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

nothing but smoke and flame, and they have no thought other than to obey Kovol’s will.”
    Elliot went to turn the next page and learn more, but Mr. Tojam stopped him. “The last page of this book is for your eyes only,” the Elf said. “This is the wizard Minthred’s own journal. He knew that one day Kovol would awake, and when he did, someone would have to lead the fight against him. He asked that the last page be read only by that person—by you. The Elves believe that everything you must know to defeat Kovol will be on that page. Call to me when you’re finished, and I’ll return you to the Brownies.”
    Mr. Tojam closed his eyes and poofed away, leaving Elliot alone at the top of the tree. This was great news. If the secret to winning the war was in this book, he could have it ended by dinner. Feeling very happy, Elliot blew out a puff of air and then turned the page.
    The very first words he read were, “My name is Minthred, but I’m no wizard. And I don’t know how I defeated Kovol.”

If Elliot had not been delicately balanced at the top of a very tall tree, he might have stood up and banged Minthred’s journal as hard as he could against the branches. What did Minthred mean by saying he wasn’t a wizard? From the very first moment Elliot had heard about Kovol, it was that the wizard Minthred had defeated him. And how could Minthred not know how he had done it?
    However, since Elliot didn’t want to lose his balance by beating up the journal, he only took another deep breath and then read further.
    “I’m a poor goat herder,” Minthred wrote.
    “Oh, good grief,” Elliot mumbled. Of course he was.
    “Goat herding is a simple life and sometimes a very lonely life. (Which you can probably understand, Dear Reader. Goats rarely have anything interesting to say.) One day, large craters appeared in my field, as if the earth had sunk. In some places they were as large as an entire row of homes. While I was out studying them, thousands of creatures suddenly appeared, most of which I had thought were nothing but the inventions of storytellers. Yet here they were, standing in my field, and not only standing, but fighting an army of smoke and fire. At the center of it all was the terrible beast I now know is named Kovol.”
    Elliot closed his eyes and tried to picture what that must have looked like to Minthred. He remembered how surprised he had been when he first saw the Brownies standing in his bedroom, and there were only three of them. Minthred’s surprise must have been a lot bigger. And a lot worse.
    “I hid in my bed for a while,” Minthred wrote. “But one cannot hide from anything so awful for long. Besides, my goats were afraid too, and we couldn’t all fit under the blanket.”
    Elliot scrunched up his face. He wouldn’t invite a whole herd of goats to share his bed, whether they’d fit in there or not. No matter how scared they were.
    Minthred continued, “I was finally forced to leave the safety of my bed, mostly because my goats ate the blanket. I knew that to face the war I needed the courage that would only come from a tall cup of turnip juice with just a bit of goat spit in it.”
    Elliot smiled. The Brownies also loved turnip juice, although he didn’t think they added any goat spit to theirs. At least, he hoped not. Ick! Then he kept reading.
    “But when I came to the battle, the Demon Kovol saw my drink. He smelled the turnip juice and roared that he was thirsty. His roar was so loud that all the earwax popped from my ears and fell into the cup. I dropped it and ran for my life. Kovol picked up the cup and drank it. All I know is that after drinking, he fell to the ground, fast asleep. The creatures cheered for me and said that I must be the finest of all wizards. They were so happy, I couldn’t tell them I was only a simple goat herder, and that I had no idea why Kovol fell asleep.”
    And that was it. The last of the entry. The secret page that the Elves believed contained