Linastrona

A Story by Teelacatgirl

Ben's best friend has moved away. He doesn't know what to do. But when he takes his dog on a walk to clear his head, he finds a land like no other...

Chapter 1

Ben kept staring at the hill even though the car had long since drove out of sight. It couldn’t be happening. It WASN’T happening. Emma can’t be leaving. She was his best friend! She can’t move! Who was he kidding? He couldn’t stop it. He couldn’t control it.

“Ben?”

Ben walked over to the girl standing in his front yard.

“Why are you following me? I don’t even know you!” Ben yelled at the girl.

She’d been following him around for a month. She just kept talking about things like, “the Chosen One”, and “ magical being”.

“But listen! I just found out that you need to go to the forest, and then …”

“GO AWAY!” yelled Ben. “MY LIFE SUCKS ENOUGH ALREADY AND I DON’T NEED YOU FOLLOWING ME AROUND MAKING IT WORSE!”

The girl looked at him terrified, then ran off. Ben felt really bad. He hadn’t meant to scare her.

“Wait! Come back!” he called. But the girl was gone. Ben sighed. “Oh well,” he thought, “she’s just a crazy girl. There’s no such thing as magic.”

“Ben! Dinner!”

Ben walked into the house. The smell of pancakes hit him as he walked into the kitchen.

“Pancakes for dinner?” he asked.

“Just thought it would cheer you up,” said his mom.

“And Mom forgot to go grocery shopping,” said his older brother Matt.

“Well, yeah, that too.”

After dinner, Ben went to the front door and started putting on his coat.

“Where are you going?” asked his dad.

“Just for a walk.”

“Oh, in that case, you might as well take Tucker.”

Sighing, Ben took the leash off the hook by the door and clipped it on to his orange dog collar.

“Be back in an hour,” his mom called after him.

“Okay!”

Ben walked down the driveway and onto the road. He headed down the street until he came to a dirt trail going into the woods. He turned and walked down the path. He had walked for ten minutes when he noticed a smaller trail heading left. Suddenly Tucker started pulling at the leash.

“What’s up?” Ben asked.

Tucker gave a huge tug on the leash, yanking it out of Ben’s hand. Tucker ran down the long trail out of sight.

“Tucker!” yelled Ben. But Tucker didn’t come back. Sighing, Ben went down the trail after the dog.

Chapter 2

“Tucker! Tucker! Where are you?” Ben called.

“WOOF!”

“Hey Tucker!” said Ben, going over and petting his dog.

“WOOF!” Tucker barked, walking towards some vines hanging from a branch.

“Uh, you want me to walk through those?”

“WOOF!”

“Couldn’t hurt,” said Ben, and he walked into the vines. Then a weird feeling started to pass over Ben. His head spun and his stomach clenched. He could see swirls and dots. He felt as if he were spinning. Then, just as quickly as it had started, it stopped. Ben slowly opened his eyes. He wasn’t in the forest anymore. He was standing in front of a clear-blue lake. Willow trees surrounded him and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Tucker was standing next to him, tail wagging. “Wow.” Ben breathed. “Wow.”

* * *

“Uh! I’m never going to get this!”

Anashta Telomor was sitting by the river that flowed from Siren Lake, fiddling with a harp.

“But I’m gonna have to if I ever want to fly.” She was about to try again when she heard something at the end of the river.

“Come on Tucker, this looks like it could go somewhere.”

Anashta froze.

“A human!” she thought, and she jumped in the water out of sight.

* * *

Ben walked down the river leading from the lake. Just then, he noticed a harp over on the other side.

“What-?”

Ben stepped on some stones to the other side of the river. He lent down to touch the harp…

“What are you doing here?”

Ben yelped in surprise. A girl was sitting on a rock, staring at him.

“I-uh-“

“You don’t belong here.”

“Well-I-“

“Well you what? Come on! Tell me!”

“I-um-didn’t mean to come-uh-here!”

“Hmmmm…” The girl was quiet for a moment, then:

“Ok! I’m Anashta! I’m a river sprite! Who are you?”

Ben was stunned. Then he shook himself out.

