Maria knew something was wrong. She did not take a break from her chocolate ice cream; the emotional pain was too great. An already empty container lay on its side beside her. The picnic table where she sat was at the edge of Paperblank Village and on top of a platform. The treehouses’ branches seemed to reach for her shoulders. Maria could not admire the green scenery before her.
Ms. Brook joined her at the table. She took a seat across from her. “Are you okay, baby?” she asked.
Maria scoffed. She scooped up two teaspoons of ice cream. “Sure. After I have my snack, I will run with the butterflies. Of course, I’m not okay, Ms. Brook!” She banged her spoon on the tabletop a few times.
“Okay, I’m sorry, but you must slow down on the ice cream.” Ms. Brook took the half-empty container away from the young woman.
“Something’s wrong. I know it is,” Maria said in a choked voice. “Mateo…” Loud sobs replaced her words. She clutched her belly. “The baby. I can’t keep this up. Why, Ms. Brook? Why is Mateo such a tyrant? For God’s Sake, the wedding is in less than two weeks!” She folded her arms and set them down on the table. Maria buried her face in them. She yelled, but luckily, it was muffled.
Ms. Brook got up from her seat and slid in beside her. She picked up her left hand. Ms. Brook patted her engagement ring a few times. “Maria, Mateo’s always been impatient.”
Maria punched the table as hard as she could. “I know that, but never like this. I don’t know what it is, Ms. Brook. Why can’t he just ask the Union for a break? Does he even love me anymore?”
“Of course, he does! What gave you a crazy idea like that?” Ms. Brook hugged Maria. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. There’s nothing in the world that matters to him more than you. Heck, you were the only person he talked about when you were children. He just has a… questionable way of reaching his goals.”
“You’re wrong, Ms. Brook,” Maria choked out. “He loves his job more than me. He’s going to abandon me when the baby is born and leave me with these words: ‘Well, congrats on the baby. I don’t see any reason to stick around.’”
Ms. Brook slapped the back of the young woman’s head. “No, he’s not! How dare you speak like that! I know my son. He would never do that to you.”
“But what if he does?”
“You need to look on the bright side of things.”
How on Earth could Maria look on the bright side of things when she knew her fiancé was not in good shape? She felt queasy just thinking about it. Her tummy swirled in ways she thought were never possible.
She soon realized it was still the morning hours, which meant morning sickness. She had yet to throw up that day.
Maria freed herself from Ms. Brook. She knocked down a few villagers trying to reach the building behind the buffet table. They fell on top of one another. Maria did not bother to pick them up.
She hugged the bathroom toilet for about ten minutes. She patted its plastic top and mumbled, “Men. Who needs them?” to herself.
Strands of her long black hair dangled in the toilet bowl’s water. Since she had been crying, all her makeup was ruined. When the makeup got involved, that was indeed a disaster—in Maria’s opinion. She thought ruined makeup was worse than the fact that she had accidentally left the cubicle’s door open.
“Are you okay, young lady?” an older woman inquired.
Maria mistook her for Ms. Brook. “Stop asking me if I’m okay!”
Outside, Ms. Brook’s eye caught a faint, green glow approaching her. The being’s red hair covered her face, but she was Euphorbia. She sank into Ms. Brook’s palms, weak and scared.
“What is it, Euphorbia?” she said.
***
Ben and Joey were still open-mouthed at the sight of Evie. They had been in the position so long; it was surprising that none were drooling.
Evie swung her left leg behind her and slid off her mount’s back. She shuffled over to Mateo.
The unicorn seemed to glare at Thebes.
He bowed to her.
Ben and Joey glued themselves to Evie. Ben gulped when he saw how pale and motionless Mateo was.
Evie took her counselor’s right hand. She tried to shake him awake but to no avail. “Mateo, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand.”
He did not. He looked like he was dead. He moved not an inch.
Evie gave it another shot. “Please, Mateo, squeeze my hand if you can hear me.”
After three tries, the young man finally gave her a weak squeeze. While it wasn’t much, it was at least something.
“Oh, God. Thank you,” said Evie, releasing the breath she was holding. Her counselor was alive.
