Read Festival of Shadows Online
Authors: Michael La Ronn
Festival of Shadows (3 page)
He jumped into the portal.
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Tompkins let go of the club. He skirted around the ogre and attached a tow hook to both of his feet.
“Accelerate,” Theo said. “Let’s drag him into the portal.”
Tompkins drove forward, but the ogre resisted.
“He’s pulling back,” Tompkins said, looking back nervously.
~ “Change direction, Tompkins!”
~ He called to the other toys to add weight to Tompkins.
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Tompkins screeched his tires, but the ogre pulled harder. “It’s not working!”
~ Theo unhooked one of the ogre’s legs.
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“What are you doing?” Tompkins yelled.
“Trust me,” Theo said, swinging one of the tow hooks by its chain. He hit the ogre on the head, knocking him unconscious.
Tompkins accelerated and they dragged the ogre into the portal.
“That was crazy,” Tompkins said. He screeched to a stop and Theo hopped down.
The toys cheered.
“Well done, Theo,” Topperson said. “But that ogre is just a hint of what you will encounter in the Stratusphere.”
“I’m ready,” Theo said. “Stratus will never forget this day—the day is he is defeated by me, an Ursabrand!”
He jumped into the portal.
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Tompkins reversed as fast as he could, and he drove over the ogre’s feet. But then Tompkins got caught in his chains.
The ogre laughed, grabbed the chains, and threw Tompkins across the room. Theo fell out and landed on the floor.
The ogre ripped the tow hooks off his feet and ran toward Theo, but Theo ran under his legs and jumped into the portal before the giant could grab him.
I’m sorry it has to be this way, but I’ve got to protect Grant.
He felt as if he were sinking into molasses as he thought about the fate of the other toys.
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Several toys climbed on top of Tompkins. The ogre couldn’t resist them, and the portal swallowed him.
The toys cheered.
“Nice job everyone,” Theo said. “Now it’s time to rescue Grant.”
Topperson spun out of the shadows. “Theo, wait—”
Theo ignored him and jumped into the portal.
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The ogre dodged the second shot and grabbed Theo, slammed him several times against the floor, and then threw him against the wall.
“Ugh,” Theo said. He staggered up, and the ogre charged him.
He still had the slingshot. And another marble.
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The marble hit the ogre on the stomach, and the beast stopped, groaning. The shot ricocheted off his belly and hit a rocket set in the corner of the room. The rocket hustled and bustled, ready to take off.
~ Theo dashed across the room and grabbed hold of the rocket.
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The rocket shot into the air, and Theo guided it toward the ogre and let go just before impact.
BOOM! The explosion knocked the ogre into the portal.
The toys cheered.
Theo didn’t wait, and he jumped into the portal, too. Darkness swallowed him, and he felt as if he were swimming through molasses.
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The rocket took off and crashed into a pencil lamp on the nightstand, shattering it. The explosion distracted the ogre.
There was a knock at the door, and the room went silent.
“Grant?
What
was that?” It was Mom.
The doorknob turned.
Oh no. She’s coming in.
~ Theo lay down and went stiff.
~ He charged the ogre in a last effort attempt.
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Mom entered and saw the battlefield of toys.
“Goodness. It’s a mess in here.”
The ogre roared at her.
“What kind of toy is
this?”
Mom asked. She picked the ogre up and frowned. “Dad must have bought this nasty thing.”
The ogre swung at her, and the club scratched her wrist.
“It’s robotic, too,” she said. “Time to go to the trash.”
She shut the door behind her, and the ogre roared all the way to the dumpster outside.
The toys cheered.
“Well done, Theo,” Topperson said. “But that ogre is just a hint of what you will encounter in the Stratusphere.”
“I’m ready,” Theo said. “Stratus will never forget this day—the day he is defeated by an Ursabrand!”
He jumped into the portal.
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The ogre stared at the door in shock.
Theo smacked the ogre with his sword, but the sword bounced off.
“Leave,” Theo said. “Go back to where you came from, or you’re going to be found by a human.”
Theo kept smacking the ogre, and the door came ajar. The ogre growled and hopped into the portal, but before it swallowed him, he grabbed Theo and dragged him in, too.
“No,” Theo said. The ogre dissolved into the darkness along with his laughter. Theo felt as if he were swimming through molasses as darkness swirled around him.
At least the other toys are safe. But now Mom’ll know Grant is missing. I’ve got to save him before it’s too late.
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Theo’s sword bounced off the ogre’s leg, knocking him backward. The ogre grabbed him and slammed him against the floor. The impact was so powerful that Theo lay gasping.