“A river sprite? Where am I?”

“Your in Linastrona,” Anashta said.

“Lina-whatsit?”

“Linastrona! We’re a mythical universe!”

“What?”

“Enough with the questions. I need to hide you. If anyone sees you, you’re toast.”

“Um, ok.”

“Great! Follow me!”

Chapter 3

Ben followed Anashta through the woods with Tucker close behind.

“Hey, is that your griffin?”

“Huh? Oh, that’s my dog, Tucker.”

“I have a griffin.”

“What’s its name?” Ben was starting to get used to all the weird stuff in this place.

“Griffin!”

“You have a pet griffin named Griffin?”

“Well, that was all I could think of.”

Except her.

“Ok, come in here,” Anashta said, pointing to a tiny hill.

“Uhhhhh…”

“Oh right! I forgot! You’re just a human!”

“What?”

“Just a sec.,” Anashta pushed her hand on a flat stone. The stone lit up, and a door appeared.

“Usually, I’d use this,” she said, showing the raindrop pendent around her neck.

“It varies on what type of sprite you are. Day sprites get a sun, night sprites a moon, plant sprites a leaf, and so on.”

“Everyone here is a sprite?”

“No, but were the only ones with pendents.”

“Oh.”

“Com’on! Get in!”

Ben walked into the hill, and his mouth dropped open. It was HUGE inside. There was a table with six chairs, a huge bed, and a full kitchen.

“How-? What-?”

“Not quite used to it all yet?”

“Uh…”

“Oh well, com’on, its getting late. I’ll make you a bed that can hide you.” She walked over to the kitchen table and pulled on the top. It swung open, and there was a bed right under it.

“What-?” Said Ben. It looked as if the bed was between the table legs, but when he looked under the table, there was nothing there.

“Let me guess, more magic?”

“Yup! You can see out, but no one can see in! Plus its sound proof-ish!”

“Ish?”

“You can hear out, but they can’t hear you.”

“Huh.”

Ben climbed in and Anashta closed the table. He lay back and closed his eyes, finally drifting to sleep.

Chapter 4

“HELP!”

Ben sat up and looked around. To his horror, he saw two huge men dragging Anashta out the door. They had badges with ‘PIXIE PATROL’ on them.

“Be quiet missy. You’re under arrest for suspected housing of a human.”

“LET ME GO!” Yelled Anashta, kicking at the man holding her.

“Looks like we’ll have to take higher measures,” said the other man. He reached down and grabbed her pendent. Then he ripped it off her neck, breaking the chain. Anashta went pale, then completely limp.

“ANASHTA!” Ben yelled, even though he knew they couldn’t hear him. The two men dragged Anashta out the door, as Ben watched, helpless. Then he remembered.

‘Tucker!’

The dog was standing watch by the door and as soon as the two men came out he barked and bit them.

“DRAGON!” Screamed the first man, dropping Anashta and running away. The other was frozen in fear for a second, and then ran after his companion. Ben pushed the table up and scrambled out. He ran to where Anashta lay on the ground and kneeled down beside her.

“Please don’t die!” he said, shaking her as hard as he could. “Please!”

“She’s not gone yet.”

The voice seemed to come from nowhere.

“But she’s fading fast. You must hurry.”

“Hurry at what?” Ben said franticly.

“Find her pendent. It is her life source.”

“Where?”

“Go to the Cave of the Lost.”

“How do I get there?”

“Under the lake.”

“What? What do you mean?” Ben cried. But no answer came.

Ben picked up Anashta and brought her back inside. He laid her on the bed, leaned over and whispered, “I’ll come back for you. I promise.”

* * *

‘Where am I?” Anashta looked around. She was in a forest filled with green light.

“You’re in Moonwing.”

Anashta turned to see a beautiful woman in a long, lime-green dress.

“You mean " you mean I’m dead?” said Anashta.

“Not yet. You’ve lost your life source, but you have a chance.”

“What? How?”

“The human boy. He is going to the Cave of the Lost.”

“No! I’d rather die than make him go through that!”

“It is his own decision.”

