The Princess of Planet Xeronis

Portal travel

She landed the bike in the stretching woods and shut it down before getting off. Ben had given up trying to make her see him.

She then began to speak and to record her words in her wristwatch though Ben could not hear her. He saw her turn to the bike and to fetch the infamous flashlight and then she was releasing the small animals she had abducted from Earth by flashing them out the way she had flashed them in.

When she was done she moved back to the bike and only then did she notice something odd from the controls. She slowly walked to the back to look at the cylinders. When she saw the little Ben, her mouth opened wide. She tapped on the cylinder with her finger and Ben had to lean on the walls because of the shaking.

"Get me out of here!" still he cried.

Moving to the controls, the girl tapped on some finger imprints as if punching in a code and suddenly the headlight flashed and scanned Ben out. Then he stood his real size and she spoke to him.

"Wabva nepi uye ndiwe ani?" (Who are you and where did you come from?) She had spoken in a language Ben could not understand. She carried this air of authority about her, and she stood confidently taking the situation into her control.

"Urgh...?" Ben backed away from her as she advanced towards him.

"Taura!" (Speak!)

'Where the hell am I?' Ben thought as he quickly scanned the surroundings.

"Ndoda kuziva kuti wabva kupi." (I want to know where you came from).

She had stopped moving towards him but her look demanded an answer. Suddenly a huge body cast its shadow onto the ground blocking the moons as it flew by and made Ben look up. His knees went weak at the sight. A giant winged creature hovered in the air. It roared down at them and showed its sharp teeth. This was a dragon... a real dragon!

The dragon dashed after Ben who had taken off for the trees.

"Mira!"(Wait!) She cried after him. But fear had taken control of Ben. All he could think about now was only to get away with his life. He looked up and saw the dragon flying above him and this made him increase his speed. The trees were becoming thick and tall and he was glad because now it would be easier to lose the monster in the shadows.

His body was pumping out heat and he felt he could go sick anytime because of too much adrenaline in his blood. He could have kept going had he not stepped into a snare. As he placed his right leg upon a pile of dead leaves, a very long rope secured itself tightly around his ankle. The rope jerked upwards violently making Ben fall on his back and knocked the wind out of him. It pulled him up and hoisted him into the air. He was swung from a tree and as he turned around he knocked his head violently on the opposite tree. The world then dimmed for him as he went unconscious.

After a dream, Ben opened his eyes to see a beautiful girl kneeling down before him. He himself lay against a tree and as he tried to sit up straight she forbade him, still muttering strange words. In her hand, she held a piece of cloth drenched in blood and he noticed the blood was his as she moved to wipe his nose. He allowed her and only then did the memory of the monster return. He jerked back and looked up into the sky but she put her hands over him to calm him down and keep him from rising.

"Ramba uri pasi," she said, "Usasimuke."(Do not rise)

Ben calmed when he could not spot the creature anywhere. He then looked at her.

"Usatye." (Do not be afraid)

"Lady, I don't understand a word you're saying."

She gasped and a smile slowly spread across her face.

"Say it again," she pleaded and Ben was surprised and glad.

"You understand me."

"Yes I do," then she covered her mouth and chuckled. Apparently, she could speak English as well.

"That's great, now perhaps you can explain all this to me because I don't think I believe myself right now," Ben said holding his head which throbbed with pain.

"If you can't trust yourself, would you trust me?"

"Yes, because you nurse me," he said taking the stained cloth from her hand, "How did I hit my head so hard?"

"It was a snare. Nobody visits this part of the woods so I don't know who set them. I disabled five more. You were not supposed to do that, taking off like crazed."

"I ran because of what I saw. What was that thing?"

"Thing? Oh no, that was my friend dragon. Her name is Wonderbee," then she looked over his shoulder as If something was behind the tree.

"You can come out now," she said and Ben wondered who she was talking to, and seeing the dragon peeping over and slowly stepping out to the open made him uneasy.

But the dragon was not large as he had first thought it to be. It was two meters tall and its body was covered with dark purple scales. It had large bat wings and a pair of four horns for a crown. Her green eyes glistened in the moonlight.

The girl got up and went to pat the dragon, Wonderbee, who bowed low.

"Who is he?" Wonderbee asked and Ben was quick to discern that it was a girl dragon who spoke in a teenager's voice.

"He is a human... like me."

"Introduce me."

"Oh silly me," she chuckled, "we weren't even introduced yet."

She turned to Ben after clearing her throat.

"I am Princess Nancy... but you can just call me Nancy," she curtsied, "And this is Wonderbee."

A princess? Ben could hardly believe it.

"As I said before, she is my close friend. I am the princess of the Onis kingdom and the princess of this planet. And you are...?"

"My name is Ben," he said rising.

"A pleasure. Now, where are you from?"

"I'm from Beitbridge town."

"Where's that?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean which planet do you come from?"

"Why, Earth of course."

Nancy's hand flew to rest on her open mouth. Ben then sensed that something was not right.

"An Earthling...!" Wonderbee boomed excitedly and then she looked at Nancy who was still in shock, "Why did you bring him here?"

"Well, I didn't mean to... entirely his fault of course. He touched my bike."

"Wait! You mean he doesn't know where he is?"

"He has no idea."

"Why did you touch it? Oh, you are the curious sort?" Wonderbee pried looking at Ben inquisitively.

