Chapter 43: The Bittersweet

"John! What happened?" Evie asked the scuffed-up crane.

"Ah! I'm dying! I'm dying!" he shouted. John rocked back and forth on the ground and showed Evie his wing. "That freaking undead army broke my wing all over again! A bird who can't fly is not a bird at all!"

Mateo twitched from where he lied. John's whining stressed him. Aside from that, both he and Euphorbia felt that something had happened to the basilisk. After all, the two fairies and the monster were connected. Euphorbia dropped from Sam's shoulder, but luckily, he caught her.

Mateo tried to get up. His chest heaved, and his legs shook. He did not open his eyes.

Maria fought against him. "Mateo! Mateo!" She glared at John. "Evie, will you shut that bird up? He's stressing him out!" By accident, she hit Mateo in the tummy with her elbow.

He let out a sharp but painful yell. His knees shot up under his blanket, and he coughed.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" Maria slapped her palm to her mouth. She felt horrible. The sight of Mateo crying from the overwhelming agony did not help. "I'm so sorry," Maria repeated. She tucked her face in his chest.

While Krysta attempted to calm him, Evie slapped John across the cheeks a few times. "Pull yourself together! What happened? Where's the basilisk?"

The grief was too much for John to handle. He screeched into the atmosphere. Smaller birds took off in flight.

Mateo was so stressed that he ripped off the oxygen mask. He threw up all over his blanket.

"Oh my God!" Maria yelled. "John, stop! Please!" she begged the crane. She removed the blanket from Mateo.

Edger took it from her. He hastily flew away and tried to look for a stream or puddle he could wash it in.

Evie lugged the panicked John to his feet and led him away from the group.

Mateo fell into Maria's chest. "Don't let me die. Please," he sobbed. He rubbed his hand across her baby bump. "I want to hold her. I want to see her grow up."

Maria brushed tears away from his splotchy face. "You're going to hold her, Mateo. I know you will. Mateo? Mateo!"

Mateo started to slip in and out of consciousness again. He did not move in Maria's arms.

She tugged his shoulders. "Mateo! No! Stay with me! Please!"

Ranger Krysta had no choice. She ripped her walkie-talkie-like device out of her pocket and called the Union. "Hey, Professor Eryx? It's Krysta. I need you to send an ambulance ASAP. Mateo is not going to survive the trip to the tree on foot. We need to get him there today. Can you send the helicopter, too? We'll airlift him to the hospital as soon as the ritual is complete."

"Oh, Mateo," Maria cried. She glanced at Keegan. "Mr. Madison, just accept him!"

Keegan clutched his head.

Charlotte tried to comfort him by patting his shoulder. "His life depends on it. He's losing the battle. He needs you, baby."

Crystal leaped into the mix, annoyed by the party's slow progress. "Let's move, guys, or else the enemy will catch us."

"What about Evie and John?" Charlotte fearfully asked.

Sam set the weakened Euphorbia back on his shoulder. He brushed the dirt off his pants. "I'll get them. What's important now is that you guys get Mateo somewhere safe, at least until the ambulance arrives."

"Thank you, Sam." Charlotte was grateful. She was happy that Evie had such a caring uncle. He got his kind personality from his sister.

Maria and Krysta lay Mateo down on the stretcher. Krysta covered his nose and mouth with the mask and begged, "Keep fighting, Anthony. Please. An ambulance will be here soon." She nodded at the party. "I know a place that we can use as another temporary hideout. Follow me." She and Maria picked up the stretcher.

Mateo tried to fight like Krysta told him to do, but it was growing significantly harder. A freaking elephant was crushing his chest. It must have enjoyed torturing him because it did not let him go. Who knew elephants could be such brutal animals?

Keegan was so conflicted. His instincts, his good ones, kicked in. He picked a purple flower with a dandelion core–a bittersweet–from a flower-filled bush next to the path. With it in hand, he came within reach of the stretcher.

"Mr. Madison?" Maria asked. The hope in her voice was strong. She and Krysta paused in their tracks.

The rest of the party watched intrigued, including Faelyn. He clenched his ghostly fists out of both hope and frustration.

Above the treetops, storm clouds rolled in. A rumble of thunder came from them. The wind picked up, and the air grew cooler.

Keegan cleared his head of the demon. He thought about Evie and Mateo's undeniable love for his unborn child. A few flower petals floated by his, Maria, and Krysta's heads.

