"Now stir that in with a stick!" Wendy said.
"Or just shake it up," Reed said. "That's how we mix things at the Quack Shack."
While Wendy and Reed argued about whether the drink should be shaken or stirred, Elliot put the lid on and held it under his arm. He didn't think either one mattered. Minthred hadn't mixed it up, so neither would he. Besides, if he got Kovol to drink it, it was all going down in one swallow anyway.
"How's your magic doing?" Cole asked. "Is it back yet?"
"I don't think so," Elliot said.
"It had better hurry," Kyle said. "It's getting dark."
Elliot had noticed the same thing. In the woods, the trees were taller and the leaves denser, so it always felt dark earlier here than it would in Sprite's Hollow. And it definitely was getting late. At least, Elliot had felt his hungry
stomach rumbling for some time.
A cool wind washed over Elliot's face. As long as the breeze was cool, that was only the weather. But any moment now the wind would shift, coming from Kovol's direction. And it would feel warm, even hot. It would be a signal that the Shadow Men had come.
"What happens now?" Reed asked.
Elliot's original plan with the potion had required the use of magic. He didn't have that option now, and he really wasn't sure how to trick Kovol into drinking the potion.
"Tell him you have this yummy drink and he can't have any of it," Cami said. "People always want things more if they know they can't have it."
This wasn't always true. One day each month, the school cafeteria had Mystery Meat Day. All the kids were pretty sure that meant the lunch ladies took the leftover meat from every other meal that month and ground it all together. And each month, the principal got first in line for lunch, then told the students they couldn't have any because it was all for him. It was his way of getting the kids to hurry into the line with him. But it never worked. As far as the kids were concerned, the only mystery with that meal was how many of them would lose their lunch before the day ended.
Despite that, Cami's suggestion was pretty good. Except for Mystery Meat Day, an idea like that usually worked.
"I'll try it," Elliot said. "But I've got to hurry. I want Kovol to drink this before he calls his army. All of you, stay here."
Elliot returned to the patch of gripping mud where Kovol was still stuck. With mud pulling at Kovol's arms, he still folded them and frowned at Elliot. Kovol said, "The only reason I'm not attacking you now is that it will be much more fun once I'm free."
"Yeah, whatever." Elliot held out the bottle of juice. "I don't care, because I just drank some of this...um...yummy stuff. And you can't have it."
"Why would I care about that drink?" Kovol asked. "I have a much better drink, and you can't have it either."
"Why not?" Elliot asked. "I want some!" If it was good enough for a super villain, it was good enough for him. Then his eyes widened. Kovol was only using Elliot's own trick against him. Rude!
So Elliot stuck out his chest and said, "My drink made me stronger than you. I could snap you in half with my two fingers."
Kovol rolled his eyes. "You couldn't snap a twig."
"Oh, yeah?" Elliot picked up a nearby twig to prove him wrong. But he must have grabbed a really strong one, maybe one made of metal or something, because it wouldn't snap, even when he used all of his fingers. With a sigh he dropped it on the ground and broke it with his foot. "Aha!"
Kovol yawned, then pointed at a nearby tree branch. It cracked in half and almost fell right on top of Elliot's head.
"Show-off," Elliot muttered. This wasn't going so well.
He tried a different idea. "I'm sorry I pulled out your hair. I never planned to make you go bald. But if you want my opinion, it looks better now than if you tried to comb over that one hair to fool people."
"I'm not doing this because of the hair," Kovol said. "I'm doing this because I'm evil."
"I've met other evil creatures in the Underworld," Elliot said. "You're the worst, of course, but from what I've seen, if you decide that you want to change and become good, you can do that."
Kovol smacked hard at the mud, sending the message that his current life plans had nothing to do with becoming good. He would never help old ladies cross the road (unless he could eat them on the other side), or plant flowers (except maybe a prickly cactus), or do anything that a good creature would.
"Maybe you should just sit there and think about it a while longer." Elliot eyed the bottle of turnip juice. "Do you want a drink while you wait?"
"The last time I had a drink like that I fell asleep for a thousand years," Kovol said. "The great wizard Minthred tricked me."