A whoosh of air passed by Evie, Ben, and Joey’s heads. The unicorn hovered over them. “The boy is very weak,” she explained. “We need to get him to Seranet before it’s too late.”
Her voice was one of the most beautiful things Evie had ever heard. Although, she still couldn’t help but ask, “You talk?”
“Of course I do.” The unicorn stood tall. “I am Crystal. I watch over the magical beings in this part of the Paperblank Forest.” She tilted her head toward Thebes. “I apologize about Thebes. He was good friends with Mateo’s father.”
“How do you know his name?” Evie didn’t know if she should be weirded out or enticed.
“Faelyn told me just before his last battle,” Crystal explained. “He died only a few days before the boy was born. Thebes, go get the rest of this camp crew.”
“But, Crystal!” he argued. “They’re humans.”
Crystal glared at him. “And what’s wrong with that? We won’t leave them out here on the basilisk’s lunch plate.”
“Why not?”
“Thebes!”
“Okay, fine.” Thebes sighed deeply. He put his crossbow on his back and picked up his sword.
Ben was not comfortable with him rounding up the others by himself. He feared he would try to kill them. As king, it was his duty to look after his people. “I need to go with him,” he nervously told Crystal.
“I was planning on it, anyway,” she seriously replied.
Thebes groaned.
Before they left, Ben dropped his sword. “Drop your weapons,” he ordered.
“Who made you the boss of me?” Thebes snickered.
“Drop your weapons!” Ben sounded dead serious that time.
“Listen to him,” Crystal told the centaur.
Again, he groaned, but he went ahead and dropped everything: his two swords and crossbow. He glared at Ben the whole time.
The king nodded. He re-mounted Joey. “Thank you. We’ll get them when we come back. Now let’s go.”
The wait for the others was tough, especially since Evie had to look after Mateo.
He weakly lifted his hand and tried to grab thin air. It was like he was looking for another hand. The poor guy was beyond delirious and obviously scared. “Mo-Mo…” He could not finish his word, but Evie guessed what he meant.
“Do you want your mom?” She grasped his shivering, splotchy hand.
“Mo-Mo…” Mateo tried again.
Crystal appeared beside Evie. “We need to get some water in him,” she said. “After throwing up so much, he is extremely dehydrated.” She peered over her shoulder at the continuous forest behind her and the little girl. “Where are they?”
Mateo, still not totally responsive, turned onto his side. He put his head on his arm.
Evie brushed her hand against his shoulder blade. “Poor baby,” she whispered.
***
Seranet was at the very end of the path, behind a single waterfall that flowed down the side of a sharp cliff. Evie’s group members, Sam, Ben, John, and Thebes made it to Evie and Crystal soon after Evie comforted Mateo. He had woken up more, but he was still frail. Ben let him ride on Joey again.
Mateo took a sip from a water bottle he had pulled from his backpack. He pointed at the waterfall. “That’s the entrance to the fae village.” He still did not know that he was fae.
Crystal stopped before the falls. She nodded. “Yes, Mateo. However, you are the only one who can open the gate.”
He looked confused. “Why?”
“Now’s not the time to ask questions,” Crystal said. “The basilisk.”
A low roar emerged from the air currents.
Evie and her friends gulped.
“Where’s Euphorbia when we need her?” Sam asked himself. The basilisk never attacked if she was present.
Thebes helped Mateo down from Joey. He glared at the humans and bird as he escorted him to the waterfall. Before long, the two men stood before it.
Crystal gave Mateo a slow nod.
Evie and her friends watched intently. They wanted to tell their counselor he was fae, but they did not think he was ready, especially since he was still really sick. His beat-up body could not take any more stress.
Mateo lifted his tan hand. His water bottle was in his other one.
Thebes kept him steady by clamping his shoulders. Mateo was unsteady on his feet. His legs shook under him. Yet, he held his palm out to the waterfall. “One with nature,” he mumbled.
