by Gloria Mur
The map zoomed in.
The friends froze, watching the battle.
- “My God!" Whispered Margo, "there are 100 times more of them!"
- "How can they not win?" Came Marina in horror.
They watched the fight in silence for another few minutes. The black army attacked, one after the other, and the Shambhalans also lost many.
- "So what, we're just gonna stand around and watch?" Exclaimed Margo.
- "What do you suggest?" Asked Andrei.
- "We should help!"
- “How?”
- "We caused this... Because of me, they are fighting with that unclean power right now. If I had brought the Stone... Wait a second... The Stone! We must get it back!"
- "Get it back? That would be great!" chuckled Boris. "But how? Are you saying we should go back to Lemuria?"
- "I've got an idea," said Margo, "let's go!"
Kut Kumi and Lucius were fighting in the center of the battle. Kut Kumi reflected the black energy with two shields, trying to hit his enemy with rays coming from his eyes at the same time. Lucius was doing the same. Instead of mirrors, he was wearing a flaming cloak and Kut Kumi's energy turned into sparks, hitting him. White and Black generals were taking off into the sky and descending into the snow. Around them was never-ending multi-colored lightning. The air smelled of tulips and sulphur.
Black clouds covered the peak. Tourists, who could see it from a distance, could only say that it was a storm the likes of which hadn't been seen in years.
Chapter 32. Margo's Plan
The friends ran after Margo. Despite the darkness, she went assuredly through the laboratory as if she knew every corner. When they reached the hall where Kut Kumi had shown them the Akashic records, Margo stopped.
- "It's here."
- "What?” Came Nastia in surprise, "explain it already, what've you thought up?"
- “The Akashic records," explained Margo, here in the very same place where Kut Kumi had shown them the trick with transparent pages.
And suddenly the laboratory lit up, and the stone ceiling and walls began to glow.
- "Oh my!" Marveled the friends, exchanging glances.
- "The Akashic Records!" Demanded Margo. And... a translucent canvas flowed down from the ceiling with moving pictures.
- "It's working! It's working!”
- “Show me the Chintamani!" Pronounced Margo, ignoring the whooping. She began to look carefully at the pictures.
- “But Kriida said that the Stone is protected from Light by Lucius himself," said Boris.
- "Yes! But Lucius is occupied at the moment!” Answered Margo with burning eyes.
Her companions, having figured out what she wanted, fell silent and looked on with fascination as magical coils fell and disappeared.
- "There" Shouted Margo, pointing at Akashi, "there it is!"
Everyone threw themselves at her.
The records showed a place in the desert. Right on the sand, next to a gnarled, leafless tree, in a gold box lay an object, made to defend the Light. A fiery circle encircled the place. There wasn't a soul around. On a transparent canvas, next to the Stone, there were eight digits shining.
- "That's it! It!" Whispered Margo, her face lighting up, "we must find it!"
- "But how? Where is it? Doesn't it say here?" Wondered Nastia, spreading her arms.
- "Yeah, what place is that?" Asked Boris.
- "Wait up!" Said Andrei, "there are numbers here. What if they are...
- coordinates!" Marina cried out, "they're coordinates! Look, the first four are width, and the next four are length!”
- “We must check!" Came Nastia with a start, "let's go back to the map!"
The coordinates were in the Gobi desert. The friends increased the size of the image and became sure that they hadn't made a mistake. The Chintamani was hidden in the most unreachable place on earth.
There was no way to get there...
- "There must be! There must be some way out!" Repeated Margo, pacing along the laboratory.
They were sitting by the map for three hours, thinking about how to reach the Stone.
- “Margo! Stop looming about! Sit down already! There's no way out. We're under the earth, the Stone is thousands of miles from here. If only the Gods would come down to earth and help us," sighed Nastia.
Margo stopped and stared at Nastia.
- "What?”
- The Gods! God-Men! The harati! The stone Lemurians! Kut Kumi said that they're alive and can still see and hear.