The ogre was raising his club to finish Theo when a bouncy ball hit him on the head.
It was James; he was standing on the nightstand, waving. “C’mon, Theo!” he cried.
The ogre charged the nightstand. Theo noticed that the ogre was running on a rug.
~ Theo threw the bouncy ball at the ogre.
~ He pulled the rug with all his might.
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The ball bounced off the ogre’s head, but he kept charging the nightstand. James yelled nervously.
Theo knew that James was strong enough to defeat the ogre somehow, so he jumped into the portal.
I have to save Grant. Fight bravely, James.
Darkness swallowed him.
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The ogre tumbled as the rug slipped from beneath him, and his club fell into the portal.
“Now that you’re disabled,” Theo said, grabbing a nearby dart gun, “it’s time to end this.”
~ He shot at the ogre relentlessly.
~ He approached with his finger on the trigger.
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The ogre roared as the rubber darts bounced off his skin, and he crawled into the portal to avoid them.
Theo threw the gun aside and drew his sword. “Now it’s time to find Stratus.”
“Well done, Theo,” Topperson said. “But that ogre is just a hint of what you will encounter in the Stratusphere.”
“I’m ready,” Theo said. “Stratus will never forget this day—the day he is defeated by me, an Ursabrand!
He jumped into the portal.
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“Go back and give Stratus a message,” Theo said.
The ogre listened.
“Tell him that he will be sorry. He stole from me once, but I won’t let him do it again.” Theo edged closer. “Now go.”
The ogre laughed. “You . . . tell . . . him . . .” He ogre sprang forward, grabbed Theo, and pulled him into the portal.
Theo screamed as the darkness swallowed him. The ogre dissolved, but his laughter lingered before fading into the shadows.
He felt as if he were swimming in molasses as the darkness swirled around him.
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CHAPTER 2
Smoke Between the Eyes
Shadows formed into a vortex around Theo, and he zoomed headfirst through them until he crashed onto an invisible floor. The impact sent a purple shockwave in all directions, causing scary shapes and odd-looking buildings to spring up before the darkness swallowed them again.
He yelled for Grant, but his voice lost its way.
Believing that he saw Grant’s silhouette ahead, Theo pulled himself up into a half-run, half-crawl.
“Grant . . .”
But the shadows suffocated him. He fell on his back, shaking as several versions of Grant’s face circled him. They were happy, mad, sad, crying.
“Save me!”
“I hate you!”
“I’m scared . . .”
“You’re a useless teddy bear.”
He reached for the faces, but they dissolved at his touch until there was one left—a scowling, angry face.
“I don’t need you anymore,” Grant said.
“Yes, you do—”
“No. I’m a man.”
“But I’m your best buddy,” Theo said.
“No! You never were.”
“Stratus has poisoned you.”
“No,” Grant said, frowning. “
You’ve
poisoned me. I hope you die.”
The face exploded and Theo screamed. It had to be an illusion; he couldn’t accept that Grant was gone.
The shadows grew thicker, and it was getting harder to breathe.
“Stratus,” he said, gasping, “Show yourself, so that I may vanquish you from existence.”
Silence.
“I’m an Ursabrand!” Theo cried, and his words faded on their way to nowhere. “You can’t defeat me!”
Stratus rumbled out of the darkness. He appeared small at first, but soon he towered several stories above Theo. His head was wispy, made of shifting shadows, and his two red eyes glared. He sneered at Theo and let out a booming laugh. His torso was a wall of shadow and fog; where there should have been feet, only darkness swirled. In one hand he clutched Grant by the waist. The boy was asleep. Stratus grabbed Theo by the neck with the other hand, and squeezed hard.
Theo tried to pry himself free, but he couldn’t. The grip crushed him; he had never felt anything so strong. Stratus’s laughter grew louder, and Theo’s vision grew dimmer.
I’m sorry, Grant. I failed you.
Theo took a final breath and gave in to Stratus. He drifted away into deeper darkness where nothing mattered. He felt light and free. He closed his eyes, thinking of Grant and their playtimes together.
He heard a voice, but it was muffled and sounded like it was underwater. Then a flash cut through the darkness, followed seconds later by an explosion.
Stratus let go. Feeling gushed back into Theo’s body, and all of his memories surged across his vision like the screen of a mad kaleidoscope.
“Wake up!” cried the strange voice. It grew louder and deeper. Feminine. Theo ignored it and tried to remember Grant’s face.
The darkness that had become so familiar to him condensed itself into one black eye, and he saw a purple face staring down at him—a round, furry face with a mouth that kept screaming: “Wake up, wake up, wake up—”