Farrah Noorzad and the Realm of Nightmares

Chapter One

The Beginning of What?

Every night, I fall into a nightmare.

We are back in the Realm Beneath the Unseen, and we are running out of time. The shadow jinn watch with their blinking, ruby-­red eyes while my half brother, Yaseen, and my friend Idris sprint through the golden gates and down a long, winding jeweled staircase.

It’s the final-­boss moment—­the pause in time and space— where I will finally do the impossible: undo my wish on the cursed ring of fate and free my dad from within it.

Except . . .

I stop running when Idris yells “Now!” and Yaseen’s spear slashes through the air, unleashing a huge bolt of lightning right at the army of shadow jinn in front of us.

They scatter like bowling pins.

“Take that, shadow puppets!” Yaseen laughs.

“Wait. Haven’t we . . . ?” Been here before? I watch Yaseen charge ahead, going farther into the Realm Beneath. “Haven’t we . . . ?” Already done this?

“Something wrong, Noorzad?” Idris jogs back when he notices I’ve stopped. His white hair is stuck to his cheeks and neck.

“I just . . .” Everything feels so fuzzy. “Need a sec.”

“You’ve got to take it easy,” Idris warns. “You’re not in­destructible anymore, remember?” Sweat drips from his chin.

“Remember . . .” I rub my face. What do I remember? A wish on a ring during a dark and stormy night. A ghostly boy with a cloud in a pen who flies to magical, floating jinn cities in the sky. Seven thrones and a ticking clock. A journey with my brother and my best friend across farms and realms unseen. A broken elephant pin and a power that glows from my palms . . .

. . . It slips like sand from my thoughts, but I hold on as tight as I can.

“I can see the bottom,” Yaseen shouts from below. A glittering throne roars to life through the bright red flames. A small, worn ring glints atop it. Five gems glow.

“Get down, Yaseen,” I yell just as the ground rumbles. “The sixth gem is about to glow!” We have been here before. I remember it now.

“Wait, what?” Yaseen hesitates, but it’s too late.

The entire staircase shakes. I jump and roll out of the way, dodging a huge chunk of molten rubies before it crashes on my head.

Six jinn kings down, the exiled jinn king Azar’s voice roars, one to go.

“No!” I slap the floor of the shaking staircase. “This isn’t supposed to happen again!” I watch in horror as Yaseen stumbles and trips. His fingers wave through the air as he falls backward, plummeting to the ground. “We’ve already defeated you!”

We traveled through realms, both seen and unseen, fought countless shadow jinn, solved all Azar’s riddles, and broke through every illusion. I made a deal with the forbidden fire jinn king, and I won. I undid my wish.

I saved my dad and the other jinn kings from the curse of the ring of fate. I saved everyone. And most importantly, I saved myself from disappearing into nothingness . . .

. . . Didn’t I?

Did you? Azar’s question slithers around me. It’s a shame you don’t recall.

“Not another riddle. My brain can’t handle another!” I clutch my forehead because everything hurts. From my elbows to my knees to my bruised heart to my fingers and toes.

“Noorzad, you can’t keep fighting like this.” Idris kneels and holds my hands in his. His wide eyes stare into mine. They’re so clear, I can see the fire around us reflect through them. “You’ve got to catch him.”

“But we did catch him,” I shout.

So why is Yaseen still falling?

Why is the ring still glowing?

Why are we still here?

You mean, why are you still here. Azar’s voice buzzes in my ears.

I blink. Idris is gone. So are the staircase and the shadow jinn and Yaseen.

Somehow, I’m in front of Azar’s golden throne. The cursed ring of fate is floating in the center. All seven gems glow, but there are seven chains now holding the ring to the throne.

“That’s weird, I don’t remember this happening,” I mumble while taking a step closer to touch one chain that has an imperfect link. Little wisps of dark energy float around the chain until it covers my hand in a cold fog.

An endless age, the fog rumbles in my chest. A fate defied.

“Huh?” I try to wrestle away from the clouds that curl around my wrist, moving up my arm, but I can’t. My eyes get heavy. The Realm Beneath goes blurry.

Without its roots. It trails up my elbow. All things shall die.

There’s a loud crack as an impossible thing happens. A whirlwind of golden fire shoots out of the ring, along with Azar’s gleeful laugh. He zips and zooms into the air. I can barely keep track of him. Everything in my head is so sludgy.

But should the end come rear its head. It trails up my neck and whispers in my ear. There will be more than kingdoms dead.

The cold fog is everywhere. It dances in front of me until it takes the shape of a shadow puppet. My shadow puppet.

“Help me,” I try to say, but my mouth doesn’t move.

My shadow jinn’s red eyes never blink. Behind her, a hazy mountain looms, engulfed in fire. She leans closer to me, places her cold hand on my cheek, and mouths, Don’t you know? “They will be—­the beginning of the end.”

“The end of what?” I want to say.

She dissolves back to fog without answering. The dark wraps its way up my chin, past my nose and eyes. Azar’s mismatched gold and red eyes smile at me. They are the last thing I see before the light winks out.

It’s time to wake up and find out, little one.

Chapter Two

Back to Reality

I wake up with a wad of gum and packing tape stuck to my face.

“Ugh, gross.” I immediately rip it off—­along with the little baby hairs on my cheek. “Argh, that hurts,” I yelp, and hold my throbbing cheek. My reflection on my tablet shows a big red mark, the same spot where my cheek got slashed in Centralia.

I can’t believe it’s been three months since I traveled to the exiled jinn king Azar’s realm to save my dad and the six other jinn kings from being stuck in a ring of fate for eternity (after I accidentally wished them there). I never thought saving my dad would mean giving up my invincibility to protect my best friend in the entire world, Arzu Ahmadi, leaving me completely normal and powerless . . . but that’s okay. I tap the pink scar on my face and swivel around in my desk chair. Sometimes being a good friend means giving up awesome power. I know Arzu would do the same for me. I do miss being indestructible, though.

Especially on days like today, when I’m facing a sea of open moving boxes. Being superstrong would totally make packing up my room a lot easier. The afternoon sun splashes rays of gold and pink against my crumpled bedsheets and comforter, where I’m sure I’ve lost an empty bowl or two of ice cream somewhere. In my defense, in a couple of days I am uprooting my entire life and saying goodbye to the only home I’ve ever known (and I only threw one tantrum when my mom spilled the beans).

Because, spoiler alert, saving my dad and the rest of the jinn kings three months ago still wasn’t enough to convince my mom to stay in Philly.

“I’m so glad we can be honest with each other now,” she had said when she’d tucked me into bed for the first time since I was spirited away to the Qaf Mountains and learned the truth about my identity—­that I’m a half-­jinn (“princess,” Arzu would add later) and that my father is King ­Shamhurish, one of seven jinn kings that rule over the unseen world. “Because I never want you to think I don’t choose you, janem. I will always choose you. But this only works if you choose me too.”

“Of course I do, Madar.” We hugged under the neon-­blue ocean lights in my room. In that moment, I knew choosing my mom meant leaving home, because Philadelphia made her sad. And even though leaving everything I’ve ever known is scary, facing down Azar and his shadow jinn taught me to face my fears.