S E C R E T O F T H E
H I M A L A Y A N
T R E A S U R E
D I V Y A N S H M U N D R A
To all the amazing people on Quora;
Without whom I would have become another rom-com writer
probably!
CONTENTS
Prologue: The Battle of Kalinga
1. The Ring of the Seven
2. The Treasure Hunters
3. The Book of Secrets
4. First Blood
5. The Trance
6. Lanka
7. The Evil Master
8. Burnt Hopes
9. Wanderlust
10. Nepal
11. The Final Problem
12. The Treasure of the Gods
Epilogue: A Secret Lost
“ Not all those who wander are lost ”
~J. R. R. Tolkien
Prologue : The Battle of Kalinga
262 BCE
Somewhere on the banks of Daya River
He could see them running towards him; an army, a hundred thousand men strong. He could feel the vibrating earth beneath his feet, he could smell the dust being created by their stomping, and he could foretell the spillage of blood that would soak the land red when his army would collide with his enemy’s. He looked towards the commander standing to his right, who blew a gigantic horn, marking the commencement of the battle.
Three thousand angry war-elephants, who were barely able to control their madness, burst with fury as they heard the horn. And he had a smile on his face as he saw his magnificent beasts charge ahead with fervor towards his enemy. “I will win this war for you, grandfather” , he spoke to himself. “And I will find the greatest treasure that the human eyes have ever seen.”
“My king!” his commander interrupted, drawing him out of his thoughts. “We are here at last”, he continued as he drew out his sword and waited for the enemy.
“Yes my friend!” the king replied. “Here we are. And here begins the greatest battle in the history of mankind.” He pulled out his own sword; the heavy blade gleaming in the light of the morning sun and reflecting the figures of the massive army marching towards it, hungry for blood. “Satyameva Jayate! ” he yelled at the top of his voice, as his massive army repeated their battle cry and ran ahead, following his lead.
The stage was set. The curtain to the bloodiest battle in history was about to be lifted. And it would go on to be a battle that would influence millions of people, for a thousand years to come.
The war-elephants were the first to meet the enemy; their might enough to break the enemy formations. The mad beasts trumpeted hard and stomped even harder, as they squabbled with the other army. Ruckus and chaos ensued as elephant after elephant tore further into the enemy lines, crushing their chariots and breaking their bones. They ran as hard as they could and caused the most impact that a herd of mad animals can, taking down at least a couple of thousands in an instant and creating more fatalities as they moved forward. The men in the front lines, who were lucky enough to survive the attack from the warring elephants, were met by an even mightier force—iron. The charge led by the king was scarier than that of the trunk-bearing beasts, its effectiveness unmatched by any ground combat force in the world.
The foot soldiers met their scared enemies with vigor, as they showed no mercy and got to the business as soon as they could. Metal clashed with metal, cries of agony and shrieks of horror emanated from the land near the Daya River, and the pungent smell of blood reeked the morning air. The enemy soldiers, whose battle formations were already broken, met the blades of the disciplined army of the king, who himself led the charge to the first and what would prove to be the only battle in his lifetime.
He sported his blade horizontally as he made the first impact, his sword piercing the heart of an unfortunate man and passing through to the other side. He pulled it out immediately and turned around to smack it diagonally on the face of an oncoming soldier, disfiguring and killing him the very same moment. He strode further ahead as the tip of his sword punctured the eyeball of another one and turned around to bring his weapon with might, cleanly swiping off the arm of a soldier attacking at him from behind. He took a brief pause to wipe off the thick layer of blood accumulating on his beard before picking up another sword of a fallen warrior and moving ahead, wreaking havoc with both his hands this time. His other hand moved with equal precision as he went ahead to perform the surgery. His attacks were more a work of art than haphazard chaos, his kills precise amidst the carnage happening in that hell hole. He juggled with a few weapons, picking up the spears and shields of his fallen men while continuing to move forward. His army pushed hard, and emulating the strength of their king, they worked their way along the banks of Daya River like a well-oiled machine; killing their enemy, stomping on the dead ones and repeating the suit.
Within a few hours, tens of thousands were dead. The silent waters of the river bled red. The carnage wreaked by the war elephants was only intensified many folds by the walking army of the king. Death , was all that marked the place.
The king smiled a little as he heard the enemy horns go off well before the sunset, just as he had expected.
The sound of retreat!
His enemies withered away like a hive of bees struck by a stone. They were fighting aimlessly, and now they retreated aimlessly. Their bravery had betrayed them; their numbers had defeated them. And they ran back to fight another day.
