The Cursed Oasis
by Rebekah M. Redlich

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When Eric is ripped from his own world and cast into a brutal desert realm, survival is his only instinct. Water is scarce, storms are lethal, and every step across the sand feels like a mistake he may not live to regret. Jayesh knows the desert too well. A young nomad with royal blood he never asked for, he’s being hunted by his own father’s forces for what he represents—a future that threatens the throne. Bound by circumstance and necessity, Eric and Jayesh flee across an unforgiving land where politics, faith, and ancient magic are as dangerous as the blades that follow them. As the king’s forces pursue them across the barren sand, defying the will of Scarab himself, Jayesh and Eric’s journey carries them through the underground, sandstorms haunted by banshees, and toward a cursed oasis whispered about in legend. Each trial forces them to confront who they are, who they were meant to be, and how much choice they truly have. As the desert closes in and destiny looms, Jayesh must decide whether to claim his fate—or run from it forever. And Eric must face a harder truth: this world’s magic may not let him leave unchanged, if it lets him leave at all. The Cursed Oasis is Part One of The Desert Duology, a young adult epic fantasy of survival, faith, ancient magic, and the cost of becoming who you never planned to be.

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Rebekah M. Redlich is a Canadian writer and artist who has always believed in the power of stories—how they help us understand the world, and sometimes how they help us get through it. She first started writing The Cursed Oasis in high school as a “practice” story, never expecting it to become anything serious. When she decided it was finished, her father disagreed, saying it was too short. She put the manuscript away and left it there for years. In 2023, when her father became ill, Rebekah returned to the story with a fresh perspective. What began as a single experiment slowly grew into a complete two-book journey, shaped as much by life experience as imagination, and driven by themes of loss, persistence, and growth. Rebekah lives in the Kitchener area and works as a Registered Early Childhood Educator, and before this she worked in Healthcare as a Personal Support Worker. These experiences have influenced her writing through a focus on resilience, faith, and learning how to move forward when life doesn’t go as planned. A lifelong lover of stories, Rebekah credits her father—who told her stories throughout her childhood—with inspiring her to finally write one of her own. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found creating art in watercolour, pastels, or pencil, filling her home with pieces she’s made herself.

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Rebekah M. Redlich