The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter XXII: The Filth of the Jungle

“I think it’d be better not to wait till sunrise, we better keep moving, I have seen enough of this jungle for now,” remarked Carey packing his belongings.

The others agreed and got ready to leave. Carey looked at his watch- 3.30 a.m. Raza took a peek at his pocket watch and hurried.

“Which way is the mountain? I can’t make out anything from here,” said the Princess.

“This way- straight ahead, we should reach the base within an hour,” replied Raza.

But the jungle wasn’t done with them yet, the serpent was dead but there were other ungodly creatures that were gathering around them. The forest suddenly seem to come alive with the cries of strange animals- sounds that they never heard of.

“They’re gathering their forces, quick, let’s get out of these woods, we need to get to higher grounds,” Kali remarked and gestured Carey from behind.

“Wait- it is you, isn’t it? The man from the forest, back when we were in Awadh, you tried to rob me, yes it is you-“said Carey recalling Kali’s face and recognizing his push.

“Mr. Carey, we don’t have time for this now, there are other important things to deal with,” said the Princess interrupting him.

Kali looked at him with rage and Carey looked right back at him. He was having a hard time trying to find the proper response- he wanted the Thug gone but he was also a valuable member of the team. He looked away and walked on.

“Wise choice, you fool, it’s only because of the Princess that you are still alive, or else…”whispered Kali under his breath.



Five minutes through the woods and they heard rustling sounds coming from behind them. The sounds grew louder every minute. It seemed that something was approaching. They hurried ahead as fast as they could but could they beat the oncoming danger?

Far atop of the tallest tree, almost three kilometers away, rested the hawk- Rakshak. Its eyes saw everything, it saw how the Princess defeated the serpent but it didn’t interfere knowing that she was capable of handling it herself. But now, things have changed, there was a group of no less than hundred creatures rushing towards them. This was the moment that the holy priest had prepared it for, it had to interfere.And so, Rakshak flew majestically, letting out war cries into the jungle, warning the creatures to stay away, lest they be prepared to face its wrath.

Carey heard the majestic call of the bird and once again, it sounded familiar. He didn’t know much about birds but somehow he knew that it was the call of a hawk. But the danger was approaching closer every second. The rustling grew louder, the earth under their feet began to shake, the sleepy birds flew away from their nests-

“They're coming- come on move!” ordered the Princess

“Your highness, I shall stay here and delay them, you go ahead with your- friends!” he said dragging out his sharp boomerang on his left hand and the dagger on the right.

Before the Princess could respond, everybody’s eyes fixated on the hundreds of shadowy figures encircling them- their eyes lit red and they crawled on all fours, even though they looked human. Everyone froze at the size of the group- their numbers growing rapidly.

“Pretas! Pisachas!” cried out Raza panicking in fear.

And sure enough as they looked at the creatures- they saw the disgusting things that they were. Long, slimy, ghoulish bodies with no hair, rotten teeth like wolves, no nose but only nostrils. Carey froze in fear but as he looked at them, he saw black smoke encircling around each of them- he was seeing their evil aura.

“Nobody make any sudden moves, be still!” whispered the Princess as the evil creatures got closer in a circle.

Ram Babu thought that this was the end of his life and began chanting the Lord’s name, begging for forgiveness and mercy. Any second now, the hundreds of them would jump on them and tear them apart, limb from limb…

But along came Rakshak, flying from above and swooping down at the creatures. Everyone’s attention was drawn to the strange giant hawk circling above them. Then Rakshak spread its wings and looked below and let out such a loud cry that it shook the entire area around them. Powerfull soundwaves hit the forest floor and immediately send the creatures flying out in the air. It flapped it’s and made a second cry, this one more devastating than before. The Princess and the others covered their ears at the loud unnatural sound but Carey didn’t have to, he dropped his belongings and looked at the majestic protector flying above- suddenly his visions reappeared- he knew this bird from a time long ago- he was his friend!

The creatures couldn’t bear the sound and immediately left the place, running away like scared cats, whining and letting out fearful cries- Carey and his friends were now safe to continue their journey.

“What on earth just happened?” asked the Princess.

“Oh the majestic Garuda- the protector- my old friend-“whispered Carey as if in a trance.

“Mr. Carey!” said the Princess grabbing his arm.

“Huh- what?” replied Carey breaking away from his trance.

“What happened to you?” she asked him.

“Nothing, I’m perfectly fine- did you see those creatures?” he replied oddly.



“You really need to see a medicine man, Mr. Carey,” she replied and led the group forward.

The five of them were back together on their trail and would soon the holy mountain. But Carey was puzzled by the visions, he tried to clear his mind by thinking about the mission.

“Right- there are answers on top of that hill, a piece of the whole, after we get that piece, we move on as quickly as we can to get to the rest, we are losing time, I need to get to Shamballa, retrieve the secrets…” he kept thinking.

The first rays of the sun hit the mountain top when they reached its base. It was no less than 200 meters tall and 500 meters wide. Carey stared at the top and hoped that they were at the right place, they had no time for errors.