Dorie Daydream In the Land of Idoj - Book 2: Juna

By Glenn P. Murdock

For over a year, Dorie-Lynn has desperately tried to find a way back to the strange and mysterious world she had left so abruptly. Her mission there had just started and her encounter with the evil queen has made her more determined than ever to complete it. A glimpse of a familiar face and an impulsive decision will bring her back to the land she has longed for. Once there, Dorie sets out on a journey that will take her to the land's deepest waters, uncovering a reality that she could never have dreamed of. However, not everything is what it seems and the lessons she learns there are as unfathomable as the waters beneath. Truth, deception and consequence follow Dorie as she continues her dauntless quest to unite a once peaceful and noble land...THE LAND OF IDOJ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9780359012794

Book preview

Dorie Daydream

In the Land of Idoj

Book Two:  Juna

For my family,

Jodi, Tayner, Keslen and Dorie-Lynn:

As always, you are my whole world.

And for Kendra S:

Your smile inspired me to continue.

© 2015 Glenn P. Murdock 

All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-0-359-01279-4

Chapter 1

A Year Gone

Dorie-Lynn Rothesay drew in a deep breath and focused.  It was moments until the race began, and poised at the edge of the pool, she focused on her coach’s advice.  Imagine the race, he had told the team in the Ready Room.  So, she did.  She would win this one for St. Marguerite’s, and for herself.  After all, the 100-metre breaststroke was her best race in the competition.

Focusing on the water, she imagined the start and dived forward from the block with precision.  As she slipped into its coldness, she drew up with excellent form.  Stroke, glide, she told herself over and over again, ensuring her body kept to the rhythm.  She was sure she was leading the other swimmers in the heat. 

As she continued across the length of the pool, she noticed something strange.  The water went from being clear blue to crystal white.  It also became colder.  Convinced her mind was playing tricks on her, she focused again on her form.  Stroke, glide, she continued to tell herself.  Stroke, glide.

From somewhere below, something grabbed her leg.  Dorie struggled and looked down quickly at what was holding her.  It was as if an invisible force was pulling her down.  She gasped for breath, but she was already under the water, and her mouth filled up with the white liquid.  Panicking, she twisted and turned but could not get free.

Then she heard it.  Laughter.  Not just any laughter, but the laughter of a girl she had unfortunately known for so very long—Felicia Vito.  The laughter snapped her back to reality and she realized she was still on the starting block.  The gun had gone and she had missed the start of the race.  The official stood with one arm up, disqualifying her.  At the side of the deck, Felicia and her group of mean girls stood in their swimsuits, laughing.  She was humiliated.

Stepping down from the block, she walked slowly past them and towards the change rooms.  As she passed, she heard the familiar chant that always mocked her, Dorie Daydream, Dorie Daydream.  Realizing that once again her daydreams had ruined another moment of her life, Dorie hung her head low, only looking up to see the disappointed face of her coach as she passed him.  It would be another long day at St. Marguerite’s, and she would endure it gloomily.

* * * * * * *

Later that evening, Dorie sat alone in her room.  It had been a year since she returned from her journey to the Land of Idoj, but she remembered it like it was yesterday.  Dorie hadn’t told anyone about it though because she knew no one would believe her.  They would think she was just dreaming again.  She had a reputation for daydreaming, and just like today, her dreams always happened at the worst possible times.  They always created trouble for her.

That was how she had first discovered Idoj with its purple mountains, pink-green sky, strange plants and extraordinary creatures.  She was given a punishment in the boiler room at St. Marguerite’s, and found a ring that opened a magical portal in the wall that led there.  Of course, the ring had really belonged to Mr. Ominousa, the old and creepy custodian who had given her the strange task in the boiler room.

Dorie thought about Mr. O., and how he must have somehow known that she would find both the ring and the portal.  Why else would he assign her the task of cleaning that wall?  Seriously, why would anyone ever want a wall in a boiler room cleaned?  She wanted to ask him about it…she wanted to ask him a lot of things, but she couldn’t.  When she’d returned from Idoj, he was gone. 

