Festival of Shadows by Michael La Ronn Read Free Book Online Page B

It would be much better to see His Grace rip the stuffing out of you himself.”
    He lifted Theo by the throat and inspected him.  
    Theo tried to think fast; he saw a torch burning on the dais. “Which way is Stratus’s castle?” he asked.
    Cutter turned and pointed east. “There.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    “Why would I care whether you believe me?”
    “Why don’t you cut down one of those trees so that I can see? I’d like to know where I’m going to die, that’s all.”
    Still carrying Theo, Cutter growled and stomped toward the tree line. Theo reached over as they passed the dais, grabbed the torch and jammed it into Cutter’s neck.  
    “Yowch!” Cutter dropped the Whatsamadoozle in the grass, and Theo snatched it.
    “Tricked you. The Whatsamadoozle is mine, now,” Theo said.
    Cutter patted out the flames on his neck. “You’re a conniving little cub. You’re going to pay for that.”
    Cutter spread his wings, and their edges began to move like chainsaws and made a terrible grinding noise. He swiped, but Theo jumped out of the way. Then he ripped around and sawed ten trees in half.
    “Teddy bear cutlet. Sounds delicious!”

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Theo snatched the torch off the stand and held it up just as Cutter brought the ax down. The ax cut the torch in half, but the burning half set the Whatsamadoozle on fire; Cutter dropped it and rubbed his hands.  
    Theo snatched the Whatsamadoozle and juggled it until it cooled down. It turned into a golden ball in his palm.  
    “The Whatsamadoozle is mine now.”
    “You’re a conniving little cub. You’re going to pay for that.”
    Cutter spread his wings, and their edges began to move like chainsaws and made a terrible grinding noise. He swiped, but Theo jumped out of the way. Then he ripped around and sawed ten trees in half.
    “Teddy bear cutlet. Sounds delicious!”

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Theo covered Cutter’s other eye with his hand.  
    “Get off me, you fluffy—”
    But Theo held on, and Cutter kept swinging.
    Cutter changed the Whatsamadoozle into a hammer and brought it sailing down toward his own head. Theo jumped off just in time, and Cutter smacked himself; the dinosaur fell to the ground and the Whatsamadoozle flew into the air. Theo caught it, and it turned into a golden ball in his palm.  
    “That was easy,” he said. “The Whatsamadoozle is mine now.”
    “You’re a conniving little cub. You’re going to pay for that.”
    Cutter spread his wings, and their edges began to move like chainsaws and made a terrible grinding noise. He swiped, but Theo jumped out of the way. Then he ripped around and sawed ten trees in half.
    “Teddy bear cutlet. Sounds delicious!”

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Theo expected Cutter to shout, but the dinosaur turned around, annoyed, as if he had been pinpricked. Theo jumped off the dais and into the shadows before Cutter saw him.  
    “Who’s there?”
    Theo ran around the dais and climbed up behind Cutter. He grabbed a torch off a nearby stand, stabbed his tail, and it lit on fire.
    “Yowch!”
    Cutter accidentally threw the Whatsamadoozle into the air, and Theo caught it. He landed, and the Whatsamadoozle flashed in his hands.  
    Cutter blew the flames off his tail. “You again.”  
    “The Whatsamadoozle is mine now.”
    “You’re a conniving little cub. You’re going to pay for that.”
    Cutter spread his wings, and their edges began to move like chainsaws and made a terrible grinding noise. He swiped, but Theo jumped out of the way. Then he ripped around and sawed ten trees in half.
    “Teddy bear cutlet. Sounds delicious!”

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Theo climbed on the dais