“I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” Mateo slapped his hand to his chest. He threw up again. He did not have a bag on hand that time. Therefore, it was extra messy.

        “Uhh,” Evie and her friends groaned.

        Mateo stood on his hands and knees. Drool dripped from his lips. His skin paled. A few veins appeared around his white forehead.

        “What did you humans do to him?” Thebes snapped. He slipped his swords into the cases on his back. He picked up Mateo in his powerful arms. They were much more muscular than his.

        “We did nothing,” Evie said, stepping in front of her friends. “He’s been sick for the past couple of days.”

        “Rubbish! Do you really think I’m going to believe a tiny human?” asked Thebes. “You can’t be trusted. You kill off our fae one by one. You humans are the reason why the basilisk is running amok.”

        John tickled himself with his claws. “Well, technically I’m a bird–”

        “Silence!”

        John leaped ten feet in the air. He hid behind Ben.

        Ashlynn joined Evie. “You have it all wrong, sir. Euphorbia is the only fae in our party, and we don’t know where she went.”

        Evie shook her head. “That’s not true, Ashlynn.” She remembered what her mother told her in the cabin:

        “You see, Evie, my sister loves to tell jokes. She’s always been that way. She pranked me all the time when we were children. So when she told me that she had fallen in love with a fae man… Well, I thought it was another one of her whoppers.”

        Ashlynn glanced at her friend. “What are you talking about, Evie?”

        Evie took a deep breath. Her friends crowded around her. John, Ben, and Joey hung out on the outside of the circle. For comfort, Evie clutched Ashlynn and Amanda’s hands. She focused her attention on the semi-conscious, sickly ranger in the centaur’s arms. “Guys, Mateo is fae.”

        “Wait, what?” Ashlynn shrieked.

        “Well, half-fae,” Evie corrected.

        Thebes narrowed his bushy eyebrows. “He sure is, and I’m not going to let you humans get near him. Don’t you see? He’s been poisoned!” He pulled Mateo close.

        “Poisoned?” Ashlynn stumbled back a few feet. No, not the man of her dreams! “How?” she added.

        Evie gulped. She stuck her hand in her pocket where she kept Euphorbia’s pebble. The fairy didn’t mean to poison her counselor, right?

        Thebes answered Ashlynn’s question: “I don’t know. Now, will you get out of my way? I need to get this kid to Seranet.”

        Evie had to find a way to convince him to let her and her friends tag along. Ranger Krysta specifically told Mateo to get them to the fae village safely. Besides, Mateo was family. Evie couldn’t just leave him. If it was indeed poison, then there was always an antidote.

        “Please let us go with you,” she begged Thebes. “Mateo is my cousin. We’re the Pebble Masters.”

        Ben nodded. He put his foot down. “His fiancée and mom told me to look after him today. I also happen to be the king.”

        Thebes scoffed. “You're the king of the humans, not the magical beings. I’m sorry, but y’all can’t be trusted. The boy is in my care.”

        Mateo was not very responsive. He stared into space and held his left hand up toward his face. That was not a good sign.

        Evie frightfully shook her head. She tried again. “Please, Mr. Thebes, he needs proper medical care.”

        “And we’ll give it to him,” said Thebes. He bowed his head to the little girl. “Goodbye.” Without another word, he flicked his tail and marched away from the party.

        “Wait.” Evie wanted to chase him, but the centaur jumped into a canter. He disappeared into the wall of thick fog. He wasn’t going to get off that easily. Not with King Benjamin in the loop.

        He wrapped Joey’s reins around his hand. “John, look after the children.”

        “What are you going to do?” John wanted to know.

        “Play a game of tag,” Ben replied. He adjusted his black vest and flapped his cape. The young man mounted Joey. “Keep them safe,” he told John.

        “Yes, sir!” John saluted with his foot. Opening his good wing, he pushed Evie and her friends back. They bumped into some trees.

        Ben dug the heels of his boots into Joey’s flanks. “Hyah!”

        The horse whinnied. He hurried after Thebes.

        Evie and her friends watched them leave. Evie felt so useless right now. Why couldn’t she be part of Ben’s great scheme? Heck, who said she couldn’t?

        She made sure the others weren’t looking. As quiet as a mouse, she ducked into the bushes behind her and her friends. Evie sure had a knack when it came to breaking camp rules. Then again, there was no way she was just going to stand around and do nothing when her cousin was in serious condition. No ranger abandoned their co-workers.

***

        Evie used the dense section of the Paperblank Forest as a training course. She jumped into a tree that was covered with branches and started to climb it. A branch broke under her foot, but Evie caught herself. She listened to nature, just like what Mateo said. To her surprise, she got a response.

        “Use the vine at the top of the tree to swing over the gap in the ferns.”

        Evie saw the cluster of ferns Nature referred to. She barely made out a giant hole in the middle of them. She grabbed the thick vine Nature mentioned.

        Evie took a deep breath and jumped. She swung right over the ferns. She landed on the other side of them, a determined look on her young face. Large logs surrounded her. Some lay flat, while others were tilted. The tilted ones rested on top of hills. Evie had to make her choice carefully.

        She jumped when a few deer popped out from some plants. They cantered right by her. Evie eyed them. The deer avoided the flat-lying logs. Evie soon knew why. The logs rose out of the ground, revealing tree-like monsters with scary faces–dryads. They were about the size of a troll. Evie jumped back into a tree to avoid them. The dryads crowded around its base. They banged it with their rooted fists.

