Thursday passed quickly, and the dreaded day came. Neiko’s parents backed down the driveway and waved as they left Neiko behind. As soon as they were out of sight, Neiko sprang into action. She put the water in the canteen, got the weapons, and put them in the coat closet with her backpack. She found the marbles and hid them behind the pillow on the couch. She then sprinted to her room and fixed the barricade; she laid the Super Soaker on the bed and laid Quickstrike’s gun on the top of the entertainment center. Neiko put on her buckskin tank top and shorts, her socks, and her black Nikes, and she put the pistol in the belt of her shorts. She put on her bead headband with a falcon in the center, and she painted her face for war in red and blue stripes on her cheeks and chin; the battle was ready. Neiko waited for several hours behind the barricade, but there was no sign of Ramses. “Man, is he coming or not?” Neiko asked irritated. 

Quickstrike drummed his legs on the entertainment center nervously. “Hmm, he’s coming alright, but he wishes to attack when he gets ready, and probably when we least expect it.” 

“Let’s play some music,” Neiko said. After she had listened to all of her tapes, she played video games, but every creak or noise made her jump. Neiko threw her controller down in disgust. “I can’t play games!” 

Neiko looked at her clock, it was five. “He ain’t coming, it’s five—” 

“I’m here!” Ramses said as he walked into the door to her room. “Have you been waiting for me?” he asked sweetly. 

Neiko did a backflip into her barricade and grabbed the Super Soaker. 

“Yeah, and I have a present for you, and it’s called Pharaoh Spray! Have some!” Neiko said as she fired at him, but she sprayed him in the neck, in a drenching blast. “Oh, darn I missed.”

Ramses wiped some off and smelled of it then looked at Neiko angrily. “So, you wish to blind me? Is this your game? Ha! I presume you wish to continue this idiotic combat. Well, let’s get started!” he said then he did a side slap and sent the gun flying out of her hands landing at the head of the bed. Neiko dove for it and was able to retrieve it, and she spun dodging his sweeping hands. Neiko got a good aim at his eyes and before she could fire, he snatched it out of her grasp and threw it behind him. Neiko jumped on the floor and she headed for the door, but he tripped her with his foot. 

Neiko tried to crawl out, but he grabbed her ankle, yanked her to him, and held her upside down by her ankle. “Now, do you yield?” 

Neiko dangled with her hands over her head, her other leg bent, and swinging dazedly. “Yeah, you win, I bet Qari is beautiful this time of year, and I bet Skull Fort is a wonderful place to visit,” Neiko said quickly with a twinge of fear. 

“That’s better. Now let’s be off.” Neiko’s pistol slipped on the floor, and she tried to reach it, but Ramses kicked it out of reach. “Uh, uh.” 

“Hey, Chrome Daddy! Put her down!” Quickstrike yelled from the floor. 

Ramses dropped Neiko and turned to Quickstrike. “You! I will crush you like the bug you are for insulting me!” he said as he went after him trying to stomp him with his armored foot. Seeing his narrow escapes, Neiko grabbed the bat and hit him on top of the head. Ramses cried out as his helmet began to ring. He grabbed it to stop it from ringing then he turned and faced her. “Argh! You won’t get away with this, Falcon!” Neiko swung it several times, but he blocked it with his arms and with the backs of his hands because of the hand guards, and it clanged on every hit. 

“Dang! C’mon, eat chrome!” Neiko growled as she tried another hit. 

Ramses fended off the attack with his arm, and then he backhanded it, and it fell behind the entertainment center. Seeing Neiko disarmed, his sightless red eyes shone with triumph, but Neiko was not giving up. She ran and jumped on him trying to claw at his eyes and trying to clobber him with her hands, but he threw her on the bed and pinned her by her arms, yet Neiko still fought by trying to kick him and fighting to get up.

He laughed cruelly. “I’ve got you now! It seems the fight hasn’t gone out of you yet!”

