Elliot and the Last Underworld War by Jennifer A. Nielsen Read Free Book Online Page A

out his arm, inviting Elliot to walk with him. “Is there a private place we can talk?”
    Elliot glanced over at Mr. Willimaker, who suggested they return to Burrow Cave. Then Patches reminded her father that Elliot could only barely sit up in the cave, and Mr. Tojam was even taller than him.
    “Allow me.” Mr. Tojam touched Elliot on his shoulder and then closed his eyes. Elliot felt the tug on his gut poofing him away, but the Elf was a much better poofer than either the Brownies or the Pixies, and Elliot barely felt a thing. They arrived on a thick tree branch very high above the ground, but Elliot was so comfortable in that spot that he didn’t worry a bit about falling. Besides, he had much bigger worries on his mind. Such as accidentally calling Mr. Tojam by the wrong name again. Or the end of the world, for example.
    Mr. Tojam handed Elliot the book and opened it to the first page. It was an old and faded drawing of Kovol as he would have looked a thousand years ago. Sure enough, he had a full head of Demon hair. No wonder he had been upset when Elliot pulled out the last hair, making him bald. But as everyone knows, baldness is just one of the risks when taking thousand-year naps. Also, your favorite show might not be on television anymore (if television even exists still!).
    In the picture, Kovol was facing an army of mythical creatures that were not too different from those Elliot had just spoken to. In fact, right at the front was a Brownie who looked a lot like Mr. Willimaker. Elliot knew Mr. Willimaker’s great-grandfather had fought Kovol before. He wondered if the Brownie in the picture was him.
    “It was a terrible war,” Mr. Tojam said. “Nobody had ever faced a creature such as this, and nobody had any idea of what to do.”
    “What made Kovol so much worse than any other Demon?” Elliot asked. “And why is he the last of them?”
    “That was Kovol’s plan,” Mr. Tojam said. “All Demons have a certain amount of bad inside, but it had never been difficult for any of the good creatures to keep control of them. One day Kovol got into a fight with another Demon about who would get the last slice of dessert.”
    “Seems harmless enough.” Elliot and his brothers often fought for that same reason. Unless Wendy had cooked it. Then they fought over who would have to choke it down and not hurt her feelings.
    Mr. Tojam shook his head. “It should have been harmless, except that the other Demon ate the dessert first. In a rage, Kovol then picked up the Demon and ate him.”
    “Eww.” There had not been a single fight in Elliot’s home in which he had ever considered eating his brothers. Seriously. Not even once.
    “As soon as Kovol ate him, he realized that he had taken the Demon’s powers into his own body. In that moment, Kovol became stronger. And far more greedy. He wanted more and more power, and so he continued eating others of his own kind. With each meal, he grew stronger and more wicked. One by one, he destroyed every other Demon of the Underworld. Until he was the last.”
    As he spoke, Mr. Tojam turned the pages of the book, each picture showing Kovol becoming larger and stronger. Then he turned the page again, which showed Kovol in front of a wall of black fire.
    “Kovol then turned his eyes upon the rest of the Underworld,” Mr. Tojam continued. “For although he had the strength of all the Demons, he did not have the power of other magical creatures. Not the wisdom of the Fairies, or the grit of the Dwarves, or any of the special gifts the rest of the Underworld creatures have. So began the first war of the Underworld.”
    “You had to fight it,” Elliot whispered. “Because he wouldn’t stop until everyone was destroyed.”
    “But Kovol needed an army.” Mr. Tojam tapped the picture again. “He couldn’t have an army of living creatures, because he knew he’d end up eating them too, to take their power. So he cursed the fire, and from it came the Shadow Men. They are