The Green Guardian

Chapter 10: Light in the Darkness

        "What exactly is that thing?" Evie pointed at the terrifying, towering serpent. She and Mateo had just reached the front opening of the wall. They crouched together like an adult over a baby.

"It's a basilisk, Evie," Mateo explained. "It's a creature of old magic."

"What does it want with us?"

"Now's not the time." Mateo slipped Sam off his back. He held his palm out to Evie. "I need the pebble."

She glared. "What for?" She pulled the pebble away from her counselor's hand.

He returned her glare.

Evie gulped, but she gave him the pebble.

"Thank you." Mateo rose to his shaky legs. "I'm going to scare the basilisk off, so until I return, watch over the boy. We'll figure out what to do with you, Miss Madison, when we return to the village."

Again, Evie gulped. Yep, she was in trouble. Mateo's last sentence proved it. The camp was going to send her home; she just knew it. They were going to kick her out not even after a day. She pulled Sam close to her and moved off to the side.

Pebble in hand, Mateo crept out of the wall. He rose to his full height, a determined look on his face. He wasn't scared. After all, the basilisk was just a snake.

The sound of sirens bombarded the atmosphere, and a few motorcycles pulled up. Each cycle had a secondary car attached to it.

Evie's jaw dropped when she saw all the rangers. Just how many were in Paperblank Village?

The rangers–male and female–all wore orange and black uniforms. They hopped off their motorcycles and tossed their ropes over the basilisk's neck and back. Pinta Ranger ropes were extremely difficult to break. The Union built them to stop rampaging magical creatures. The ropes themselves were magic.

John moved out of the way so they wouldn't catch him instead.

The scene was epic to watch. Evie couldn't wait for the day when she became a badass ranger.

The basilisk threw its head, but it failed to break through the ropes. Every time it tried, they flickered blue.

One ranger, an auburn-haired woman, announced, "Keep steady, partners!" Her name was Ranger Krysta. She was a few years older than Mateo. She planted her feet and tightened her grip on her own rope. Krysta nodded at Mateo.

He returned it and rolled the pebble around a few times in his hand.

The serpent frowned at him. It kept trying to break free, but the ropes were just too powerful.

Mateo didn't want to hurt it. He paused in his tracks and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he said to the serpent. With that, the young man held Euphorbia's pebble over his head. The flash of light that attacked him and Evie struck it. It blinded the creature.

The snake felt Euphorbia's magic emanating from the pebble and cried out. The light hit a few of its scales, burning them. However, the creature felt no pain–only fear–and retreated. It dove into its hole, vanishing underground. The impact knocked the rangers' ropes back. None fell because their feet were glued to the ground.

The pebble stopped glowing, but the aftermath of the battle was gruesome. The snake's poison–no, the forest sickness–had killed off a large number of plants.

The rangers avoided the hardest hit areas so they wouldn't accidentally breathe it in.

Mateo dropped to his knees, exhausted and hurting. He clutched his belly with his free hand.