In fact, he wasn’t the only thing missing when she returned.  For Dorie, the element of time had also vanished.  She’d only spent a couple of days in the strange land—three at the most—but when she returned, more than six months had passed.  Eventually emerging from the boiler room and then leaving the school late at night, Dorie had been found by the police and was returned home in a ragged and exhausted condition.  Of course, she knew this was because of her adventures in Idoj with the two princes, Renyat and Nelsek, and her incredible encounter with Idoj’s wicked queen, Queen Aneleh.  However, she knew she couldn’t tell them that.  She also didn’t want to tell them how her whole body hurt so much when she returned that it took everything in her just to stand up.  She didn’t tell them that after she stood, she collapsed again on the floor and couldn’t move for the longest time.  She knew it would only lead to more questions that Dorie was not ready to answer.  So, eventually, when the police found her struggling outside of St. Marguerite’s, she was in so much pain that she couldn’t even bother trying to think up a story they would believe.  In the end, she just didn’t say anything.

Surprisingly, that seemed to work in her favour…mostly.  When she went missing, her parents had returned home while everyone was searching for her.  Dorie was happy to hear that.  After all, it was clear that Dorie wasn’t her parents’ first priority.  Enise, the sitter that Dorie’s parents had hired to watch her when they were away on one of their many extended business trips, had told them that she’d run away to get attention and would come back in time.  Luckily for Enise, Dorie did return, but by then her parents had already gone back overseas and paid Enise to wait for her return.  Dorie was shocked to hear that they left while she was still missing, but knew that Enise had made them so convinced that Dorie would return when she was ready, that they believed her with blind conviction.  After all, believing Enise would allow them to return to their busy lives without too much guilt.  The unfortunate part was that Dorie’s parents now had even more trust in Enise, and spent longer periods of time away from Dorie and home.  In fact, after her parents’ obligatory return to see her when the police told them she had been found, Dorie hadn’t seen them since.  They also gave Enise more authority on making decisions on their behalf, and full trust in taking care of Dorie.  Enise loved the increased authority. She spent the money left for Dorie on herself, and acted like Dorie didn’t exist. However, this didn’t bother Dorie because she used it to her advantage.

Late at night, she spent hours planning her return to Idoj and what she would do when she got there.  Dorie had a mission, given to her by the former queen of Idoj, Queen Andromica.  The queen had come to her while she was in Idoj in the form of dreams.  She needed Dorie’s help to reunite the five lands of Idoj back into one, and Dorie was determined to do it.

However, it wouldn’t be easy.  Idoj was divided into five tribes now, and each of them was designed to protect Idoj from a different threat. Terra was tasked with protecting Idoj from land attacks; Juna was assigned to guard against threats coming from the water; Sphera was created to deflect air assaults; Mysta worked to protect against magical attacks, and Prota acted as bodyguards to the royal family.  So far, Dorie’s experience in Idoj was limited because she had only spent time in Terra, and narrowly escaped several terrifying moments with the Terra tribe.  In fact, had it not been for the help of Renyat and Nelsek, she might not even be alive today.

While in Idoj, Dorie speculated that each land had its own enchanted stone, just like the Terra Stone.  She believed that if she got all five stones together, it would be the key to reuniting the lands.  She really wasn’t sure if this was what would happen, but it was the best idea she could come up with.  After all, she had gotten the green Stone of Terra, and it had somehow brought her back to earth in a much quicker way than she had arrived in Idoj.  This alone made Dorie believe that it must have some magical properties.

Thinking about the stone, she pulled it out from under her shirt.  When she returned home from Idoj, she had made it into a necklace so she could always keep it with her.  She never took it off, and hoped that someday it would help her return.

Dorie reached into her pocket and slipped on the ring she kept there.  She examined it on her finger.  It was the ring that Queen Aneleh said belonged to her because it was the ‘ring of the ruler of Idoj’.  Dorie had kept it hidden from the queen, certain that if she had gotten it, Idoj would be doomed.  It was only when Nelsek came to save her, and Renyat sent her home, that she truly realized how important the ring was.  Up until then, she had mostly considered it her ticket to Idoj and possibly her way home.  Now, she knew it was so much more.

The ring represented Idoj and held some sort of power for the right person who wore it.  Dorie was certain that the person should not be Queen Aneleh, and should be Queen Andromica.  From what she had seen, Queen Aneleh was pure evil and would do anything to keep her power and reign over Idoj.  That’s why she kept the lands of Idoj separated—it was easier to maintain her rule when the people were divided and at odds with each other.

Dorie tried over and over again to use the ring to return to Idoj, endlessly chanting the words inscribed in it: ‘Idoj Assendu’.  They were the words that had opened the