Veer Trivedi and the Dream Realm

By Kavika Sharma

"Veer Trivedi and the Dreamrealm: The Ancient Codex
All Veer wanted was to stay out of trouble, but that becomes extremely difficult when she is accidentally summoned into a world filled with wonders and just as many dangers–the Dreamrealm. The only way she can return to her home world is by pretending to be their great champion and completing the quest that will decide the fate of all realms. As doom looms on every turn, Veer and her, somewhat questionable, companions must find the fragments of the Ancient Codex, while avoiding getting eaten, beaten, or challenged to a dance-off by the nightmare creatures who will do anything to see the Dreamrealm fall."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evincepub Publishing
• Release date: May 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9789354467844

Book preview

1

IT CAN’T GET ANY WORSE THAN THIS

You’d think getting almost sliced in half by a scythe-wielding monster would be the worst thing to happen to someone.

I envy you.

I’m Veer Trivedi, and I used to be just like you drowning in homework and hilariously oblivious to the spine-chilling dangers of this very annoying universe. Now, I spend most of my time running from or fighting all kinds of monsters. Fine, it’s mostly running, but that’s not my fault. I never asked to be the ultimate saviour of all realms. I mean, come on, who would want to travel through another dimension, looking for some weird spells, while constantly trying to avoid getting killed by a bunch of demonic birds.

Gross.

And to think that I had to go through all that just because of one stupid mistake that I didn’t even make.

It all happened last year, on the first day of sixth grade.

I was walking to school with my cousin Riya, who was not only my best friend but also the smartest kid I knew. We were nothing alike. She was this scrawny-looking girl with bi-focal glasses that covered most of her face. She would’ve been an easy target if I hadn’t slapped Dimple in fourth grade, for making fun of her. That’s when I got on the school’s radar as the ‘Bad Trivedi Girl.’

Was I bad?

No, I don’t think so.

I mean, sure, I don’t get straight A’s like Riya but I always finish my homework on time and treat people with respect, except for bullies.

It’s a bad idea, I said.

And that has stopped you before? Riya smiled.

I smacked her arm and sighed, They’ve just had so much on their plates since... you know, and I don’t want to make things worse.

Riya shook her head. Come on, Veer, it’s just a club.

We reached the second gate of the school, our usual point of entry, but I grabbed Riya’s hand, pointing toward the next street, which was dominated by the huge, silver gates of the school’s main entrance.

Remember when I wanted to play softball? It took two weeks to convince them, and that was when I had her help.

Riya rubbed her eyebrow, like she always did when she was uncomfortable.

To be fair, you have been doing really well. You’re smiling more, your grades are up and you haven’t been in detention in over a month!

Week.

Really? Riya frowned.

D’Souza threw a chalk at me, I said, lowering my head, trying to hide in my bangs.

So, you...?

I, uh, threw it back, I confessed, I was aiming for the dustbin but then she moved, and somehow the chalk piece landed on her head! And isn’t it illegal to hit a student? If anything, people should be calling me a hero.

Okay, maybe I was aiming for Mrs D’Souza’s nose, but Riya didn’t need to know that. It would only stress her out more and if she kept going at her eyebrows like that, there wouldn’t be any left by the end of the day.

Okay, let’s try not to hit people, with anything, for the next few days, and then we can talk to your parents together.

It was a simple plan and it might have worked if we had just entered through the second gate.

By the time we arrived at the main entrance, the courtyard was packed with students. They wore matching uniforms–a white shirt, grey skirt/pants, and black shoes. I scanned for some of my classmates’ bags and noticed small changes in their keychains. Since that was the only way we were allowed to express ourselves, people took their keychains way too seriously, and some even had their names engraved in gold or whatever. Mine was pretty simple, though. It had a shooting star on a circular, golden plate. The lady at the thrift store said it was magical, but we just bought it because it was the cheapest one.

I was about to climb the stairs when Riya, suddenly jumped in front of me.

Maybe we should just stay here for a while.

Why? I raised an eyebrow.

She smiled and spun me around. I knew something was wrong because Riya was the kind of kid who rushed into class to secure a seat in the front row.

Before I could say anything, she started pushing me towards a group of giggling girls.

Then, I heard it.

Even before I turned around, I knew it was Francis. He was the only kid who could cry like that. Through the crowd, I could see a head covered in brown, needle-like hair, looming over Francis.

I hate bullies, especially spiky-haired, mean boys named Yash Mehta.

With Riya on my tail, I pushed past the crowd that had gathered to see the show. People gave me mean looks but I didn’t care if I was blocking their view. As I got closer, I could feel my blood boiling. All the anger rushed to my head and I threw my bag on the ground and tightened my ponytail to prepare for a possible kicking of butt.

