Chapter 25: Thebes Strikes Back

"Evie, Evie." Ashlynn shook Evie's shoulder.

"What?" she grumbled. She yawned as she came to. The first thing she saw was Ashlynn hovering over her.

In a panicked voice, she said, "Sam's missing."

"What are you talking about?" Evie sat up. Her blue eyes rolled over to Sam's empty bed. Early morning sunshine shimmered through the window. Evie also started to panic. "Sam? Sam!"

Emrys, John, Tate, and Amanda also woke up.

John tripped over his own leg and tumbled over.

"Sam!" Evie shouted.

Seranet was almost fully awake when the camp crew made it outside. Fairy children were on their way to school. They patted their leafy bags and raced one another. The school was located on top of one of the village's waterfalls. A few pixies gathered some leaves and grass to add to their breakfast.

Evie and her friends looked around for Sam. He was nowhere to be found.

"Oh gosh," Tate grumbled. "What are we supposed to tell Mr. Mateo?"

Crystal the unicorn appeared on Seranet's main road. Her mane looked extra beautiful that morning, as if somebody had combed it overnight. "Don't worry about Sam, Tate," spoke her wise voice. "He's fine. Euphorbia is looking after him."

"What are you talking about?" Evie said. She thought Euphorbia left.

Crystal did not answer her. "Right now, we need to focus on Mateo. Your ambulance is here. It's waiting on the other side of Seranet's entrance. After we get him to the hospital, we'll search for Sam."

To Evie's surprise, Ms. Brook and Maria stepped out from behind a building. Both of them wore a pair of shorts with some sneakers. Amazed, their eyes roamed around the village. Evie's parents stepped onto the scene, too. They also wore some outdoor clothes. The whole family was there. Terrific.

"Mom! Dad!" Evie barked.

"Evie, you're okay!" Charlotte and Keegan rushed to her. They smashed her head into their chests.

Evie almost suffocated; their grips were so powerful. "Mom, Dad, I'm fine." She pushed herself out of her parents' arms before they could snap her neck.

The last person to join the party was Ranger Krysta. She rode on her motorcycle. Tilting her ranger cap, she nodded at Evie and her friends. "Good morning."

***

Ben and Edger woke up a little sore. A few feathers from the mat they landed on stuck to their skin.

Edger pushed Ben off him. He did not approve of the fact that he slept on top of him. He rose to his knees, right when his little girl, Diana, jumped down from a hole in the tent's roof.

"Daddy! You're okay." She leaped into her father's arms.

Mateo had pulled an all-nighter, all because he was traumatized. He had not left the table he hid under or dropped his protective barrier. He was covered in cobwebs. He heard Diana asking if her father was all right, and his heart snapped in two. His little Isabella.

Ben turned towards the table. "Mateo, are you seriously still under there?" He nudged Edger. "Hide the mask. We can't let him see it."

Edger hid it behind him, right when Evie, her friends, and family entered the hospital.

They shuffled down the hallway in between the lines of mats.

At the sight of Ms. Brook, a wave of relief washed over Ben. "Oh, good. Mom's here."

The group stopped at them.

"Where's my baby boy?" Ms. Brook asked.

Ben rubbed the back of his head. He pointed at the table. "He's down there. Ms. Brook, he's acting like a scared cat. He has not come out since yesterday."

"What happened?" Ms. Brook wanted to know.

"We tried to put him to sleep last night," Edger said. "It did not go well. And now the kid's saying he wants to die."

Maria did not believe him. She couldn't. She shook her head. "He doesn't mean that. I know he doesn't."

Edger upsettingly dropped his silky wings. He clutched Diana's shoulder.

Maria nodded to herself. She started in the direction of Mateo's barrier. "Mateo, please come out."

He saw her and instantly said, "No!" He tightly closed his eyes. Ivy ropes jumped out of the dirt surrounding Maria. They wrapped around her ankles. She tripped over them, falling backward.

Maria looked hurt. Bags appeared under her eyes. She frightfully asked, "Mateo attacked me?"

Keegan and Charlotte held Evie close. It was strange. For once, Keegan actually looked worried for Mateo. He felt so blessed that his child wasn't the one hiding under the table.

