Escape From Shambala

In the ruins of Shambala, after Drake and his companions had escaped, back in the building where the Chintimani Stone was located, where Harry Flynn had supposedly ended his own life, is where our story begins.

Flynn lie against a stone pillar, facedown. The sap from the Tree of Life had spread all over the city. It dripped from the ceiling. Drops started to land on Flynn's face. After a hours, Harry began to show signs of life. He opened his eyes, and realized he was alive. Shocked, he tried to sit up, and felt immense pain and realized how badly he had been hurt. Although he was closest to the grenade that blew up, most of the shrapnel seemed to miss him, it was the only explanation he could think of, it missed him, and a good portion of it hitting Elena. Why the shockwave and the shrapnel had not killed him he was unsure, until he saw it. The grenade had rolled over the ledge, stopping the shockwave that went towards his direction and instead it was sent the other way, that had cut off most of the shockwave, enough for him to survive. He quickly realized that sitting up was going to be no easy feat. He once again tried, and with all his might he managed to sit upright, breathing heavily. His memories were foggy, but at last he remembered, he had tried to kill Drake, Chloe and Elena in a suicide mission. He looked back at it and felt like an idiot. For actually doing it, and following that pig Lazeravic. The things Flynn wanted to do to that man. He wondered if Drake had killed him, and escaped, knowing him yes. He was on that floor for maybe hours as he regained his strength. His body was hurting but his adrenaline was pumping, and he needed to get going if he ever wanted to get out of Shambala alive. He managed to rise to his feet, feeling uneasy and unbalanced. He stepped a few feet and tripped on something.

"Shit!" He yelled as he crashed to the ground, with immense pain following. He turned over to see what he had tripped on. It was his desert eagle that Chloe had stolen from him. She must of dropped it when the grenade went off. He picked it up, to see if it was loaded. It was, and he still had a few clips of ammo for it in his pocket.

"Thank you Chloe," he said as he put it in his holster. He walked down the stairs, slowly but steadily. he reached the bottom and turned, limping for his leg was aching and was probably broken, but he didn't care. He'd worry about that later. He staggered along the path across dead bodies, many disfigured. He knew what had happened here, Drake killed them and it looks like those beasts feasted on the scraps. It was a sickening sight. Flynn found a M4 assault rifle among the dead bodies.

"You won't be needing this where your going mate," he chuckled as he took some ammo from the dead man's bandolier and shoved it into his coat pocket. He walked along the pathway and realized that there was a trail of blood. Not like someone just died, but as if someone was being carried along. Then it hit him, Elena had approached him as the grenade went off. It must of either injured or killed her. If it had killed her, then Drake wouldn't just leave her, no he would try to carry her back, but someone had to kill these men and Chloe was without a weapon. That would mean Chloe carried Elena out, while Drake cleared the way. As he went he found clips of ammo on the ground, dropped by Drake as he reloaded his gun. He followed the blood trail and came to a sight that definitely made him smile. It was Lazarevic. But he wasn't dead. No he was alive, but barely, crawling, injured with broken bones. He looked to be in worse shape then Flynn was in. Flynn laughed so loud Lazarevic stopped and turned, his eyes went wide.

"Well look at the mighty Zoran Lazarebitch!" He chuckled as he spoke. "What's the matter mate? Bite off more than you could chew?"

"Its not possible..." Lazarevic said, so lightly Flynn could barely hear him.

"It seems your little plan backfired, my only suprise is Drake didn't kill you himself! I guess his morality got the better of him!"

Lazarevic tried to scare Flynn into helping him, "Help me up you fool!" Lazarevic yelled, "I command you!"

"You "command" me? Your in no position to make commands mate,"

"I am your commander! Without me you never would of gotten this far! Our deal was that you would help me find Shambala!" He yelled, losing control.

"Yes, and I did. The only reason I ever followed you was because you would kill me if I did not, yet now you are in no position to make threats now!" Flynn taunted him. "I'm done taking orders from you! In fact I think its time I paid you back for what you did to me," Flynn said as he raised his pistol at Zoran.

"You can't! You won't! You don't have the will!" Zoran yelled, trying to get use the same line on him as he did with Drake.

"Oh I'll think you'll find I have plenty of will. I've had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to do to you! Now I have the chance!" Harry said. Flynn didn't have the same heart of Drake, he never wished to be a hero, he would do whatever he thought was necessary, or whatever pleased him, whatever that was. He cocked the pistol.

Lazarevic was losing it, the cold, confident side of him dissapeared as he faced death in the eye. "You traitor! You backstabbing scum! You will rue this day! I shall make you pay! I will destroy you!" He yelled.

