The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter LXIV: The Death Match

She came flying like a bat straight out of hell, bringing along the darkness with her. The bright sunny sky suddenly grew dim and the three of them watched in absolute horror as Ashanti landed a few feet away from them. She wore a black hooded dress and her face was half covered and black smoke emanated from her body- she seemed fully charged with dark powers. She had strange tattoos all over her body and half of her lower face.

“Hello stranger, we meet again,” she said in multiple voices

“Who the hell are you?” the Princess responded drawing her sword.

“It’s the witch, the one on the hill, that I defeated,” whispered Carey.

“Ah! The foreigner remembers me, I see you have defeated my minion … good, now it’s time to see if you can handle me,” she slowly walking over to them like a cat, her body seductively swaying from side to side.

“I defeated you once, I will do so again but I’m giving you one last chance to get out of my way,” warned Carey.

“You talk too much, come fight!” she said and suddenly drew out two small daggers from her back and approaching them.

“Wait, let me handle this,” said the Princess and stepped in front of Carey.

The Princess drew her long sword and screamed as she ran towards the witch to attack. Ashanti dodged every one of her attack with such speed that it was almost impossible for the Princess to keep up. She could flash from one point to another within a second.

“Bloody witch, you cheat and use magic,” said the Princess rounding her up.

Ashanti didn’t have to play fair- it was her nature to deceive and cheat. She hadn’t use a fraction of her powers and yet the Princess was already out of breath. Carey realized that it was time to step in or the Princess would be hurt. But before he could do anything, the witch moved zoomed towards her and slashed her belly in a second. The princess kneeled down in pain as Carey and Ram Babu watched in horror. Ashanti was preparing for a second fatal attack but Carey has had enough and immediately ran grabbed the Princess.

“Meena- Meena, oh no! What have you done you witch! I will not spare you,” yelled Carey with tears in his eyes.

The Princess was losing a lot of blood and was losing consciousness. Carey immediately took his scarf and tied it around her waist. He called out to Ram to take care of her while he stepped up to fight against the witch.

“Come on, you wanted me, right? Let’s do this,” said Carey raising his fist.

Ashanti smirked, the smell of fresh blood was intoxicating her and she wanted more. She raised her daggers and taunted Carey to come forward. He ran towards her not knowing what’s going to happen next, he was too furious to think of a plan. She didn’t even have to use her weapons. She kicked and punched him many times before he fell to the ground exhausted. His emotions were getting better of him which clouded his abilities and judgement. He had to clear his mind but Carey didn’t know this. He always thought that his powers would suddenly switch on the moment he was in battle. Little did he know that the skills and powers inherent in him would only awaken when his mind and soul were in a perfect harmony. Within a couple of minutes Ashanti beat Carey to a pulp and he could barely move from the pain. He raised himself somehow and saw the Princess lying on the ground unconscious. He had to defeat the witch or else she would kill each of them. He calmed his mind for a few seconds as Ashanti circled him and laughed at his weakness. He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes and calmed his body and mind.

“This is too easy,” Ashanti mocked at him and went to deliver the final blow.

But Carey suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed both of her daggers mid-air with his bare hands. The daggers cut into his palms but he didn’t care and continued to push back at her. Ashanti was surprised at the sudden change in his powers and she kicked him away. He fell back a few steps and she used her flash magic to zoom towards him from a distance with the daggers pointing at his chest. But Carey’s powers had awakened and were in full capacity. He could see her moving towards him even though she was moving at the speed of sound. He dodged and got out of the way and as he did so, he grabbed her hair from behind and pulled her aside. Ashanti was shocked and was starting to get worried now. She somehow escaped from his grip and prepared herself for another attack. This time she began to chant some verses but before she could finish with her unholy chants, Carey leapt at her and grabbed her throat. She was astounded and tried to defend herself with the daggers. But he grabbed knocked away the daggers while choking her with his right hand. Ashanti didn’t know what to do- she saw death in his blue eyes that shone bright with immense powers. She struggled to breathe and put her hand in her side pouch and took out some blue powder which she rubbed it in Carey’s eyes. He immediately yelled in pain as the strange powder burnt his eyes. He released his grip and began rubbing his eyes to remove the substance. But it only grew worse and he was soon blind as a bat. He was not at the witch’s mercy as she took her daggers back and prepared to finish him off. He stumbled and screamed in pain with his hands upon his face. This was her chance- she ran towards him to strike but as she was about to deliver, a sharp pain struck her hand and the dagger fell off of her hand. She looked around wondering what it was but she saw nothing and within seconds another thing hit her other hand and struck her left hand and the other dagger fell off. She realised someone was shooting at her from a distance and it was better for her to get out of there. She immediately ran away sprinting across the snow. Carey put some snow in his eyes which soothed him for a moment- his vision was blurry and he could barely see.