It was time for Ms. Brook to shine. She first freed Maria from Mateo's ropes. Then, she got down on her hands and knees and crawled toward him. "Mateo, it's your mother."

Mateo recognized her voice. He opened his eyes. He ordered for a few of his barrier's vines to drop so he could see her more easily.

It was amazing what a mother could do. She reached through the gap in the barrier and took her son's hand. "Come on." Slowly but carefully, she pulled him out from the table. Mateo flinched because she tugged on his injured shoulder.

Ms. Brook brushed the cobwebs off him. She sat up and hugged him close. She patted the back of his head. "I know you're scared, but you need to let the doctors treat you. I can't lose you, darling, and neither can Maria."

Now that his mother was close by, Mateo calmed down a bit.

Ben nodded at Edger.

He nodded back and pulled the mask out from his back. He and Ranger Krysta came within reach of Mateo and Ms. Brook. They kneeled to them.

Tears poured down Maria's cheeks like a fountain. "I can't watch this," she sobbed. She pushed past the party and stepped out of the tent.

Mateo rested his hand on his belly. He pulled his face away from the intimidating mask.

Ms. Brook rubbed tears from his cheeks. "Shh, shh, it's okay." She clutched his injured shoulder.

Mateo still fought against the mask. Krysta and Ms. Brook made sure he did not try to run. His breathing turned even more labored. He coughed again as he tried to find his breath.

Thanks to Krysta and Ms. Brook's help, Edger managed to put the mask over his nose and mouth. "Finally," he whispered.

Mateo reached for it, but Krysta pulled his hand away. "There's nothing to be scared of," she said. "We're just going to get you off to sleep for a little bit."

A few minutes passed, and the anesthesia kicked in. Mateo felt his body grow limp. He was so, so sleepy, but he tried his best to keep his eyes open.

Evie and her friends stayed brave, even though it was difficult to watch. Evie cuddled close to her parents. Her friends hooked hands with one another.

Mateo's hand dropped from his belly. It hit the soft dirt. Thanks to the anesthesia, he mistook it for a blanket.

Just before the drugs could pull him under completely, a certain someone ruined everything. Thebes. He stormed into the tent. His large hooves tossed dirt everywhere.

The centaur ripped Mateo straight from his mom. He took the mask off his face and chucked it to Edger. "I'm not going to let you take him!" he exclaimed.

Shocked, Edger asked, "Thebes, what are you doing?"

Crystal entered the hospital soon after him. "Stop!" she begged the centaur.

Ms. Brook reached for Mateo, but Thebes pulled him away from her. "Give me back my son!" she begged.

"I'm going to heal him the old-fashioned way–with an antidote!" Drawing one of his swords, Thebes put the tip under Ms. Brook's chin.

"Get your head in the game!" Crystal said. "I know you don't like humans, Thebes, but you've gone too far. The boy is dying!"

"I've been betrayed, Crystal," Thebes growled. "Not only by humans, but now by my own friends. How dare you and Edger take the humans' side!"

Edger clenched his fists. "He needs a hospital!"

Thebes shook his head. "No, he needs an antidote."

"Thebes, what happened to you?" Ms. Brook whimpered. "You were never like this when Faelyn was alive."

"Well, Faelyn's not," Thebes growled. "The boy is in my care, and I will be the one to heal him." He removed his sword tip from Ms. Brook's chin. He scooped up a cloud of dirt with his hooves and shoved it into the whole party's faces. Just like that, he galloped out of the hospital.

Ms. Brook held her hand out to him. "Mateo Waeo!" she called.

Thebes galloped right by Maria, who sat on a bench outside the tent.

She leaped to her feet. "Mateo! What are you doing?" Maria rushed after the centaur.

Seranet's fairies tried to stop him, but he pushed them away with his powerful arms and legs.

Maria heard something behind her.

Evie, who rode on Crystal, stopped next to her. "Come on, Maria. We can catch up to him."

Maria's mouth gaped at the sight of the unicorn, but she did not stare for long. She climbed onto Crystal's bare back.

King Benjamin soon joined the party on Joey. Ms. Brook sat behind him. She wrapped her arms around his tummy.

Together, Evie's friends and family exited the village hospital. They exchanged frightened looks with one another.

