Guardians of Chrestar
Manuscript synopsis

This novel tells the story of Jack and Candice, twin sibling fairies of Chrestar, as they venture from the peaceful, positive-energy filled world of Chrestar into the negative energy of the Beast World to defeat the evil Beast Queen in her efforts to control all of existence and to live forever off the stone hearts of her victims.

On Power-Up day—a festival where the citizens of Chrestar gather power seeds from the Power Tree to fuel their positive energy for the year ahead—the Beast Queen and her minions burst forth from the forbidden zone of the Beast World and destroy the Power Tree. Cobb and Ai, leaders of Chrestar and parents of Jack and Candice, send their children into the Beast World to find and rekindle the Seven Lamps of Power. Only by gathering their light in the Lamp Key and returning to Chrestar will the Power Tree be saved and thus the people of Chrestar. At the twin’s departure, the people of Chrestar retreat into the waters of the Crystal Sea to conserve their energy until the twin’s hoped for return.

On entering the forbidden zone on their way to Beast World, the twins encounter a Tree Girl, a masked person. Jack uses his power to bring her back toward being human. Alameda has strong enough positive energy to resist becoming a victim of the Queen but, tragically, her heart, along with her mother’s, has been taken by the Queen to the Stone Tower. She pledges to help the twins on their quest and hopes to recover her and her mother’s hearts.

Each Lamp has a keeper, a Star, and a special power that only the restored Power Tree can ignite. Jack and Candice, accompanied by Alameda, travel through the broken Beast World in search of the Stars and their Lamps, aided along the way by animated power seeds they keep in pouches at their sides. They encounter many desperate “masked” humans who the Beast Queen has turned into half-human, half-animal subjects. She drains their power, turning them into mute, motionless Tuubas, and gathers their stone hearts to build her Stone Tower fortress.

Each Star they meet, often identified by the enthusiastic power seeds, is unmasked by the power of their Lamp when reunited, and the twins discover the Stars’ unique abilities, personalities, and struggles. They uncover, too, their sibling rivalry as Jack struggles to maintain leadership of the growing fellowship, and Candice tries to talk sense and reason to her brother as he makes less than wise choices. Ultimately, Jack makes the most careless, but wisest, choice possible in the final battle with the Beast Queen.

The Lamps of Power and their Stars hail from unique cities—now ravaged by the Beast Queen’s negative power—and each Star carries that uniqueness with them: Davey, keeper of the Lamp of Thunder and Lightning, is from Arbor City and has root-like appendages that he uses in perilous situations to aid his traveling companions; Kado, keeper of the Lamp of Wind, is from Avian City and possesses a feathered cloak that allows him to fly; Salma, keeper of the Lamp of Water, is from Fish City and has special relationships with many aquatic creatures and works in tandem with Zola, the keeper of the Lamp of the Sea, to rally the denizens of the ocean (including a phalanx of mighty whales) to fight the Beast Queen in her Stone Tower on the coast of the Beast Sea; Ferdie, keeper of the Lamp of Sky, is from Flower City; Cletus, keeper of the Lamp of Fire, is from Stone City; Bara, keeper of the Lamp of Land, is from the City of Ice. Each Star uses their Lamp’s power to aid Jack and Candice in their quest to defeat the Beast Queen and revive the Power Tree.

Forevery discovery of a Lamp and a meeting of its Star, the twins are challenged anew by the Beast Queen and her legion of minions and by the unexpected difficulties between the travelers. Eventually, it comes to light that Cobb, the twin’s father, was involved with the Queen in his early life. Jack is tormented by this realization, and it has an ultimate negative impact on him that paradoxically fuels his power to defeat the Beast Queen.

An initial battle with the Beast Queen, wherein the twins and the Stars attack and destroy her Stone Tower, is followed by a final confrontation at the Gateway back to Chrestar in Stone City. Candice is captured by the Beast Queen and Jack must make a devastating sacrifice to save her and his friends the Stars from the Queen’s clutches. He opens his heart to the Queen’s negative energy, allowing his positive energy to flow into her and weaken her, but as a result, he cannot return to Chrestar and must remain in the Beast World to help heal its devastated people.

Candice and the Stars return to Chrestar with the rekindled Lamps of Power. The Power Tree is rejuvenated and the people of Chrestar return from the safety of the Crystal Sea. Jack is gone, but his father, Cobb, declares that he will return to them. The Stars return to the Beast World to heal the people and to rebuild their cities.

DÝNAMI EPANO