as long as possible before using it. It was still a little light here, so he doubted he’d run into any Shadow Men yet.
“Elliot?” Patches was in the middle of saying his name even as she poofed in front of him. She wrung her hands together, and her eyes darted around. She didn’t seem to like where she was, but then, who would? (Other than evil Demon armies, of course.) “I’m glad I found you. It’s very hard to poof in here, since it’s so dark.”
“Patches, I want you to go home,” Elliot said. “It’s dangerous here.”
“If it’s dangerous for me, then it’s dangerous for you too.”
“If your dad finds out I let you come with me to find Kovol, he’ll be more dangerous to me than Kovol could ever be.”
Patches frowned. “Yeah, that’s probably true. But I tried to tell you something before you came here. I read a story a while back about why humans can’t enter Demon Territory. The story said what keeps Kovol asleep is an agreement that no human will ever disturb the peace of his territory.” Her eyes widened. “Elliot, I think you’re disturbing the peace of his territory!”
Elliot paused a moment, then whispered. “Is the story fiction or nonfiction?”
Patches wound up her face. “Which is which?”
Elliot shrugged. “Can’t remember. I thought you’d know. Was the story about Kovol sleeping a real one or made up?”
“I don’t know. But what if it’s real, Elliot? What if you’ve already woken him up?”
Once, Elliot had woken up Reed for breakfast without knowing he had already been up all night on a double shift at the Quack Shack. Reed had said a few words that would’ve made their mother’s ears melt, then threw his Quack Shack cap at Elliot. Elliot had been more careful about waking up sleeping people since then.
Waking up evil Demons was probably worse.
Elliot put his hand on Agatha’s flashlight and forced a smile onto his face. “I don’t think the story is real. But even if it is, I’m not disturbing his peace. Just getting what I need and leaving.”
Patches wrapped her arms around Elliot’s waist. “You’re the best king the Brownies have ever had,” she whispered. “Hurry and get the hair and the sock, then get out.”
“I will,” Elliot said. “Now go home and be safe.” Patches poofed away as Elliot took his next step deeper into Demon Territory.
He was certain it was already getting darker.
Near the Philippine Islands is an underwater canyon known as the Mariana Trench, which goes down almost seven miles beneath the surface of the ocean. It’s deeper there than Mount Everest is tall. Light can’t break through all the water to reach the bottom, so if you want to ask how dark it is, the answer, in scientific terms, is “super dark.”
Elliot has never been to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (which is probably good, since the pressure of being in water that deep would crush him like a bulldozer running over a soda can). But Elliot didn’t need to go to the Mariana Trench to understand true darkness.
All he had to do is look at the trail leading deeper into Demon Territory. Even from where he stood, the air was so dark he couldn’t see the colors of things anymore. Everything around him was in shades of gray and brown. Or maybe everything in Demon Territory really was gray and brown. It would be silly to call it Demon Territory if it were all happy pastels.
But the trail narrowed ahead and looked like the kind of darkness where he could put his hand in front of his face and, if he was lucky, maybe see his fingers. But Elliot didn’t care too much about seeing his fingers. His fingers weren’t going to try to kill him.
The Shadow Men might. And they were somewhere ahead of him on the trail.
Elliot felt for the bottle of invisibility potion Harold had given him. It was still in his back pocket. How dumb, he thought, snorting in the air. Invisibility potion. What a stupid idea for a science project. If there was a potion
“Elliot?” Patches was in the middle of saying his name even as she poofed in front of him. She wrung her hands together, and her eyes darted around. She didn’t seem to like where she was, but then, who would? (Other than evil Demon armies, of course.) “I’m glad I found you. It’s very hard to poof in here, since it’s so dark.”
“Patches, I want you to go home,” Elliot said. “It’s dangerous here.”
“If it’s dangerous for me, then it’s dangerous for you too.”
“If your dad finds out I let you come with me to find Kovol, he’ll be more dangerous to me than Kovol could ever be.”
Patches frowned. “Yeah, that’s probably true. But I tried to tell you something before you came here. I read a story a while back about why humans can’t enter Demon Territory. The story said what keeps Kovol asleep is an agreement that no human will ever disturb the peace of his territory.” Her eyes widened. “Elliot, I think you’re disturbing the peace of his territory!”
Elliot paused a moment, then whispered. “Is the story fiction or nonfiction?”
Patches wound up her face. “Which is which?”
Elliot shrugged. “Can’t remember. I thought you’d know. Was the story about Kovol sleeping a real one or made up?”
“I don’t know. But what if it’s real, Elliot? What if you’ve already woken him up?”
Once, Elliot had woken up Reed for breakfast without knowing he had already been up all night on a double shift at the Quack Shack. Reed had said a few words that would’ve made their mother’s ears melt, then threw his Quack Shack cap at Elliot. Elliot had been more careful about waking up sleeping people since then.
Waking up evil Demons was probably worse.
Elliot put his hand on Agatha’s flashlight and forced a smile onto his face. “I don’t think the story is real. But even if it is, I’m not disturbing his peace. Just getting what I need and leaving.”
Patches wrapped her arms around Elliot’s waist. “You’re the best king the Brownies have ever had,” she whispered. “Hurry and get the hair and the sock, then get out.”
“I will,” Elliot said. “Now go home and be safe.” Patches poofed away as Elliot took his next step deeper into Demon Territory.
He was certain it was already getting darker.
Near the Philippine Islands is an underwater canyon known as the Mariana Trench, which goes down almost seven miles beneath the surface of the ocean. It’s deeper there than Mount Everest is tall. Light can’t break through all the water to reach the bottom, so if you want to ask how dark it is, the answer, in scientific terms, is “super dark.”
Elliot has never been to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (which is probably good, since the pressure of being in water that deep would crush him like a bulldozer running over a soda can). But Elliot didn’t need to go to the Mariana Trench to understand true darkness.
All he had to do is look at the trail leading deeper into Demon Territory. Even from where he stood, the air was so dark he couldn’t see the colors of things anymore. Everything around him was in shades of gray and brown. Or maybe everything in Demon Territory really was gray and brown. It would be silly to call it Demon Territory if it were all happy pastels.
But the trail narrowed ahead and looked like the kind of darkness where he could put his hand in front of his face and, if he was lucky, maybe see his fingers. But Elliot didn’t care too much about seeing his fingers. His fingers weren’t going to try to kill him.
The Shadow Men might. And they were somewhere ahead of him on the trail.
Elliot felt for the bottle of invisibility potion Harold had given him. It was still in his back pocket. How dumb, he thought, snorting in the air. Invisibility potion. What a stupid idea for a science project. If there was a potion
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