The Green Guardian

Chapter 49: The Final Battle (Part 2)

Song: "Wrapped Up in Light"

        The Fused Monster cornered King Benjamin. He noticed Thebes behind it, and he headed straight for the ambulance. "John!" Ben shouted. He gestured at the centaur.

Hearing him, the Red-Crowned Crane nodded. He soared in front of Thebes and flapped his enormous wings. They picked up a blanket of dirt that flew into Thebes's face, blinding him.

He collapsed onto his side and yelled.

Ben's gryphon growled at the Fused Monster. He spread his legs and nodded at the young king.

Understanding his message, Ben slid off his back. He patted his gryphon's shoulder. "Be careful, my friend." With those words, he hustled by the Fused Monster and headed for the other end of the vast meadow. Behind him, his ride and the Fused Monster started to fight.

They clawed at each other's bodies and snapped their powerful jaws.

While Ben ran, two more gryphons appeared on either side of him. They carried Evie's friends. Each child had one of John's tranquilizer guns. To them, it was amusing to tranquilize the undead army. Then again, that was all part of Evie and Sam's plan.

"Ben, go!" Ashlynn said. "We'll cover for you. Just make sure that the undead army doesn't touch the tree."

"We'll also protect your gryphon," Tate promised.

Emrys saluted like a solider, as well as Amanda. "Trust us."

"Mateo's dad will help you," said Amanda.

The second she said that, Ben's feet shot out from under him. A ghostly presence pushed him toward the ambulance.

Evie's friends soared around the battlefield. They attempted to tranquilize every undead man they saw. Before long, they noticed Evie, Sam, Notmuth, and Fororli sprinting down the hill where Evie tackled Fororli.

Notmuth had his brother by his hand. He protected him by shooting his own tranquilizer gun.

Evie and Sam worked together to conjure vines that tripped up their enemies' horses.

Eyes on the meadow's edge, Evie said, "We're almost there! Just a little more!"

Notmuth patted Fororli's shoulder. "Keep remembering our childhood, brother."

Fororli did as he was told. He kept replaying childhood memories of him and Notmuth in his head. He could feel the hunter's spell finally lifting.

***

With Faelyn's help, Ben broke through the undead army's border and reached the circular area where the Guardian's Tree was. Except, the army was close behind him.

Bittersweet's platoon readied themselves. "This is it, boys!" yelled the leader. "Hold them off long enough until Evie gets here!"

"Right on, captain!" the soldiers said at the same time.

The nature dragon also reached the Guardian's Tree. It released two enormous, leafy tornados from its body. They sucked the enemy up like a vacuum, but quite a few soldiers remained standing.

Ben clashed swords with the ones who did not face the dragon's rage. Everything was going according to plan, but then one of the gryphons protecting the ambulance took an arrow to the heart.

Screeching, it fell into another one. That gryphon knocked down a third one. One by one, the creatures fell on top of each other via the domino effect. The path to the ambulance cleared, and the undead army did not hesitate.