The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter 96: The Princess' Curse

While Carey was struggling in Shamballa with Ram trying to wake him up, the Princess had suddenly woken up in a terrible pain. With the witch gone to the other realm, her powers had somewhat faded and the black magic that was keeping her unconscious had now faded. But she was still not out of danger. She had been struck by the witch’s blade and her wounds have not healed. The Princess woke up to find strange creatures around her watching her closely. She shrieked nervously at first but soon the white man came and explained everything to her. She learned now that she was unconscious for days and Carey had left for Shamballa to find a cure. She took a minute to process this information and began to feel anxious for him. Somehow she felt that he shouldn’t have left without her and that he might be in danger. Had she been awake, she would have gone with her, despite her condition. She looked pale and weak as she had been surviving on medicinal herbs and mountain water but she really wanted to follow him. The white man advised her to take some rest and heal. She had woken up but the curse of the blade was still in her. He also explained to her that the next few hours would be really agonizing for her both physically and emotionally. The veins on her hands had turned dark but she didn’t care about herself and kept thinking about Carey and Ram. The Yetis brought her the rarest mountain herbs and flowers which the white man crushed and gave her to chew. Her pain would subside for a few minutes but it would come back after the medicine wore off. She began to develop a high fever and could barely move. The white man tried his best to keep her going but he sincerely hoped that Carey would find the cure…

Dusk fell upon the icy Himalayas and Meena stared into the horizon from the opening of the cave. The cool icy wind hit her skin but she kept staring with sad eyes, hoping that anytime now Carey would come walking through the snow. She drew a sigh, the medicine was wearing off and she could feel the pain seeping in. She turned around to go back inside but through the corner of her eye, she felt like she saw a figure walking in her direction, treading through the knee deep snow. The wind was starting to pick up and the snow made it difficult for her to see for than a few metres ahead. But she looked again weakly, trembling in pain. There it was, the figure, struggling through the snow with a stick in hand. He looked like a man and she immediately recognised the all black outfit- it was that of a rebel, a thug!

“My God! Could it really be-” she whispered.

The white man walked in from behind and stepped out into the snow to help the man. As soon as he did, the man collapsed headlong into the snow. The Yetis carried him back into the cave. As they laid him down on a slab of rock, the Princess immediately recognized the face and she almost cried out in joy. It was none other than Kali himself! He was alive after all! Everyone, including her, thought he had died from his wounds, as he fought against the rebels. But somehow, miraculously, he survived. But how did he find her here in such a difficult and remote place? How did he get here? She had a lot of questions to ask him but he was unconscious. It looked like he hasn’t eaten for days. He had a long beard and his hair had grown up to his shoulders, his cheeks had sunken in. He wore rags and old clothes that had been patched over and over. He was in a sorry state but at least, he was alive. She was really happy to see him and she begged the white man to heal him as soon as he could. The Yetis went looking for herbs again…

While she waited by Kali’s side, she had almost forgotten about her own pain. She felt weaker by the second would soon fall asleep. As she slept, she started dreaming the strangest dream she ever had. She saw her father being butchered by the Governor and her people being tortured and killed, then she saw Carey being shot to death and Ram Babu imprisoned for life. She saw the evil witch, Ashanti taunting and mocking her for her failures. She saw her bringing back Carey to life and making love to him as she watched. And then finally she saw the witch plunging a foot long dagger through her heart. She would soon wake up from her sleep and find herself gasping for air. She felt the cold sweat on her back and shivered in horror. Her wounds began to hurt and she knew that she was cursed. She recalled what she was taught in her training that the only way to break the curse of a witch was to kill the witch herself! But that was impossible now that she didn’t know where the witch was.

Meanwhile back in Shamballa-

“Anangsi! We call ourselves- the Anangsi!” said the man to Ram Babu.

“We live right at the foot of the hill in peace and harmony, we have heard of the other world, a sadder and darker world, our ancestors belonged to that world but now we live here,”

“Tell us, why did you come here?” asked the man.

“Eh, well, we were looking for a cure, erm, to help a friend of ours, who has been struck by a similar wound,” replied Ram.

“Interesting, and how did you find the entrance to our world, no one has ever found the entrance in centuries,” the man asked again.

“Well, my Sahib, he is a special man, in fact, he specializes in finding that which is lost in time, that is all I can say for now,” Ram replied.