The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter LXXVI: War of the Apes

Carey could hardly breath due to lack of oxygen in such high altitude. The Doorway was right in front of his eyes- not more than eight metres away. Ram had already collapsed due to exhaustion but Carey himself was so out of breath that he could barely take care of himself. All this trouble to get to Shamballa and when he's merely a few feet away, he couldn't find the strength to reach it. He was blacking out slowly - his breath shallow and his body numb. It was as if his time had finally come - Is tjis what death feels like? He wondered as his thoughts slowly began to scatter and his feet finally gave up.

It was around 5.30 in the morning. The Princess was lying on the ground- barely breathing. Ram Babu kept pressure on the wound. Carey stumbled towards them with agonizing pain in his eyes. He could hardly see anything but he knew he had to save the Princess from bleeding out- there was little time. He noticed that the witch had fled for some reasons but he didn’t care anymore. He kneeled down in front of her and felt her cold face. If she wasn’t treated right now, then there was little hope. He blamed himself for her condition and he had no idea how to save her.

“Ram, tie something on her wound, don’t let her bleed out, I’ll carry her if I have to,” he said slowly turning blind.

“But Sahib, your eyes, they have turned black, you can’t see,” Ram complained.

“Doesn’t matter- that witch! She did this to her- I’ll find her but first, we have to take her to the village, the monks can cure her,” he said rubbing some more snow in his eyes.

The snow in his eyes cooled down the burn and enabled him to have limited visibility but he didn’t care if he went blind- all he wanted was the Princess to be alive. But it was nearly impossible for him to find help in the middle of nowhere. The village was nearly 15 kilometres back and he couldn’t reach there on time.

“Has the bleeding stopped? Is she still breathing?” asked Carey.

“Yes, Sahib, but she has gone white as the ice, what do we do?” asked Ram Babu.

“Wait, the Yak, we can transport her back to the village on its back- my dear Princess, I cannot let you go like this, hold on, Ram, help me raise her up, this is our only shot,” she said picking her up.

Suddenly they heard heavy footsteps approaching them. Both of them turned around to see but Carey’s vision was too blurred. Ram however gasped and froze in fear.

“What is it Ram? Say something for god’s sake!” he cried out.

“S-Sahib, the Yeti- there are so many of them- they are walking towards us, they’ll kill us all!”

“W-what? Where? How many?” asked Carey while gently placing the Princess’ head back down on the ground.

“Behind you, there are five- six- no, eight of them, Oh! There’s a strange white man with a large stick walking along with them- he’s really white- his skin is white- what is this Sahib?” asked Ram Babu.

“What? Maybe they can help us? Hey- hello! Please we need your help, do you understand me?” he turned around and waved around blindly- his eyes burning like hell.

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.

Carey was hallucinating and disoriented- he could barely keep put one foot after the other. It was Ram Babu, who dragged him along with great difficulty. It was some sort of poison that the witch had put on his face. It not only blinded him painfully but also affected his mind. The strange white man led them for a few minutes and stopped near a melting glacier underneath a huge mountain. He then stomped his stick three times on the ground and the glacier started to disappear. A huge entrance opened up and the Yetis passed through it. Ram led Carey into it- he was scared of the Yetis and the strange man but this seemed to be the only way…