Chapter 33. The Harati
The friends went out to the stone ledge. Everything in the cave was as before. A cold wind tickled their nostrils. They could see the giant figures of the Lemurians in the half-dark. It was so quiet that Nastia heard her heart beat. The friends began to scream and call them to help. Their voices rang off the walls in a loud echo. The stone colossuses remained unmoving.
- "Well, what now?" Asked Andrei, "How do we wake them up?"
- "How should I know?" Answered Margo. "We should try to find a way down there," she said, looking for a way down. All around were steep walls.
- "Maybe we should pray to them?" Offered Marina, "how do you pray to idols? Maybe they'll hear?"
- "What nonsense," called out Andrei, "I personally don't even know how to pray."
- "Everyone knows how to pray," interrupted Marina, "it isn't important what you say- you just have to mean it."
She kneeled down, clasped her hands and opened her eyes. The others looked at one another and followed her example. A few minutes went by. Silence rang in their ears.
And suddenly a wind blew. It touched their praying faces, forcing them to open their eyes. The cave lit up for a moment, but was quickly brought back into half-darkness. It was as if an invisible being had quickly flown overhead holding a lamp. There came the sound of bells. Nastia shuddered, the ringing was above her head. Everyone looked up.
Under the ceiling in the lotus position, a huge harati was hovering- an exact copy of the sculptures sitting below. It was translucent, shining with a blue and gold light, looking like a ghost. But it was real... and alive His eyes looked somewhat tired, but attentive, studying those who had disturbed his slumber.
Margo elbowed Nastia. Nastia looked back. Another figure appeared next to them on the ledge. A woman-ghost of unearthly beauty and huge height was hovering a foot off the stone floor. Nastia clamped her jaw when she saw the woman's face.
- “Yala!” Exclaimed Andrei.
Yala smiled. Her fleshless body was alive!
- “Hello, my dears!” Called out a familiar, kind voice. "I know what has brought you here. Shonith," she said to the man with tired eyes, "we must help them."
He shook his head, as if doubting.
- "We have no right to interfere, Yala!"
- "Shonith?" Asked Marina, staring into the harati's transparent face.
- "Yes, dear," said Yala, "he did make it to the ark, it's your boy. The little Shonith La became a great Keeper."
- "Impossible," whispered Boris.
Shonith La fumbled about under the ceiling and changed from blue and gold into silver. Nastia noticed that something like a tear was coming down his cheek. Can ghosts even cry?
- "The Stone is in the desert," called out Margo's voice, "how do we get there?"
- "I'll bring you there. You, Nastia and Andrei. Marina and Boris will stay here."
Marina and Boris tried to protest, but Yala was adamant. She snapped her translucent fingers and a long, pearl belt appeared in the air.
- "This is so you can return," explained Yala, and layed the belt in Nastia's hands, "when you find the Stone, stand together and all of you get inside this belt.”
She waved her hands and a stream of silvery light cascaded over Nastia, Margo and Andrei.
Marina couldn't take her eyes from Shonith, and didn't even notice that her friends disappeared. Boris, still a bit spooked by miracles, looked around in fear.
- "I'm sure you'd like to talk." Suggested Yala, "You haven't seen your son for an eternity..."
Marina sobbed.
- "I can't even hug him!"
Shonith La looked down, covered his face with his palms, and a dense blue cloud began to form around him. It hid the gigantic ghost, then came a soft knock and suddenly a live person of average height, probably around thirty appeared.
Boris recoiled.
Shonith smiled. His blue eyes lit up with happiness.
- "Mommy! Father! It's been so long! I knew you'd come!"
Boris looked at him, dumbfounded. Marina's chin trembled gently, tears streaming from her eyes.
- "Father, I know that it sounds unbelievable! But you remember Olmolungring! And the Flood! And my birth! It really happened! We have overcome time itself, just to meet again! Don't tell me you're allowing your head to overpower your heart again! Listen to it! What is your heart saying?"
