The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter VIII: Enter Kali

Ram Babu looked at Carey with confusion and whispered-

“Is this really the Princess?”

“I’m afraid so Ram,” replied Carey.

Ram Babu fell on his knees and bowed down to the princess-

“Your Royal highness, forgive me and spare us from your wrath!”

“Stand up! There’s no need for all this, I do not have the time for your nuisance, tell me now where the map is located and how to decipher it, or else face my sword!” she replied with such rage that Ram Babu immediately crawled back to his place.

“All right, but first I need you to stop threatening us, we are on the same mission here. Just tell me what happened to the Nawab of Shahpur,” said Carey.

The Princess took a deep breath and sat down on some rocks; she took off her face cloth and let her tied hair fall down on her shoulders.

“After you left, my father was at peace, thinking that he finally had the chance to fight back and save his kingdom but only a few hours later, the governor came knocking at our front gate with his army. He accused my father of kidnapping you and placed him under arrest. I could not stand this insult against my father and drew my sword and I killed seven of his men. My poor father watched with horror as my face was covered in blood. More of his men came in to fight but my father asked me to escape and begged the governor not to harm me. I took a few of my belongings and left the palace and went looking for you in the governor’s place when you mistook me for a thief,”

“I had no choice, I wanted to know the location of the map and travel to that mysterious place and grab whatever magical items there is and help my father take back his kingdom. That’s why I went looking for clues in your room and that is why I followed you. But the crooked governor’s men somehow tracked me down and chased me all across the region, until somehow I got on the same train as you did and followed you here,”

“Wow, I mean, this is unbelievable, but Princess even if I could tell you the location of the map, I can’t tell you how to decipher it because I have no idea what and where it is- I only have a vague idea of where it might be, but-“replied Carey.

“Then you will show me the way, you will come with me,” replied the Princess.

“Yeah- yes- of course we could do that but we need to get out of this jungle first,” said Carey.

“But remember, if you ever cross me or try to betray me, I will have your head on a pike! Now let’s go!” she said and got ready to leave.

“Yes but- I do not know where we are,” replied Carey.

“We are five kilometers away from the city of Benaras, lead the way,” she replied tying her hair.

“Oh! I think we need to get to the shores of the river Ganges, we will find the next clue there,” said Carey lifting his luggage.

The Princess did not reply but started to walk into the dark jungle, her face carefully covered. Ram Babu poured a bottle of water on the fire and followed his master with the bags.

“I will get you out of this jungle and take you to the river, then you find the map as quickly as possible,” she said leading the way.

Carey was mortified to walk through the darkness of a scary forest in the middle of the night but when he saw the princess moving with such agility, his faith was restored. They walked ahead in a straight line, keeping a few feet gap between them until the forest gave way to a clearing ahead. The moon was out and the landscape lit up with the light of a thousand fireflies. The tall grass crushed under their footsteps, somewhere far away Carey heard the dominant tone of a bull frog looking for a mate; the cicadas sang across the fields in a magical symphony. Carey’s heart warmed up as he kept looking at the princess and the way she moved swiftly ahead. He no longer felt tired or exhausted, his feet magically kept moving on, all he saw before his eyes was the princess and her slim and graceful figure walking ahead in the moonlight. So charmed was he that he almost fell into a puddle of mud. Ram Babu helped him up and asked to carry his bags on his head but Carey refused…

Princess Meena was getting impatient now-

“You are slowing me down, how are we supposed to get to the city by dawn like this?” she said looking at them

.

Carey was about to say something when he heard a rustling sound nearby, like some animal was stalking them.

“What was that Sahib?” asked Ram Babu.

Carey looked around but he could hardly make out anything in the faint moonlight; all he could see was the tall grass. A few seconds later, there was the same sound again. The princess immediately drew her sword.

“Must be some animal, looking for a prey,” remarked Carey putting down his bags.

“I don’t think so,” replied the princess.

Suddenly a hare jumped out of the grass and Ram Babu almost let out a cry, Carey was startled but regained his courage.

“See I told you it’s just a poor animal,” he said and picked up his bags.

“Sahib… Sahib… what’s that behind you?” said Ram Babu shivering in fear.

Carey slowly turned around and saw a man dressed in black standing silently behind him. Before he could say anything, the man punched him in the face and threw him on the ground. The princess moved swiftly and attacked with her sword but the man moved out of the way. She kept attacking over and over but he kept dodging. She said something in her native tongue, probably cursing him. Ram Babu dragged Carey away and tried to wake him up. But the fight was still going on. The man refused to fight back and tried to approach Carey but the princess blocked his way. Seeing that he had no choice, he held her hand with the sword and tried to push her away. But the princess was highly trained, she let go off the sword from her right hand, twisted herself and caught the sword in her left hand before it hit the ground. She then kicked him hard in the gut but he barely moved a few inches. She then recomposed herself and posed to attack. The man took of his face scarf and waited for her to attack him. Carey sat up and saw his bearded face and muscular body, he looked mean, like a trained killer…

“Sahib, that’s a Thuggie, we are doomed!” Ram Babu cried.

“Stop! Stop! Listen to me,” said Carey rushing towards them and speaking in the native tongue.

“What do you want? You want money? Gold? Paisa? Here- take it- we have- lots of gold-“he said hurling the bag of gold at his feet.

The strange man looked at him curiously and stepped over the bag of gold and said something in a deep husky voice, it was regional dialect that Carey didn’t understand.

“I’m sorry! I don’t understand, could you repeat that again slowly,” said Carey scratching his head.

“Sahib! What are you doing? You will get killed, he is saying that he doesn’t care about money, he wants you dead?” said Ram Babu trying to draw him away from him.

“Enough! I will end his life right now, get back!” cried the princess rushing towards him.

“Hold- hold on-princess Meena-now I’m sure we can solve this more amicably,” he said and the Princess looked at him with surprise.

“You there, what have I ever done to you,” said Carey in the native tongue “I don’t mean you no harm, and I’m not like those other foreigners, I do research-“

“Meena- Princess Meena-“said the man in his own dialect and kneeled before the princess.

“Great! Another admirer” said the princess rolling her eyes “I will end your life right now, if you don’t tell me exactly why you were following us,” she said pointing her sword at his throat.

The man explained everything in his own tongue and did not stand up or even make eye contact with the Princess. Carey and Ram Babu kept staring at them with curious eyes.

“Sahib, what is going on? How many people are trying to kill us?” asked Ram Babu.

“This is just the beginning my friend,” replied Carey.

After a couple of minutes, the Princess put her sword back in the sheath and walked towards Carey and said-

“His name’s Kali and he is one of the Thugs, he came after you because he thinks you are here to steal the secrets of our land, he knows about the map and he says that he had confronted you before, back in Awadh, but he’s fine now, he is not allowed to touch royalty, and seeing that you are with me, he has agreed to escort us to the city, and not to follow us anymore,”



“What? I’m not here to steal, I’m an explorer, a researcher, and you should tell him that,” replied Carey.