“Yo! Chrome Sneeze! Look over here, I stole your mom’s platinum panties!” Quickstrike yelled from the top of the entertainment center with his gun aimed. Furious, Ramses looked as he jerked Neiko up to her feet. Quickstrike hit the trigger, and he scored a direct hit in both of his eyes. Ramses screamed in pain, and he released Neiko immediately because the pain was so intense. Neiko moved quickly, but he had her cornered. Neiko ran behind the barricade and started to go under the bed. In his fury he had forgotten where the bed was, and he tripped on it. Neiko popped out the other side, ran, and grabbed Quickstrike. Hearing her footsteps, he charged after her. Neiko barely got past him and into the hall, and then he ran into the wall with a crunch of sheetrock breaking. Neiko sprinted down the hall and threw the marbles all down the hall. Neiko ran to the closet to get the weapons and backpack, and she heard him trip on the marbles and hit his head on the wall making a huge hole. Growling with rage, Ramses tried to get up, but then he tripped on his cape and on a few marbles and fell on his back. Neiko saw it and started laughing as she peeked around the corner of the hallway. 

“You just wait till I get my hands on you, Indian! You will not get away so easily!” Ramses snarled indignantly. 

“Watch me if you can!” Neiko shouted back as she headed for the door. Hearing his quarry escaping, he growled in a seething tantrum, but then an idea popped into his head. He smiled in spite of himself, and he began to chant the spell, then he clapped his hands. Once he finished, he touched his eyes to get rid of the sting of the Pharaoh Spray, and walked after them. Neiko ran out the door, but once she ran out, there was a light, and then a strange land spread before her. Neiko saw enormous trees with strange leaves, and a dusty road reached as far as she could see. Neiko spun around, and she saw her front door hanging in space closing. Neiko ran to it trying to go back in. “Please don’t close, please!” Neiko prayed, but the door closed and disappeared. Neiko then heard a thunder of hooves coming. She spun around and saw an army rushing to her. She dove into the ditch, and they rode past her; when they were gone, she came out and looked for Quickstrike. She called his name, but he was nowhere in sight.

Suddenly, she heard a clap of thunder, and Ramses came out of the sky and landed catlike on the ground one hundred yards away! Neiko ran into the woods, and she searched for a place to hide. Moments passed slowly as she ran, taking cover behind trees and bushes as she tried to find a better hiding place. Finally, there was a tree that had a split in it big enough for her to fit fairly concealed. The land was getting dark, and she went into the tree and sat down, pulled her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. She heard him running in the woods looking for her, and then he came into sight. Neiko closed her eyes and pressed her lips on her knees. “Please don’t find me,” she prayed over and over in her mind. 

Ramses stopped and looked around, but Neiko was nowhere in sight. “Well! I know you are here somewhere! You may have escaped this time, but you can’t hide forever, and I will find you wherever you go! Welcome to Qari, my dear! Ha, ha, ha!” He left the woods laughing wickedly, and Neiko huddled up tighter in the tree, shuddered, and closed her eyes. 

“Neiko!” Quickstrike’s voice called. “Where are you?” Thinking Ramses was trying to trap her, she stayed silent, closed her eyes, and started praying.

The childhood secret of a troubled teen warrior is used against her by her enemies. It turns out what Neiko imagined is real, and she becomes trapped in the same world she imagined by an otherworldly evil that is worse than the devil. Getting home is the least of her problems. 

The Indians and the Crackedskulls are locked in the turmoil of a war that has raged for centuries, and it is presently in a stalemate. Her enemies, Raven and Bloodhawk, have come up with a scheme to take her down, but in doing so they inadvertently open the door to another universe and to an otherwordly evil. Neiko later finds out that a land she thought she had only imagined is actually real and the dark being is not a figment of her childhood imagination–he is terrifyingly real and she faces him for the first time. To make matters worse, it is now in her world and he has evil plans especially for her.

After several standoffs with the malevolent Ramses the Dark Pharaoh in Hawote, she is trapped in Qari by his strange and powerful magic. Trapped in another universe in a place that is not exactly the way she imagined it, and she must somehow find a way to teleport home. That is easier said than done; the odds are overwhelmingly against her and her scorpion-cobra companion as they must travel to find the answer and help but at the same time avoid Ramses’ allies, traps, and tricks. Can she come back home and turn the tables on her enemies?