The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter XXXIV: The Second Piece

As Carey stood wondering about the strange arrow he found, he gazed at himself in surprise. His wounds were beginning to heal themselves. But then he suddenly broke his trance and realized that he had left the others on top of the cliff. He ran towards them thinking what had just happened. Again he had no memory of him fighting the guerrillas- all he cared was the Princess’s well-being.

Meanwhile, the Princess was running towards him, she saw the huge surge of energy and wondered what had happened to him. They met halfway and before Carey could say anything, he collapsed on the ground. The night was spent in anxiety and fear as Carey remained unconscious on the cliff. Kali cursed himself for the guerrilla attack. He felt responsible for the incident- it was him that they were after. The Princess was confused, she wondered how the arrow lit up when she fired. She put her hand on Carey’s forehead- and wiped the dirt off of his face. He seemed to be fast asleep.

“What’s happening here?” she wondered, “the strange arrow- the light in the forest- the guerrillas?”

As dawn fell on the cliff, Carey opened his eyes and saw the blue sky above him. He got up and looked at the Princess, she was sitting on the edge of the cliff, watching the forest. Ram and Raza were fast asleep while Kali stood in the distance keeping an eye for the enemies. He walked over to her and said-

“Princess, we have to hurry, I don’t know what happened earlier and why the guerrillas retreated but I’m pretty sure, they will return, they won’t rest until I’m dead- they know this land very well and it would be best for us to keep moving,”

The Princess turned around and looked at Carey.

“What do you say Mr. Carey? Which way do we go?” she asked.

“The waterfall should lie somewhere near, you see there is a stream over there, so there must be more nearby, but the problem is that the waterfall remains dry all year except for one day, which is today. According to my books, should be that way- towards the north,” he explained.

“I see, what do you remember about last night? How did you manage to defeat the enemy?” she asked.

“I don’t know Princess, but I’m sure it has something to do with the piece of the Orb I’m carrying, it seems that it fills me up with strange energy. Although I can’t remember much about last night, but I’m sure that it was I who managed to defeat them single-handedly, it’s really peculiar,”

Carey was beginning to accept his fate and embrace the strange things that were happening to him. He knew now, that whenever he could summon great powers at his will much like his past life as a warrior monk. He recalled the strange dream he had, he recalled his name…

An hour later, the group went hunting for the waterfall. Nobody had slept well except for Carey, and it was exhausting for them. But Carey felt in his heart that he was drawing closer to the next piece of the Orb. And so they walked on through the rough terrain and the dense jungle...

Twelve hours later, after an exhausting search, Carey stood before a small hill, situated in the middle of the forest. He observed that it looked like a small waterfall, except with no water. He walked towards it to take a closer look. It did look like some kind of water source and there was a small branch of the dry stream that looked like it headed towards the jungle. This was exactly like it was explained in the journal. Now all they had to do is to wait for the moon to rise in the sky. He sincerely hoped that he was right this time and somehow the magical water would appear.

It was getting dark again and this time the Princess suggested that they should prepare themselves if there was another attack. They agreed to light no fires and wait. Raza had no idea what was going on. By now he realized that the group was looking for something very powerful and it was much more valuable than any treasure. The foreigner, Mr. Carey was a strange man and he seemed to possess magical abilities, which he doesn’t recall later. The Thug called Kali, never talked much but someone was after his head. All this made him more curious and he sought to get to the end of it and steal whatever they were looking for at the end. He hoped that his men were following his tracks.

They waited for the sun to go down and Carey sat down at the waterfall, waiting for the magic to happen. The Princess stood nearby and observed him. His mind was filled with anticipation, he had no idea what was going to happen next, but he hoped that it would be good. He closed his eyes and tried to think about nothing, just relax and wait for the water to come. He didn’t want to become impatient, this was the most important thing right now. Minutes passed like hours, and nothing happened. The forest was dead silent as the darkness fell like a thick blanket. But then as he looked towards the sky, he saw the moon, peeping out from behind the clouds. He looked towards the rocks, the water was beginning to seep through, slowly but steadily. Carey called everyone around him and they watched as the small stream of water turned into huge puddle and the puddle turned into a spring, filling the dry bed of rocks. Carey followed the stream that escaped though a secondary branch- the others followed him. The water rushed ahead with great speed, through the heart of the forest. They followed the water, deeper into the jungle. It was completely dark now and the only light they had, came from the moon and the small fire that they made to defend themselves if needed. They had no idea where they were heading to, but they needed to keep going.

The water gurgled ahead with great speed and soon they found themselves under a small hill which looked more like an anthill about seven feet tall. And to their amazement they saw that the water of the stream approached the anthill and went upwards. Under the bright moonlight, they saw the dry anthill getting drenched by the water and the loose clay collapsing. All of them stood there in nervous anticipation as the anthill slowly broke down. They watched in astonishment as the anthill uncovered a human like shape under the mud. Carey rushed forward and removed the wet mud from the figurine. He jumped back in horror as he discovered that it was indeed the remains of a human being, deceased a long time ago- the anthill had formed around his body!

With some help by the Princess, they both began to uncover the mud from the dead body. It looked like that of an old man seated in a meditative position. All that was left of his dead body was parts of tissues and skin and a skeleton- like it had been mummified somehow. He noticed a piece of metal stuck on his ribs and pulled it out- the entire skeleton collapsed. He washed it in the water and held it up under the moon light. This was it- the second part of the Orb. But what was it doing in the hands of a dead man. And then he began to realize that just like the first piece, this piece was also found by some priest and he must have guarded it with his life. At the end of his days, he must have used magic too mummify himself and left clues if Carey- the reincarnated scholar/keeper came looking for it. Everything was starting to make sense now- a soft breeze blew across his cheeks and a sense of calm and well-being filled up his heart. The Princess put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him with satisfaction. He smiled back and they agreed to find shelter for the night and resume their journey the next day…

Kali was not liking the way the Princess and the foreigner- Carey were interacting. He had earlier noticed him walk towards the stream- he assumed that Carey must have enjoyed like a pervert at the sight of the Princess bathing. Kali did not do or say anything because he was the Princess’s friend but his jealous heart urged him to take action- he knew he could end Carey with one blow from his strong fist…

“So…tell me, how did you know about the stream up there on the cliff? I didn’t tell anyone?” she looked at Carey with mischievous eyes.

“Oh! Um, just an educated guess I suppose, but- the important matter is that we have the second piece of the Orb, and it’s time we find the last and the most important piece,” he said nervously.

The Princess smiled at him, she knew it was him that was peeping at her while she bathe, but she didn’t seem to mind…