“I’m going in!” she called over her shoulder to Sam, who was still running down the cul-de-sac.
“Wait for me!” he called, but Sophie took no notice. She raced into the trees following the trail.
Branches grabbed at her like crooked fingers and thorny brambles caught at her ankles, but Sophie was intent on following the slime. The trees pressed close all around her, and the shadows deepened.
Suddenly she saw something just ahead of her, moving through the gloom. She caught her breath. It was a shadow creature! But it certainly wasn’t an Ink Cap Goblin. It had greeny-brown skin, enormous bony hands hanging by its sides, straggly wisps of hair that looked like pondweed and slime dripping from its toes.
The Guardian powers were throbbing through her, making her feel strong and powerful.
“Hey you!” she shouted, speeding up. “Mr Bony Hands!”
The creature swung round. It was a head taller than Sophie, and wore scraps of raggedy clothes. A swampy stench like the smell of rotten eggs billowed towards her.
“You!” it said in a burbling, slimy voice. “The girl who’s the new Guardian of the Gateway.”
“Yep, that’s me,” said Sophie, stopping and folding her arms.
For a moment, they both just stared at each other. Suddenly, Sophie became aware of strange rustles in the trees around her, coming from the gloomy shadows. A flicker of fear rose up inside her, but she pushed it down.
“What were you doing out on the street?” she demanded. “Someone saw you!”
“So?” The creature gave a squelchy laugh. Its teeth were very long and sharp, Sophie noticed uneasily.
She tried to sound braver than she felt. “So, stay away from the town and the people in it.”
“Ha, you wish! For your information, I have a job to do.” The creature opened its slimy fingers. In its palm glinted the large iron key to the gateway.
Sam ran up behind Sophie, panting and out of breath. “It’s got the key!” he gasped, propping his hands on his knees.
“How did you get that?” burst out Sophie. “Did you take it from the Ink Caps?”
“Take it? No, they gave it to me!” The creature gave a low, wet-sounding chuckle that made Sophie’s skin crawl. “We’ve got a deal. I’m going to use it to find the gem, and then they’ll open the gateway.”
Sophie stared at the key. If she could just get it back, then it wouldn’t matter where the gems were hidden – the shadow creatures wouldn’t be able to open the gateway! She lunged forwards, but her opponent was fast. It jerked the key away with a snarl as it swiped at her with long, claw-like fingers.
Sophie jumped back, surprise flashing through her. The Ink Cap Goblins had been cowardly, but this thing didn’t seem scared at all! She attacked again, her right foot lashing out in a high kick aimed at its chest. Ha! she thought in triumph, waiting for the crunch…
SQUISH!
It was as if her foot had hit a pillow filled with water. The creature’s body was so soggy that her kick didn’t seem to bother it at all.
Sophie gasped in surprise as her opponent grabbed her foot and yanked upwards, just as Grandpa had done in the training session. “Oof!” She thumped back on to the ground. Before she could spring to her feet, it was looming over her, showing its long, spiny teeth.
“Get off her!” Sam yelled. He threw his lunch box at it. There was a splatting sound as it hit the creature and dropped to the floor.
Through the trees, Sophie heard a very faint cry.
“Cutie-Pie! Cutie! Please come back!”
But she didn’t have time to think about it. She felt the creature’s hands on her shoulders, saw its pointed teeth coming closer to her face, smelt its rotten breath. She struggled as hard as she could, but her fingers just sank into its squishy skin. Panic rushed through her. How could she fight something that she couldn’t hurt or grip or kick?
“No!” she cried as the creature’s teeth came closer…
Copyright
SOPHIE AND THE SHADOW WOODS : THE GOBLIN KING
Text copyright © Linda Chapman and Lee Weatherly 2011
Illustrations © Katie Wood 2011
Linda Chapman and Lee Weatherly assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work.
ISBN 978-0-00-741163-4
EPub Edition © 2011 ISBN: 9780007411641
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The Goblin King Page 5
