Fantasy Najud: Price of the Prince

[Ignition]

NAJUD

__________

PRICE OF THE PRINCE

_________

Bellezaloo​

Books. It just had to be books.

Pushing the blond locks of hair from his eyes, Johnny lumbered between two students, hands reaching for the support of the bookcase nearby.

His energy was almost spent. Track had taken the wind out of him and then some.

But the day at J.R High never stopped, and Mr. Remora's English class was no exception.

I want a full report on a book of your choice by next Friday!

Johnny sneered at the mere thought.

Mr. Remora didn't get it.

He didn't have the time for books anymore. It was bad enough he had to keep a C+ average to stay on the track team, why did the guy have to go and make things that much harder?

Mixed with frustration and impatience, Johnny's mind was elsewhere, and his fingers tapping along book spines like a musician on a piano. His eyes wandered, and he might have even fallen asleep where he stood, if not for a familiar title finally catching his eye.

“Najud...”

The title slipped of his tongue so easily.

In a single instant, he was twelve again, opening the first page of that fabled book series for the first time.

The same book series he'd once loved, so many years ago. Back when he read day and night, back when sports were the last thing on his mind.

Back when he could dive into a book nose first and never come back.

Two seconds later, and Johnny pulled the book out. His reading eyes returned, and he scanned through the pages cover to cover.

This was the seventh in the series, the aptly named: Price of the Prince. Words, ideas, places and faces returned to his mind: the dune elves, the Forgotten Desert, their mythical city of Al'Jhazar, all birthed from the mind of author Melvin K. Meir.

And this was only in the most recent book. Meir had fleshed out the world of Najud far beyond Johnny's memories could dig up.

His eyes wandered towards the other volumes sitting precariously on the shelf.

How much more had he forgotten?

His hands moved faster than his meandering thoughts.

But not gracefully.

He managed to hold onto the edge of one book, and then his grip slipped, and the entire shelf of seven volumes came tumbling down onto the library floor.

Johnny stopped like a deer in the headlights.

All eyes were on him now.

He cracked an unsure smile.

“Whoops.”

 

[Bellezaloo]

A small table occupied a lone corner of the library. A short reading lamp cast bright yellow light across the multiple open books strewn across the smooth wooden surface.

Victoria sat in a chair, with her back to the corner of the room, bent intently over the chemistry book in front of her. She diligently flipped pages with her left hand while taking detailed notes with her right. The ends of her honey blonde hair tickled the aged paper as she focused on her studies.

She was a straight A student, and she had been all her life, practically living in the library. With a small exhale, Victoria straightened and stretched her arms above her head, deciding it was time for a break.

Standing, she began to wander the aisles, trailing her fingertips over the titles. She didn't spend too much time reading them, knowing them almost as well as the back of her own hand. Occasionally Victoria would pause, pulling one off the shelf to skim the prologue only to replace it precisely where it belonged.

An aisle over, the characteristic rumbling of several books crashing down reached her ears and Victoria turned the corner curiously, mostly to see if she could help straighten them back up. Her eyes landed first on the books splayed on the carpeted floor. Recognition lit up her face and a small smile turned up the corners of her mouth.

Victoria knelt down, picking up the first book in the series gingerly off the floor to straighten the pages and smooth her palm over the cover. The texture of the cover and the image displayed brought back many memories of her childhood. She'd spent hours curled up in her room reading these books. They had been the catalyst for her love of reading.

She gathered a few more in her hands before standing to replace them on their shelf, in order and perfectly aligned. Looking up to see who had caused all the commotion, Victoria was met with a familiar face, and her eyebrows arched a little. "Johnny," she said, with a hint of surprise. She couldn't really remember the last time they'd interacted, aside from maybe some eye contact or a nod of acknowledgment in the hallways between classes.

Her gaze swept the floor, looking for something to make conversation of, and landed on the seventh volume. "I, uh, didn't know Meir wrote a seventh. These were my favorites as a kid."

 

[Ignition]

"Yeah, the guy's a regular track star." Johnny quipped, scratching the back of his head in agitation.

"I used to love these books. Guess I sort of...grew out of it."

His tone sank just a little bit there, but he stood in place, not moving a muscle to help the girl as she fixed all the books back with mathematical precision.

Instead his mind ticked back.

What was her name again?

Velma...Valerie...Verity?

His tongue nearly tied itself into a knot.

Then his brain rebooted, as he picked up the seventh volume and remembered where he was.

"Victoria...right? I've seen you around. English, right? Such a drag."

 

[Bellezaloo]

Victoria shrugged her shoulders almost imperceptibly as she set the last book on the shelf. "I don't think anyone really grows out of reading. You just stop prioritizing it. Other things become more important to you," she mused, almost to herself.

Unable to help herself, she pulled the first volume back off the shelf, briefly flipping it over to scan through the synopsis quickly. Seeing it back in her hands made Victoria want to read it again, just to see if it was as good as she remembered, and she held it to her chest, wrapping her arms loosely around it.

Victoria leaned her shoulder against the shelf as she nodded. "Yeah. I'm surprised you remember, honestly. English isn't so bad," she said with a half smile. "At least Mr. Remora tries to make it interesting. You don't remember Mrs. Jacobson's class in eighth grade? She could put everyone to sleep in seconds."

