SWNOVELS Chapter Another World
It was like falling through an endless hole full of soft blue blankets. As silent as it was, Adilah could almost hear Aamir yelling her name. After what felt like hours, Aamir finally without invitation reached out to grab her hand and it locked around his. When Aamir looked up, Adilah saw a face she had never seen him wear. Adilah had always seen Aamir as a family but not the way he is looking at her right now. They continued to fall through the heart of the endless blue. Until it appeared, the swirling and falling stopped, their feet hit hard ground and before she could adjust Adilah lurched forward.
Dari was pulling the leash and before Adilah could grip it tighter it started to slip through her hands before she knew it, Dari was gone.
Adilah’s heart starts pounding, her fists start tightening, and if she wasn’t feeling sick to her stomach she would have seen all that is around her.
The thick shrubs, the flowers, and the magical creatures smiling. Playing, laughing, and dancing then there she was Dari, in the thicket of it all. She was surrounded by guards wincing and whining for the rescue of Adilah and Aamir.
No one seemed to notice their presence and didn’t pay attention to the dog.
The place they were in wasn’t like anything Adilah had ever seen before the plants and dancing flowers, purple plants, and birds of leaves were surrounded heavily by jagged mountains.
Beyond the mountains was a blur but before Adilah could stop herself she screamed, “hands off her that is my dog!” The music stopped and all eyes were on them, giving Dari just enough time to run to them as the guards lowered their protection.
There were whispers and hands flying ear to ear no doubt to promptly discuss the new arrivals. The creatures were short and blue, had big eyes and pointy ears, and were almost alien-looking, and elf-like they called themselves the Mandri.
As the whispers made their way around the square no eyes left them, like they were at a concert and they were on the stage.
Suddenly the ground started shaking and the Mandri started huddling in a circle.
Aamir and Adilah put their arms out for balance as they exchanged looks, Dari went between Adilah’s legs and started to whimper.
The ground started to break and crumble, terror filled the crowd as a hole appeared, and the thing, something towered over them who knew what it was but before they got a closer look it was gone.
The Mandri resumed their festivities as if nothing had happened but Adilah would never forget the mysterious creature staring right at them.
She is supposed to save this strange world or that is what the key said anyway, is she saving it from whatever that was?
Adilah tried to make sense of it and didn’t even notice the tiny Mandra in front of them until Aamir pointed it out. It was smaller than the others but seemed to have taken quite a liking to Dari who was now sniffing it curiously.
The tiny Mandra started to speak in a strange language and like Aamir couldn’t take it anymore he said, “We don’t understand you!”
The Mandra, though taken aback, cleared his throat and spoke in Moroccan, “Hello my name is Yakiriam Lam Ato most Mandri call me Yakir, what are you doing here in Remaria?” Adilah finally got the courage to speak to the young, old Mandra (Truth is she didn’t know how old it was) “Rema-eriae what!?”
Yakir spoke calmly again, “Remaria the place of the Remara,” Aamir went wide-eyed and Adilah didn’t understand until it hit her, “the Remara? Aamir they were said to be a myth, your Grammy used to talk about them in bedtime stories but they were just stories, right?”
Aamir cut her off, “Adilah I am 100% sure now unless we’re having the same dream, that they aren’t a myth,”
“Yakir, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?” asked Adilah.
Yakir responded, ” I am fourth laka or fourteen years old as you humans say.”
Adilah started pacing back and forth and Dari looked at her concerned then she spoke up, “Yakir, if this is Remaria and you’re part of the Mandri does that mean all the others exist too? Like the fire Orlii, and water pari and the centaurs and snow giants and holy shit, Adilah this is the living storybook. What was that thing a few moments ago I don’t remember in the stories.”
Yakir spoke, “Well one that is a lot of questions, and yes the fire Orlii, water pari, all of them are real and they all live here,” he waves his 4 fingered hands around to gesture to Remaria, “in Remaria. As for your other question, the thing you saw is probably from your travel, it’s not exactly easy on the stomach. That earthquake happens every few days here so it’s nothing new.”
Yakir was called over in the middle of his sentence by another Mandra.
Adilah and Aamir exchange worried glances. Adilah started pacing again this time Dari was ready and she started pacing too. It didn’t make sense why they remembered the thing and the Remara didn’t.”
Aamir was glancing at Adilah while sitting on a crate he found nearby.
Adilah sat down beside him and put her elbows on her knees and laid her head in her hands, “All I wanted to do was save my pa what was I thinking coming here, who am I kidding I wasn’t thinking I didn’t know what I was in for but I walked right into that arch.”
Aamir stood up and clenched his fists, “Adilah Abbas stop it right now. You're always going off worrying about something that you had no control over. This is not your fault, none of it is your fault. If you remember I walked into that arch too with you. We are going to figure this out, together.”
He sat back down and started petting Dari who sat between his legs.
Adilah leaned her head on Aamir’s shoulder and as the festivities ended and the Mandri went home to their nests in the trees, Adilah drifted into a dreamless sleep.
--
When they woke up the next morning, Yakir was beaming down at them, well up, he is pretty tiny. Though it startled Adilah, it was nice to see him. She had grown quite attached to the tiny Mandra.
Yakir automatically said, “Good afternoon friends! Ma Mandra said I could hang out with you as long as I showered so I sprayed the hose on me and came right away.
Aamir was slowly waking up and was yawning but was shocked by Yakir’s early rise.
“Yakir, what time is it?” He asked, stretching his arms into the air.
“Well, by the area of the sun, about high sun, I think that is what you humans call noon?” that woke Aamir up, “we slept ’till noon!?”
“looks like it,″ said Yakir.
Dari was startled by the jolt of Aamir as he stood up and walked around trying to wake up. Adilah reached into the bag she packed and took out 2 apples and some trail mix. Aamir accepted the food happily and in 30 minutes they were awake and ready to walk.
Yakir explained some more about the Remara and Remaria they had plenty to talk about because questions came flying from both ways. Yakir had a lot of questions about life in Morocco and Aamir had questions about the Remara and the fire Orlii which were his favorite. Adilah though was lost in thought and was fiddling with some gears she had grabbed from her bag.
After walking around the town and square they sat by some trees on the outside of the woods. Dari took the time to lie down while Adilah went to a creek nearby and used an invention she made to filter the water. After getting the water she poured it into a portable bowl for Dari and scooped out some dog food for her too. They ate and talked a while then started thinking about what they were there for.
Aamir had found a broken tree limb so he snapped off a tiny stick so Yakir could try and draw a map of Remaria. Adilah kept working with the numerous gears and tools she had thrown into the bag while she watched Dari chase a bird around the trees. Aamir and Yakir got into discussing a game plan and maybe why and what they were supposed to do. The Mandra showed where the realms were for the multiple Remara like the fire Orlii and water pari. Along with some of the more dangerous Remara like the numerous types of dragons and the centaurs which certainly weren’t very friendly. Yakir described their location on the North East side of Remaria.
Dari ran back over for some water and Adilah drifted into the uneasiness of worry. Had she made the right decision? Papa was in the hospital as she sat here in a mythical world. What if it was too late by the time she returned and she didn’t even get to say goodbye? These thoughts flooded her head but the thing staring at her through the dark caught her attention. It was familiar she didn’t know why but before she closed her focus on it, it was gone.