The Green Guardian

Chapter 21: Fight for Mateo

Evie frightfully shook her head. She tried again. "Please, Mr. Thebes, he needs proper medical care."

"And we'll give it to him," said Thebes. He bowed his head to the little girl. "Goodbye." Without another word, he flicked his tail and marched away from the party.

"Wait." Evie wanted to chase him, but the centaur jumped into a canter. He disappeared into the wall of thick fog. He wasn't going to get off that easily. Not with King Benjamin in the loop.

He wrapped Joey's reins around his hand. "John, look after the children."

"What are you going to do?" John wanted to know.

"Play a game of tag," Ben replied. He adjusted his black vest and flapped his cape. The young man mounted Joey. "Keep them safe," he told John.

"Yes, sir!" John saluted with his foot. Opening his good wing, he pushed Evie and her friends back. They bumped into some trees.

Ben dug the heels of his boots into Joey's flanks. "Hyah!"

The horse whinnied. He hurried after Thebes.

Evie and her friends watched them leave. Evie felt so useless right now. Why couldn't she be part of Ben's great scheme? Heck, who said she couldn't?

She made sure the others weren't looking. As quiet as a mouse, she ducked into the bushes behind her and her friends. Evie sure had a knack when it came to breaking camp rules. Then again, there was no way she was just going to stand around and do nothing when her cousin was in serious condition. No ranger abandoned their co-workers.

***

Evie used the dense section of the Paperblank Forest as a training course. She jumped into a tree that was covered with branches and started to climb it. A branch broke under her foot, but Evie caught herself. She listened to nature, just like what Mateo said. To her surprise, she got a response.

"Use the vine at the top of the tree to swing over the gap in the ferns."

Evie saw the cluster of ferns Nature referred to. She barely made out a giant hole in the middle of them. She grabbed the thick vine Nature mentioned.

Evie took a deep breath and jumped. She swung right over the ferns. She landed on the other side of them, a determined look on her young face. Large logs surrounded her. Some lay flat, while others were tilted. The tilted ones rested on top of hills. Evie had to make her choice carefully.

She jumped when a few deer popped out from some plants. They cantered right by her. Evie eyed them. The deer avoided the flat-lying logs. Evie soon knew why. The logs rose out of the ground, revealing tree-like monsters with scary faces–dryads. They were about the size of a troll. Evie jumped back into a tree to avoid them. The dryads crowded around its base. They banged it with their rooted fists.

Evie noticed that one of the tree's larger branches was loose. It was barely attached to the trunk. The little girl kicked it.

The branch was ready to go. It came undone and smashed right into the tree-like beings. While they were stunned, Evie climbed back down. She hopped over the creatures and leaped into one of the tilted logs. Evie slid through it like a slide. She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm coming, Mateo!" she called.

Evie landed in another small meadow. A rock wall gave it a coliseum-like appearance. She was reminded of the Roman Empire.

"Well done, child," Nature whispered. "You just avoided a whole dryad community. They're pretty territorial. Keep running."