Read Festival of Shadows Online
Authors: Michael La Ronn
“One more blow,” Lucinda said from below. She fired a dream blast into Theo’s sword, and it glowed blue.
Theo drove the sword into the top of the dragon’s head. It screamed as shadows flowed out of its body. Theo dug the sword in hard and deep, and the dragon jerked, throwing him off.
Theo landed on Gasket, who had circled up to meet him, and they flew down to the other toys. They all watched as the dragon dissolved before their eyes. Its roar, once deafening, diminished to a whisper, and the skyscape, once vivid and colorful, faded slowly to black.
A portal back to the throne room appeared behind them.
“It’s over,” Theo said, sheathing his sword.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Heinrich said, running toward the portal. The other toys followed and jumped through.
Theo was last. He jumped toward the portal, but some of the lingering shadows had gathered. A hand snatched Theo’s leg and pulled him into the ether.
Lucinda screamed, but it was too late.
Theo and Stratus tumbled into free fall, slashing at each other as the world crumbled around them. They fell for what seemed like an eternity until they landed on a shadowy floor. Darkness surrounded them.
Stratus rose, but he was breathing heavily. His body, previously pure shadow, was now fog and bone. Half his head was missing, and he only had one red eye now—the other was gone. He looked as if only a few blows would finish him forever.
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ENDINGS GALLERY
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The train approached the castle gate, and it opened. The train whistled to a stop in the middle of the courtyard, and Theo jumped down into the grass, which was dead and overgrown with weeds. The castle rose high into the sky, gray bricks missing here and there.
I’m finally here.
He thought about the caravan, and hoped that they would forgive him. But then again, if he killed Stratus, he would free them forever and they would have no choice but to forgive him.
He faced the castle doors, which opened on their own, inviting him into the darkness of castle chambers.
He ran inside. The castle was lit by torches on the walls. A grand staircase spiraled up to the second floor. Theo ran upstairs and into the throne room, where Grant was lying on the ground. A portal swirled next to the throne, and Grant’s room was on the other side.
“Grant!” Theo cried. He ran to Grant’s side and touched him on the shoulder.
Grant opened his eyes. “Theo . . .”
“It’s okay, pal. I’m going to get you out of here.”
Grant’s eyes widened, and Theo turned around just in time to see Stratus rising behind him.
He turned the Whatsamadoozle into a sword and he slashed Stratus’s torso. Stratus groaned and toppled over. A waterfall of shadow and fog spilled across the floor, and he was gone.
Theo helped Grant up. “Stratus is gone now.”
Grant struggled and dragged his feet. They entered the portal, and landed in the bedroom.
Grant began to scream and cry, and Theo went stiff.
No. Not again. I rescued him. Why is he screaming? I defeated Stratus!
Mom and Dad rushed into the bedroom and embraced him.
“Where have you been?”
Grant shook his head. He stopped screaming and wiped his eyes.
Thank goodness. I thought it was going to be like when Shawn came back. You’re safe now, pal.
Grant followed Mom and Dad out of the room, and Theo sat up and sighed.
“Mission accomplished.”
The toys in the toy box climbed out and cheered.
“What was it like in the Stratusphere?” Tompkins asked.
Before Theo could reply, Grant returned to the room, and all the toys went stiff. He picked up Theo, stared at him for a long time, and he sighed. He set him on the bed and left the room again, and a few seconds later, he returned with a large box. He picked up the toy box and dumped all the toys in, and then he threw Theo on the top. Theo’s eyes widened, and all the toys looked up in shock as Grant taped the box shut.
Theo tried to right himself as Grant carried the box, but he kept tossing and turning with the other toys until they crashed to the ground.
“Where is he taking us?” Planeby asked after Grant’s footsteps had faded away.
They heard a loud engine, and then more footsteps on concrete, and the box went up again, as if someone hurled it. It hit a wall, the top split open, and the toys spilled out.
They were in a garbage truck. Theo saw the windows of the house before the garbage man shut the back door.
The other toys cried.
“He abandoned us!”
“We’re as good as dead!”
“This is your fault, Theo!”
Theo tried to stand, but the trash he was standing on gave way, and he slid down. “Be quiet,” he said. “I’ll get us out of here.”
“How?” Nora the Boombox asked.
Theo tried to think, but he saw Stratus’s face in his mind’s eye.
He tricked me.
“The walls are moving!” Tompkins cried.
The walls rumbled and began to close in. Theo pursed his lips as they moved closer and closer.
There was no escape.
NICE READING!
Things could’ve ended better, though. There’s so much more to see.
~ Go back to where things went wrong (recommended).
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Theo ran up a spiral staircase, but when he did, chimes in the bell tower rang.
It can’t be sunrise yet.
Stratus appeared at the top of the staircase, laughing. He swept his hand, and the ceiling disappeared, revealing the navy blue sky—and the new moon.
“No!” Theo cried.
Stratus picked up Theo, snatched the Whatsamadoozle and shield, ripped one of Theo’s arms down to the last thread, and launched him out of the castle. He flew until he crashed in the middle of the festival grounds.
