Benotripia- The Complete Trilogy

by McKenzie Wagner

  “I saw something coming toward me,” Astro explained. “Looked like a weapon ready to slice off my head! And since I was sitting on the windowsill, I tumbled out.”

  “A weapon?” Jessicana asked, her voice shaking a bit. “Are you sure you weren’t imagining things?”

  “I’m sure!” Astro said. But it had all happened so fast, he wondered if he really was just daydreaming. Maybe the silver projectile flying toward him hadn’t been a weapon—maybe it was just a bird. But he could’ve sworn it wasn’t normal.

  Jessicana gestured to the smoking black hole in the ground. “Goodness, your lightning sure got out of hand!”

  Astro walked over to the hole. “There goes Mom’s garden.” As he peered over the edge, a flash of color caught his eye. What was that? All sorts of surprises today! Kneeling down he heard Jessicana walk up beside him. Was that . . . some sort of musty white contrasting against the black dirt?

  Reaching his hand into the pit, his fingers grasped a rough trutan, a type of parchment in Benotripia, and he yanked it out, clearing away the dust and shaking off the layers of dirt. “Where’d you find that?” Jessicana asked as Astro held it up against the light.

  “Just right here,” he said. What is this? Some sort of outdated scroll? he thought.

  Jessicana pointed to a spot on it in the top left corner. Astro realized it was the symbol of Horsh—three Stones balanced on a person, one in the left hand, one in the right, and one balanced on the head.

  “We should show this to Roseabelle,” Jessicana said excitedly. She blew away some of the dust. “I can’t make out most of the words but the three of us together just might.” She and Astro stood together, and he shook his head, almost in amusement.

  It was funny how he could discover things completely by accident.

  As the two walked away, a pair of large golden eyes peered out from underneath a bush, intensely focused on the young Benotripians. In a moment, they sunk back into the shadows.

  Jessicana and Astro hadn’t noticed anyone watching them.

  CHAPTER 2

  Dream World Scroll

  AS SOON AS ASTRO SLIPPED THE DUSTY PARCHMENT inside his pocket, Jessicana suggested they head over to Roseabelle’s house. It’d been a while since she’d seen her friends, and it would be nice to talk with them.

  As they trudged through the sand, Jessicana saw a cluster of bizarre animals race past them—probably a shapeshifting Benotripian family. Danette and Dastrock had left orders to build defenses and be prepared, and the Benotripians had definitely taken them seriously. In the distance, Jessicana could see Benotripians hard at work, structuring the large stone towers that would be used to fight the Darvonians. But personally, Jessicana didn’t believe the Darvonians would suddenly storm the island. They were much more clever than that.

  She and Astro finally arrived at Roseabelle’s home, and Jessicana’s heart leaped to see her friend already sitting on the porch, feet dangling in front of the rope ladder. Roseabelle’s house was positioned in a large tree. On Roseabelle’s arm was a lightly speckled brown-and-white mottel, a special type of bird that could send messages. It kept repeating the same message in Danette’s voice. “Roseabelle, check the defenses and make sure the Benotripians are doing their jobs. Dastrock and I are well, and we are keeping constant watch on the Darvonians, making sure they aren’t sending any war fleets to attack the island. Be safe. I love you.”

  “Roseabelle!” Astro called from the ground, and they saw their friend beam at them.

  “Hey!” Roseabelle greeted them. “Danette just sent me a message.”

  “Isn’t that the first one in five weeks?” Jessicana asked.

  Roseabelle nodded. “Yes, but it’s a long way for a mottel to travel.” She signaled the mottel to remain on the porch while Jessicana ascended the rope ladder. Astro quickly followed.

  “My mother wants to me to check the defenses on the beach. You want to come along?” Roseabelle asked.

  “Sure,” Astro said. He peered into the distance. “It looks like they’re doing their jobs, that’s for sure.” Jessicana had to agree. The stone towers grew higher every day.

  Roseabelle laughed. “I know, but I should probably check them up close anyway. Besides, it’s a good excuse to talk with you two.” The three friends descended the rope ladder, the mottel balanced on Roseabelle’s bare arm.

