The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter LXVIII: Shamballa

The Yetis stood a few feet away from them and the man who led them spoke.

“You have been struck by the darkness, seeker! Let us take care of you, we might be able to help the Princess, come with us,” said the man calmly.

Carey did not know what to say and started muttering in panic and exhaustion. One of the Yetis went ahead and picked up the Princes from the ground and carried her in its arms.

“Do not worry, come with us, we dwell among the clouds, we will cure you,” said the man in a soothing voice.

Ram grabbed Carey’s hand and guided him. Carey was finding it harder to bear the pain and it was making him crazy. He was rambling about like a mad man. Ram kept him calm and followed the strange man and the Yetis to an unknown location.

Somewhere far in the distance, the Dutchman was watching everything through the scope of his gun. He was the one that fired at the witch and saved Carey from dying. Not that he cared about him, it was because he couldn’t let him die so prematurely before revealing the path to the unknown place. After that he would kill him himself. He was perfectly camouflaged under the snow and saw everything from the start. But he didn’t interfere for he thought that the Carey might be able to defeat the witch. But he had to do something to give him a fighting chance. Now, that the witch was gone and the strange creatures were taking Carey somewhere, he had to follow them from a safe distance. It was evident to him that Carey was in possession of some strange map and he also seemed to develop a strange set of skills which enabled him to fight back. The woman was injured and the Dutchman knew Carey had deep feelings for her, which he could use as leverage- it was his only weakness. His man-servant was more or less like an insect that he could crush under his feet. But the real problem was those creatures- things that he never imagined he would see in his life- the Yetis and the strange white man that led them away. Why was he helping them? Where did they come from? What was Carey’s true purpose? The plot thickens and he was curious to know- even though he was only paid to recover the object and secure the location, he was intrigued and he wanted to find the answers. So with that in mind, he watched them through his binoculars from a safe distance and waited to pursue them unnoticed.

"What is this?" Carey watched with his eyes and wide open.

"This doesn't make any sense at all" the Princess responded.

Both of them had entered into a tunnel and now had exited on the other end only to find that there was an entire ecosystem growing in there. There was a huge gap in the middle with all sorts of wildlife growing and there was even a small water stream flowing through the centre of the structure. It was like a valley inside mountain and judging by the outside appearance of the mountain, the place didn't make sense. Interestingly the place was filled with all sorts of luminous bugs and flies all harmoniously buzzing around the place. But something caught his eye- something bright and sparkling right at the centre of the place.

"Look at that - is that what I think it is?" Carey pointed at a pile of rocks a few metres up ahead.

There was a glowing piece of metal which looked like it had been broken off from a larger piece. It sat there silently on some rocks. Carey knew that this was the last piece of the Orb. He threw away his torch and ran towards it in excitement- the Princess followed him. He reached the spot and stood in front of it and saw that it was indeed the last broken piece of the orb and once all the pieces were put together, it would finally lead him to Shamballa. He bent down to pick it up but the Princess stopped him.

"Wait- are you sure it's safe to touch it? Don't you find it a little bit suspicious that it's simply lying here for anyone to pick it up?" she made a valod point.

"Well let's find out shall we?" said Carey wiping the sweat of his temple.

He reached for it and grabbed the piece and slowly picked it up. The thing glowed for a second or two and then it stopped. Both of them looked at it curiously. It looked like any other silver piece of metal and for a moment they were underwhelmed.

"Huh!" Carey remarked.

But before he could utter another word a pure wave of white energy began to surge from the piece of metal thar almost blinded them. He held on to the piece but it was getting harder. The Princess was overwhelmed by the force but she held on to his arm. It made them numb and their brains were going haywire while the blood in their bodies raced. A few seconds later it stopped and everything went back to the way it was.

"Wh- What was all that about?" said the Princess trying to hold on to him.

"It's - it's a beacon - a signal!" he replied.

"Signal to what?" she asked.

"I don't know yet, but I think we have to get out of here now, something is coming!" he said and put the piece in his pocket and started to hurry back with her.

But before they could get out of the place they heard growls echoing all around them. They stopped and looked around with their torches in their hands and thrir backs to each other. The ominous growls seemed to be getting closer.

"What do you think it is? A mountain lion?" said the Princess looking around.

"Uh- I hope so... For the alternative is far worse!" he replied.

She understood what he meant and before they could say anything else. They heard giant steps coming from the only way out . It shook the ground around them. They saw faint shadows approaching them and within a couple of seconds a giant seven foot tall, snow white ape like man stood no less than ten metres away from them. It's eyes red and white fumes coming out of its nostrils. It looked more like a oversize silverback gorilla only it had more man like appearance. Its thick white fur was half covered in snow and dirt and it looked at them with stone cold eyes and observed.

"Oh my God! The stories are true... It's - it's the Yeti!" the Princess cried out.

"Yeah no doubt about it Princess - what do you think damaged our train engine and took Raza!" Carey replied with sarcasm.

But strangely he was unafraid when he knew he should have fainted in fear by now. Maybe he's seen enough strange things in this journey by now which has made him moee resilient to giant monsters and strange creatures. The Yeti grunted and slowly walked towards them with it's fist tightened. Both of them stepped back pointing their torches at it in the hopes that it would scare the creature away.

"What do we do now?" she cried out.

"You take this and as soon as you get the chance, get the hell out of here," said Carey while taking out the piece of Orb from jis pocket and handing it to her.

"What about you?" she asked.

But as soon as the Yeti saw the piece, it got mad and let out a terrible growl and ran towards them.

"Go now, go!" said Carey and pushed the Princess away to the other side while he stood alone with his torch to face the approaching monster.

The Yeti atopped a few feet away from him and stooped to take a closer look at Carey who had his torch pointed at it's face. The Yeti paused for a second and with a puff from its mouth blew out the flame.

"What the-" Carey remarked.

Before he could realise, the Yeti punched him in the face and it sent him flying a few metres away. Carey stumbled down and lost his consciousness. The Princess saw this and immediately rushed towards the exit. The monster saw her leaving and started to follow her. She shrieked and cried and ran as far as she could with the torch in one hand and the piece on the other.

Outside the cavern Ram Babu was chomping on some half cooked potatoes that he had managed to fry on the embers of the fire. He suddenly stopped his dinner and looked towards the dungeons. He thought he heard something but then he thought it was the wind and he resumed his dinner and even fed some to the Yak.