Boris blushed, a vein swelled on his forehead, and tears welled in his eyes. He slowly stepped forward to meet his son. The three of them embraced.
Chapter 34. The Desert
Margo, Andrei and Nastia found themselves in the sands of the Gobi. Hot, dense air was rising from the cracked earth. It was shaking, moving, and it seemed that you could reach out and touch it with your hand. It was distorting everything around like a fun-house mirror. The piercing silence sliced through their hearing. The heat quickly dried out their lips, and stretched their skin.
- "Let's go find the Stone!" Said Margo, the first to come to, "we don't have much time."
- "Let's check behind those dunes," offered Andrei.
They didn't have to walk far. Right behind the dunes, by a crooked tree without leaves that didn't look like it possibly could have grown in such a lifeless place stood the jewel box on a boulder. A small lizard jumped from the rock when he heard their footsteps.
- "There was a ring of fire here," said Andrei, "where'd it go?"
- "What did they have to protect against here?" Answered Margo, stepping assuredly toward the jewel box, "any living being would die within five minutes here." She took the box and opened it. They saw the familiar Stone, covered in writing. "The Chintamani!"
In disbelief at their good fortune, the friends got ready to return. Nastia took out the belt. But just then, Andrei, looking into the distance, stopped her:
- "Wait up now. What's over there?"
- "Where?"
- "Way over there by the dune, something is shining, do you see it?"
- "So what!" Exclaimed Margo, “we need to move our asses.”
- "And way over there," said Nastia, pointing in the opposite direction, "something else is shining."
- "And there, and over there," said Andrei, pointing, "it's more jewel boxes! They all look just like this one! He ran over, sinking into the sand. He picked up a shining object from the ground. It was an exact copy of the jewel box. And the Stone.
As if making fun of the friends, new golden glares kept popping up all around them. The desert became filled with the glare of a thousand jewel boxes.
Nastia, holding the Chintamani shrieked and threw it away. A snake's head poked out of the box. When the beast had crawled away, the friends discovered that the Chintamani had disappeared. Andrei took a different box and opened it- a snake crawled out of that one too.
- "So," frowned Margo. "We're being tricked. How can we know where the real one is? There's an infinite number of them here."
- "I think I know," said Nastia, "we saw the real one on the map- it's protected. Thus, the one that will be protected is the real one.”
Suddenly, each of the thousand golden circles became encircled by a thousand rings of fire.
- "No, it's not gonna be so easy," sighed Andrei, "there must be some way of recognizing the Chintamani. Let's think.
They sat on a rock in the shade of a tall dune. The sun wasn't baking quite as hot there, though it was still difficult to breathe in the shade, and they could feel the heat of the sand through their shoe soles. They wanted to drink horribly.
- "Got it!" said Margo, rising up with a spring, "I know what to do! Remember how the Chintamani would kill sorcerers?"
- "And?"
- "So, if we act like the sorcerers, for a time, we will be able to feel the Stone's approach."
- "And how do you imagine this will work?" Came Andrei in surprise.
- "We should experience negative emotions, let's think evil thoughts and..."
- "Wait," interrupted Nastia, "we mustn't conform to the dark powers! That's exactly what they want! Then we'll really be under their control! What if we look at it the other way around? All these stones are phantoms, born of evil, right? They probably won't like it if we test them with good! What if we try to charge them with positive energy? Like we did on the ark?" And, not waiting for an answer, Nastia ran up to the nearest box, opening the top swiftly. She took a deep breath, and took out the stone. She remembered her home, her mother, the first flower that had grown on her window sill, that had made her so proud. She thought of her graduation, her trips to the sea, her first encounter with Aleur... Her soul grew warm. And Nastia suddenly felt the stone go soft in her hand. To her surprise, when she opened her eyes, she saw a tulip.
- "Now we're talking!" Exclaimed Andrei and Margo who had been looking on in anxiety, and were now ready to go help.