  They trekked to the beach, sand coating their sandals. Jessicana took in the breathtaking view of the crystal blue waters washing up on the golden shores. And then she saw the defense towers before them.

  Benotripians were racing to and fro from the massive stone structures, carrying supplies and weapons. The structures seemed to tower over the tiny figures of the three friends. Jessicana could see spiraling staircases when she peered closer. Many Benotripians were using their powers to improve the construction.

  “Looks like they’re doing what they’re supposed to,” Roseabelle said, nodding her approval. She gave a report to the mottel and it flew away, darting over the deep ocean, soaring high among the clouds. “I gave him a few hours to rest because he had a long journey. So what’s going on with your lives?”

  “I nearly died today,” Astro said cheerfully.

  Roseabelle’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “What?”

  “Long story,” Jessicana intervened. “But look what we found.” Astro dug out the wadded up piece of dusty trutan from his pocket, and Roseabelle unraveled it, scouring it quickly.

  “It has Horsh’s symbol on it!” she exclaimed. “Where did you find this?”

  “I—” Astro was about to continue but halted in mid-speech. Jessicana felt chills run up her spine. Was it just her or did she feel eyes boring into the back of her head?

  Suddenly, her face turned ashen as a silver blur flew toward her friends. “Get down!” she yelled as she plowed into Roseabelle and Astro. She knocked them over and looked up just as a Thepgile Disc soared over their heads. A noisy clatter echoed behind them as the circular weapon with the cord attached dropped to the ground.

  “Who threw that?” Astro said, glancing over his shoulder.

  “No time to talk! Let’s get back to your house!” Jessicana insisted. Something really odd was going on. First, Astro was shot at and now all three of them were being targeted! Her breath caught in her throat. Was it possible? . . . No, she didn’t want to think about that now.

  Without another word, the three of them raced back to Roseabelle’s home, not bothering to search for the weapon someone had hurled at them. They needed to hide now! Jessicana’s pulse raced and she searched the sky behind them as they ran, but she spotted no one—and, thankfully, nothing else flying toward them. The Benotripians working on the towers had been so focused on their tasks, it was unlikely that they noticed the attack. And with so many people milling about, Jessicana hadn’t noticed any Darvonian dark cloaks. She shivered. Maybe someone had been hiding.

  They ran up the rope ladder and threw themselves into Roseabelle’s home, panting for breath. “Well, I guess someone really wants us dead,” Astro said, wheezing.

  “Close the windows,” Roseabelle ordered. “Lock the door. What’s going on? What’s on that parchment?”

  “We don’t know,” Jessicana said, scrambling to clasp the lock on Roseabelle’s front door as Astro pulled out the trutan. “We can’t decipher it. It’s too faded.”

  Roseabelle and Jessicana both peered at the document, scrutinizing the faded writing. Suddenly, Roseabelle’s eyes lit up. “I have an idea!”

  Roseabelle raced upstairs and Astro and Jessicana quickly followed. They burst into Danette’s study. “My mother uses a tool for these sort of things,” Roseabelle said excitedly. Digging in Danette’s two desk drawers, she soon brought out a tiny silver instrument.

  It had a small head with a glassy surface and small teeth ruts. The sheen of the metal was distorted and coated with a thin layer of dust. Roseabelle pressed it down on the trutan, the ruts clearing away some of the deep dust,
revealing words positioned on the trutan. “This is an Embele,” Roseabelle said. “My mother created them because when people sent her documents and letters, sometimes they got dirty. Probably a prank or something.” She proudly held the Embele in front of the trutan. “There.”

  Astro whistled. All of the grime had been scratched off and Jessicana could now decipher the words. Roseabelle handed it to her. “You want to read it aloud?”

  Jessicana shrugged. “Sure.” She narrowed her eyes a little bit, trying to understand the miniscule writing. She gasped. “It talks about the Dream World!”

  Astro raised his eyebrows. “What does it say?”

