They finally arrived at the town after two days of steady trudge work. They began to see familiar sights and scenes, and though they were not particularly excited about returning home, the overall feeling was that they were glad they were back home. As they approached the city gates, the guards, who had been alerted of their presence by the sole sentry on duty in the watchtower, drew the wide metal gates open to let them in, and that was where their greetings began.Immediately after they arrived, the atmosphere of the village changed. By word of mouth, practically everyone was made aware that the three nominees who had followed Shambala on a mission to be trained by him had returned. As they entered the village, they were hailed on every side. Theirs was the welcome of great warriors and good friends who had returned home. Grover wanted to be happy that they were back, and he really did. The problem was that he could not help feeling a little despondent. Maybe more than a little de

The next day, Grover woke up with a slight headache, but it was nothing he could not handle. He knew it had a lot to do with the celebration of the previous night, but he had made sure not to overindulge in the wine, as it had been a while since he had tasted wine. Also, he determined to dilute his cup after each refill because wine as potent as this could make a fool out of him as it did with some of the others.He thought of how much more chaotic the celebration hall got as the night wore on. Before long, the voices of some men were raised higher while the speech of others began to slur. Of course, this was not obvious at first but began to show with time.For most people who were very self-conscious, they simply got up to leave when they noticed that the wine was beginning to affect them. These were those who were more seasoned and did not simply lose their heads to the gourds.As for the trio, they wasted no time in leaving as well, using the excuse that they were tied after a lon

By the time the others were done narrating their tale, they had rested enough to actually learn what they had set out to learn that morning, but at that time, it was almost noon.The trio had listened without the slightest hint that they knew about the scroll’s ability to re-ink itself. They simply engaged in the conversation and listened with rapt attention so that the others would have an opportunity to say something new as well.This also gave the whole group the opportunity to rest. Grover noticed a group of people join earlier on when they were sparring in pairs and realized that they were the last group of people to leave the banquet hall this morning. They came late, but they looked more tired than anyone else. ‘Alcohol’, Grover thought wryly.Krystal was the one who led the segment of illustrations of some of what they had learned on their journey with Shambala. They executed some moves, perfected some strategies, and practiced using certain aspects of aura and sensing. He had

Grover finished cleaning up and joined Vladimir and Krystal in front of his room. They had been waiting for him so that they could go into the hall together. When they got to the hall, they found the place more sober than they had ever found it, though they found that almost everyone was already seated. There was only one explanation for this, and it was that everyone wanted answers. They sat at the long table in the middle of the hall just the way they had sat on the day they had gotten back from their journey. “Good evening, all.” Krystal greeted me sombrely. “Good evening.” Was the general answer that wafted around the table.“We are not here to eat this evening, and neither are we here for a celebration. Not just yet, at least. We will eat eventually, but there are certain issues that need to be settled first. I know you are all tired. We all are. And this tiredness is beyond what a single meal can cure. We are here to discuss the next step.And just as they were about to discus

Before the group realized it, a week had gone by since their teacher returned. The new training that they had begun with their teacher, Shambala, was not as easy as they had thought it would be. The whole field they practiced on for that day was filled with grunts, sighs, and grappling as they produced pure, intense energy. The teacher had a habit of changing the training ground on some days to avoid letting them get used to fighting on only one terrain. They trained in the fields, the forests, the mountains and valleys around them, and even some parts of the village. He was determined that every warrior under his charge would be one worthy of the battle field. Every one of them.As a matter of fact, on the day they had started training, which was the very next day after Shambala’s return, he had called Grover, Vladimir, and Krystal and told them that their own training was going to be separate from the others and very different from what they were previously used to.He said that the