John tried to fly, but his wing was still injured. He could get no more than two feet off the ground before he fell. The bird clenched his foot into a fist. He punched the ground as hard as he could.

***

Thebes took another exit to escape Seranet–a wall of emerald-colored ivy. He now galloped through a luminescent section of the Paperblank Forest. The luminescence came from the mushrooms that were in the area. Each mushroom shimmered a different color: blue, red, green, purple, and pink. They were the only source of light. Some mushrooms were small, while others were enormous (almost the size of miniature trees). Because it was so dark, Ben and Crystal had trouble tracking Thebes down.

The banging horse hooves woke a colony of dryads, all of who grew in the thick tree trunks. Dryads were very territorial beings, so they were not pleased by their unexpected visitors. They popped out of the tree trunks like skeletons and growled at the invaders. A few of them used their rooted hands to pick up branches, rocks, and logs. Crystal and Joey zigzagged in an attempt to avoid the objects. Thebes pushed through the worst of the colony just in time.

The dryads stretched their arms like Elastigirl in The Incredibles. They batted at Crystal and Joey's legs. Crystal tossed a few of them away with her horn. Ben used the hilt of his sword.

One dryad jumped into Maria, knocking her off Crystal. Its gaping mouth was as big as her face. It grabbed hold of her engagement ring. With one tug, it slid it right off her finger.

"No!" Maria screamed.

Ms. Brook came to the rescue. She hopped down from Joey and picked up a large branch. She whacked the dryad who stole Maria's ring.

Stunned, it stumbled backward. The ring soared over its head, in the direction of Thebes.

Ms. Brook used its body as a trampoline. She caught the ring in midair, slamming hard into the ground. She rolled a few times. Her back hit one of the glowing mushrooms.

More dryads confronted Thebes. He ran his sword through each spirit's chest, killing them off one at a time. Mateo did not move in his other arm. He was still under the influence of the anesthesia.

Every time Thebes slashed a dryad, it screeched horribly.

Where Crystal and Joey were, Evie's eyes caught a low-lying tree branch. She remembered the training course from the day before. She had to find a way to get that branch to fall and bash the forest nymphs.

Ben continued to bop dryads with his sword hilt. "Let us through!" he said. "We're trying to save a life!"

The dryads did not care. They continued to multiply and zoom in on Evie, her friends, and her family. They were trapped. Four people and two horses could not take on a whole dryad colony by themselves. They needed something bigger, something that could attack multiple targets at once with a single swipe.

Thebes stopped momentarily to enjoy the show. He tucked his sword into its case so he could hold Mateo in both arms. He smirked.

Ms. Brook got up from the ground. She glared at her old friend.

Maria tried to shove her way past the dryads. "Mateo!" she screamed.

Ben hated to say it out loud, but he and his friends were beaten. They had to retreat. He lifted his sword over his head. "Fall back! There are too many!"

"But Mateo!" Maria shrieked.

"We can't save him without a plan," Ben said.

Ms. Brook hated to admit it, but the young king was right. She had to let her son go, at least for now. "Hang on for just a little longer, baby," she whispered.

Joey stopped behind her. Ben offered her his hand.

Ms. Brook accepted it. She slipped Maria's engagement ring into the pocket of her shorts.

Ben lugged her onto Joey's back. "Hold on tight," he said.

Crystal pushed Maria with her horn.

The young woman clutched the unicorn's nose. "Crystal, please, I can't leave Mateo."

"We need to. The dryads have us outnumbered," Crystal explained. Like what she did with Evie the day before, she picked up Maria with her horn and tossed her onto her back.

The horses backed away from the angry nymphs. They bumped a few of the glowing mushrooms, upsetting them even further.

Evie squeezed Crystal's sides. She glanced over her shoulder to the dryads and Thebes and tried to come up with a plan of her own. Who knew the training days had turned into the actual thing? Evie felt like a real ranger on a mission. She was scared, yes, but also a little excited.

Thebes galloped down the luminescent path, avoiding the rest of the dryads. He mowed a good number of the glowing mushrooms down. He was confident he would find his way through the maze. His large eyes examined Mateo up and down, who still did not move.

Thebes smiled to himself. He had succeeded. Ranger Anthony, Euphorbia's successor, was his.