Mr. Willimaker's nose began to quiver. Not his entire face. Just the nose. For a brief second it popped out like a long, pink carrot, then he took a deep breath and it f
lattened itself back to its regular button shape. He said, "I'm asking you for the last time, Your Highness, to release Grissel the Goblin."
Elliot stood. He placed his hands on his hips and then thought maybe that was too much like what Cami had done, so he put his hands to his side. "Who are you? Because you're not Mr. Willimaker."
The creature who was not Mr. Willimaker stared at Elliot with wide eyes while he searched for something to say. He stuttered out a few halfhearted protests, then finally leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He exhaled slowly, and as he did, the body of Mr. Willimaker dissolved, leaving in its place a small white goat.
Elliot stepped back, just to be cautious. Although he had figured whoever this was would give up trying to look like Mr. Willimaker, this was not what he had expected.
With black eyes, the goat looked up at Elliot, bleated loudly, then said, "Release Grissel or else!"
"Or else what?" Elliot asked. "What are you going to do, eat my shirt?"
"I might."
Elliot sighed and picked up his backpack. "If this is the best you can do, then I've got to go."
The goat drew in a large breath of air that seemed to fill its entire body. It stretched and expanded until it was four feet taller than Elliot. The goat's thin white hair turned dark and wild (except for a small patch of white hair on the back of its head). Long, muscular legs formed, leading to a wide, hunched back and the face of a wolf.
With a growl, the creature said, "So you're not afraid of farm animals. What about a werewolf?"
Elliot wondered why the creature hadn't turned into a werewolf to begin with. Goats don't have fangs, or sharp claws. This was much more impressive. In a bad way.
Elliot tried to keep his voice from shaking as he said, "You won't hurt me. I'll bet you're not as bad as you say you are."
"I'll take that bet," the werewolf said. "And I'll win, because I am very bad. I'm like a triple scoop of evil with a cherry on top. A wicked, evil cherry that you'll probably choke on if you don't chew carefully before swallowing."
Elliot tilted his head. "Huh?"
The werewolf leaned in closer. "I'm so evil that my analogies don't even have to make sense. So I win the bet. Never trust anything that can change its shape."
Elliot shrugged. "In my world, the only thing I can think of that changes is a butterfly. It starts as a caterpillar, and then it changes to a butterfly. I trust butterflies. They'd never hurt me. I don't think you would either."
The werewolf raised a claw and growled so loudly that the branches of the tree behind Elliot trembled. Elliot stumbled a few steps backward and said, "Look, if you want to talk to me, then just do it as yourself."
"There is no myself," the werewolf said. "I am a Shapeshifter. I am whatever form I take at the moment."
"So this is your scary form?" Elliot asked.
The werewolf laughed, which sounded more like a pre-hunt howl. Then he asked, "Do you want to be scared?"
Elliot didn't, but it was clearly a rhetorical question. The werewolf wasn't looking for an answer. It retreated into the shadow of a tree and took a deep breath; then its height shrunk by a foot or two. The werewolf's fur blackened to become more like a body of smoke and fire than of flesh and bones. Elliot could feel the heat from the black fire, but there was no light, just the bitter smell of burning. A long, black cloak hung around the creature's shoulders, and when Elliot glanced down, he saw that the creature was only barely touching the ground.
The creature's voice was like a whisper Elliot heard in his head, but not through his ears. It ran a shiver up Elliot's spine as the creature said, "Now I am a Shadow Man. I am your worst nightmare."
Dear Reader, this may be a good time to think about your worst nightmare. Is it one where you are being chased down a very steep hill by a million hungry white bunny rabbits and you are holding what appears to be the last carrot on earth? Or am I the only one having that dream?
Elliot doesn't remember most of his dreams. However, he felt that if he had dreamt of his Brownie friend turning into a goat, changing to a werewolf, evolving into a Shadow Man, and threatening to do something horrible to him if he didn't release Grissel, who would then turn around and do something horrible to the Brownies, he would certainly remember such a dream. So this was probably not his worst nightmare.
It was a pretty scary daymare though, if such a thing existed.
The Shadow Man stared down at Elliot, who felt beads of hot sweat line his forehead. Something inside Elliot stopped working. Something important, like his heart. This was nothing like being scared to death by the Goblins. It was worse. He stumbled backward, tripping on a root and falling to the ground.
"Is this what you are?" Elliot asked, not sure what he was seeing.
The creature's laugh sounded like the powerful hiss of a steam engine pulling into a train station. "Shadow Men are servants of the evil Demon Kovol. Fear them, Elliot, and hope you never cross their path."
Elliot's heart pounded in his chest. Kovol was asleep. His friend Agatha the Hag had told him that. As long as Kovol remained asleep, the Shadow Men would have no reason to bother him. He hoped.