The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter XLI: The Sacrifice

“They are after me!” cried put Kali and began to run out of the cabin.

“Wait! Where are you going? We should stick together!” said the Princess.

“No! It’s me they are after- I think you all are better off without me- I know these people- they are Thugs, like me, they were the one who sent the witch- they want me dead for betraying the clan- I’ll surrender- your highness can find a way out- sneak out!” he said and ran out.

The Princess didn’t know what to say and all she could do was to watch in horror as her best soldier ran off to an undetermined fate. Carey came to his senses after a few minutes and ran off to meet with his team. He saw Kali sprinting off towards the mad band of Thugs and paused for a moment. There was chaos all around- the flames grew higher and the guards hardly managed to keep the thugs at bay- most of them were slaughtered instantly by the Thugs- many ran away. The commanding officer fought bravely but he too was knocked out by one of the Thugs and lied senseless on the compartment. The Thugs were ruthless- they took most of the foreigners as hostages and lined them up in a circle but they let the locals go. Then they began to search the train for Kali and his team. But Kali was busy destroying the Hard Chief’s men one at a time.

But the Hard Chief had Ashanti in his army. After her defeat in the previous battle, she was aching to take her revenge on the foreigner and finish the job. This was the first time that she had ever had an embarrassing defeat in a battle. The foreigner had surprised her with his powers but this time she wanted to lure him out and kill him and then finish Kali as well.

The situation was utterly chaotic. The train was almost out of the valley but it didn’t seem like it could make it as far as Tibet. The passengers were running around in fear, trying to escape. The guards were not enough for the hundreds of raging Thugs. But out there at the centre of it all was Kali- fighting furiously as he could, taking down as many men as possible, single-handedly. Meanwhile, Carey found the Princess and they decided to run away with the crowd. But where would they go? The entire area was surrounded with Thugs and even if they escaped, it would be nearly impossible to get to Tibet by any other means. They stepped out amidst the flames and the thick smoke with people getting slaughtered and injured everywhere. The Princess took out her sword and asked Carey and Ram to follow her towards safety. She bravely took down many Thugs and cleared a path.

Kali was surrounded by the enemy but he kept fighting. His bloody hands would not give up even though he was bleeding out from the injuries. His strength was running out and he was slowing down. The Hard Chief came trotting on his horse and watched as Kali was slowly succumbing to his injuries.

“Give up you fool! There’s no purpose to your madness, surrender and I might consider letting you live,” said the Hard Chief.

“Never! You can take my life but you will never take my pride,” replied Kali with blood flowing down his face.

“Ugh! This is a joke,” said Ashanti and walked towards Kali, holding her curved dagger.

She plunged her dagger into Kali’s heart and watched him fall down in agony.

“There- see- now where’s that bloody foreigner,” she said pulling out the bloody dagger and walked towards the burning train.

The Hard Chief watched in surprise as Ashanti walked out. He was half expecting to capture Kali and break his pride but now he was lying dead in a pool of his own blood. He shrugged his shoulders and ordered his men to round up the foreigners from the train, so that he could rob them off their belongings and humiliate them. They left Kali on the ground to die and walked away to finish the job. Kali could feel his heart beat slowing down. He hoped that the Princess had escaped to safety, that’s all he cared about and he regretted that he could not buy her more time. Covered in dirt and blood, he saw the sun slowly setting beneath the mountains- this was it- the end of his life- he only wished he could tell how much he loved her…darkness fell before his eyes…

The Princess had managed to run towards the hills with Carey, Raza and Ram Babu. She didn’t know what had become of Kali, all she knew was that the Thugs were still after them for some reason.

“Wait, hold on, how are we supposed to continue our mission now? Tibet- is still a long way to go,” said Carey.

“Oh, I cannot do this anymore, Your highness, I should find my own way, I should leave, I can’t take this, please,” said the scheming Raza.

“Everyone calm down, it’s not over yet, we just need to find a place to hide and wait for the Thugs to leave, then we will take the train and drive it ourselves if we have to,” remarked the Princess.

“But why are they still after us? I thought they only wanted Kali,” said Carey.

“They might know about your mission, which is why they are after you, they need you to find the Lost Kingdom, ugh, it’s preposterous, so many people are after this place, I hope it’s worth it,” she replied.

“Look, Sahib, they are taking the foreigners captives- oh the rich local merchants are being looted, stripped off of their clothes even, oh! Thank goodness we escaped,” remarked Ram.

“Wait, listen,” Carey interrupted.

A manly voice echoed through the mountains- it was the Hard Chief announcing-

“Listen to me you bloody foreigner, and listen carefully, I know you are out there, hiding in the hills but not for long, you know that this is my territory, we will find you soon enough and when we do, we will bring down unspeakable horrors upon you and your friends. But surrender now and we will consider going easy on you… Surrender and your lives will be spared, come out now!”