The cool wind moaned as Naomi’s made steady steps across the barren desert, leaving the shining kingdom of Phoenix and the large dust devil that was several miles east from it further and further behind.
Of all the times that big dust devil had to show up, it had to show up when I was leaving, Naomi thought.
Though it was chilly, and the city was behind her, an ember still burned in the pit of her stomach. She gripped the strap of her medicine bag tightly. It isn’t fair. I’ve wanted to see her since forever, yet she spends most of her time with Victoria! Victoria, Mom, and Dad didn’t even believe she existed until now. Why am I always the one getting sidelined?!
Like the grains of sand that swirled about her, these and other thoughts swirled in her mind, again and again. No matter what I do, it’s never enough. I barely get anything! Yet when Victoria does so much as say a word, the whole world bends backwards to get her needs and wants met.
She stumbled and fell face first. As she scrambled to her knees, she spat out sand, leaving only several remaining grains for her teeth to crunch.
She looked up. Nearby was a large stone. She hadn’t noticed earlier. Perhaps I was so lost in thought, I missed it.
She sighed and scowled at the sky. Her parents weren’t there to rush to her aid or ask her what the matter was. No, of course not. Only the full moon and stars above and the sand and the big stone below were witnesses to her pain.
No one, not even her closest friends, understood her frustration. They had parents who paid attention to them, who enjoyed spending time with them. She had lost that years ago.
She had had a taste of what it felt like to have her parents’ attention before Victoria started to have problems. There had been a time when her parents were more joyful and had time to spend with both of them.
Now she was alone in the desert, and her parents no doubt had not noticed her absence.
“Princess!”
Naomi looked behind her. “Perfect,” she muttered. Her parents may not have noticed her absence, but some others had; Reinhold and the rest of her guards. They rode black camels and they were coming towards her. She thought she had ditched them.
“Are you alright?” Reinhold called.
Naomi got up and brushed sand off her clothes. “I’m fine! I just need time alone!”
“But it isn’t safe out here.”
“I said I need time alone!” Naomi walked on.
“You know I and my men are bound by the Oath! If you won’t come home, then we'll follow you!”
“Whatever,” she muttered.
“Sandstorm!” One of the guards said.
“What?” Naomi looked around. Sure enough, there was a sandstorm approaching from the west. Where did that come from? It was heading straight for them, fast!
She looked behind her. The large stone. It was the best place to take shelter. She ran straight for it. As soon as she had reached it, the sandstorm nipped at her heels. She went to the side of the rock that had the most protection from the winds.
Within seconds, the sandstorm completely engulfed her and her guards.
Her guards shouted, but the roaring wind drowned out their words.
Naomi closed her eyes shut to keep sand out of her eyes. She leaned against the rock like her life depended on it.
Immediately, the winds died down, and all was silent except for chirping crickets.
Strange. She opened her eyes and gasped. She was in an oasis which was surrounded by large dunes. Beautiful pink and orange flowers surrounded a crescent-shaped pond reflecting the multitude of stars above. Beyond the pond was a stone path that led to a small hut. “What in the world? Where…?”
“You are in Dolores. My home.”
Naomi looked around, but she saw no one. She stepped away from the rock and wrapped her cloak tightly around her. “Who’s there?”
Sand swirled in front of her, becoming a tall pillar, then the sand slid down from the pillar to reveal a tall woman.
Naomi stared at her. She had skin that was almost as dark as the night sky, and her silk dress was as orange as a sunset. But one of the most shocking aspects about her were her big black wings. “You’re…a fairy?!”
The woman smiled. “You could say that, yes. I've been waiting for an opportunity to speak with you for a long time.”
“Wow! Do you fly? Oh, you have wings, ‘course you fly. Do you have powers? Wait, course you do, you appeared out of sand!” Naomi furrowed her brow. “Wait…did you use the sandstorm to teleport me here?”
The woman smiled. “No. That was my husband.”
That’s like Titus’s ability, minus the sand. “So your husband makes sandstorms for a living? Did he cause the last sandstorm by any chance?”
The woman hesitated. “Yes.”
“You tried to kill us?!”
“Not kill you. Guide you. I knew you wanted to get to Phoenix quickly when your enemies were out to get you, but that wasn’t going to happen with your parents and your sister scrambling to find her toy.”
Naomi frowned at the memory of her parents stopping their journey so Victoria could find her bear. “How did you know that?”
“My husband saw you. He like to help me keep tabs on things happening in my land. If he hadn’t created that sandstorm, none of you would have reached Phoenix promptly. You would still be searching for that toy, or worse, be eaten by your foes’ desert dragons.”
“Okay, but what about that big dust devil?"
“He made that as well.”
“Why?! I was trying to leave that stupid kingdom and go to Palm Shores, if you didn’t notice.”
“Because in the direction you were going, there was a small camp with men from Taja.”
“And?”
“Those men were enslavers.”
“Oh.” Naomi rubbed her neck. “So, you claim you were trying to protect me.”
“Yes, and also dispose of them. They’re one with the sand now.”
“Lovely. I guess I owe you my thanks…if you’re telling the truth.”
“Don’t mention it. Not to change the subject, but I know you’re frustrated with your family, and with the Queen of Phoenix for overlooking you. But just because your parents overlook you doesn’t mean others do too.”