Theo looked up at the horizon and knew that it was too late—he and Grant were trapped in the Stratusphere forever.
He tried to move his arm but he couldn’t. Plush oozed out of his shoulder.
Lucinda and the other toys gathered around him and looked down at him with sympathy.
“No, don’t look at me like that,” Theo said, trying to sit up. “I’ve got to get back to the castle—”
Heinrich shushed him and held him down.
“What are you doing?”
“It’ll be okay, buddy,” Bethany said.
“Quit being cryptic. What are you—no, no, no!”
Lucinda pulled out a roll of bandages, and Theo screamed as she wrapped his arm gingerly.
NICE READING!
Theo was so close.
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Theo’s sword glowed, and he ran at Stratus and slashed him relentlessly. He jumped into the air, and light gathered at the tip of his sword. He brought it down on Stratus’s face, and the whole area flooded with light.
Stratus sputtered as bright light radiated from inside his body, and then exploded. Tatters of shadows floated down like feathers, and Theo knew that Stratus was no more.
The blackness melted around him and a portal appeared. He jumped through and landed on the floor of the throne room. The toys cheered.
“We thought you were gone for sure,” Lucinda said, helping him up.
“Never.”
“Is he really gone now?”
Theo nodded.
There was a shimmer of light, and Grant appeared, sleeping on the floor. He opened his eyes and looked around sleepily.
“Theo?”
Theo rushed to his side and hugged him. “It’s time to get out of here.”
A gentler-looking portal appeared; Grant’s bedroom was on the other side.
“Now is your chance,” Lucinda said.
Theo faced the caravan. “Come back with me.”
“We have to stay,” Lucinda said. “We’re going to rebuild the Stratusphere. There are thousands of toys here who are wondering what just happened. We can’t leave them.” She smiled. “Besides, all of us wouldn’t fit in Grant’s toy box.”
“Lucinda—thanks.”
The other toys gave him a group hug, and then held him up and cheered.
“One final cheer for Theo!”
“Oh god, yes!”
“Yesiree!”
They set him down, and Gasket licked him sadly. Theo patted him on the neck and said, “See you, pal.”
He joined Grant at the portal. Grant jumped through, but when Theo jumped, the portal disappeared, and he crashed to the floor.
“No!” He punched the ground. “I can’t believe it . . .”
Through a thin slit in the ceiling, they saw the first crack of sunlight.
Lucinda touched Theo’s shoulder. “He’s safe. You can be sure of that.”
“How will I get home?”
“The link between our world and the human world is broken now. Stratus was the link, but now that he’s dead, I don’t know how to restore it.”
Theo looked at Jiskyl. “Surely, you must know.”
Jiskyl shook his head and turned away.
“Don’t lose hope,” Bethany said, dancing around him. “There has to be another portal in the castle somewhere.”
Theo nodded and rushed toward the throne room door. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
The ground shook, and the castle began to collapse around them.
Theo started down a hall, but Heinrich grabbed him. “We’ve got to get out of here, Theo.”
“No—”
“You can search for a portal and die in the process, or you can save yourself and live,” Heinrich said.
Theo stared down the hall, and the reality of being trapped hit him. He knew deep down that there weren’t any more portals. He swallowed hard.
They ran as everything fell around them, barely escaping the castle. Once they were clear of its stone walls, they looked back as it caved in on itself, leaving a gigantic heap of rubble.
Meanwhile, the sun rose, painting the sky yellow and orange.
“I’ve been in the Stratusphere for a long time,” Heinrich said, putting his hand over his heart, “And this is the first time I’ve seen the sun.”
“Stratus really
is
dead,” Bethany said. “I bet all the toys’ll be shocked.”
“They’re probably scratching their heads,” Jiskyl said.
Lucinda hovered in front of Theo and put on her best smile. “We’ll find a way to get you home.”
He didn’t smile back; instead, he stared at the horizon, now a blaze of red and orange. “At least I protected Grant. I just hope he will be okay. I won’t be there for him anymore.”
“I’d say that if he can survive Stratus, the rest of life’s perils will be nothing,” Jiskyl said.
They walked toward a nearby town where toys were gathered in the streets.
Lucinda floated downhill toward the town. “To a new future!”
Theo looked at the clouds again and thought of Grant. He didn’t feel the heaviness that had been in his heart since he came to the Stratusphere. It was hard to accept that he might never see Grant again, but at least Grant would be safe.
Heinrich hoisted him onto his shoulders and ran down the hill, shouting with joy. He reached up and tickled Theo’s stomach, and for the first time in a long time, Theo let go of himself and laughed long and hard.
WELL DONE!
Theo vanquished the darkness, at a price. But what if things had happened differently?
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His sword glowed, and he ran at Stratus and slashed him relentlessly. He jumped into the air, and light gathered at the tip of his sword. He brought it down on Stratus’s face, and the whole area flooded with light.
Stratus sputtered as bright light radiated from inside his body, and then exploded. Tatters of shadows floated down like feathers, and Theo knew that Stratus was no more.
The blackness melted around him and a portal appeared. He jumped through and landed on the floor of the throne room. The toys cheered.