“No! Please don’t!”

“His own…” The woman faded into the mist.

Anashta sunk to her knees, she felt like crying. Suddenly the voice of a young boy echoed off the trees around her.

“I’ll come back for you. I promise.”

Chapter 5

“This has to be it.” Ben and Tucker were standing in front of the lake that they had first seen upon coming to Linastrona. Its clear blue waters reflecting the sunlight, making it shine like the stars. Under the water Ben could just make out a cave big enough to fit a person. He knew that’s where he needed to go.

“Stay here Tucker,” Ben said, patting his dog’s head. “I’ll be back soon.”

He took a deep breath and jumped in the water. He had expected it to be cold, but the calming warmth of the lake took him by surprise. He opened his eyes and was shocked to find that he could see crystal clear. He swam down deeper in the lake until he thought he would pop from the pressure, then headed towards the cave. His lungs screamed for air. At last he reached the cave and swam upward until he came to an air pocket. He breathed deeply and pulled himself up on to the rock shore.

A long tunnel wound into the darkness. Ben realised suddenly how real it all was. The tunnel scared him. He had come this far. He couldn’t turn back now. He gathered up his courage and stepped into the tunnel.

* * *

After what felt like forever, the tunnel opened into a huge room. Torches lined the walls, and in the middle sat a huge stone. Ben walked up to the stone. A glowing blue handprint was embedded in the middle. Ben reached out his hand and put it on the print. Instantly memories flooded him: making handprint turkeys in kindergarten with Emma; riding bikes with her; having a sleepover with her; and watching her leave. Then Ben started remembering Anashta: meeting her at the river; going to her house; seeing her lying limp on the ground.

“This must be why they call it the Cave of the Lost!” Ben realised. Then he felt heat pulsing over him. He seemed to be emitting energy. He couldn’t pull his hand away. Then in a flash of light it all stopped. Ben was shaking madly. He looked down in his hand and saw that he was holding a raindrop pendent. He knew what he had to do.

He clutched the pendent to his chest and ran back down the tunnel. He jumped into the water and started swimming ferociously. He didn’t stop until his head broke the surface of the water. Panting, he swam over to the shore. Tucker ran over, grabbing Ben’s shirt and pulling him safely up the beach. Completely deprived of energy, Ben slowly got to his feet.

Feeling the heat of the pendent in his hand reminded him of what he had to do. He started running back to the hill. When he got there, he squeezed the pendent hard and started to sink into the ground. He wanted to stop going down, but he knew this is what was supposed to happen. When he had sunk completely, it was all white for a moment, then he appeared in the house. He ran to where Anashta was lying on the bed.

“Oh please, oh please, let this work,” he said. Then placed the pendent around her neck.

* * *

Anashta was lying in the green forest.

“I can’t really be in Moonwing!” she thought. “And Ben can’t be going to the Cave of the Lost!” Anashta knew what it was like to touch the stone. It had zapped her energy in a heartbeat. She wasn’t even sure if humans could survive that!

Suddenly she felt warmth flood over her. The forest turned to mist.

“Wha-?”

The mist faded away and she saw that she was looking straight at a boy’s face. He was staring at her with wide, scared eyes.

“Ben?”

“Anashta!” he cried. “You’re okay!”

Chapter 6

“Well, I guess this is it then.” Ben said.

“Yeah.” Anashta replied. “I’m really going to miss you.”

Ben, Tucker and Anashta were standing back by the lake. The vines hanging from the willow were in front of them. Ben guessed that it was the way home. He gave Anashta one last good-bye, and stepped through the vines.

His head spun and his stomach clenched. He could see swirls and dots. Then he found himself back home. He picked up Tucker’s leash and ran back up the trail. He threw open the door and ran into his house. He’d been away for two days, his parents were sure to be worried.

“Back so soon?”

Ben stared at his mom.

“You only left twenty minutes ago!” She said.

“Time must have frozen.” Ben thought.

“Well, I got tired I guess. ‘Gonna go to bed. ‘Night Mom.

Ben walked up the stairs, got into his bed, and finally went to sleep.