Maria and Krysta's hearts flipped. The moment was tense. A few drops of rain splashed onto the tops of their heads.

Keegan's hand shook. Lips quivering, he set the bittersweet on Mateo's chest. After a moment of silence, he said, "Ma-Mateo? I'm sorry for everything I've done to you. It was wrong and immature of me. I hope that one day, you will forgive me. Just, don't die. Please." He took a deep breath. "Anthony Mateo Brook, I accept you. I give you my blessing."

The whole party's jaws dropped. Did Keegan seriously just say that?

The flower shimmered. It removed itself from Keegan's hand and floated to Mateo's tummy. His abdomen flickered. The bright light woke him, but only slightly. He tilted his head so he could look at his belly.

Maria and Krysta lowered the stretcher. They and Keegan backed away from him. Krysta maintained a tight grip on her walkie-talkie-like device. Strings of golden light expanded like a spider web around Mateo's abdomen. Just before the bittersweet could free the poison from it, the undead army ambushed them.

They leaped out of the woods and pointed their weapons. A group of skeletons snuck up behind the party. Their bony hands grabbed them.

The possessed Ben slid to Mateo. He snatched the flower from his tummy and tossed it to Fororli, who caught it. He removed the mask from Mateo's nose and mouth. Instantly, he started to have trouble breathing. Ben grabbed the back of his shirt. He chucked Mateo to Thebes. He yelled when his tummy slammed into the ground.

"Mateo!" Maria shrieked. She tried to break free from the skeleton who held her, but he merely dug his bony fingers into her upper arms. They drew blood. Maria flinched.

Charlotte also attempted to release herself. "Leave him alone!" she yelled.

Gasping for air, Mateo frightfully peered up at Thebes. He shivered when Fororli and Ben joined him.

Ben pulled his arms behind him. He tied a rope around Mateo's wrists. He had no strength to fight back.

To Fororli, he wheezed, "What do you want?"

Fororli grabbed a tuft of his hair. He forced Mateo to look at him. He flinched under the dwarf's powerful grasp.

"Oh, you poor thing," Fororli sarcastically said. "Look how pale you are. Don't worry. We're going to put you out of your misery." He tugged Mateo's tuft a few times.

Notmuth wanted to go to his brother, but the army did not let him. If anyone could snap Fororli out of his trance, it was him.

"Actually,–" Fororli glanced at Ben, "Your Highness is going to be the one to kill you, right in front of your family."

"No!" Maria begged. She stomped on her captor's foot, but he didn't even flinch. Angry, he slapped her left temple. "Ow!" Maria shouted, reaching for it.

"Hey!" Keegan shouted. "Nobody slaps her!" That was when the guilt over him slapping Mateo returned. Why was he such a horrible person?

Fororli handed Ben his shiny broadsword. He then gestured at the soldier who slapped Maria. "Bring her here. She and the baby are going to have front-row seats."

"What are you doing? Let me go!" Maria said when the soldier dragged her to Ben, Fororli, Thebes, and Mateo. Before she knew it, she was right next to Fororli. Her eyes landed on Mateo. "Mateo," she whimpered.

Fororli ripped off a piece of his white shirt under his armor. He gagged Maria and paced back and forth in front of her. "This will teach you to never get dirty with a fae man," he growled. Without warning, he lifted his foot and ninja-kicked Maria right in her belly!

Yelling, she dropped to her knees. She could feel little Izzy shaking inside her. That darn dwarf hurt her!

"No!" Mateo screamed. "Stop! Please!" A tear ran down his pale cheek. He met Fororli's beady eyes. "She had nothing to do with it! It was my fault. Don't hurt them. Please."

Notmuth helped him. "Fororli, she's innocent!" He and the others fought against the skeletons' grasps, but they clamped their hands over their own mouths.

Fororli glanced at Ben. "Ben, this is it. Let's put the Green Guardian out of his misery, shall we? Our mission is nearly complete."

Mateo walked on his knees towards Maria, but Fororli kicked his belly next. Another undead fairy grabbed him. He dragged him across the ground and plopped him down in front of Ben.

Conflicted, the young king stared at him. Fororli wanted him to kill his best friend... the most well-known ranger in the whole kingdom. He didn't want to, but it was his master's orders. He lifted Fororli's sword over his head and stared into Mateo's sickly soul. Ben, though, could not bring himself to kill another man. He never killed anybody during battle. He hurt them, yes, but he was not a murderer.

"Why are you hesitating?" Fororli angrily stated. "Kill him!"

