The Green Guardian

Chapter 28: Heart of Darkness

Shocked, she stumbled back a few feet.

It was time to die honorably. Mateo leaped onto one of the basilisk's impatient tails. He climbed it like a rock climber, up to its spine, and eventually its head.

The basilisk tried to shake him off, but Mateo yelled, "Stop fighting me! I'm trying to help you!" He rubbed the sweat from his forehead. Mateo tried to unleash the most powerful magic he had, but he struggled. It took him a few tries before he managed to conjure a decently-sized wall of vines and ivy.

John turned Sam and Euphorbia over to Maria. He took his hat off his head and chucked it forward. The hat spun like a top. It slapped Thebes in his face, knocking him off balance.

While the centaur was stunned, Ben smacked the sword out of his hand.

Thebes glared, not only at him but also Mateo. How could Faelyn's own son turn against him? He was trying to save him for Pete's Sake!

Mateo next conjured an ivy bridle. He tied it around the basilisk's muzzle. He planted his feet on its rough scales. He kept trying to bend it to his will. As a defense mechanism, it spat out another cloud of the forest sickness.

John blew it away before his friends could breathe it in. "Wings of John Golden!" he shouted.

The basilisk tried to keep up with all the movement in the area. Its tail knocked down a huge piece of its den.

Sam hurried to Evie. "Euphorbia's pebble," he said.

The basilisk picked its poison. It confused Maria for Thebes. She yelled when the monster slithered toward her. It threatened her with its sword-like teeth.

Thebes and Ben were too busy dueling. Thebes shot his crossbow, but Ben ducked under the arrow. It flew straight toward Maria's face.

"Ah!" she screamed.

"Maria!" Mateo shouted. He tossed his rope into a tree. Its hook clamped down on a powerful branch.

Euphorbia watched amazed.

Mateo leaped from the basilisk's head. He swung to Maria and grabbed her before the arrow could skewer her. Except, his sweaty hand slipped from his rope. The ranger wrapped his arms around Maria. Both he and she smashed into the forest bed. They rolled a few times before coming to a complete stop.

Mateo shouted with pain. He hurt his hand a little bit because he protected Maria's belly. His rope's hook came undone. It coiled into a pile at the base of the tree.

Euphorbia nodded to herself. She remained calm. She flew to Evie and Sam and took her pebble away from them. "Thank you," she telepathically told Sam.

He nodded. "Sure."

Mateo released Maria. He called for an enormous vine to lift out of the earth. It appeared under his feet and took him back up to the basilisk. He hopped onto its head. Mateo tugged its bridle away from Maria. He turned toward the actual Thebes who Ben had cornered up against the wall of the creature's den.

Mateo yelled at the centaur, "A Pinta Park Ranger relies on nature to save nature!"

Thebes glanced at him. "But, Mateo!"

The ranger narrowed his eyebrows. "I will protect the basilisk from tyrants like you." Stumbling, he fell to his hands and knees.

Euphorbia threw her pebble like a Frisbee. It moved in on Mateo and circled him from his heels up, engulfing him in a bright green light. The basilisk shut its eyes against it. It rapidly shook its head.