The Book: Beginning Of A Saga

By Pragati Ojha

A mystical sage narrates, “Once upon a time, there was The Book. A book that allowed its reader to do anything and everything. the gods had taken pity on humanity and their limited powers. They created a book that would change the course of mankind and gifted it to the man who was in most need of it, a treacherous man who intended to kill the cruel king..."

Cue a long pause, "The intention of the gods was not clear but when they gifted The Book to the man, they told him. This book will follow the will of those who have been gifted this book by their predecessor. Upon receiving The Book, the man lost all desire for vindication and instead spent his time experimenting. One day, a great fire raged in the forest. The man had lived in seclusion for so long that very few people came to see him. As the town burned so did the old man’s hut with him in it. A brave lad, however, remembered the old fool and ran into the cottage to help him. He found the old man succumbing to the smoke with The Book clutched in his hand. He gifted The Book to the brave lad and told him about its gifts and its magic. He told him that it will change him for the better…"

"As the old man lay dying, the brave lad stared at The Book. He did not believe the old man but he did not want to disrespect him either. On his deathbed, the brave lad gave it to his sons and so on passed The Book from one generation to another. Men and women discovered its magic but ended up gifting it away to their successors. Until one day, it was taken without permission.

For lack of a better word, humanity is as helpless as it was 1000 years ago. No one knows who was gifted The Book last and who can harness its magic.”

The voice of the mystical sage begins to fade, “ Humanity would never be able to experience its magic. It was enchanting, mesmerising and truly a gift…”

Cue the 24-year-old narrator’s voice, “Now it lies in a Library and the owners have recently discovered that the pages aren’t 1000 years old. The book's text is full of jibber jabber and they aren’t happy. They want it removed from display and they want it to be donated away.”

It was shocking to see the owners reject an artefact as they were quite possessive of their collections. Rather than taking the old book to the Library, I figured I would borrow it. When I asked for permission about the same, my boss used a string of colourful language and said, “Take it away and paint it gold. Just keep it out of this museum.”

And there I was, sitting on my desk, looking at ye olde Book. Its royal green shade had dulled significantly but the golden border shone brightly. Written on top was ‘The Book’.

No instructions were given, nor was the author's name mentioned.

As I flipped through the book, a number of things caught my attention, except I could not understand a word written on those pages. The pages were dated and it had the musty smell associated with old books. Even if the book were 30 years old, it was in impeccable condition. Its spine was still intact, much to my surprise.

Arriving at a random page with CDXXXVII written on the top left, I pretended to read the text, “Coque me quod cupio…”

As I failed to read out the text, I laugh out loud at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. There was no doubt that the owners found this book as nonsense as I did. No matter. That doesn’t mean I couldn't have some fun with it until I pass it to the Library.

A quick snapping sound drew my attention as I turned towards my bedroom window. It was a chilly autumn evening, and there was a cup on my table. I snorted as I stared at the mug. The lovely green mug with golden sprinkles decoration had vapours coming out of it. I frowned as the dawning realisation set in. That was not there before.

Scrambling out of my chair, I looked over into the mug that had hot chocolate in it.

“What in the world?” I wondered out loud.

“It has been a while, I will admit.” A loud, scratchy voice spoke up from behind me as I screeched. Turning around, I tried to look for the source of the voice.

“I am hearing voices. I am hearing voices!” I muttered.

“You cannot see me?” The voice questioned, humour clouded in its tone.

“I.. What? No.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. It was not real. I was hearing voices. It was high time I stopped watching horror movies in the dead of night.

“You are a beginner, aren’t you? And that’s the spell you choose to do first?” the voice taunted, “The pages are numbered for a reason, now aren’t they? But you do not strike me as a reader.”

I snapped my eyes open at the last comment. In front of me was a yellow gremlin-like creature. Its eyes were smouldering red and its lips were curled in a dangerous smile, revealing a set of triangular and sharp teeth. Its hands were folded at its chest and its ears stretched upwards.