Naomi looked at her suspiciously. “And by others you mean you and your husband?"
“In a manner of speaking, yes, but I don’t pretend your friends overlook you in the slightest. They seem to love you more than anything.”
“Now me and my loved ones are being stalked. That makes me feel a lot better. You know a lot about me, so spill the beans. Who are you and why did you want to talk to me so badly?”
The woman glanced to the side. “I am Nairobi, and I need your help.”
Naomi’s eyes widened and she took a step back. “You’re the traitor everyone told me about?!”
“Please, hear me out. What I did was inexcusable, which is why I need to make amends.”
“Pfft! Forget that. I’m outta here! Tell your husband to send me back.” She turned and headed back to the stone she had used for shelter, hoping by some miracle touching it would send her back to where she was before.
“When I was your age, I was in the exact same dilemma you are in now!” Nairobi called. “My parents overlooked me in their attempts to help my sister.”
Naomi slowed to a stop.
“I tried to make them proud by doing great things. Getting the best grades, helping the poor, creating better relations with our people, any and every good deed to get their attention. Alas, it was for nothing. I got a little praise here and there, but I barely got their time. They were always occupied with her.”
A part of Naomi wanted to run away, to ignore her, but…she couldn't. It all sounded too familiar. Too painful. Too true.
“After years of fighting for their love, and receiving little to nothing in return, I…snapped.” She looked away. “I committed the most horrible act that came to my mind,” she whispered.
Naomi turned to her. “You cut down the Fire Tree, which made farming increasingly difficult.”
Nairobi lowered her head. “The least thing I can do is try to make things better for my people again. So my husband and I have found a way to ignite the fire tree.”
Naomi turned to her. “Really? But what does that have to do with me?”
“To ignite the tree, I need a Medicine Mage who can make potent medicine for it. I have an idea on what ingredients are needed for the medicine, but I need your knowledge, or rather the knowledge from your god, to create the medicine properly.”
Naomi glanced at her medical bag. “Okay…but why should I trust you?”
“Let me offer a token of my goodwill.” She reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a marble as blue as midnight.
Naomi’s eyes widened. “My marble! But how?”
“My husband has a way of sifting through the sand.”
Naomi looked at her face and then at the marble.
“Whether your answer is yes or no, I won't hurt you, if that’s your concern. But if you do help me, you would be doing a favor for my people, for your family, and I dare say for yourself.
“You’re the only one I can trust with this task. And the only one, besides my husband, who understands where I'm coming from on some level.”
“So you don’t trust the rest of my family then?”
“Not necessarily. If they knew me more, then I'm sure they would help, but current circumstances prevent that from happening.”
Naomi rubbed her chin. Her parents wouldn’t want anything to do with her. Her friends probably wouldn’t either, but they would help her if she was certain she could be trusted. But the truth was, she wasn’t sure at all. So, she couldn’t tell anyone, not even her friends, about what she was up to, if she agreed to help. That would be problematic.
Should she help? Nairobi was a traitor. But she seemed nice enough and remorseful. Besides, people probably didn’t understand how hard it can be to live with parents who ignored you most of the time to attend to another sibling’s needs.
Sure, going near the Fire Tree Stump was practically forbidden, and it was said to be guarded by a warrior, but what could be the harm in trying to heal the tree? Helping others by making medicine in not-so-convenient circumstances was her cup of tea. Also, her friend, Titus, did say she should do something on her own, get outside her comfort zone. And if she and Nairobi healed the tree, she could show her family and herself that she could do something apart from them and be her own person.
She walked over to Nairobi and looked her in the eye. She took the marble from her hand. “What and where are these ingredients you’re talking about?”
Relief flooded over Nairobi’s face.
***
Reinhold and his men sat huddled behind their camels as the clouds of sand swept over them. It was pitch black, and the wind howled in their ears. They had their scarves around their mouths and heads.
“We can’t find the princess in this!” One of the guards said. “What are we going to do?”
“We wait for the storm to pass,” Reinhold said. “The princess went to the big rock for cover. She will be alright. I hope.”
So they waited. Minutes passed like years. When the storm finally moved on, Reinhold and his men rushed to the stone where Naomi had hid.
But when they looked behind it…
“She’s gone!” One of the guards said. “Where is she? What happened?”
Reinhold tilted his head. A small piece of paper was in the sand. “Wait,” He knelt down and pulled the paper out. It was a note. “‘Dear Reinhold, I'm sorry, but I have to go run some errands to help restore the Fire Tree to its former glory. From Naomi?!’”
“What in the blue blazes is going on?!”
Reinhold stared at the note. “Nairobi.”
The guards grew silent for a moment. “Oh no.”
Reinhold looked out to the landscape. “Princess, what do you think you’re doing?” he muttered.
***
Naomi handed Nairobi the note. Sorry, guys, but I’m going on a little adventure…alone.
With a wave of her hand, Nairobi made the note vanish in a small cloud of sand. “That should reach him. And this—” She handed Naomi a compass, “—should help us on our quest. It will lead us to the first ingredient we need. The fur of a winged sand cat. Are you ready?”
Naomi rolled her marble in the palm of her hand. Was she ready to leave her family and friends behind for a time? She put the marble in her pocket and looked up at Nairobi. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
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