and the Pixies will not allow that!”
    Elliot stood and said to Fidget, “I’ll help whoever wants to lead this war. But I need some time to think of ideas about how to fight it. Meet me back here later and we’ll talk about it.”
    “What if anyone else wants to come?” she asked.
    “If they’re willing to fight against Kovol and save the Underworld, then I want them to come!”
    After Fidget left, Elliot asked for a place where he could think in private. Mr. Willimaker suggested Burrow Cave, and then Patches offered to walk Elliot there.
    “I think I can find it,” Elliot said. Burrowsville wasn’t that big, and they only had one cave large enough for all the Brownies.
    “I know,” Patches said. “But I thought you’d want some company.”
    She was right. He did.
    “How’s your shoulder?” Patches asked.
    “It hurts a little.” Actually it hurt a lot. The Shadow Man had been so angry when he grabbed Elliot that his fire had been very hot.
    “Kneel down,” Patches said.
    As he did, Patches walked behind him and rubbed her hands together. “Are you going to heal it with magic?” Elliot asked.
    “Not everything is magic,” Patches said with a giggle. Then she peeked over his shoulder and began pasting it with something bright green and sticky that smelled like the inside of Reed’s old shoes.
    “What’s that?” Elliot turned his head and quickly faced forward again. Coming too close to that stuff made his nose hurt.
    “Pumpkin guts and tree moss and that stuff that sometimes collects on the edges of ponds. It makes a great burn paste.” Patches shrugged. “I figured we’d need it, seeing as we were fighting fire and all.”
    “Thanks, Patches.” Elliot gently touched the burn. The pain was already going away. “You really are smart.”
    “Not just ordinary smart,” she said. “I’m super smart!”
    Elliot chuckled. “Maybe you’re smart enough to figure out how to beat Kovol.”
    She shook her head. “Nobody’s that smart.” Then she stopped, realizing what she had said. “Oh! I mean except you, right?” She pointed ahead to Burrow Cave. “Here we are! Go in and be super smart too.”
    “Thanks.” The cave wasn’t quite big