Flynn chuckled, "Get in line," he fired the pistol. The sound echoed into the the ruined city of Shambala. Disturbing the peace of the crushed paradise. Lazarevic was shot backwards and rolled a few yards until crashing into a rock with a sickening thud. The war criminal had finally met his end. Flynn shot him again just to be sure.

"If I ever see Drake again I have to thank him for leaving Lazarevic alive for me," he chuckled as he turned away. He turned and saw the blood trail lead on. He followed it to a familiar sight. The entrance to Shambala.

"Looks like Drake did make it out. I wonder how far he made it," His leg was somehow almost completely healed now. The sap that dropped on him must of been healing his injuries, for now he felt no pain at all. He made his way towards the entrance, but then a sound caught his attention. He looked to see two guardians running towards him.

"You? Again? Come on don't you guys ever quit?" He fired at the beast with his rifle, the bullets had little effect on the beast. The other one pulled out a sling and began throwing some fossilized resin at him.

"Great now what? Wait a second," he remembered the resin was flammable. He fired at the resin the guardian was swinging at it erupted into a huge explosion. It was sent flying over the edge, into the abyss below.

However the other one reached him and tried to take a swing at him. Harry dodged and soon realized he was no match for the beast in melee combat. He needed to get away. Just then the beast grabbed him and threw him against the wall. The pain was great, but not nearly as bad as what he had gone through. He had to think fast as the beast began to charge again. He pulled out his knife and when the beast reached him it swung at Harry. Harry rolled behind it and jumped on its back. Before it could react Flynn shoved the knife into the guardian's throat. The beast choked, and slumped to the ground. Flynn removed his knife from the beast and got to his feet.

"Whew lucky break, can't take another chance with these things I have to get out of here before more show up," He hurried up the staircase, into the cavern. He heard more roars of the beasts behind him. He picked up the pace. He was running at full speed towards the exit of the godforsaken place. He saw a ledge and jumped, he just barely made it, as he grasped onto the side. It started to crumble.

"Not good!" He said as he quickly pulled himself up. The guardian that was following him was catching up. Flynn pulled himself up and ran. The ledge started to crumble. The creature jumped and tried to grab on but the ledge gave and it fell into the darkness. Flynn was running across the ledge as it was collapsing now, if he stopped to catch his breath he would fall just like the beast. He came to the part where him and Drake had dropped down. He quickly climbed up, and looked to his side. At last he saw the staircase that led into Shambala. The ground in front of the staircase caved in.

"Oh come on!" He yelled. He jumped and landed on the edge of the staircase, the rest of the path crumbling as he jumped. He stood there, catching his breath. And began to laugh. He didn't know why, maybe it was because he just stared death in the face and made it out alive more times than he can count. He soon walked up the staircase into the old monastery. He looked back.

"And so ends the story of lost city of Shambala, I guess some mysteries are better left unsolved. Time to get out of this nightmare."

Lucky for Flynn he knew how to hotwire a truck. He soon found one and started it. Soon he was on his way out of the monastery. Where? He wasn't sure. He didn't know what to do. He was out of leads. He felt no purpose. He knew one thing though, he needed a vacation. Try to think of his next job. It needed to be big. And he would need help. Of course it would be a little akward of him to find Drake again but he needed someone. He continued to think, and almost drove off the road. First he had to think of a place to start.

1 Year Later

In Madrid Spain, Flynn sat at a bar, yet had not had one thing to drink. It had been nearly a year since the incident in Shambala, and he had a few small jobs, but nothing very large. He hadn't seen Drake since Shambala, and he was thankful for that. He needed a big job, he had become known, and was hoping to get a call offering him something. Then that call came. His cellphone rang, Flynn answered it. "Hello?" He said.

"Is this Harry Flynn?" A deep voice came.

"That depends, who is this?" He asked, waking up from his daze.

"My name is Jack Slade," Flynn recognized the name, a famous merc commander. "I've got something you may be interested in, it pays well, if you're interested, come to New York City, when you reach there, call this number back, and I'll tell you where to meet me, sound interesting?" Slade asked.

"It does, I'll come and meet you," Flynn told him.

"Excellent, are you still working with a one Chloe Frazier?" He asked.

Flynn was suprised, this guy really knew a lot about him. "No, I'm working alone now," Then someone walked into the building. It was an old friend, and the timing couldn't of been better. Chloe Frazier. The chances were unbelievable. It had to be fate, he thought. She walked into the bar, looking a little uncertain herself. She sat down at a table as a waiter asked her for her order. "On second thought, she may be joining me afterall," he stated.

