Stumbling out of the treehouse, Mateo shut the door with his foot. A zephyr rushed through his hair, but he smacked his hand over his hat to keep it in one place. His eyes rolled over to a large tree just off his group's house. Its branches stabbed the sky like a knife. He took his rope off his belt and twirled it a few times. It moved so fast that the display was shield-like. Mateo tossed it forward. The rope's hook wrapped around one of the tree's branches. He held it with both hands and leaped from the cabin's porch.
He swung through the warm, summer air and landed on his feet at the base of the tree. Tugging his rope a few times, it came undone and fell toward him. Mateo caught it. Perhaps that was why he liked his job so much. Swinging from trees was fun.
With his rope in hand, Mateo sprinted through the village's base and toward Paperblank's gate. He met up with John on the bridge.
The Red-Crowned Crane stood in the stream. He stuck his beak in the water, with the hope he would catch an evening snack.
Mateo, who now stood on the bridge, brought his fist to his lips. He cleared his throat.
John jumped. He slipped on a rock and splashed into the water. Why was he so clumsy? He flapped his wings to help him stand.
Mateo placed his hands on his hips. "We don't have time to splash around in the pool. We need to get a move on," he frustratingly told his friend.
John blushed. "Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!" He acted out a quick salute with his foot and joined his partner.
The night grew darker by the second. In front of Mateo and John, Paperblank's tunnel seemed to stare. The wind died down.
Mateo and John started toward the gate. They were both excited and nervous about what would happen.
Mateo, though, could not get far on his injured tummy. He and his friend just made it to the tunnel when he collapsed onto his side in the tall grass around it.
John screeched to a halt. He looked over his shoulder at his partner. "What the heck, dude?" he asked. Flapping quickly, he left the tunnel and landed next to Mateo. "You seriously did not go see a doctor?" How on Earth could they succeed now?
Mateo pushed himself to his elbow and glared at the bird. "I don't need a doctor."
"Uh, yes you do, dude."
"Just shut up, John, and take me to the time traveler." Mateo did not like being bossed around by a bird. He was also too cool to admit that the risk he was taking was wrong.
John helped him to his feet. He shook his head and admitted, "I don't understand you at times, kid." He kept asking himself why the Ranger Union sent Mateo to the forest when he was clearly burnt out from all his other missions.
The bird put one wing around his partner's shoulders. He held him up with his other one. John dragged him through Paperblank's cold gate. Unlit torches were on its walls. The tunnel itself was relatively small, but there were clusters of trees at the other end of it.
John feared for his friend, but he knew he couldn't stop him. Asking him to rest was like asking a fish to quit swimming.
***
Ms. Julie took over for Mateo for the rest of the night. She, after all, was his secondary partner.
"Why can't we help Mr. Mateo?" Evie asked. She, Ms. Julie, and her group members crossed the bridge to their cabin. A few fireflies flickered by their faces.
"It's too dangerous," Ms. Julie told the young girl. "Besides, y'all need to rest for your first day of classes tomorrow."
"But he needs us!" Evie argued. "Rangers don't keep their colleagues in the dark."
Ms. Julie stopped abruptly. Evie knew Mateo was a ranger. But how?
Ashlynn came to her rescue. She appeared next to Evie and said, "Evie, for the last time, Mr. Mateo is not a ranger."
"He is, too!" Evie snapped. "Why else would he run off with that crazy bird?"
Ms. Julie set a hand down on each girl's shoulders. "Please, girls. Y'all are just tired. Everything will be fine in the morning."
"But Mr. Mateo!" Evie could not help herself. There were too many replays of the pebble attacking her and Mateo in her head. She broke free from Ms. Julie's grasp. "I'm sorry," she softly said.
"Evie, wait!" but it was already too late for the camp director.
Evie pushed past her group. She knocked down Amanda and Tate but did not bother to pick them up. Evie hurried across the bridge and headed toward a ladder at the west end of the village. She slid down it. Her feet touched the forest's bed. She felt Mateo's aura. The connection between them was extraordinarily tight. Evie's eyes rolled over to the tunnel across the stream. If she was going to find her counselor, then she had to trust her instincts.
On her way to the tunnel, Evie tripped, but she caught herself before she could fall. She crossed the bridge but stopped momentarily to look over her shoulder at the village. There was no turning back. Mateo needed her, and Evie needed him.
***
John led the way through the dense forest. Behind him, Mateo was on his walkie-talkie-like device. He checked the status of the basilisk. As usual, the monster had trouble focusing on multiple subjects at once. The dot on Mateo's device showed it slithering in different directions. Until it got its mind straight, he and John were safe.
They reached the wall of vines and thorns he discovered. Together, they examined it up and down.
"The boy's through here," the crane explained. Light rays from the white moon bled through the treetops and skimmed the wall. John and Mateo could see their shadows.
"What about the Guardian?" Mateo asked his partner.
John thought for a moment. "I didn't see her."
"Wait, what?" Mateo clenched his hands into fists. "Are you serious, mi amigo? We can't defeat the basilisk without her." He took his hat off his head and ran his fingers through his hair.
"My guess is that she's somewhere near the boy." John wasn't 100% sure, but he had to say something.
"Let's hope you're right," Mateo responded. He and John crept toward the wall.
John found the gap he squeezed through earlier. He and Mateo peered inside. The wall's interior was spookier at night than during the day. The thorns looked like severed hands hanging from a ceiling. John shivered. He asked Mateo, "So, do you want to go first?"
