The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter LXVIII: Onwards

The weather was calm but one couldn’t trust the treacherous mountains and its merciless terrain. The sun would set in a couple of hours and Carey’s heart was heavy with guilt for the Princess’ current condition but at least she wouldn’t have to face anymore of the troubles for now. He knew it was a matter of life and death- he had to get to Shamballa as quickly as possible and get to the cure. But he didn’t understand how the cure would work at such a long distance so he presumed that it had to be a psychic cure. Nothing made sense to him anymore, looking back to the past few months, he was nothing more than an inquisitive scholar, who wanted to learn more about this ancient culture. He thought that Shamballa was nothing more than ancient ruins and he never hoped that he would be greeted with such incredible mysteries as he sought to pursue it. Now it was evident to him that the League must have had some ulterior motives behind looking for this ancient kingdom. He never ever hoped to learn that he would be connected with Shamballa in such a manner- who would have ever thought of rebirth and reincarnation? It was such a mind boggling phenomena that all his previous assumptions of the world and how it worked have entirely changed. A warrior monk reincarnated in the body of a foreign scholar who is fated to find the lost kingdom and find friendship and love in the process? And now he walks with Yetis to find Shamballa! The universe surely worked in mysterious ways!

The path was rocky with melting snow on the side. Carey felt a sense of urgency as he stepped out into the cool air. Ram Babu left his Yak with the white monk and took some essential luggage on his back pack. It was supposed to be a day’s journey to Kailasa which was supposed to be the entrance to Shamballa. Kailasa was an ancient temple situated high in the remotest part of the Himalayas. It was said to be built by an unknown race of people and carved from a single piece of granite about thousands of years ago. Carey had previously studied about Kailasa and seen drawings and depictions of this sacred temple but he never imagined this to be the entrance to the lost kingdom. Who could have built it? The immortals from his visions? The ones that he served in his previous life? He gently placed one foot after another and quietly walked ahead of the group, his mind heavy with thoughts. He began to analyse the facts that he knew. These said immortals have built a prosperous kingdom high up in these mountains more than a thousand years ago and somehow it was destroyed. But the technology and the abilities of such beings would supersede any modern technology known to men. So how did they do it? Were they Gods or ever worshipped as Gods? But then they would have been worshipped and talked about in ancient Indian scriptures somehow. Oddly enough, there was not a single clue that led to them in the ancient scriptures. So it would be fair to assume that they were not Gods but living beings and possibly belonged to an advanced human race that is lost in the sands of time. It follows that they could even belong to another world. But an idea of beings not of this planet was beyond his current understanding and knowledge and frankly quite bizarre. He kept thinking about life on other planets and where could they possibly come from- maybe from the planet Mars, he wondered. And what about his reincarnation? Was there life beyond death? There has to be for he was living proof of it…

“Sahib?” Ram Babu’s familiar voice called from behind.

“What is it?” asked Carey turning around.

“The Yetis say that this is as far as they will accompany us,” said Ram.

“Fine, it’s not like they were helping us carry our luggage anyway,” replied Carey sarcastically.

“Oh, they say that they would be watching us and come to help us if we ever need it, and they also warn us not to travel after sunset, there are great dangers” said Ram.

“Pfft! Some help they were, Kailasa is right over that ridge, I can see the peak, if we keep travelling at this rate, we will cover half the journey in a few hours, what other dangers could there be aside from these-Yetis?” replied Carey looking over the horizon “Come along Ram, we have one last journey to the hills and I can waste no time,” he added.

Ram hurriedly waved the Yetis good bye, who stood there emotionlessly, watching them walk away. Carey was definitely not in a good mood. The burden of the journey, the fate of the Princess and his destiny to unravel the mystery, all these thoughts made him cold just like the snow that covered the mountains. Two hours into the journey, and Carey was already tired. He paused and looked around and surmised that he was now reaching the highest point on earth. The air was thinner which made travelling much harder. But he knew that he had little time in his hands and so he pushed on. Ram Babu huffed and puffed but he kept following his master’s footsteps. Strangely after an hour or so, the sun began to set. Darkness was slowly creeping down the hill tops. Time slipped faster and Carey didn’t even notice. Another half an hour and Carey could see the mysterious temple right in front of his eyes. It seemed so close and yet so far- they must have been tens of kilometres away but it seemed only a few metres from where he stood. A couple of minutes later, he was running out of breath, there was no shelter around and the darkness fell quickly around him. He sat down on a rock to catch his breath and looked at poor old Ram Babu and wondered why he had to suffer because of him. He was his servant and had exceeded his duty towards him, he should have let him go.

“Ram, dear friend, I think you should wait here, I will travel alone from now on,” said Carey breathing sharply.