        Evie noticed that one of the tree’s larger branches was loose. It was barely attached to the trunk. The little girl kicked it.

        The branch was ready to go. It came undone and smashed right into the tree-like beings. While they were stunned, Evie climbed back down. She hopped over the creatures and leaped into one of the tilted logs. Evie slid through it like a slide. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m coming, Mateo!” she called.

        Evie landed in another small meadow. A rock wall gave it a coliseum-like appearance. She was reminded of the Roman Empire.

        “Well done, child,” Nature whispered. “You just avoided a whole dryad community. They’re pretty territorial. Keep running.”

        Evie did. She hurried through the clusters of different-colored flowers. The fog grew thicker by the second, but she relied on nature to find her way. Mateo was right. Once you become one with it, you could do incredible things.

        Not far from Evie, a white unicorn munched on some green grass. It shook its black mane and tail and tapped its hooves. The unicorn’s ears picked up a rather strange sound–pounding feet. Instantly, it knew somebody needed help. The magical being felt her aura. It swallowed its last clump of grass and dove into the fog.

        Evie heard a neigh behind her. She looked over her shoulder, just in time to see the unicorn hop out of the fog wall. Its white hair helped it stand out.

        Evie could not believe her eyes.

        The unicorn picked her up with its horn and tossed her onto its back. Evie clutched its mane to help her balance. The creature galloped gracefully across the meadow. It jumped onto a cut path in between the coliseum’s wall. The path dragged on and on in an uphill fashion. Evie was getting closer to Thebes, Ben, and Ranger Anthony.

***

        Ben chased Thebes down the foggy forest path. He scooted forward into a two-point position and jumped over a log. “I promised Mateo’s mom and fiancée!” he yelled.

        “I’m not going to let you get near him!” Thebes yelled back.

        Ben shook his head. “Then I’m sorry.” He pulled his sword out of the scabbard on Joey’s saddle.

        Now Thebes moved Mateo over to his left arm. He drew one of his own swords. He and Ben galloped in circles and clashed with one another. The ringing of sword blades filled Ben’s head, but he pushed on. The duel went on for at least five minutes.

        Ben ducked under Thebes’s weapon. He twirled his sword in his hand. It had been a while since he had a nice duel, so he enjoyed himself. This was living life to the fullest!

        Joey finally whipped his body around. He lifted his back hooves and kicked the sword right out of Thebes’s hand. Its tip stabbed the path. The horse and his rider backed the centaur up to another line of trees. Ben stuck his sword tip under his chin.

        “I’m just trying to protect the fae!” Thebes said. He fell to his front knees and put Mateo down.

        Ben started to lower his sword, but he quickly held it up again when the centaur next pulled a crossbow off his back. He pointed it at the young king’s chest. Seeing it, horrifying memories of when he got shot filled his head. For three days straight, Ben was in just as bad as shape as Mateo. He had no idea if he was going to survive or not. It was strange to see him scared, but he definitely was. “Why don’t you trust humans?” he asked. “What did we do that made you so against us?” He gripped his sword hilt with both hands.

        “That’s none of your concern,” Thebes replied, shivering slightly.

        Ben’s eyes rolled over to the motionless Mateo. “But can’t you see he needs help? We have advanced technology that will get him better.”

        Thebes rested his finger on the crossbow’s trigger. He moved the arrow away from Ben’s body and next pointed it at Joey. “If you don’t get out of here, I will kill you both. Your horse will be first.”

        “No!” Ben quickly hopped off his noble steed. He shielded him with his arms. “Will killing us really solve anything?”

        “It will definitely make me feel better.” Thebes shuffled in front of Mateo. “This boy’s father was the greatest fae warrior in all of Seranet. I lost him to that basilisk, all because you humans trained it to be evil. I’ve been waiting for the day to avenge him.”

        Ben tried to let the information sink in. Here he thought he knew everything about everybody in his kingdom.

        “Just watch me,” Thebes added. “I will kill you and that horse and mount your heads on my wall.”

        “You have it all wrong,” Ben said with a slow shake of his head. “Yes, I understand your frustration, but we are not here to hurt the forest. We’re here to save it. Not all humans are evil. In fact, there is just as much good in the world as there is evil. Euphorbia trusts Mateo, and she trusts the time-traveling boy. If we’re going to save this forest, then we need to put our differences aside and work together.”

        “Ooh, bold words, but they’re not good enough. Your kingly talk won’t fool me.” Thebes prepared to let the crossbow’s arrow go. Just before he could launch it, a loud whinny came from off to the side.

        Evie and the unicorn jumped out of the woods.

        The unicorn hurried to Thebes. It shoved the crossbow in his hands up, right at the last second. The arrow let loose. It flew into the sky as quickly as a rocket. The arrow grazed a few leaves and fell back down. Thebes and the unicorn moved out of the way. The arrow landed in the dark soil between them.

        Ben’s jaw dropped. He stared at the magnificent creature and child in front of him. A little girl saved him and Joey. The unicorn only lets those it trusts ride it. Evie proved to Ben that she had the heart of a ranger.

        She saw him looking at her. “Oh, sorry,” she cooed. “Did I miss something?”