"Good, now I'll see you when you land,"

"I hear ya mate," he said as he hung up the phone. He looked back at Chloe, she was facing the other way, then someone came with her drink. She could defintely help with whatever this guy wanted. He thought about it, and went for it. He would have to be careful with how he approached her though.

He got up from his stool and walked over. "What's a lovely lady like yourself doing in a seedy place like this love?"

Chloe sighed. "I don't have time for drunks so just do yourself a favor and leave," She said without looking at him.

"Oh I think you'll have plenty of time to give for what I'm about to propose," Flynn said smiling.

Chloe got the wrong idea and stood up and was about to punch Flynn dead in the face. She got up from her chair and turned and said. "You have a lot of-...wait, H-Harry? Oh my god it is you!" She threw her arms around him. Then she slapped him across the face.

"Ow, what was that for?" Harry asked.

"For trying to blow us all up!" She told him.

"You know, I did try to save you on several occasions but you kept on going back over to his side. I don't blame you though, Lazarevic was a prick. I'm suprised Drake didn't kill him himself,"

"What do you mean? Wait a second, Harry let's not get ahead of ourselves you have to answer some questions first, sit down,"

"Fine, I'll answer your questions, and in return I expect you to listen to my proposal,"

Flynn sat down, Chloe was still in shock. "Okay first question, how did you survive? When Elena barely did, and you were right next to the blast?"

"Well, when I dropped the grenade, it rolled over the ledge I was on onto the floor below. The small ledge blocked off most of the shockwave and shrapnel, and it most of it ended up going towards Elena. She probably got it worse than me actually, took me a while to get up and about though," Flynn concluded.

"Okay, next question, what do you mean by Nate not killing Lazarevic?"

"I found him crawling away from the Tree Of Life, he was alive, but barely. Can't say the same for him anymore though,"

"So you killed him then?" Chloe asked.

"Seemed like the sensible thing to do, the man was a damn lunatic! He won't be bothering anyone now, he, along with Shambala, are gone forever,"

"Good riddance, okay one final question, what are you doing here?"

"Until just a few minutes ago, I wasn't sure, until I just got a call, offering me a job, the strangest thing too, he asked if we were still working together, and as soon as I was about to say no, you walked in," He told her.

"You're kidding," Chloe replied chuckling. "So what's this about a job?" She asked.

"Ah, so you're interested then?" Flynn realized.

"I've got nothing to lose, but, do you know anything about this guy?" She asked.

"His name is Jack Slade," Flynn told him.

"One-Eyed Jack Slade? The famous mercenary commander? Why does he want to see you for?" She asked him.

"Not sure, but he's not a homicidal maniac, that's a start," Flynn said chuckling.

"Fine, I'll come with you on whatever it is this guy wants, and if it sounds interesting, I'll tag along," Chloe told him.

"Okay, but first I have to ask, whatever happened to Drake?" Flynn questioned.

Chloe sighed, "Not sure anymore, I left the village a few days after Elena pulled through, things got...complicated, I really don't want to talk about it, he could still be there for all I know, but I seriously doubt it," Chloe said, taking a sip of her drink.

"So Elena did survive then, I wasn't sure after I saw all the blood trails," Flynn mentioned.

"Yeah she was a wreck, lucky she made it at all," Chloe told him.

"So we have 3 days to get to New York City," Flynn told her, getting back on subject.

"A time limit? How cliched," Chloe said chuckling.

"Well we better get moving if we want to make it," Flynn told her. "First, Chloe, what are you even doing here?" He asked.

"I had nowhere else to go, and some of my family lives in Spain," she told him.

"I see, well let's get a few planet tickets out of here,"

Flynn and Chloe had landed in New York City, they had just walked out of the airport, and were taking a look around.

"Wow this place is huge," Chloe examined, "You know I've never been to New York City?" She told Flynn.

"You're kidding, hold on let me call Slade," he said as he dialed the number.

"It's all business with you all of a sudden," Flynn put his finger up to his mouth to signal her to be quiet.

Chloe looked annoyed and sat down on a bench. Flynn's call was answered. "Mr. Flynn, I've assumed you've landed," He said.

"Yes, now where do you want to meet?" Flynn asked.

"Meet me at my penthouse at 415 Jefferson Street, in Manhattan,(not even sure if there is a Jefferson Street in New York City)I'm on the top floor. Is Ms. Frazier with you?" He asked.

"Yeah she's here," Flynn assured him.

"Good, do not dissapoint me," he said, hanging up.

Flynn put his phone away and looked to Chloe. "I got it, he said 415 Jefferson Street," He said.

