Chereads / The Dark Stone / Chapter 10 - The River of Fire

Chapter 10 - The River of Fire

I opened my eyes and I knew I was in a dream. How? I don't know. I just knew it. The place seemed familiar. It was the same place I used to dream about while I was asleep.

The place seemed lifeless and daunting, utterly devoid of any life. I saw dust, magma and huge white mountains as far as I could see. There was a river flowing in front of me- a river of molten flowing gold!

As I was observing the river, I suddenly noticed the ground I was standing on.

"Woah!" I backed off in surprise.

I was standing on bones! The entire ground was made from pure bones of every shape and size. As if every animal known to man was slaughtered just to make this ground and as I noticed further, something horrid dawned on me-the mountains...they were...they were mountains of bones and flesh.

"What is this place?"

Though I have seen this place in my earlier dreams, however, this was the very first time it was so detailed...so vivid that it almost felt real.

I walked towards the river and the gold colour of the river changed to pure black. So black that even light couldn't seem to escape it.

"I hath been waiting for thee." said an ethereal voice.

'Is it speaking English?' I thought.

It was difficult to make out whether it was a man or woman. The voice was coming from inside the river. My eyes widened in disbelief as I went closer.

"Thee believeth not I'm real? Thee disappoint me, mine knave. I waiteth so longeth for thee. Is this how thee showeth gratitude?"

I could make out very little out of what the voice was saying. I didn't know this form of English.

The closer I went to the river the more I was tempted to jump in it. I fell in some sort of trance. I was curious about the voice...about the owner of the voice. I couldn't think of anything else. My mind went blank and I jumped in.

"Ahhhh...." I screamed.

The moment the substance of the river touched my skin, I felt unbearable burning sensation in my entire body. It was so excruciatingly painful that I felt my whole body burning and disappearing the way a lump of sugar disappears in water.

I could think of nothing, but the pain. I knew this was a dream, but the pain was far more real than reality itself. I tried to think of a way to get out of this, but there was utter darkness surrounding me. Everything I previously saw completely disappeared into nothingness.

"Cease trying. I'm not trying to harmeth thee. Cease..."

The voice kept on babbling in some other language, though very similar to English, but I didn't have the luxury to ponder about what it was saying. The acid-like substance was very close to melt me whole. Before, my mind and brain could dissolve, I woke up abruptly, drenched in sweat.

"Are you okay? What happened?" I heard Arya's worried voice.

I looked at her and I knew she was taken aback, in fact, I was too.

"What's wrong?" she asked again.

"I...um...it's nothing. Just a bad dream." I lied. Should I have told her? I didn't think it was necessary. After all, it was just a dream.

She looked at me with disbelief and I got a feeling that she didn't believe me when I said that it was nothing.

"Sure you okay?" she questioned again and this time I could sense an authority in her voice. I didn't want to lie, but to tell her all about it, I wanted to be sure myself first.

"Yes"

"Are you....?" before she could finish her sentence, we heard a knocking on the door.

"Arya! Are you all right? What was that noise?" The person knocking on the door said.

"Oh no! Grandma. She must've heard you scream." Arya gasped and looked at me, I could see in her eyes that her mind was racing just as fast as her heart was. I could actually hear her heart beating, I just noticed.

"What to do now? She can't see you. What do I do?"

Arya looked around the room and finally looked at me.

"Get up and get down the bed. Now!"

She grabbed me by my clothes and threw me under the bed. She was so quick that before I could even react, I was already under the bed, all cranked up like a roasted brinjal. But wait...why was I hiding? Why can't her Grandma know about me? Yes, I'm just as confused now as I was about that voice. This world is just as strange as my dream. Still, I did as I was told, I hid quietly.

I heard Arya open the door for her Grandma.

"What took you so long to open one door?" Her voice was a bit rusty and old.

"What was that noise?"

"Um..it was nothing...I...um....I was just watching some videos for my science project. I told you about it yesterday, remember? It's just that by mistake, I raised the volume to a maximum." Arya replied to her.

"You were watching videos at 3 A.M. in the morning? Huh? " she inquired rather suspiciously.

"Yes Grandma. This project is really important for me and I'm really giving my hundred percent to it." Arya was quite good at making excuses.

"Are you suspecting me? Even when I'm working this hard?"

"Ah..I didn't mean it like that, dear. Just...just go to bed now, okay? You have school in the morning." Her Grandma said and left the room.

"Phew"

Arya heaved a sigh of relief as she closed the door.

"Come out now. She's gone."

I crawled out and hit my head twice in the process. "Ow..Ah.."

I looked up at Arya and she was smiling.

"Why are you smiling like that?" I asked and she started chuckling.

"That was close."