The sword shook in Ben's hand. Temporarily, his eyes flashed from red to their original color–deep brown.

Mateo could no longer sit up. He coughed and collapsed onto his side, with his hands still tied behind him. His chest continued to heave. He attempted to catch his breath, but it was difficult.

"No!" Ben shouted. He dropped Fororli's sword. "He's my friend. I can't kill him." His eyes stopped flickering. They returned to their normal color.

Fororli glared at him. "Fine. Then I will kill him myself!" He kicked Ben away and scooped up the sword. For a little fella, he was quite powerful.

Ben slammed down hard on his back. Groaning, he bent his knees.

"No!" Maria screeched behind the gag. "Mateo!"

Fororli raised the sword himself. He brought it down, aiming straight for Mateo's neck.

From out of nowhere, a vine with lines of small leaves wrapped around it. It stopped the sword an inch away from his skin. The undead army, shocked, released the rest of the party.

Keegan stamped his foot and balled his hands. He ordered his vine to chuck Fororli away from Mateo and Maria. He sprinted to the skeleton holding Maria and knocked his feet out from under him. The skeleton flew right into Fororli. Keegan freed the gag from Maria's mouth. "Go! Go! Go!" he shouted. "Get Mateo out of here!"

Even though she was stunned, Maria listened to him. She met up with Krysta and Crystal at Mateo. They untied the rope, releasing his hands. Maria helped him onto Crystal's back.

"You know where to go," Krysta told the alicorn. She slapped her rump. Whinnying, she took off at a full gallop, right when a curtain of rain poured down from the stormy atmosphere above.

Keegan turned his vine into a carbon copy of Mateo's rope. He twirled it above his head and tossed it to four members of the undead army. The rope wrapped around them. Keegan gave a flick of his wrist, which caused the skeletons to soar right over his head.

Evie's friends, Maria, Faelyn, Diana, and Notmuth were openmouthed with astonishment, but Charlotte shouted, "Yes! I knew you could do it, Keegan!" There was the reason why she married him; he still had his tribal powers. Like Evie and Sam, Keegan was a Gifted Human. He was the direct descendant of Embrose.

Ben rose to his feet. He pulled his own sword off his belt. The young king nodded at the rest of the party. He pointed his sword at the undead army. "For Mateo!" At the same time, he and the party attacked. He ran his sword through three of the bony soldiers. Ben yelled with fury.

Evie's group members tripped them up by conjuring roots in front of their feet.

Krysta and Charlotte stood back-to-back with Keegan.

"Keegan, I'm so glad you finally came to." Charlotte had the biggest smile on her face.

"Yeah, yeah," he chuckled. He focused his attention on the undead army. "Less talking. More fighting!" He nodded at Krysta.

The two people bumped heels. Right when they did, enormous, brown roots shot out of the forest floor like rockets. They stabbed skeletons one at a time. Evie's group members tossed leaves and plants onto their heads. Bones broke off from each corpse. They splattered around the battlefield, polluting the bushes and streams in the area.

Faelyn soared down to Maria.

She yelled when she felt two cold hands grab her underarms. "Oh gosh! Oh gosh!" she yelled. "Let go of me!"

Faelyn did not. He escorted her out of the battlefield and onto the path after Crystal. Whistling, he dropped her from fifty feet up.

"Ahh!!" Maria screamed as she front-flipped through the sky. Oh, this was the end for sure. However, a screeching sound told her otherwise. A shadow swooped down from the atmosphere and caught her on its back.

The gryphon flapped its Golden Eagle wings and waved its lion tail. Rain splattered onto its eagle head and lion half. Steering the creature–to Maria's surprise–was Ms. Julie, the camp director! She now wore the familiar orange and black uniform of the Pinta Park Ranger.

"Ms. Julie!" Maria shouted.

"Hold on tight," she said. "Allister and I like to go fast. We're gonna get you to your fiancé, Maria. My people will be here any minute to help your friends."

"Your people?" Maria questioned. She hugged the gryphon's fur with her legs and wrapped her arms around Ms. Julie's tummy. She brushed rainwater from her face.

"Yes," Ms. Julie said. She soared over the path, drawing closer and closer to Crystal and Mateo. The alicorn looked like a speck on the horizon. Ms. Julie peered over her shoulder at Maria. "We are the direct descendants of the first Pinta Ranger, Embrose the Great, and the original inhabitants of the Paperblank Forest. We call ourselves the Bittersweet."