"Okay, let's call a cab," Chloe stated. They went to the street and waved down a taxi. It pulled over, they both got in.

"415 Jefferson Street," Flynn told him.

"You got it," the cab driver replied. Minutes passed as they drove into the richer parts of Manhattan, they passed the Empire State Building, and stopped only a few blocks down from it. "Here we are, 415 Jefferson Street, that'll be 22.89," the man said. Flynn paid the driver and they both got out, and observed the giant building in front of them. It looked like it was 70 stories tall.

"Bloody hell, this is where this guy lives?" Flynn said awed.

"Which floor did he say?" Chloe asked, but still looking at the building.

"The top one," Flynn replied.

"Well what are we waiting around here for?" Chloe said as she walked up the steps into the building.

The building was full of employees and people working around, it just looked like a normal lobby. Chloe spotted an elevator and they both went to it, and pushed the button, the door opened and they both walked in. They pressed floor 70, and waited for the long elevator ride up.

"I hate elevators," Flynn remarked.

"Why?" Chloe asked.

"I'm always afraid I'll get stuck in one of them," Flynn told her.

"Which room does this guy have?" Chloe asked him.

"He didn't say," Flynn replied.

"So how will we know which one it is?" Then the doors opened, to reveal a huge room, decorated with the most expensive material money can buy, they walked out, a chandelier hung from the ceiling. "You've got to be kidding me," Chloe said awed.

"This guy has an entire floor of this huge building all to himself?" Flynn asked to nobody.

"Actually 2, this is the second," Slade said, walking out from the hallway, two armed guards followed. He wore an black overcoat, a black-brimmed hat, he was slender, had black straggly hair that went down to his shoulders, a stubble of a beard, and icy blue eyes. He had an eyepatch, hence the nickname "One Eyed Jack". He approached them, his armed guards following. He extended his arm, and Flynn shook it. "Mr. Flynn its good to finally meet you," he said, not smiling.

"Likewise," Flynn replied.

He looked to Chloe, "You must be Ms. Frazier," he said extending his hand once more. "Flynn mentioned that you might be joining us," Slade told her. "Please follow me," he said as he walked out, they followed him into what he assumed was an office of some sort, it was a long room, at the end, a desk, with a room-sized window that had an amazing view, overlooking the entire city.

"Impressive," Flynn complimented.

"It's the place I spend when I come to the city," He told them. "Now sit down, we have much to discuss," he said. He went over behind the desk, and the two sat across from him in two chairs.

"Alright, let's get right down to it, I need your services on a little expedition I have planned, I have found many different sources, and have reason to believe that I have found the Lost Mayan City of Uxmal (not real). According to this, he took out a map, it should be right, here," He stated pointing to the southern tip of Mexico. "It is said to harbor the famous Stone Of Takal," Slade stated.

"Stone of Takal?" Chloe asked.

"A flawless Jade Stone that is said to be the size of your torso, probably worth hundreds of millions, if we find it, which we will need you for," He told them.

Flynn blinked, "Wait hold up...Did you say hundreds of millions?"

"I did, if found, each of you will be given 10% of the profits," he stated.

"That's a lot of money," Flynn stated.

"We're going to need a large force in order to scope out such a large area, I suppose your group of mercs will be handling that?" Chloe assumed.

"No, my group is not large enough to cover such a large area, we are currently trying to find a large group of mercenaries," Slade answered.

"You say you're still searching?" Flynn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, why? Did you have someone in mind?" Slade asked.

"Would you mind...pirates?" Flynn asked.

"Pirates? How many are we talking?" Slade asked.

"A hundred, maybe more," he said.

"Hmmmmmm, who is the leader of these pirates?" Slade asked.

"His name is Eddy Raja," Flynn answered.

"I thought he was dead," Slade told him.

"Really? Because, I heard he was somewhere in Jamaica at the moment," Flynn mentioned.

"Hmmmmmm, pirates eh? Well, we would like to be on this journey as soon as possible, fine, you find this Eddy Raja, and we'll use him and his men, now do we have a deal?" Slade asked, holding out his hand.

Flynn looked to Chloe, she nodded, Flynn looked back, "Deal," he stated.

So Flynn has met up with Chloe after surviving Shambala, and now he has a new job, but first he must find the supposed dead Eddy Raja. Eddy's Escape is another story of mine describing how Eddy survived, and meets up with Flynn in Jamaica two years later. They go on the expedition, in another story, A new adventure: Old Friends, New Enemies. But Drake gets involved, and things get complicated, just like they always do whenever Drake shows up. See my other stories if you're interested. Review!