  Jessicana turned back to the paper and began to read. “’The Dream World is a real, physical place,’” she began. “’In my studies, I have learned that the ancient Benotripians used their powers to create the Dream World—an invisible passageway between the three islands of Benotripia, Metamordia, and Darvonia. With their powers, the Benotripians turned the Dream World invisible and levitated it, sustaining it to remain in the air. They also gave it the gift of sonic speed, so that anyone inside it can travel at the speed of wind. For centuries, the inhabitants of the islands used the Dream World to travel between the islands, both physically and with their minds. There was, for a time, peace among the nations.

  “’However, years later, the Darvonians betrayed our trust. They attempted to take over the Dream World. Doing so would have allowed them to travel to Benotripia and Metamordia instantaneously with numerous armies and creatures. They failed only because I locked the doorway with the Stones before they could gain access. I must now hide the Stones, before they find the doorway again. The doorway is—’” Jessicana stopped and frowned deeply. “The ink is smudged over the rest of it.” She found her friends gaping at her as they comprehended the message.

  She remembered how Roseabelle had entered the Dream World with her mind when she had touched the feather Jessicana’s trainer Asteran had dropped—it was crazy to think that the Dream World was an actual place. “This document might be phony,” Astro said. “It could’ve been planted by the Darvonians.”

  Jessicana shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Look.” She pointed to the worn writing and the symbol of Horsh. “This lettering is too ancient to be made from the Darvonians just recently. And look at the emblem of Horsh—it’s exactly the same as the one behind the waterfall.”

  Her friends nodded. “It seems as though Horsh really did write this,” Roseabelle muttered to herself. “But we can’t be sure. It could still be a trick.”

  “The Stones of Horsh were a myth and they turned out to be real,” Astro pointed out.

  “Yes, but this is a little too coincidental,” Roseabelle said. Jessicana had to agree. How did a page of Horsh’s diary get so near Astro’s home?

  “Still, it’s all we have. We might as well rely on it,” Jessicana said, then glanced out the window. “I need to get home.”

  “Same,” Astro said. Roseabelle tucked the trutan in her pocket.

  “We’ll figure it out,” she promised as Jessicana and Astro went to the door.

  “We better race home before anything else falls from the sky and tries to kill us,” Astro said, assuming a runner’s stance. Jessicana nearly laughed at the ridiculous sight.

  “Yeah, that’d probably be best.” Then they flung open Roseabelle’s front door and charged toward their homes, feet flying and hearts racing.

  CHAPTER 3

  Walk in the Night

  HOURS LATER, ROSEABELLE SAT UP IN HER BEDROOM, reclining on her bed. Liquid moonlight streamed through her window, illuminating the room. She recalled that Danette had made her promise to not leave Benotripia unless there was a dire emergency.

  But she wanted to help Danette! And even though Danette and Dastrock had gone to monitor the Darvonians, Roseabelle was sure danger was lurking around in Benotripia. The only problem was she didn’t know what. All she could come up with was that it had something to do with the enemy island.

  “Only leave Benotripia if there is an emergency,” Roseabelle whispered, wondering what counted as an emergency. Probably a known ambush from the Darvonians or black ships in the distance. Definitely not because Astro fell from his tower—Jessicana had finally told her the story.

  The trutan lay on her dresser, blending in so that she couldn’t even see it from her angle. Would she need to use it sometime soon? Part of her almost hoped so.

  She decided to go on a quick walk to clear her head. There was no way she would get back to sleep with all these thoughts plaguing her mind. Roseabelle quietly unlatched the window and slid onto her mango tree, grasping the thick branches and leaping down onto the soft, grainy sand. Striding along a path, she breathed in the cool, fresh air. A light breeze slipped past her face, making her red hair flutter.

  Cottages, tree houses, schools, libraries, and other buildings dotted the landscape around her, and she weaved between them and eventually spotted Jessicana’s tree home. Crickets chirped and diverse flowers and plants bobbed on their stems from the flower beds.

  The looming shapes of the defense towers caught her eye and Roseabelle’s interest sprung. She had never been up close to the defenses; she had just watched the Benotripian workers from afar except for her quick visit earlier that day. Roseabelle made her way down to the beach and put her hand against the smooth, polished stone, amazed that the Benotripians could build a structure as large and complicated as this.

