The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter LXXI: Shamballa!

The stairs lead upwards and there’s an opening!

Carey climbed the stairs- they were carved out of stone- meticulously. The steps were icy and cold and very slippery- the only source of light was the one opening at the top about two feet in diameter. Ram followed him from behind, not knowing what to expect. About 30 seconds later, Carey peeked his head out from the top of the entrance and was immediately welcomed with a gust of fresh, ice-cold air. He blinked his eyes and slowly came out of the opening and helped Ram out too. But as both of them stood atop the hill, they were amazed to see a thick layer of fog all around them, covering them like a thick blanket. If this is the very top of the mountain, we have to be very careful or we will fall right off the edge.

“How are we supposed to find our way? Where’s the rock- temple?” Carey kept wondering.

Nevertheless, he stepped forwards, it was eerily silent and the white fog made it impossible to navigate the way. But as he slowly kept moving forward, he noticed that there was a layer of fine rocks beneath his feet which cracked as he stepped on them. And again if he stepped anywhere but straight forwards, the rocks would disappear and he would step on soft icy snow. There’s a road- a pathway leading to the temple, all I have to do is follow the rocky path!

“Ram, put your hand on my shoulder and don’t let go, keep following me,” he said as he carefully navigated blindly through the thick fog.

“It’s so cold Sahib, it’s so cold…” Ram kept whispering.

Carey placed one foot after another, trying to feel the rocks beneath his feet, if he felt the snow, he would immediately correct his path. It took them almost five minutes to navigate through it and suddenly they appeared on the other side to a view that would take his breath away. A gigantic rocky temple of sorts stood in front of him, eerily silent with intricate carvings and designs, half covered with snow. A temple on top of a hill? Amazing! The structure was no more than a hundred feet tall and it had stairs that led deep into the ground.

“That’s the gateway- come on Ram,” he said leaving the wall of fog behind him.

A familiar feeling crept up his veins and he felt as if he had been here before and the closer he got to the temple, the more intense the feeling. Ram walked behind him reluctantly, strange and unknown places such as this freaked him out. But Carey walked towards it enthusiastically and stood no more than five feet from the entrance.

“By Jove! This thing seems to be thousands of years old, what an incredible structure!” he remarked

Both men exchanged soulful looks at each other and Carey stood the first step on the stairs. The entrance led deep into the ground and there was nothing but cobwebs and darkness up ahead.

Wish you were here to see this Meena!

“Where’s the gateway? Where does this lead to?” he kept wondering as he carefully stepped inside.

Half a metre ahead and they were engulfed in pitch black darkness and suddenly Carey felt as they hit dead end. He groped in the dark and found that a giant rock was blocking their path. What now? He put both of his hands on the seemingly solid wall and tried pushing it a bit. To his amazement, his hands sunk into the rock and the harder he pushed the deeper his hands went. Ram however had no idea what his master was getting into. Carey was shocked- his could feel the warmth on the other end and so he decided to keep pushing until finally half of his body was in.

“Ram! Place your hands on the walls and follow me- push through!” said Carey and disappeared into the rock.

A second later, Carey came out of the other end and he felt solid ground beneath his feet- is that grass! Green grass? Ram did as he was told and emerged behind him. Carey took a moment to digest the scenery in front of him. It was as if he stepped foot on another planet. There was greenery everywhere, the skies- they were deep blue and the weather was warm. There were lush green forests and mountains as far as the eye could see and the air smelt so flowery. Carey took a moment to soak it all in- words failed to come out of his mouth- he was getting emotional.

“Is this heaven- Sahib? Are we dead?” Ram Babu asked naively.

“No my friend, this-is- SHAMBALLA- the lost kingdom!” he replied shakily.

They stood on what seemed to be a small green hill and as they looked back, the doorway that they had just come through had disappeared entirely. There was nothing but celestial beauty all around and a general vibe of unending positivity and never ending bliss. He took a deep breath and the air smelt so delicious. Ram Babu sat down and touched the soft green grass- this was definitely heaven for him. Carey laughed and hugged Ram Babu rejoicing that he had finally did it- he found Shamballa. But soon reality struck- this seemingly beautiful place- if this is the lost kingdom, then where are the Immortals? Are they gone? What was he supposed to do next? Find the cure, treat the Princess and above all- answers- he needed answers to keep this place hidden from the others!