Mateo shot him an angry look, but he decided to comply.
However, before he could squeeze by the bird, a young voice yelled at him from behind. "Mateo!"
Evie. She followed his aura to the wall.
Mateo was so surprised that he banged his head on one of the vines. "Ow!" he grumbled.
John glanced at Evie. "Hey, isn't she one of your campers?"
Mateo pulled his body out of the gap and rose to his shaky legs.
Evie stood on top of a ledge. Her eyes widened at the sight of the proof she needed to prove her counselor's identity–his uniform. The moon's rays helped her see him and the bird clearer. A small smile wafted across her face. "Mateo," she repeated. Evie didn't know what it was, but she felt happy seeing him again. She hopped down from the ledge.
Mateo checked his device. His entire face turned white. "Evie, wait!"
Evie kept on running. She just wanted to be with Ranger Anthony for the rest of her life.
"Evie!" Mateo nervously put his device on his belt and sprinted toward her.
The sound of hissing in the shadows next to Evie forced her to stop. It was verbatim to the hissing Euphorbia heard so long ago when the hunter ambushed her.
The basilisk's move was quick. Its huge, cobra-like head emerged from the darkness, and it chomped at Evie. In sixty years, it had grown another ten feet, but it still sported its glowing, red eyes.
Evie froze with fear. She could not find the strength in her legs to run. She came out there to help Mateo, only to find a monster like none other.
Mateo pulled her out of the way, right when the serpent unleashed another cloud of blue-green smoke from its throat. He held her close to him and landed on his arm. While it was unharmed, his belly was not okay. Now that the basilisk was close by, the pain only grew worse. Mateo did not get up from the ground.
Evie could not believe what he did. He put himself in danger to save her. That was a true ranger. Evie rolled out of his arms and shook his shoulder. "Mateo, please get up."
The basilisk slithered toward them, its head close to the ground. Its two tails rattled like a rattlesnake.
Evie wanted to sprint, but she couldn't leave Mateo. If he died, then she died with him. After all, they were two peas in a pod.
Evie threw her body over Mateo's to protect him. She clutched his hand and closed her eyes, waiting.
The serpent's head rose. Drool dripped from its sword-like fangs. Nevertheless, before it could snap, a sudden tree branch filled with leaves smashed it in the face. The serpent stumbled.
John was the one who launched the weapon. He had flown up to a tree and made a slingshot out of some of its strongest branches. "Hey, Hopscotch! Pick on someone your own size!" he shouted.
The serpent turned to him, angrier than it already was.
John soon picked up on his mistake. He said only two words: "Oh crap."
The serpent snapped at him instead. It barely missed John's foot.
The crane flapped his wings, lifting into the sky. He fluttered around the serpent's head. "Go! Go!" he shouted at Evie. "I'll keep it distracted. The important thing is that you and Mateo rescue the time traveler."
"Time traveler?" Evie's mind returned to the legend the storyteller shared at the banquet, but she had no time to think for long. She helped Mateo up and lugged him toward the overgrown wall.
John flew in circles around the basilisk's head, in an attempt to confuse it. He had to keep it distracted long enough, at least until Mateo's backup arrived. The event was nothing new, considering the adventures John had gone on before. A snake did not compare to what he'd seen.
***
Evie and Mateo crawled into the gap in the wall.
Mateo had Evie by her hand. The thorns scratched at his skin since he was Evie's shield.
Evie could sense he was furious with her. She did not want to think about the earful he was going to give her later.
Before the Pebble Masters knew it, they reached the other end of the wall. Mateo fell out of it, but Evie merely walked out. The trees in the area shimmered.
"Where are we?" Evie asked. Her eyes examined the circular, vine-filled area.
Mateo pushed himself to his hands and knees. "I don't need a doctor," he mumbled under his breath, but deep down, he knew he did. Standing up took so much more effort.
Mateo and Evie were side-by-side. They followed the glowing trees. The light pointed at Euphorbia's shrine and a small figure lying in front of it.
"Whoa, it's a kid, " Evie said, astounded. She jogged toward Sam.
Mateo followed. He and Evie ventured onto the shrine's overgrown path. They carefully stepped over vines.
"The time traveler," whispered Mateo. He and Evie climbed up the steps to the shrine and the unconscious boy. They kneeled to him. Mateo took his shoulder. "I can't believe it."
"Mr. Mateo, what's going on?" Evie wanted to know.
"Not now, Evie. We need to get this boy to the hospital." Mateo turned his back to Sam and plopped down on his backside.
Evie helped Sam onto his back. She saw something drop from the boy's hand. "My pebble," Evie mumbled, picking it up in her palms. The light from the trees found its way into the stone. It flickered. Eventually, the trees stopped glowing, but the pebble was still very much alive. A white light washed over Evie's face. "Incredible," she mumbled. She looked over her shoulder to the shrine.
Euphorbia was still behind the building. A leaf was over her body like a blanket. Euphorbia didn't want to die there, but somewhere else. She struggled to lift herself into the sky. Where she had been resting, the plants turned brown and wilted.
The fairy struggled to fly into a gap on the other half of the wall. She couldn't even open her eyes. Her dress paled to the point that it was white instead of its healthy green. Very little fairy dust escaped her wings. She didn't care if she died. As long as Sam was safe, that was all that mattered. If Evie and Mateo could make it past the basilisk, then they would be able to help him. Protecting Sam... That, to Euphorbia, was worth dying for.