The Chronicles of Shamballa

The Leader

As Johnathan stood in front of the huge black fog, trying to find a way out, he saw that the source of light that stood ahead of him, his only hope of getting out had completely disappeared. He sighed in frustration and decided to move straight ahead and face on whatever comes. He knew he had one shot at this, it was either to get out of there or to get stuck trying to get out, wasting precious time; he had to do now. He took a deep breath and rushed into the black fog, his hands and feet glowing with immense power as well his Katana that gleamed with raw energy. He was confident that whatever came next, he will defeat it or die trying; it would be a fitting end to his story.

But to his surprise, the fog wasn’t what he had expected. It was quiet and peaceful and strangely beautiful. He slowed down a little, it was so comforting that he felt like staying there and watching it for a while. The fog engulfed him in all directions and after a few moments, he wasn’t sure whether or not he was on the right path. He paused and looked around, it was horrifying and yet strangely calming. There was this dark fog everywhere around him, so thick that he could barely see two feet ahead of him, it was like a blanket that engulfed him in its strange warmth. His was hypnotized by the calmness, the soothing warmth of the fog and he stood there for a few seconds, mesmerized. Suddenly, he began to see images, floating in the fog. He recognised the images as they floated like pictures in the air, those were moments from his own lifetime. His memories, good and bad, they surrounded him and he watched them one by one. He saw his memories from his childhood, his memories with his parents, things that he had forgotten, things that were not easy to recall…

“What is this strange place?” he said to himself still under the influence of the fog. “Why am I seeing all these things? Mom? Is that you?” he muttered like a drunk.

“Snap out of it!!” cried a voice from deep inside his head. “This is a trap; these are memories that you recall when you die, this is the fog of death! Wake Up!”

It was Azazel, he was warning him about the fog. This was the fog that came to a dying person before the reaper takes his soul away. Johnathan was enchanted by the fog, it was so calming but only Azazel knew that this peace was what death brings. After this alluring fog would come the Reaper, to reap his soul away, death was only moments behind…

“But- but- it’s so peaceful, look that’s my father-“muttered Johnathan.

“You leave me no choice!” said Azazel and did what he had to save him from the reaper.

Azazel began hurting him from the inside of his head. Johnathan felt tremors running through his brain. He screamed in pain until Azazel stopped. Johnathan picked himself up and realised what had happened. He wanted to scream at Azazel but he had just saved his life. And then he heard the sound of hooves approaching in the distance. It was the sound of Death itself- the Reaper was coming and no one- not even god himself could fight against the Reaper.

“It’s the Reaper, run- get out of this place before he catches you and reaps your soul-“yelled Azazel.

Johnathan heard the sound of the hooves getting closer and he ran as fast as he could, he had to outrun Death itself. He saw a glimmer of hope as the fog cleared a bit and the light began to shine again at the end of the road. But the Reaper was gaining on him and he could hear the sound of the hooves getting closer by the minute. The Reaper was a hideous figure, it wasn’t a monster or a demon nor an angel but a creature that had only one purpose, which is to reap souls. It had no feelings of empathy or kindness, no prejudice or pride. Everyone was equal in front of him, rich or poor, king or slave, Angel or Demon all he knew was that everything and everyone had to embrace death when the time came. It rode a white steed, wore a black cloak that covered it from head to toe and held a huge scythe. And when the time came, the dying soul could always hear the sound of the approaching hooves and that was what Johnathan was hearing too. If he couldn’t get out of that place within the next few seconds, then death was sure to come…

As Johnathan kept running with the Reaper chasing him from behind, he noticed that the light up ahead was getting brighter and brighter. This encouraged him to run faster and he used all the strength that he had. But it was not easy to outrun death. As he got closer to his destination, the Reaper drew nearer to him. Now Johnathan was merely fifty feet away from the gateway that could lead him home and the Reaper held up his scythe. He would struck Johnathan at any moment but Johnathan kept running harder and harder. When he got closer, he could see the golden gateway standing in the middle of nowhere, shining brightly, it would take him just one leap to enter the gate. With all his strength, Johnathan leapt into the air but as he did so, the Reaper swung his scythe and it barely missed him making a small cut on his back. Johnathan was finally through the gate and the Reaper stopped in front of the gate, his scythe was red with Johnathan’s blood.

Johnathan jumped into the gate and as he did so, he felt a terrible pain on his back, the cut that the Reaper made hurt like anything… He saw a strange wormhole kind of thing ahead of him and he realised that he was floating somewhere in space, in the middle of nowhere. The wormhole began to pull him towards itself… Johnathan led out a fierce cry before he got sucked into it…