Grimoire - Vol 1. Revelation of Rakshas

11 - Lady Of My Dreams

Cranking my neck upwards, the bright white sky burned my corneas.

And it's not like the sky was clear, or well, it was but...I don't know, it was too clear. Too...artificial. It was literally like a sky of nothingness painted over by bright white colour. There were no clouds or birds. No sun.

I don't even think that was a sky. Infact, it was as if the entire sky was the sun.

Either that or I was in one of those buildings where the entire ceiling was light itself. Not that that wasn't strange too, considering what the floor beneath my feet was.

As strange as the ceiling or sky was, the ground under my bare feet was nothing but heaps and heaps of black sand. Infact, it was almost as if I was in some sort of indoor/outdoor desert of dark sands.

I hate sands. I hate how they get inside my shoes—not that I was wearing any for some insane reason—or in-between my toes or how it makes me feel like I'm buried somewhere with a constant urge to scratch myself.

And you'd think my feet had by now had suffered some 3rd-degree burns but surprisingly, the sand wasn't hot at all but instead cold. The warm air and cold feet confused my body and senses as to what to feel.

Yet, for some strange insane reason, I felt...calm.

As if the place felt familiar.

As if I've been here.

As if I knew I'd be safe here.

Wherever this here was, that is.

I still hated the sands though.

Now, where should I go? The black desert seemed endless. There were no monuments or landmarks, no form of flora or fauna in the nearest of sight. Just endless horizons and cold rising waves of black sand.

Guess I'll walk north. That's what the survival shows said, right? To walk in the northern direction...I think? I tried to pull my phone out of my pocket but found my pockets empty.

Shit in a suit! Did I forget to bring my phone? How the hell do I find north now? There's no star or sun to help me too! Though, let's be real, even if there were, they'd be no help in me finding the north.

Never really understood how that happened...or rather, never really tried to understand how that happened. In my defence, I had no idea it would come back to bite me in my ass.

Guess I'll just walk in a random direction then.

Can't believe I'm walking bare feet in the desert!

And so I walked. And walked. And walked. And then stood for a moment, took a right turn—because why not?—and started walking again.

I turned my wrist to check the time but found it empty.

And I forgot to wear my watch too! I never forget to carry those things...seriously, where inside the cold grainy hell was I? How the fudge did I even get here?

Even for a desert, this place was way too empty. Not a single form of life, not a single tree—even a dried one that's on the brink of its death or has already died—nor any reptiles squirming around. Though I was kinda glad for that, not much into reptiles.

Never really understood the hype around them. Idris fudging loves them. If not for his mother, he has repeatedly mentioned his dream to have a pet cobra.

Sure, they do have somewhat of a cool and interesting look but you gotta admit, man, they are creepy. I would never want to touch a snake or a lizard with my bare hands. I'm stupid but not of that kind.

I've seen the anaconda movie. I know how these creatures work.

But seriously, dudes, is there really no one else here to help me with the directions?

I admit I've never really been to any desert—unless they're of tourist kinds like Rann of Kutch where there are always people around you—but even I know it can't be this...empty.

Plus, if I'm here, there must also be someone else around, right? 'Cause no way I could afford to take a trip to some desert by myself.

Which again begs the question of how in the unholy hell was I even here?

And as if by some miracle heard by some God in that artificial-looking bright blinding white ceiling/sky, I saw...it.

A human-like shape, feminine from where I stood, made of whitish-gold light standing far away on a chariot made of gold. She had no eyes or nose or mouth, atleast not from my distance. Even her hair was made of light, slightly more golden light compared to the rest of her body.

I didn't care what it was.

I wouldn't have cared if that was just a chimpanzee wearing a newspaper hat riding a unicycle while playing the trumpet.

Heck, I would've been okay even if that was a bi-pedal snake smoking coconut leaves!

I was just happy that I finally found someone, something, in this blasted night desert who wasn't me.

Obviously, I ran towards them.

I ran like I had never before, including my chance encounter with Quadro.

My arms flailed around, my heels pushed the sand under my feet, my throat started to get dry while my body started to get wet—but I didn't stop. All to reach...her.

But no matter how much I flailed around, no matter how fast I ran, I could never catch up to that light figure. I looked down and saw my feet moving and running but strangely on the same spot.

As if I was running on a treadmill...made of black sand!

How was that even possible?!

"Hey! Light lady! Can you come closer? I seem to be stuck here!" I called out to her while still keeping my legs moving. Who knows, maybe it was some glitch that would be fixed later by the developer...wait, why did I think that? This wasn't a game!

...or was it?

Sure, the chariot on which the lady stood wasn't connected to any animal but I figured she could atleast walk, you know?

She didn't though. She simply kept standing still. There wasn't even an inch of a movement from her.

Can you believe her?

What a rude ass of a lady!

Guess it's true what they said, chivalry is dead, I tell you!

Suddenly, a black line appeared on her clear face. The width and breadth of the line kept changing.

Was it her mouth? Where was it before? Was she trying to communicate with me?

"Lady, I can't hear you! Come closer!" I screamed but she again made no motion. Instead, she started becoming smaller and smaller. "Um, lady, your chariot is in reverse! You need to come towards me, not away from me!"

Who taught her how to drive?!

No, wait, my bad.

I was wrong, that wasn't it. She wasn't the one going in reverse. I was.

I was the one who was running backwards.

That's not how treadmills work...do they? I don't know, never been to a gym even once.

"Oh come on! Are you really not going to help me? Hey, lady! Can you even hear me?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs but unless she was deaf or couldn't hear me or just didn't care enough to help me, she made no movement towards me.

I kept moving my legs but no matter how fast I moved them, I never managed to close the distance.

Eventually, my legs went numb and the lady disappeared from sight.

And soon, the world disappeared too...