The Taco Dilemma

Chapter Four:

Mott pushed the hang up button on his cell phone so forcefully the button shattered. The egg! It was at Farthenwood! He shoved his broken cell phone deep into his pant's pocket and looked over the chaotic battlefield. It was several minutes of scanning before he spotted Jaron at the edge of the battlefield, hunched over and looking defeated. He couldn't understand why. The snowmen were winning, that was plain to see. But nevertheless, the news about the egg would surely bring Jaron back to his optimistic self.

With nothing to lose, Mott strutted through the center of the war mayhem, arrows whizzing past his face and swords brushing against his clothes, but nothing could bring him down now. He now knew where the egg was and soon Jaron would destroy it and life would return back to normal. He plucked an arrow out of the sole of his boot before finally reaching Jaron.

"Jaron! We have to leave immediately to Farthenwood! I know where--"

But Mott stopped mid-sentence when Jaron reached up and grabbed Mott's shirt collar, dragging him to the ground. He was surprised to see tears running down the boy's face.

"I've tried to give him CPR but it's not working! There's too much blood. Far too much." Jaron choked out a sob. Mott's eyes traveled toward an especially buff snowman lying in a puddle of ice water, it's features slowly melting away. A bandage was wrapped tightly around it's abdomen. He looked back towards Jaron, who was now trying to glue back together his broken stick arm and beginning to hyperventilate. "Sebastian, my friend! You cannot die! Not like this! At the end of the day, I would rather have Mott hang at the gallows and choke slowly to death than to have you bleed to death here on the battlefield!"

Mott wrinkled his nose at this but Jaron continued to express his passion for his new best friend "Sebastian". Mott sat silently with Jaron until Sebastian was no more than ice water. Jaron stared at the puddle, mortified. Mott knew it would take several days before Jaron would forget about Sebastian and for that time Jaron should rightfully be left alone to mourn, but he knew that they could not give up here. He shoved an umbrella in front of Jaron's face and hesitantly he took it. Mott grabbed Jaron's arm and they stood up. This war must end now. It was time to destroy the egg.

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Jinx screamed and clung to the umbrella pole, her legs dangling in the air. As they ascended into the sky the whole battlefield became visible- and it wasn't a pretty sight- Slush mixed with blood. Twigs and swords were scattered across the land. Tobias, the leader of the egg rebellion and the best jigsaw puzzler in all of Carthya, was dead.

Tears streamed down Jaron's face as he turned to look at them. "Thank you." He whispered. "Thank you for fighting by my side. For avenging my taco."

A wide grin spread across Kevin's face. Jinx gave a slight nod. Mott saluted.

The rest of their journey was spent in silence, as they floated across the setting sky. Finally, they landed in Farthenwood. Mott gathered their umbrellas and stuck them in his back pocket (his eyebrows wiggling like worms in the rain).

Jaron unsheathed his sword. "Now, let's destroy that egg!" He cheered, and burst through Farthenwood's doors.

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Kiara awoke with a start, the egg still nestled in her arms. She had heard voices. She was sure of it. And they were getting louder and louder. Closer.

The egg! They were coming for the egg!

Adrenaline pulsed through her veins as she lifted the floor board and delicately placed the egg inside. She stoked the glistening shell, tears flooding her vision. She had promised Harlowe that nothing would happen to his beloved son. Kiara was not about to break that promise. Even if it cost her her life.