- "Let's see if we can do that from a distance!" Offered Nastia, "because, distance doesn't matter to love and positive emotions. Let's send these boxes our love!”
And the friends began working. First slowly, and then picking up speed, the barren Gobi began to fill up with life. The golden shimmer was replaced with colorful plants. In a flash, trees grew and ponds sprung up. Within an hour, everything they could see had become a fragrant, blooming oasis, overtaken by the sound of chirping birds.. The friends threw themselves to the water in joy. It was a real miracle. A miracle that they themselves had created. A blooming garden in the dead Gobi.
- "Well, then, this is something all together different," smiled Nastia, washing off in the lake. She sighed, "if only people would understand what power they've got in their souls! If only they understood that they could achieve everything they desire with the power of love! But instead they destroy themselves with anger and hatred!"
- "And so you'll go back to your life, travel the world and spread the news of the power of love," chuckled Margo, but right now, we need to find the Chintamani.
In the very center of this newborn world, there remained one spot of desert. The dead patch of land was surrounded by a ring of fire. It was guarding the thing for which the messengers of Shambhala had come.
Chapter 35. The Power of Love
The friends carefully approached the fiery circle. They were overcome by a strange feeling. A powerful force was keeping them from getting near the Stone, pressing their hearts with an icy ring. There was something behind the burning barrier that was invisible and creepy. They stopped a foot from the fire.
- "I'm scared," said Nastia, "really scared! And I don't understand what's going on! It's just a bonfire.”
- "I'm scared too," called out Margo, averting her gaze from the circle.
- "And me too," confirmed Andrei.
- "Let's try and extinguish the fire," suggested Nastia, adding "my legs are buckling from fear."
Andrei took off his t-shirt and got it wet. He squeezed out water onto the fire. It took almost all his strength to do- his face spelled out his battle with fear. Margo held herself better than the others, though her pale face did begin to show veins from the heat.
To the friends' surprise, the small amount of water that Andrei had brought was able to extinguish the flames. And suddenly, as if by the wave of a magic wand, their fear disappeared. Nastia sighed in relief.
- "That was too easy," said Margo.
They crossed the black, extinguished ring. And as soon as they'd gotten inside, it lit again, stronger than ever before. The friends were surrounded b
y fire.
- "I knew it!" Shouted Margo, covering her face, "a trap!"
- "Let's go closer to the Stone!" Called out Nastia, trying to out-scream the roar of the fire.
- "Be careful, Nastia!" Shouted Andrei, seeing a shower of sparks erupt behind her back.
Nastia backed away and fell right into Andrei's embrace. Their faces got nearer one another, their eyes met for a second. In that second, the Lemurian garden appeared, with the songs of night birds, and the softly beating wings of butterflies... Tears streamed from Nastia's eyes.
- "Oh hell!" Cursed Margo, interrupting their tender moment, "your jeans are on fire!" Margo began to extinguish Nastia's legs with sand.
- "Look!" Exclaimed Andrei, looking around in surprise, "the fire is going away."
And truly, the ring of fire grew wider, away from them, burning the oasis the friends had made on its way. There was suddenly much more room to breath around the Stone.
- "I bet the fire was afraid that Nastia's tears would put it out," joked Margo. Her voice tinged with envy.
Nastia took her friend by the hand.
- "Thank you, Margo"
- "For what?"
- "For everything," answered Nastia. - "Let's see if the Stone is where it should be."
They approached the jewel box. The indigo light gave away the Chintamani's presence. Moving his hand carefully, Andrei opened the box and touched the Stone. Nothing happened. Just a cloud of dust puffed out of the box when he moved the top. Margo frowned upon smelling the odor of corruption. The dust reached Nastia's nose and she sneezed. Andrei also felt an unpleasant burning in his nose. He wanted to say to Nastia that they should put on the pearl belt and get out of there, but to his surprise, he said something completely different.
