Monty flew over the river with a petrified Azrael on his back and Gargamel holding onto the poor vulture's feet.
"Flap, Monty! Flap!" the wizard demanded.
Monty was trying to obey his master, despite how heavy he was. The bird was able to carry Azrael, who was light as a feather. Gargamel, on the other hand, well... That's another story.
Azrael was tired and fell fast asleep.
Monty suddenly stopped.
Gargamel was furious.
"Monty! Why did you stop?" the wizard asked.
Monty was starring at a juicy, red apple. He was licking his beak and drooling for it.
Gargamel then realized that they were near some tall bushes filed with fruit that would satisfy anyone's hunger. The sign of the bushes meant that they were close to the exit to the Forbidden Forest.
Hungry himself, Gargamel tried to reach a small mango tree that was close to his feet.
"Almost... got it" he said, trying to reach the fruit with his foot. "Come on. I almost got it."
He kicked it, but the mango rolled away and into the river.
"No!" Gargamel yelled.
"Monty! Help me get that mango!"
There was no answer.
"Monty?"
But, Monty was busy eating apples in the trees, leaving only cores.
Gargamel groaned in frustration.
"Things can't get any worse."
Suddenly, it started to rain. Gargamel moaned. Azrael woke up and meowed angrily at him.
"Don't give me that attitude, Azrael!" Gargamel said, angrily. "You are very disloyal to me! I should have left you in the swamp with those fish and all of my problems would be over!"
Azrael was about to claw Gargamel. But then, the river was getting rough. Water was splashing at them, but Monty was able to focus on carrying his cat friend and master across the river.
Suddenly, a bolder was flying toward the trio.
"Uh-oh" Azrael muttered in cat language.
Monty and Gargamel frowned at the incoming rock.
"Not again" Gargamel groaned.
Before anyone can said anything else, the rock hit Monty. He was losing his flight balance.
"No! Monty! Don't stop!" demanded Gargamel. "Flap! Flap your wings and carry your master to shore!"
Azrael noticed another boulder was flying toward Gargamel. It was going to hit him and knock him into the river. The poor cat had to act fast.
Using all his might, Azrael pulled Gargamel up onto Monty's back, nearly causing the bird to lose his focus. But, the cat lost his balance and fell off.
"AZRAEL!" Gargamel screamed with fear as the cat splashed into the river.
The bolder went pass Monty. But Gargamel was busy worried about Azrael, who was frantically fighting against the river's currents. A lot more worried than he ever was before in his life.
"Come on, you stupid cat! Keep swimming!"
Azrael tried, but he was dragged underwater.
"NO! Azrael!" Gargamel cried. "Monty, grab those vines from where we ate the fruit!"
Monty flew to the fruit trees and snipped a vine from a tree. Gargamel took the vine and threw it in the river.
Azrael saw the vine in the water and grabbed it, but his paws were easily losing grip on the vine.
Seeing that his cat is in grave danger, Gargamel tied the vine around his waist and jumped into the river with Monty holding onto the end of the vine. Gargamel swam to Azrael, but the current threw the two off course. They went flying into the air and back into the river. The wizard grabbed his cat and held onto a rock, coughing out water.
Monty screeched loudly.
"Shut up, Monty!" yelled Gargamel. "You're going to get us killed-"
He was dragged underwater. Azrael meowed in fear and then he was dragged under the currents.
Gargamel struggled against the current, but the river was too strong. Azrael held onto his master's head. They were running out of breath. Both wizard and cat looked into each others eyes with regret.
Gargamel lost his breath, bubbles came out of his mouth and he started to sink. And before he knew it, everything went black.
What will happen now? Who would save Gargamel and Azrael? Stay tuned...
