The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter LXXVII: Black Mountain Gateway

Surprisingly, Carey had fallen asleep for an hour or so and it was very peaceful considering the current situation. Ram Babu was trying to wake him up for a couple of minutes when he finally woke up to see the sun shining brightly on his face.

“Gosh! We are already late, I have wasted much time, come on Ram, we have to go, now,” said Carey and started packing his things.

“But Sahib, chai?” said Ram Babu offering him some tea in an aluminium mug as a force of habit- he had brought tea for Carey every day in the morning since the last couple of years.

“I see the peak- that must be Kailasa - the entrance- lord, we are way off course, how did this happen?” said Carey totally ignoring the tea.

A few minutes later, they were already on foot towards the alluring peaks of Kailasa. Carey realized that in the midst of the darkness, he and Ram Babu had squandered away almost a kilometre to the east of where they were supposed to go. He kept cursing himself for being so arrogant and selfish- this was going to cost them time- precious time that was slipping from his hands like sand. He hurried as fast as he could with the help of a wooden stick as support and by the time he had corrected his course, it was already afternoon. Everything around them was either really white or grey and the white snow glistened so blindingly bright that he could barely open his eyes. But they still continued for another hour or so towards North. Carey suddenly paused a while and looked with his mouth wide open.

“Marvellous! Look man, there it is the mountain temple- Kailasa, finally,” said Carey pointing towards a greyish hill not 800 metres away.

“Oh! Sahib, it is so beautiful,” Ram Babu remarked.

There was no stopping him after this. He gathered all his strength and rushed through the snow which finally gave way to a rocky path ahead. He struggled and stumbled ahead like a thirsty man running towards the river. Ram could hardly keep up. Minutes later they stopped and stared at the magnificent structure. It was a blackish hill not 700 metres tall and at the centre there were some carvings that looked like stairs. Carey took a sigh of relief but he also couldn’t help but wonder about how this stone marvel was built in the middle of nowhere, thousands of miles away from civilization- who were the makers? The answers probably lied in his resurrected past but he could only look so far. The intimidating structure stood tall and silent, stone cold and hauntingly beautiful. Is anybody still there?

He was faced with an important question now- How on earth was he supposed to climb this ginormous structure? The temple lied at the top and that was probably where the gateway to Shamballa was but they hadn’t brought along any climbing gear and there seemed to be no visible way up- only something that looked like a broken flight of stairs at the dead centre and that too was about 200 metres upwards. Nevertheless he walked towards the hill and stood a foot away from it and took off his gloves and placed his palm upon it. Oddly enough it seemed to be vibrating- an ultra-low frequency that could only be felt not heard like the beating of the human heart. What now? He scaled the entire breadth of the hill, looking for a way to climb it and finally found something odd. There seemed to be a tiny crack in the far western side of the mountain. He inspected it closely- everywhere else the rocky hill seemed to be smooth as granite but there was just this tiny crack about 15 centimetres wide and 10 centimetres high- enough to put his wrist through! What could possibly go wrong?

He slid his naked wrist into the ominous looking crack and it felt utterly cold. Ram watched him in horror- what if there were snakes? To his surprise, Carey felt a lever like thing inside the crack and he immediately pulled it. The walls began to shatter and he took a few steps back. Surprisingly enough, the walls gave way to a hidden flight of stairs that continued upwards and met with the broken flight of stairs at the top. The black granite looking rocks slid off one by one and fell to the ground and a flight of stairs appeared carved into the hill wide enough for one man to climb. Carey couldn’t believe his luck- could it be so easy? He looked at Ram and signed him to follow while he carefully climbed those stairs one at a time- Ram followed.

What a marvellous piece of architecture! It was hard to believe that the ancients could build such advanced level of buildings that even modern man couldn’t fathom about!

As he walked upwards, he noticed that there was nothing to hold on to and the steps were very slippery. Be careful- you can’t afford to fall down and break your limbs- not when you are so close! The further upwards he went, the steeper the slope became, a small misstep and he would fall to his death- which even though he knew he had powers but he didn’t want to test it. A couple of minutes later, he reached the end of the stairs and was now staring at a blank wall. He knew this wasn’t the end- there has to be an entrance and as he touched the walls and groped to find an entrance- the wall suddenly fell back and a door opened. Carey almost fell through the door but as he stumbled back on his feet, he noticed that he was now in some sort of dark dungeon and there was another flight of stairs ahead. Stairs inside the mountain? What on earth is this place? He stumbled through the narrow entrance with his eyes fixated at the stairs and a small opening at the top. Ram kept following him reluctantly, thinking every step was his last…