  Danette had never set any rules about touching or going inside the defenses, she reasoned—though the Benotripian people wouldn’t appreciate a mere child investigating one. Still, Roseabelle was incredibly curious. What exactly was inside? She knew there was an enormous stock of weapons and supplies, but were there any plans, any clues? Deciding to be quick, Roseabelle searched for an entrance and eventually found a stone handle.

  She pulled with all of her weight, but the handle wouldn’t budge. Oh, well. When Danette returned, Roseabelle would ask to explore the towers. She plopped down on the white sand and gazed out into the ocean. She could see a tiny dot in the distance, but maybe it was just her imagination. After all, it was dark. She squinted to see the getaway boats docked at the side of the beach, carrying supplies.

  A deep low growl broke the silence of the moment and Roseabelle whirled around, eyes scanning the area frantically. What was that?

  It couldn’t be a wild animal—those creatures preferred the Benotripian jungles, not the beaches! Besides, the beach was empty except for mounds of sand, some bushes lining the far sides, and, of course, the three defense towers within her reach. Beyond those, open paths stretched back to the city of Royalton.

  No animals appeared.

  “Hello?” Roseabelle called softly, rubbing her head. Maybe she was hallucinating. After all, it was pitch black, almost midnight. She should head back home.

  But as she headed toward a path, the growl once again resounded in her ears, and Roseabelle flinched, quickly pivoting in the direction the sound had come from. The bushes rustled quietly and Roseabelle backed up, groping for anything that she could use as a weapon or at least something to protect herself with. What could it be, some sort of Darvonian animal? Or was it a person?

  Roseabelle took a couple of steps back, her eyes wide. A smooth shape glided out of the bushes and a pair of golden eyes stared and then narrowed at her.

  In the darkness, Roseabelle couldn’t make out the creature and, as another low growl emitted from the figure, she backed up a few more steps. She kept her eyes trained on the creature, waiting for the beast to follow her, but the golden eyes didn’t move. “What are you?” she whispered, thinking about her power for sensing animal’s emotions. If only she could get close enough to touch it. But what if it was a Darvonian animal that would rip her to shreds? She had never heard of a golden-eyed Benotripian beast before.

  The darkness completely immersed the creature. Even in the moonlight, Roseabelle could only make out its faint figure. The eyes
stared back at her without the slightest hint of aggression. Tentatively, she took a step forward. “Easy,” she whispered as the low growl came again.

  Roseabelle froze, afraid it was going to pounce. Instead, the creature moved slowly. Roseabelle watched in awe as the majestic creature suddenly came into her view. She awkwardly stumbled back a few paces, mouth gaping open at the sight before her.

  The large creature had mottled black-and-red fur, a slim body, and four paws the size of dinner plates, covered in white feathers. Its head was roundish with a horned snout and a streak of white feathers on its smooth forehead. Roseabelle noted that its body structure reminded her of a wild cat’s.

  Those enormous golden eyes still stared at her as the creature slowly approached.

  Roseabelle didn’t know whether to run or to stay put. She had never seen this animal before—it wasn’t Benotripian! But she had never heard of animals like these on Darvonia either. It growled again, and she caught a glimpse of its brilliant array of white teeth.

  She sensed something else in its eyes, however, that contrasted with the growl—a hint of peace. Its muscles, rippling deep under its fur, were loose, and its expression was almost playful.

  Roseabelle inhaled a deep breath and outstretched her trembling fingers to the side of the animal’s head, wondering why she was trusting it so much not to attack her. Maybe she was crazy, but she had a feeling that, inside, this wasn’t just an ordinary animal.

  As soon as her fingers touched the sleek fur, Roseabelle concentrated and slowly closed her eyes. Instantly she felt a rush of overwhelming surprise that she’d found something—found what? Then, as Roseabelle dug deep into the layers of emotions, she began to feel like she was floating in air. The creature was perfectly at peace and full of tranquility. She sensed no hostility or harmful feelings inside, not even gnawing hunger. Honestly, it was weird. There was also a burst of intelligence, and she had the feeling that the creature knew everything that was going on around him.