The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter Ninety: The Guardian

Ram Babu woke up dazed and confused on a pile of fallen leaves. He rubbed his head and could feel the part where he was struck had swollen. The last thing he remembered was something had attacked him from behind and knocked him unconscious. He couldn’t find Carey anywhere near and began to look for him. It wouldn’t be long before he found his injured body lying on the soft green grass a few feet away. Ram couldn’t believe his eyes and called out his name. He saw the small dagger piercing his belly; he checked his pulse and his breathing- there was no sign that he was alive. Ram didn’t know what to do and began praying to the Lord for help while desperately trying to wake his master up but to no avail. Carey’s lifeless and cold body was lying motionless on the ground, his eyes closed and his arms spread out on both sides. Thick red blood stained his white shirt and Ram could only pray and cry…

Suddenly, Ram heard a rustling sound behind him. He turned around and saw a giant bird approaching him gently. But this was no ordinary bird that he had ever seen. It was five feet tall and looked like a peacock but it was more colourful than a regular peacock with colours on its wings that he had never seen. It had a feathery crown that adorned its head and its eyes were gentle and kind. Ram didn’t know how to respond- what is this bird doing here? Is it going to hurt me? But the bird kept moving towards him gently, as if it wanted to help him.

“Shoo! Wild Bird! Shoo! Go Away!” Ram gestured wiping his tears and holding his master’s head on his lap.

The bird paused and tilted its head slightly to the right and looked at him curiously and then gently pecked the ground, picking a leaf of grass in its mouth. And then it continued to approach him until it was only two feet away from him.

“What do you want? Huh? Are you here to mock me?” Ram said with tears in his eyes.

The giant peacock looked at Carey lowered its beak towards him as if it was trying to check if he was alive.

“Oh! God, you want to eat Sahib? No, no, no, shoo! Shoo! Get away!” Ram cried in protest.

The peacock took a step back and let out sharp series of cries and flapped its beautiful wings. Ram was scared thinking that this giant looking bird was going to have them both for dinner. As the bird flapped its wings, Ram was mesmerised by its shiny colourful feathers that glistened in the morning sun. The force by which it flapped its wings almost blew Ram away. He had never seen anything so beautiful and majestic. Suddenly, it stopped and Ram could hear strange cries of animals and birds alike echoing from all over the place. He was greatly puzzled and sat there watching the wild bird and listening to the cries of the strange wild animals.

Ram peered at the horizon and saw human like figures appear in the distance. They appeared tall, bright and beautiful, like angels from the sky. Ram looked at them with hopeful eyes as they walked towards him- maybe, they could save my Sahib?!

Carey’s soul on the other hand had entered the afterlife but he did not stop struggling. He kept saying to himself that he could not die and that he had to save the Princess. He saw that he was being lifted high above the ground and was now amongst the clouds. But soon the clouds began to disappear and a strange new reality was waiting for him. He had entered a strange realm where there was nothing but brightly coloured clouds and lights everywhere. His soul flew past them. Soon, he began to see spirits on either side, dead people who were hovering upwards. To his right he saw people moving towards a black hole and towards his right he saw some moving towards a bright white light. But curiously he was moving towards- nothing!

“What’s happening here? I don’t want to be dead, I don’t want to be here, somebody help me,” Carey shouted at the ether, not sure if someone would ever hear him. It felt like he was there for an eternity, moving towards nothingness!!

Back on the beautiful landscape of Shamballa, Ram Babu stood up to greet the strangers that were approaching him. Only when they were five feet away from him, he realize how graceful and beautiful they looked. There were three of them, each just less than six feet tall. Two of them were the most beautiful ladies that he had ever seen and one was a handsome young man. All of them had straight long hair, their skin was fair and clean and they wore soft silk robes that covered their entire body. They approached him and stopped right about two feet away from him. Ram paused to llok at them for a moment and immediately burst into tears-

“Oh! Heavenly ones, please help my dear Sahib, he’s been struck by some evil force, he’s dying, please save him, I beg of you!” he said clasping his hands together.

The strangers looked at him and then at Carey’s body and then they spoke to each other in a strange and ancient tongue which Ram didn’t understand. They looked serious but calm. Then one of the females spoke to him in her language- Ram simply looked at her with his mouth wide open unable to understand anything. Then she spoke in Hindi-

“Dear Sir, we are so sorry to see your friend in such a state- but nothing happens without a reason, the forest guardian called us, we will help you but you must realise that it might be already too late for your friend,” she said in a sweet angelic voice.

“Please, please do something,” Ram could only beg.

The three strangers talked to each other and the male walked off to towards the bushes to fetch some wild herbs. While the two females knelt beside Carey. One of them joined her hands in prayer while the other one gently stroked Carey’s forehead. Ram took a step back and squatted down on the ground.

“The forest shall help him, this land, the trees and the animals, everything is connected, mother earth will cure him, if she can,” said one of the ladies looking at Carey.

Ram could only pray.