Yash! I yelled.

He stopped pulling Francis’ curly hair to look at me. He looked like a thug with his untucked, dirty shirt and messy hair. He had gotten taller over the summer and that only made him look scarier.

What? he snapped.

Riya tried to pull me back, but I wiggled out of her grip and stepped closer to the boorish boy.

Let him go, before I tell everyone about your secret obsession with nursery rhymes, I smirked.

Some kids giggled behind me and Yash’s cheeks turned as red as a monkey’s butt. His eyes shot around, watching the crowd’s mood shift. They no longer looked at him with fear and excitement. He was the butt of the joke, now.

Shut up! he balled his fists and shifted his attention to me.

What? I think it’s an improvement. At least you finally grew out of eating chalk, I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest.

Then, his eyes got all watery and he charged straight at me. To be honest, I didn’t think he would do that. I guess he was feeling more bull-headed than usual. Some people screamed behind me, others ran farther away, but I didn’t move a muscle. Keeping my eyes on him, I waited for the perfect moment to make my move. As soon as he got close enough, I smashed into him, knocking him to the ground. He was so shocked by my attack that he didn’t know what to do next. I grabbed his collar with one hand, ready to slap him with the other.

Veer Trivedi! Mrs D’Souza (yup, that one), stood at the door. Maybe it was the way she looked at me or maybe it was the horrific bird-print saree she wore, but it was enough for me to immediately let go of stupid Yash. This was the second time she had caught me in a fight, which meant I was in for some serious trouble.

My office, she spat and turned on her heel.

You mean the staff room? I asked.

Some of the kids behind me giggled. Mrs D’Souza, on the other hand, stopped dead in her tracks and stayed that way for a good two or three seconds before strutting down the hallway, looking like a cheap advertisement for an aviary.

Without wasting any time, I went straight to ‘her office.’ I knocked on the depressingly brown door, waiting for her to say something, but she just looked up and stared at me. If that was her way of intimidating me, let me tell you, it was definitely working. I was this close to quitting school and becoming a hand model. What? I have soft hands.

Do you need an invitation? she asked.

This time, I decided to keep my mouth shut and follow the instructions.

Here we are again, she said, giving me a wicked smile.

I didn’t even try to defend myself this time. She had been waiting for me to make a mistake ever since that day. If I said something now, she would try to twist it and use it against me. So I stared at my shoes and waited for whatever punishment she had in mind.

I have a class in five minutes, so let’s keep this short. Two weeks’ detention and a written apology to the boy you were beating up so brutally, she tried to hide her smile behind a sigh, but it was obvious how much she was enjoying this moment.

She slid the yellow note to me and before she could see the tears in my eyes; I snatched the note and ran out of the room.

At that moment, I just wanted to go home and cry in my bed, but first, I had to get through six hours of school and another two hours of detention. This was turning out to be a really annoying day.

Yet, somehow, it kept getting worse.

Thanks to D’Souza, I was late for English period, then Mr Martin threw me out of the class for pointing out his mistake, and the new science teacher, whose name I can’t remember, took up half of our lunch hour to lecture us about Octopuses and their nine brains. I mean, that’s cool, but still, a very weird thing to be passionate about.

Anyway, I got through the day and even managed to make it out of detention without crying. When the clock hit six O’clock, I grabbed my bag and rushed outside, hoping to see Riya waiting for me by the second gate.

Too bad she wasn’t there.

That’s when I realized how dark it had gotten. I checked my watch to make sure I hadn’t spent extra time in detention. Man, that would be sad. There was no way Riya’s parents would let her leave the house. Mine, on the other hand, probably hadn’t noticed. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not bad parents. They work at a children’s hospital, so they’re usually pretty busy and get home around dinnertime.

Still, I knew they were trying hard to spend more time with me. I wish I could be better. At least for them.

I stopped walking and pulled out the list I had made during lunch.

I can do this. The worst is over. I folded it and put it back in my skirt pocket.

And then things got a hundred times worse.

2

HOW DOES IT KEEP GETTING WORSE?!

My house was around fifteen minutes away from the school. That’s not much. Usually, Riya and I couldn’t even finish an entire conversation on the way. But I guess time moves slower when you keep feeling like there’s someone behind you.

As soon as I walked out of the gate, I could feel the tiny hair on the back of my neck stand up, but I didn’t dare turn around. By now, I think we can all agree that I’m usually quite brave, but I had never felt this kind of fear before. Not even when I see Mrs D’Souza. So, I did the only thing I could think of.

I ran.

As my luck would have it, I had