At his command, the waterfall’s water glowed aqua. It now had a luminescence appearance to it. Fairy figures conjured by the falls’ magic leaped out from either side of the curtains. They whispered to one another and flew around Mateo’s head. He had trouble keeping up with them. He did not notice that translucent, fuzzy wings had popped out of his back. They disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Blink, and one would miss it.
The figures returned to the waterfall. Their tiny, liquid hands pulled the curtains apart, and a dark, torch-lit tunnel emerged from the falls’ depths.
The basilisk’s roar drew closer.
“Go, go!” Mateo yelled at his friends.
Ben drew his sword. He held it before him.
Joey trotted to Mateo so he could mount him.
John pushed the children into the tunnel first. Crystal followed, then Thebes, Mateo, and finally Ben. However, the young king needed help making it in. The basilisk emerged from the fog and slapped its tails before him.
Ben leaped over them. He narrowly avoided the monster’s jaws.
“Ben, hurry!” Evie shouted.
Even though he was weak, Mateo decided to help. He dropped his water bottle and dug his lasso out of his backpack, hopping off Joey.
“Mateo, what are you doing?” asked Evie. “You’re in no condition to fight.”
Mateo did not give up. He was a Pinta Park Ranger. He tossed his rope forward, but the basilisk dodged. It swiped its tails over Mateo’s head. He started to run, but he instantly lost balance and fell. He called for nature to help him, but he even had trouble with that. He could only conjure small, weak vines. The vines themselves were a sickly light green.
Mateo clenched his teeth. He threw his rope forward again, but he missed the basilisk completely. He felt so useless. He never had trouble with magical beings. In fact, he was so out of it that the monster succeeded in hurting him again.
It flicked its tails, causing its sharp spikes to fly off them. They tore through the ranger’s jacket and shirt and pierced his shoulder. He felt like an arrow had just skewered him, and he yelled. His blood stained his shirt and jacket.
Mateo toppled over, nauseous at the sight of it. “I can’t do it,” he cried, clutching his shoulder.
Ben grabbed him before the basilisk could swallow him whole. He and Mateo barely made it into the tunnel. The waterfall’s curtains smashed together, keeping the monster out.
Furious, Ben slammed Mateo against the tunnel’s rocky wall. “Will you stop doing stupid things?” he asked. “You’re too tired! How am I supposed to explain this to Maria and your mom now?” He glanced at Mateo’s bleeding shoulder.
The pain was intense. Mateo slid his back down the wall until his backside hit the pathway. The orange and red glow from a torch shimmered on half his face. “But I’m Ranger Anthony!” he argued. “I’m not supposed to have this much trouble with magical beings. I’ve become so useless, Ben.”
“You’re not useless,” Ben said. “You just need to use your head. You are not in good shape, amigo. Why can’t you see this?” He pulled Mateo’s jacket off to easily access the spikes in his shoulder. One at a time, he ridded the arrow-like weapons from it.
“I’m sorry, Ben. Ow!” Mateo shuddered. In eight weeks, he had hurt many people he loved: Maria, John, Evie, her friends, his mom, and now Ben. He had failed both as a ranger and a camp counselor. Little Isabella, his baby, did not deserve somebody like him.
Evie picked up Mateo's water bottle, unscrewed its top, and poured the water over his head. “You just need to rest,” she said.
“No, I don't. Ow! Ben, be careful!” Mateo snatched Ben’s wrist.
He tossed the last spike to the other side of the tunnel. “Sorry, dude, that one was really in there.”
Mateo glared at him.
Crystal piped in to ease the tension between the human and the fairy. “Well, at least we’re here.” She turned her body toward the end of the tunnel and in the direction of a bright light. “Once we get into Seranet, Mateo, we’ll treat you and wait until it's safe for you and your friends to return to the village. I’m sure your fiancée is worried.”
Evie sighed deeply. Well, so much for Day 1 of training how to be a Pinta Park Ranger. Now, she and her friends had to play a game of hide-and-seek with a man-eating serpent.
Now that the feud between humans and magical beings was apparent, she wondered if Euphorbia would ever return. “Regain lost trust.” That was one section of the prophecy Evie had yet to figure out. The true training days were coming. And it all started with learning her family’s deepest, darkest secrets.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