"I am aware of the strangest thing happening to me when the sky opened, and I am aware of being brought here. But where is here? Can this really be happening? Or maybe I'm dreaming. I'm still back at camp," Ben smiled, "When I wake I am going to have a blast."

"He doesn't believe that you exist," Nancy said.

"Why, but I'm here. Aren't I?"

"Ben, this is a new reality. You won't wake from this one."

"Where am I then?"

"You are on my planet, planet Xeronis. Earth should be… well, the physics is complicated but travel between the two is only possible through a dimension warping portal. Long story short, you are a long way from home and you are not supposed to be here."

"Doesn't look 'dimension' different at all," Ben said looking around at the trees.

"Trees yes are just trees," Nancy's tone seemed to hint that there was going to be lots of surprises for Ben. Ben looked up into the starry sky and was fascinated to see two huge moons.

"What's a princess doing outside the castle?"

Before she could answer a small dog had darted out of the bushes and pounced onto Ben's leg, barking and then growling furiously. The dog seized Ben's jean trousers and pulled back trying to tear them from him.

"What the... ho, whose dog is this? Get it off me. Let go, boy!" Ben cried in shock surprise.

Nancy laughed, "Spot...? Let him go."

The dog then stopped growling to listen.

"Let him go," she repeated and the dog obeyed.

The dog was a small white puppy, a Jack Russell Terrier, with large brown spots on the head, back, and tail.

"Spot here is my puppy friend, Ben."

"My apologies," Spot spoke and Ben could not believe his ears.

"You talk?"

"Yes I blabber, whisper, and sing, but do not stutter or do a whistle," Spot waged his tail. Nancy took him up into her arms.

"Spot, meet Ben from Beitbridge. He comes from planet Earth."

"But how did he get here?"

"Please," Wonderbee jumped in, "...don't tell me you can't guess. I've been studying the pair. Maybe she brought him here as a souvenir to show off."

"I did not!" Nancy gasped.

"But I'm sure he's just passing through, right?" Spot said unsurely.

"Ben is not going anywhere," Nancy asserted.

"They will kill him," Wonderbee said, "...the bounty hunters."

"He looks quite weak. He won't last very long," Spot observed Ben who just looked at himself as if looking for a flaw in his body stature.

"But who will put a price on his head when no one knows about him?" Nancy argued.

"That's why the O.Ds are cheaper."

"How will he hide from them O.Ds?" Wonderbee asked.

"What are O.Ds?" Ben decided to jump in when he noticed how the three friends had excluded him from their conversation.

"Outsider Detectors... It's a type of scanning torch. All Xeronians have been registered and are legal citizens. The scan will consider you unregistered and therefore wanting," Wonderbee explained.

"Wanting of what?"

"Oh don't worry. Don't think of torture executions; we are a lot more civilized here. They'll just hack your head off with an ax... easy," Spot chuckled.

"What are they saying?" Ben looked at Nancy.

"Well don't you understand...?" Spot said but Nancy pinched shut his muzzle.

"Oh don't you go on listening to them. They blabber too much," Nancy was fuming inside that they were only causing Ben to panic more.

But Ben was convinced that this was no blabber and the lines forming on his forehead showed that he was giving it much thought, so she continued, "It hasn't been enforced in a really long time."

"She has no say over the law... not her nor the king," Wonderbee said.

"But the council does. They are not the loveliest bunch but they have been around for centuries," Spot managed to free his mouth from her grip. Nancy just looked at them helplessly.

"Take me back," Ben said after a short pause.

"The thing is... I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"The gateway is closed and I can't open it for another two weeks."

"They don't allow her into the Study but still she goes in there," Wonderbee said.

"She'll be in trouble if ever they find out," Spot added.

"What's the Study?"

"That's where I go in and access the portal. It only stays open for about five minutes and that's it."

"Go and open it again then," Ben suggested.

"There are rules that even I can't bypass. The Study is always guarded and portal travel is not allowed unless approved by the council. They will never approve 'me' that's obvious."

"Then what should I do?"

"Stay out of sight till I wrap my head around this."

Ben collapsed back into the tree and sat in thought.

"I must get back to the castle before my absence is noticed," she said.

"And who do you propose to leave him with?" Wonderbee asked. Nancy just gave her a look that she did not like. "No way. I'm not babysitting him!"

Ben looked up, "You plan to leave me alone, with a dragon?"

"Don't worry; you are not on the food chain. Well, at least not on hers."

"You think I'm going to eat you?" Wonderbee was disgusted.

"Well..." Ben regretted, "dragons are carnivores, right?"

"I'm a vegetarian," she was offended.

"Look, I only know you guys to exist in fairy tales."

"Fairy tales?" and he was not making it better.

"I knew it you guys would get along," Nancy said safely mounted on her flying bike with Spot on her lap and about twelve feet above the ground.

"You are leaving, already?" Ben wanted her to stay.

"I'm a princess. They expect me at the palace at all times. But I'll be back... and with a more elaborate plan," then she was steering the bike to leave.

"Wait!"

"See you," she said.

"Till next time, Earthling," Spot called back as the bike shot away.

"But...!" Ben could not stop her. He felt his only hope of ever going back to his home slip away. Now he had no choice but to remain with Wonderbee, and he was not yet at ease with her around.