 

[Ignition]

"Yeah." Johnny said, nodding slightly. "Some things..."

It was like a finger tapped at his mind, as he listened to Victoria's words and remembered that horrible class from eight grade.

Mrs. Jacobson was like the incarnation of boredom itself.

"You know, I gotta do a book report on something." Johnny said, pointing a finger at the book nestled within Victoria's arms.

"And I was thinking of that. I mean...I sort of remember it. Elves, dragons...magic and stuff. It was sort of cool."

Sort of? Now that was an understatement.

Johnny smiled. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to talk about these sort of things. Too much time spent running in circles, perhaps.

So when he saw a quick flash of teal from the front of the book, Johnny didn't think much of it.

Trick of the light. These old school libraries were prone to do that, after all.

 

[Bellezaloo]

With no hint of reluctance at all, Victoria immediately offered him the book. "It's a good choice. If I remember correctly, it's a good story and a quick read. You'll probably finish in no time."

Victoria did not catch the second flash of teal as she handed the worn paperback over. She turned her head to glance over the rest of the titles on the shelf. Tapping her fingernail on the spine of the fourth book, she remarked "This one was my favorite, but I can't remember why. I think this is the one where a dragon held someone important hostage." She frowned a little as she tried to remember what happened. She was disappointed she'd forgotten the details, as the little nuances were what made her love the stories so much.

"I always loved reading about the frost elves. Anyway, you'll have to let me know if it's still as good as I remember it being."

 

[Ignition]

Another flash of teal.

And this time, Johnny knew it wasn't a trick of the light.

Carefully, he took Victoria's offer for the book, his fingers touching the front just as she began to let go.

The flash was strong now, like a bright night light bursting through the dark.

Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"...what the?"

He tried to pull the book away from Victoria, but it wouldn't budge. It was like it was glued down by some unseen force.

"Hey...would you let go?" he said, pulling a little harder now but completely astounded that his fingers still wouldn't come loose.

In response, a glowing green hand, three times larger than his burst out of the logo on the front of the book.

It grabbed Johnny with an unbreakable grip, as a single word boomed through the confines of the library.

"NO."

Then the light exploded, filling Johnny's eyes.

His vision went out.

White noise filled his ears, and then, nothing.

 

[Bellezaloo]

The third time, Victoria finally saw the light. She immediately straightened up, her brow furrowed in confusion and deep lines etched on her forehead. She tried to release the book, but found it was almost like her fingers were physically being forced to hold the book.

"I'm trying! I can't let go," Victoria insisted, mildly frustrated that she couldn't loosen her fingers.

Victoria continued to try to pull away, continually trying to loosen her grasp. "What is going on?" she questioned, exasperated by the whole situation.

Upon the appearance of the large green hand, Victoria's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "What the f-..." she spluttered, not understanding what she was seeing. The light blinded her and she squeezed her eyes shut, the back of her eyelids still searingly bright. Her ears began to rang and then she couldn't feel anything at all.

 

[Ignition]

The universe went black.

No vision.

No sound.

Not a touch.

Johnny tried to take a breath, but it was like someone stuffed his nose full of cotton swabs.

He tried to scream, to say anything, but his voice didn't even come out as a squeak.

Then, when he tried to move, it hit him.

Quite literally, reality hit him.

A few seconds later, he landed in a messy fall, sand billowing up in the air all around him as he hit the dunes face first.

A horrible shroud of heat washed over him as Johnny shook sand away from his face, and took his first gaze up at the twin suns above.

He blinked, as his mind realized the problem a few second later.

"...suns. Wait, suns?"

Johnny looked back and forth.

"Victoria?"

From where he could see, she was nowhere in sight.

All around him, a vast desert expanse had replaced the once quaint library of J.R High.

Sweat began to form on Johnny's brow as he stood up, and his tongue went dry.

He'd never felt heat like this before.

"Why hello!"

Johnny turned, and right in face, there he was.

Orange skin. Reddish hair. An ensemble out of 1001 Arabian Nights, and the kicker: pointed ears.

Johnny's eyes dilated.

"AHHHH!" he yelped, falling back on the dune as the stranger approached him.

"Who...who are you?" Johnny said quickly, as the stranger made slow, decisive steps toward him.

"Don't be alarmed." the stranger said, hands before him to appear non-threatening. "I'm someone you can trust. My name is Saladin. Prince Saladin."

Johnny's mouth went agape.

The gears began to spin into his mind, clicking right into place.

An elf. He was a real live elf...a real live dune elf.

Straight from the pages of Melvin K. Meir's books.

"I'm so happy to make your acquaintance. You're the help we so dearly need right now."

Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"We?"

Saladin nodded. "Myself, and my bodyguard."

He turned, looking for said person but not seeing her in sight. The dune elf ruffled his hat in concern.

"Oh, where has she gone? Quite the inconvenience today has been, truly."

The word passed through Johnny's mind, as he looked around one more time, accepting the fact that he was now trapped in the middle of the Forgotten Desert, with a dune elf.

Inconvenience didn't even scratch the surface of it.