“Soma berries.” Tiyana giggled.

“Ambrosia.” Hongo added.

He had learned a new word.

“To our new friend, soma berries, and ambrosia.” Hunter toasted.

Everyone clanged their goblets together and drank. Their host grew berries outside the monastery. He fermented them with honey to make an otherworldly drink. Hunter rarely drank alcohol. If he did, he generally stuck to light beer.

“What do we call you, by the way?” Hunter asked.

“Oh, I have gone by many names. Merlin Ambrosius the Cambion, Zosimos of Panopolis, Neferkaptah, or Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche to name a few.”

“Ha ha!” Hunter exclaimed. “Tonpa Shenrab of the Zhangzhung Kingdom who studied in Olmolungring. We are in Shambhala aren’t we?”

“Yes. You have entered our land, the Kingdom of Shambhala. I would like to know why and how.”

Hunter, however, was not done yet, “Merlin the Cambion. Really? King Arthur’s Merlin? The one with an incubus father and a human mother? The supernatural magician?”

“The one and the same, though that name bears little relevance today.” The man laughed as he said the next sentence, “No incubus sired me. No, I am the last of the nephilim, half human and half Dahjaat.”

“Dahjaat.” Tiyana repeated. “We have heard that name before.”

“From Ghaelvord.” Said Hunter.

Their host started choking on his mead.

As he spit out the golden-maroon liquid, he blurted, “Who?”

“Ghaelvord.” Hunter repeated. “In a way, he brought us here. We followed his stone.” Hunter revealed.

Something about the monk’s demeanor put Hunter at ease. Also, the mead was kicking in.

Hunter continued loosening his tongue, “Beneath the Pyramids in Egypt is a labyrinth. For how old it must be; it is incredibly well kept. In that labyrinth, there is a picture of Oracle Lake and the entrance that we found. We were trapped down there for days. While we were there, we found things. Things like the Makara. One of them was a man frozen in crystal. We didn’t want to wake him, but we were running out of options, and so, for better or worse, we did. Also, he took an associate of ours. We would like to find her and bring her back to safety. We came here looking for answers.”

A look of dread slowly crossed their host’s face, “You woke one of the Dahjaat before the hibernation was to end?” Their host sounded incredulous, “And not only that, but you awoke him?” Now, their host seemed angry, then forlorn, “Doom. Mankind has come so far… so far… and now this? And only a couple millennia from the great awakening.”

Their host paused. An awkward silence ensued.

Then, Tiyana ventured a question, “What are you talking about?”

“Men would be angels. Angels would be gods.” Their host said absentmindedly. “Sleep in any room you wish. Tonight, consider my house your house. I must pray and meditate.”

With that, the hermit of the Himalayas stood up and abruptly strode out of the room.

• • •

Tiyana lay in a luxurious bed. The sheets were so soft that she thought they must have an infinite thread-count. Red, green, purple, and gold pillows interlaced with bohemian patterns supported her exhausted body.

“Oooooh, this bed feels grrrreat.” She cooed.

She was exhausted physically and mentally. She was also lightheaded from the drinks.

Hunter raised his arms with upturned palms and smiled triumphantly as he said, “Shambhala.”

He went on after a short pause, “We found it. We came we saw, we conquered.”

Tiyana had to smile. Her husband’s exuberance was irresistibly contagious. “You certainly know how to follow through on your hunches.”

They looked deep into each other’s eyes and shared a moment.

Soon afterwards, Hunter broke the silence, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this. It sounds like we’ve opened some sort of Pandora’s Box.”

“Ghaelvord.” Tiyana said.

“Shenouda.” Hunter added.

“Well, you’re the scientist. What do you think?” Hunter asked her.

“Oh dear, where do I begin? First, he said ‘the Dahjaat,’ as if there are many of them. Second, are they here as well as in Egypt? Third, we still don’t know how he did what he did. Transformed, I mean. One minute he was weak and bent over; he could hardly walk. The next, he strode out of that inferno like an ox.”

“Do you think our host will tell us?” Hunter asked

“I don’t know. I like him, but he’s an enigma.” She replied.

“Well, what do you think?” Hunter asked.

“I honestly don’t know.” She replied.

“C’mon, it’s just you and me. Don’t hold out on me.” Hunter pressed on, “I know you have a theory.”

She took a deep breath and began to protest, but she saw the look in Hunter’s eyes and caved in.

“Well, I can’t believe I’m entertaining this or saying it out loud, but… I think that maybe he drew on the energy in the volcano. Energy and mass are, technically, interchangeable. Imagine a nuclear explosion in reverse. Instead of splitting an atom where the lost mass becomes energy, the geothermic energy becomes mass and turns Ghaelvord into the beast. It sounds insane, I know. It probably is.”

Hunter took the stone from his satchel and stared at it. Light refracted from it. The deep blue crystal held an enchanting allure.

“And what about this stone?” Hunter asked. “Thoughts?”

Tiyana stroked her chin, “Well, there are theories about an ‘island of stability’ for elements with an atomic number of about 120 or 122. This rock could fall into that category. It’s not radioactive though.”

“I mean about the stone and Ghaelvord, the entrance to Shambhala, its significance. This stone must be important for some reason, but why?”

“I don’t know, dear. Maybe we’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

“Hey, we make a great team you and I. We’ll get to the bottom of this.” Hunter said.

Tiyana smiled and laughed, “We will, huh? I do love your confidence, John Terrance Price. Come here.” She beckoned.

Hunter jumped into the luxurious bed, with the luxurious woman. They temporarily forgot about the baffling circumstances leading them to this luxurious moment.