Festival of Shadows Read online

  He settled on a wooden sword and approached the dais. He peeked over the top; Cutter was still monologuing to himself.

  He climbed onto the dais.

  ~ He threw the sword at Cutter.

  ~ He stabbed Cutter’s tail.

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  “Hey!” Theo cried.

  Cutter turned around, and the sword hit his eye. “Arrrrgh—” He clutched his face with one hand; with the other hand, he transformed the Whatsamadoozle into a battle ax, and he swung it blindly.

  ~ Theo ducked under the ax.

  ~ He jumped over the ax.

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  The blunt side of the ax cracked into Theo’s chest, knocking him across the dais.

  Cutter jumped on top of him, but the ax got stuck in the stone floor. Theo ran under Cutter and jammed his wooden sword into Cutter’s tail. The dinosaur jumped into the air out of pain.

  Theo grabbed the ax, and it dematerialized and reappeared in his hand as a golden ball.

  “Arrgh—you’ll pay for that!”

  “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. They 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!”

  ~ Continue.

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  Theo dove over the ax, and Cutter missed him.

  ~ He ran between Cutter’s legs.

  ~ He climbed on Cutter’s face, covering his other eye.

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  Theo crouched and rolled, and Cutter spun around and smacked him with the ax.

  “Pesky little bear,” Cutter said. He approached Theo, dragging the ax behind him.

  Theo couldn’t stand, but he could crawl. There was a torch stand to his left, and immediately behind him, the dais dropped off into the grass.

  Cutter raised the ax to strike.

  ~ Theo dropped off the dais.

  ~ He crawled to the torch stand.

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  Theo tried to roll off the dais, but Cutter stopped in mid-strike and kicked him off. He hit the ground hard and rolled across the grass, stunned. Cutter was on top of him in an instant, with one hand on Theo’s neck, and the ax raised in the other.

  “It’s over, bear.”

  I’ve got to talk my way out.

  “If you kill me, Stratus will be mad.”

  “What?!” Cutter stopped. “You’re right. 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!”

  ~ Continue.

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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!”

  ~ Continue.

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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!”

  ~ Continue.

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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!”

  ~ Continue.

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  Theo climbed on the dais as Cutter monologued. He grabbed a torch off a nearby stand and approached.

  Cutter must have felt the heat coming, because he wheeled around. He stumbled back when he saw Theo. “You again.”

  Theo drew nearer, and Cutter backed away; he didn’t like the flame.

  “Stop, don’t come any closer!”

  Theo neared him.

  “I warned you,” Cutter said nervously. He morphed the Whatsamadoozle turned into a giant fan, and he blew the torch out.

  Theo looked at the torch in disbelief.

  “I love this thing,” Cutter sa
id, running at Theo.

  ~ Theo rolled out of the way.

  ~ He ran for the tree line.

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  Theo narrowly missed the ax. Cutter had swung wide, and left himself wide open; the ax clanked against the ground as he tried to regain his balance.

  Theo leaped onto the battle ax and hung on tight. Cutter tried to shake him off but couldn’t.

  “Clingy, are we?” Cutter asked. The Whatsamadoozle disintegrated underneath Theo’s grip and he crashed to the ground. It rematerialized in Cutter’s hands as a bow and arrow.

  Theo struggled on the ground as Cutter aimed for him. On the ground nearby, Theo saw a yo-yo and a Frisbee.

  ~ Theo threw the yo-yo at Cutter’s eye.

  ~ He hid behind the Frisbee.

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  Theo threw the yo-yo just as Cutter released the arrow. The yo-yo hit Cutter in the eye and he stumbled backward; the arrow disintegrated just before it reached Theo’s heart.

  The yo-yo rolled back to Theo’s feet.

  ~ Theo used the yo-yo as a weapon.

  ~ He used the yo-yo to tie Cutter’s legs.

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  Theo wound up the yo-yo and smacked Cutter repeatedly until he dropped the Whatsamadoozle in the grass.

  “Ouch, you little—”

  Theo snatched the Whatsamadoozle, and it glowed 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!”

  ~ Continue.

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  Theo ran in circles around Cutter’s legs, and the dinosaur tripped and fell. Theo snatched the Whatsamadoozle, and it glowed in his palm.

  “The Whatsamadoozle is mine now.”

  “You’re going to pay for that,” Cutter said, ripping the wire off his legs. He 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!”

  ~ Continue.

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  The ax thwacked the Frisbee, shattering it, but Theo was safe. He took one of the shards and slashed Cutter’s arm—the dinosaur recoiled and dropped the Whatsamadoozle. Theo grabbed it, and it turned into a golden ball in his hand.

  “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!”

  ~ Continue.

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  As Theo ran, Cutter caught him, threw him into the air, and reared the ax.

  “Batter up.”

  Theo curled himself into a ball and hoped that Cutter didn’t connect. Instead, he hit the ground, and Cutter stood over him, grinning.

  “Why should you die now when I could give His Grace the pleasure?”

  He reached for Theo, but Theo rolled out of the way and bit his arm.

  “Arrgh!”

  Cutter dropped the Whatsamadoozle and Theo dove into the grass and grabbed it.

  “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!”

  ~ Continue.

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  Theo took off into the forest with Cutter on his tail. The dinosaur cut down trees left and right as he followed.

  The Whatsamadoozle glowed in Theo’s hand. He imagined it as a mallet, and it flashed. A magnificent mallet, three times his size but as light as a small stick, pulsed in his hand.

  He swung around and smacked Cutter in the chest. The dinosaur fell back, his wings sawing through several trees as he tumbled. One of them fell on him, but he threw the tree off and ran after Theo faster than before.

  “You won’t get away, bear.”

  The trees rustled again and shuffled around them as they ran.

  Not again.

  Theo squinted through the canopy and saw that he was running toward the north star; he was in the southeast corner of the forest, and he guessed that he must have entered the forest from the west end, which was where he needed to go—but so much was happening that he couldn’t be sure.

  Cutter was unfazed by the forest movement. “Some measly trees aren’t going to stop me from having teddy bear shish kebabs.” He leaped into the air, his bony feet stretched wide to land on Theo, but Theo turned the Whatsamadoozle into a shield with spikes. Cutter landed on it instead and yelled, jumping away. He reared his wings back and fired two slicers of blue energy at Theo. They looked powerful, and Theo didn’t know if the shield would protect him.

  The trees kept shuffling around, and he spied a low-hanging vine on a nearby tree.

  Theo turned the Whatsamadoozle into a:

  ~ Whip.

  ~ Magic scepter.

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  Theo aimed the whip at the vine, and he sailed into the air just as the energy slicers whizzed by him. Cutter passed beneath him, his wings cutting the trees that suspended the vine, and Theo fell to the ground.

  Cutter pivoted and laughed; he was standing in the way Theo needed to go.

  “Let’s see you keep your bearing now.”

  The forest dissolved before Theo’s eyes, and he couldn’t focus. He sank into the ground, and everything became a mirror image of its former self.

  ~ East

  ~ Northwest

  ~ Southwest

  ~ North

  ~ Northeast

  ~ West

  ~ Southeast

  ~ South

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  Theo dashed past Cutter, narrowly missing the dinosaur’s wing. As he ran, several trees ahead formed a wall, preventing him from going farther.

  Theo slid to a stop, looked back, and saw Cutter gaining on him.

  Theo turned the Whatsamadoozle into a:

  ~ Pogo stick.

  ~ Buzz saw.

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  Theo jumped on the stick and bounced once; it was springy, and he knew that it could launch him high and far.

  ~ Theo bounced over Cutter.