The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter LXII: Putting it together

“Come on, work!” whispered Carey shaking the Orb gently in the dark as the cold wind numbed his fingers.

It was pitch black outside, the storm was raging hard and the winds howled like wailing banshees. The Princess was sleeping in a foetal position, curled up on his lap. Ram was huddled up too close around the embers of the dead fire. Only Carey was awake and struggling to make the Orb work. Every now and then, he would place the Orb down and rub his palms together to warm them up. He was frustrated and began to wonder what if he had missed something. The last of the embers were about to go out and the little light they had in the cavern was dying out- soon it would be dark and cold. Carey gave finally gave up and closed his eyes- he couldn’t carry on anymore- the cold was paralyzing and all his body was exhausted…

Back on the train, the Dutchman suddenly woke up from his slumber, with a strange feeling that someone was out there, approaching him in the dark. But that would be impossible, given the terrain and the weather. Nonetheless, he kept his pistol close to his chest- he had seen the hole in the wall of the engine and he knew there was something out there. Something that tried to get in and probably scared Carey out of there. He had managed to close the hole somehow with bags and luggage and anything he could find. But he knew better than to trust strange and unknown places. He dimmed the little lamp by his side and waited in silence with his weapon in his hand. The charcoal crackled and glowed red… the structure of the engine began to sway lightly in the storm. There was nothing but darkness and snow for miles…

But neither Carey nor the Dutchman knew that Ashanti- the dark sorceress was making her way through the valley. Her sole purpose was of murdering the foreigner with strange powers. She used her dark magic to clear the snow from underneath her feet as she walked, the snow ploughed away clearing a path and leading her closer and closer to Carey. Her powers were always stronger at night, especially around 3.00 in the morning and slowly grew weaker as the day progressed further. This was the perfect time for her to strike. She raised her arms sideways and magically lifted herself five feet in the air and with a click of her finger, she began floating towards Carey’s location.

It was almost sunrise- around 4:30, the darkness was beginning to drift away and the cold was becoming much more bearable. Carey was passed out with his head placed on Meena’s shoulder while Ram was curled up in the corner. Suddenly a loud noise woke everyone up. The entire place began to shake violently for a moment and then it stopped.

“Wh-What was that?” cried out the Princess waking up from her slumber.

“Hopefully a glacier melting,” replied Carey trying to feel his numb face.

“Come on let’s get out of here, the sun is up,” he said picking up his things.

The three of them hurried to pack up their things and Carey put the Orb in his satchel. They struggled to get out of the cavern as the exit was covered with snow but once they got out, they saw the beautiful warm sun rising in the east. The snow clad mountains glistened all around them and the darkness had completely disappeared. It was 5.00 in the morning now and there was not another soul to be seen for miles. It would seem like they were in a completely different world, cut out from civilization and far from any troubles. Carey took a refreshing deep breath and thought of what to do next.

“Where to now?” asked the Princess.

“Oh! Look the Yak, she’s waiting for us,” remarked Ram Babu pointing to the animal 500 metres to the west.

“Thank goodness, I wonder how she survived the cold,” said Carey.

“They are built for this weather Mr. Carey, she might have got lost in the dark and stayed put till the sun rose, Ram, go get her, we will need her,” said the Princess.

Carey took out the Orb and sighed, he could not make it work and it would seem that all his efforts were in vain. The Princess put her hand on his shoulder and looked at him hopefully. Ram got the animal and placed their luggage on it. But as Carey observed the Orb in his hands, he felt something was wrong with the object. All of the pieces were perfectly in place except for one. Then he realized that he had misplaced the last piece in the dark and cursed himself for being so stupid.

“Look, this piece, ah! I misplaced it, it should be in here,” he said taking out the piece and putting it back in its rightful place.

The Princess and Ram Babu looked curiously, anticipating a big reveal. And surely within a few seconds, the Orb began to get warm in his hands and a faint white light started to emerge from its centre.

“Yes, yes, it is working! Finally, we did it!” said Carey enthusiastically.

But his excitement was short-lived. Before the Orb could reveal itself a man emerged out of nowhere and grabbed the Princess from behind and threw her over to the side. Carey looked in shock – he had seen the man before but now he seemed kind of different- his eyes- they were not normal. Before Carey or Ram could act, the man kicked Carey in the gut and he fell down a few feet away into the snow. Ram Babu shivered in fear and could barely move but the man ignored him completely. It was the zombie rebel chief, enchanted with black magic and it was obvious that if the minion was here, then his master- Ashanti was nearby…