Judging by the dampness and slight slipperiness underneath my feet, I knew they were bleeding. Sharp stumps thrashed my legs and thick branches thrashed and cut my face and shoulders in the darkness. But the fear and grief in the heart were like whiplashes which kept me pushing ahead.
My chest was starting to burn like a cold flame - or was it like a blunt knife sinking slowly into the skin- fatigue, fear and memories of horrifying scenes blinded the senses. For how long I had been on this steep climb, I knew not.
A few moments later, the general placing of the stones on which I stepped indicated that I was moving towards a less steep and less wooded place. The climb soon turned to a slope. Peering through the scant general skylight, I made out the faint contour of a lake or a marsh. The surroundings were also not entirely invisible. The water was mostly covered in mist; yet it had an eerie bluish glint in the haze. Darkness in the form of trees was a littler further away and the sky took the shade of grayish blue. I finally felt soft grass underneath my torn slippers. Almost immediately, my knees bent and I plopped on the ground, exhausted.
Taking time to calm my breath, I tried to make sense of what I saw around me. There was deathly stillness all around with no animals growling, no owls hooting, no insects chirping and no wind blowing. Nothing but my labored breath was to be heard. But the silence could not calm my mind.
It was like a cyclone in my head. It was pure agony. All hope was lost. We lost the Great War. The white men crushed us mercilessly. No one survived the attack on our platoon and neither did I expect myself to be alive. This would have been worse as there were stories of how the captured prisoners were being tied to the mouths of cannons and blown away to parts. The plains were full of bodied of my compatriots and awash with their blood. Playing dead here and there in the midst of the wailing injured to escape the roving eyes of the firangs was not easy.
Running away from the battlefield was cowardice but then why stay if the outcome was already decided? Our commander did not seem to be fazed by the slaughter all around. It was evident the enemies had bought him to their side earlier. Traitorous pig! We were the soldiers of the great Rani, whom even children looked upon as Durga incarnate, and we were her leonine forces. Well, not I, for I was just an ordinary cook in the army. I never even got to see her or any of her exploits but she was always the Destroyer of Evil for me.
When I heard that she had fallen dead in the battlefield, then I lost all hope of victory and then decided to escape. On the way, I heard that her body was missing and no one knew where it had gone. How was that possible? Maybe they have cremated her body before it reached into the hands of the alien rulers. Doubts still lingered, and despair seemed unending. If she was dead, then why live?
Suddenly, I heard some movement in the water. The splashes were distant but were quick and came near very soon. Through the mist I then made out a huge animal trotting forward. Immediately recognizing it as a horse I also saw a ghostly figure wrapped in cloth riding it. The horse chortled and agitatedly stopped near me. The figure was sitting upright and motionless with head and face covered but the eyes shone with an unearthly light that transfixed me to the spot. I could not move a muscle as terror had overtaken instinct. The eyes looked at me and I could not remember whether I was alive.
“Are you from the plains?” the figure suddenly asked in a female voice.
Surprised at the somewhat anticlimactic turn of events, I was still cautious and ventured to reply, “That depends. Who wants to know?”
Immediately, the figure pulled away the cloth covering the face and the head. Through the faint light, I saw a cascade of jet black hair tumbling down to the shoulders. The face was bloodied but the eyes were still shining intensely.
The voice then responded with an unmistakable touch of royal authority.
“Don’t you recognize your own Rani?”
“Of…Of course, yes, yes, Your Majesty!!” Life soon clumsily pulled me up to my feet and I stood in attention, with bent head, folded hands and downcast eyes. I had let her down.
It was an electrifying moment.
Surprise, incredulity and excitement had robbed me of my breath and my pulse was throbbing like war-drums. I felt numb. The surreal moments passed by as I apprehensively looked into those regal eyes. They spoke unknown mysteries.
I could see the color of the sky slowly turning lighter. Dawn was approaching. But the radiance of the bloodied face only increased. Suddenly, her hand flew up to her neck. In a flash, it came out with a string of shining pearls. Bending down she pushed it into my folded hands before I could react.
“Speak not of this night” she said with a razor-sharp smirk which lit up her face and galloped away into nearby darkness. Stillness returned.
Overcome with goosebumps, I stood trying to comprehend what had happened. Dawn was slowly approaching. I saw the past and the present merging with the future. The future may be uncertain, but history was being created at every moment.
But then why was I feeling this shaking of my shoulders? It was getting more vigorous. I could hear my name being called out as well.
A sudden jerk and darkness turned to light as I found myself sitting on a chair at my study desk. Vinod, my roommate, was bemusedly looking at me.
“Studying late last night, eh? And History too...Bookworm!” He gazed into the book and then at the drool coming out of my mouth and grimaced. “Ewww!! You were drooling at Rani Lakshmi Bai?? You’re crazy, dude! Get a life in the present! Time for breakfast. I’m hungry!” He walked out of the room closing the door.
Still groggy, I looked back into the book and saw the picture of the great Rani. Though just a painting, she still looked hauntingly mysterious and also had that cryptic smirk So that was all a dream then. Shaking my head, I pulled myself away from the table and stood up when I felt something fall off my lap to the floor. I looked down and the whole world before me turned dark when I saw:
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