He calmed down and worked his rational brain. There ought to be somebody around here! They decided to keep walking and as they ran down the hill, they were greeted with a beautiful field of flowers that glowed in a hundred different colours. Suddenly a flock of giant birds flew right over him but they were nothing like he had ever seen before- the looked pre- historic. In fact everything around them was strange, beautiful, untouched and almost a thousand years old!

But an uneasy feeling creeped up Carey’s heart as he recalled the Princess’ condition- there was no time to stop and smell the roses. He had to find the Immortals and get the cure. So far he has seen nothing that even remotely resembles a human being- there’s got to be somebody around here.

The green grass was velvety smooth- he could lie on his back and slide down the hill. Ram Babu followed him hesitantly.

“It’s amazing,” Carey thought, “a world lost in time, pure, unadulterated, one in a different reality altogether..."

But almost an hour went by and Carey could not find another human being in that strange world. All he saw was more of the terrain, beautiful and serene. He was getting frustrated by now. There was no time to explore and he had no further clues to crack – where were those legendary people? Where was his connection to his past life?

And suddenly, he saw something move in the corner and he turned to take a look. To his surprise, he heard a rustling sound but there was nobody else. Ram Babu was gone, there was no trace of him. Before he could guess anything, he saw something dark swipe right over his head. Curiously, the atmosphere became silent around him, the birds stopped chirping and the cool breeze stopped brushing against his skin. An eerie feeling crept up his spine – something dark was stalking him and it had taken Ram Babu away.

Panicking in sheer terror, he called out his name. He could not lose another friend. He looked around, searching for him and then he began to think-

“This isn’t supposed to happen, why would they Immortals kidnap Ram Babu? And what is the strange darkness that I sense? No- this is something else!”

Suddenly he heard a loud thump behind him, like something crash landing from above. He turned around and to his utter surprise he saw the witch standing behind him, dressed in sheer clothing with black tattoos all over her body. Her dread locked hair flowing down to her feet and her wily eyes gawking at him. She grinned through her black lips and uttered a sinister growl.

“What on earth? I defeated her! How did she get here? Damn it- she looks menacing!” he began to think.

“Well, well, so this is the place you were after, I am glad you led me here, this place reeks of pure manna! Imagine what I could do with all this pure positive energy!” she said walking bare feet towards him like a cat stalking its prey.

“What do you want from me?” Carey yelled.

“I want you dead, isn’t it obvious?” she replied.

Carey wasted no time and rushed towards her thinking he could defeat her again. But as he reached to strike, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He looked down and saw a sharp blade piercing his belly. He felt his strength draining away and kneeled down in agony.

“How’s this possible?” he thought “Where are my powers?”

She kicked him in his chest and he fell down on his back, with blood oozing out of him.

“Ha! Done already? What? No powers?” she taunted him and laughed.

Carey felt his life getting sucked out of him- slowly but surely. He raised his head in agony and glanced at his stomach. There was a small dagger sticking out of it and a lot of blood pouring out. He tried moving but the pain was paralyzing. How can such a small weapon hurt me so much? Why am I unable to move?

His vision started to get blurry and soon he blacked out. The witch- Ashanti smirked and looked at Carey’s body victoriously. It was such an easy win- she almost wanted to wake him up so that she could beat him down once again. After her intense rituals and meditation, her powers have grown tenfold and she was beaming with the dark- side’s energy. But she had a price to pay- nothing was for free- the more she took from the dark side, the more she had to give back. These hellish powers demanded that she paid with blood- human blood. The darkness wanted fresh human blood every day- which meant that she needed to keep killing, if she wanted to keep her powers…

This place- this strange and peaceful place could be home to many people- all she had to do was look. The foreigner is dead- he’s not moving- not breathing anymore, time to go hunting, for more blood…

Meanwhile, Carey’s soul had already left his body and was on its journey to the afterlife. He could feel a welcoming white light embracing him from all sides. He soon began to realize that his earthly body was lying on the ground in a pool of blood- lifeless. He began floating and hovering over his dead body, he could feel something was pulling him away. A sense of calmness and belonging surrounded him and he was at peace. But soon, he realized, what was happening to him- he was dead and his soul was being taken away to heaven or hell! He began to resist the process and tried hard to get back to his body- this was not his time to die, not when he was so close to his goal- he had to save the Princess’ life, he had to meet the people of Shamballa- there was so much to do! But no matter how bad he tried to get back to the ground, a stronger force was pulling him away towards the sky!!