I stood in one place, without making a sound or a movement. My mouth hung open as I watched that little thing climb up my bed and sit there like a petulant child.

“Are you not going to speak?”, it asked.

“What… just… ha… happened?”, I manage to stutter the words out.

It sighed heavily as it stared towards my table, “Alright, my name is Greer. I am from an alternate dimension. My people were the ones who imbued the magic into that book. I appear when the possessor of the book calls upon me. Consider me a guide.”

I blink in shock. Apart from the fact that I read some nonsense scribbled on the pages and brought this thing here, I simply could not believe something was standing in my room, talking about alternate dimensions and magic.

“You are slow,” the creature remarked, “I hope whoever gifted you the book knew what they were doing.”

Wait, what?

“What do you mean gifted?”, I asked.

“On, she speaks. Shocker. Well, you can only perform the spells if you have been gifted the book.” It replied, looking at the myriad of photographs on the bedroom wall.

“I was not gifted the book. The people who had the book did not want it anymore and they wanted me to get rid of it so I asked for it.” I rushed out.

“Oh.” Greer sniffed with disdain. “Explains quite a bit.”

“Explains what?” I demanded

“Nothing that should concern you. Considering you are a beginner, you need to know the basics. But before that, I demand my payment.” Greer sat up.

“Will you stop staring at me? It is rude.” He snapped.

I took a step back startled, “There is a gremlin in my room and it's telling me to not stare at it. It is a natural reaction!”

“Gremlin?” It jumped out and waddled towards me. “For that, I will double my payment.”

“What even is your payment? What do you need the payment for? You are from an alternate dimension, you don't need human money!” I glowered.

“My payment in exchange for guiding you on how to use the book. I demand two cakes. And for your information, human gold and crystals are quite useful in my dimension!”

“Do your people speak English?” I asked.

“No, I learned it 30 years ago from a young man who possessed the book. Quite the lad. Had a potential except his family tried to imprison me.”

“Imprison you!” I wheedled.

“Does not concern you. Make the payment and I will give you the guidance you need.” Greer bit out. He did not seem fazed by the incident, almost as if he was used to it.

“I don't have cakes right now.” I replied, “I can get you some in the morning.”

“You have a book that can do anything,” Greer looked at me incredulously.

“What?” I laughed out loud, “What sort of fairytale is this?”

“Little girl, you are not taking this matter seriously. You are trifling and you hold a power that you have no idea about. I suggest you learn to take these issues with caution in your mind,” Greer warned.

“How do I make a cake?” I asked carefully.

“Move to CCXXXIV, and speak the spell.”

I followed the instructions as Greer said. To my amazement, I was able to understand every word on that page.

“Now that you can read the book, go to the index and find the spell.” Greer paced near my bookshelves.

Flipping through the book, I found the spell for cake. As I began speaking out the words, I heard a loud thump.

“What was that?” I turned around, startled.

“I wanted this book.” I saw him pawing at my copy of Thursday Murder Club.

Continuing with my work, I watched stunned as the air morphed. Dark shadows sat at my table, hissing and spitting. Sparks of silver flew as I kept on speaking. It was absolutely terrifying to watch a cake come to life.

“There are two cakes on my table!” I replied, excited. Greer snapped his head towards my direction. Placing the book under his arms, he walked over to the table, picked the two cakes up and muttered.

The cakes vanished from his hands and he grinned, “You send the good stuff.”

“Alright, now, guide me,” I said.

“You sure? Keep your intentions clean and you will see.” He smiled.

“Whatever do you mean?” I demanded.

But I was too late, Greer snapped his fingers thrice and he disappeared, leaving me to contemplate his words.

As I wondered what he meant, I watched a portal open through my bedroom window. The portal began to suck in the items in my bedroom and me along with them. The book fluttered up and smacked me right in the face.

I went tumbling down into the portal along with The Book. It was a call to adventure I had no choice but to answer!

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By Pragati Ojha