The commander came panting hard by the side of his king as he looked into his glorious dark eyes, victory and power reflecting in them. “How was your day, my king?” he asked with a hint of a smile.
“A bloody good one”, the king replied as he came atop a low hill and watched his enemy forces run away for their lives.
“Your grandfather would be proud.”
“I still have a long way to go to match the might of my grandfather.”
“But Kalinga will know today that a new age has begun. The Age of Ashoka.”
Ashoka smiled a little as he wiped off the blood from his face and looked up at the blazing sun in the clear sky.
The Age of Ashoka! He muttered in his head, satisfied by the sound of it.
Chapter 1:The Ring of the Seven
Present day
Mumbai, India
Mr. Harish Vashishtha was staring at the Colt Mustang pocketlite gun in his hands. He gently caressed his fingers on its icy, metal surface while himself engrossed in deep thoughts. He couldn’t believe that after all his sacrifices and hard work, it had come down to this moment. He was born as the heir to one of the wealthiest families of India. His forefathers had left unimaginable amounts of money, and every successor had only multiplied the wealth in his family. The big moment came when his father had taken up to start his own steel plants right after the independence of the nation and by the time Harish turned twenty-one, his father was called the ‘Steel King of Asia’. Even then the old man was extremely cautious in raising up his only child. He did not let the wealth spoil his son. Harish was brought up in the most loving and disciplined way, which ensured that he would grow up to expand the family’s name. And he had lived up to his family’s expectations.
When he turned forty, the Vashishtha Group were not only the largest exporters of steel from India but also had their hands in airlines, banking, telecommunications, and retail industries. It was then that his father had a heart attack and upon his deathbed he passed on the greatest secret of their family to Harish, who was sworn to secrecy and had to promise his father that he would never ever speak of it. For twenty years he had kept it from everyone until that fatefu
l day.
He was sitting in the courtyard outside his mansion in Mumbai. He had called a press conference and could see the hustle in the vast crowd before him. There were multiple media vans and guards were trying to control the ever enthusiastic reporters. For the past few months Harish’s life had been vastly covered on media because of multiple death threats, an attack on his steel plant which had left forty-one dead, the landslide of his company’s shares in the past two financial years, and a failed assassination attempt that very morning. People knew that somehow he had got himself deep in trouble with the wrong guys. Everyone was expecting some sort of a big revelation in the press conference and thus every news channel was broadcasting it live. It was eight thirty in the night and thousands of Indians were glued to their TV sets.
“I would like to express my gratitude to every media person present here who came on such a short notice”, he began addressing the gathering. “As you all know that there have been a few unanswered questions in the recent past which has left the entire nation wondering as to what is wrong with this lovely old man. It has been so many years now that I have built one of the most prominent business empires of Asia; I have seen so much wealth that no one could even imagine in their daydreams. It is as if I was an alchemist who knew how to convert metal into gold”, he said with a smile while his face showed a sign of calmness and serenity, the creases on his forehead giving out his struggles. “Well today is your lucky day gentlemen. I am all ready to spill the beans about the recent attacks on me and my businesses.” He stopped for a moment to phrase his words and nervously moved his hands over his coat’s inner pocket to feel the gun that he hid there.
“As you all know now that there was an attempt to kill me this morning, just like there has been some in the past few months. But today they managed to get really close. As I walked down my car and headed to my office, some sniper took an aim at me and pulled the trigger. Well fortunately for me, the bullet missed its mark by a whisker. It was so close that I could have felt its heat, that I could smell the gunpowder. I honestly swear to god that if I had been even one step to my left, all your media men present here might have been covering my funeral at this moment. But there is one more thing about today’s attempt to assassinate me”, he paused. “It has freed me of my fear to die. In the recent past, I sure was afraid of death, but today I have become tired of it”, he took a pause to glance at a few anxious faces he could see in the vast ocean of humanity before him. “In this press conference, I am ready to reveal a secret which my father had told me upon his deathbed, which he was perhaps told by my grandfather when he was on his. My family has been part of a group, a secret group whose purpose is to protect one of the most fabled and valuable secrets of the ancient world. Perhaps that is the reason that my family has been one of the wealthiest since god only knows when.” He paused as there was a sudden roar of whispers from the crowd.
“About a year ago, an event occurred, which has led me to believe that all of a sudden I have become a liability to this society. And how do they deal with him? They try to eliminate him. They blow up his steel plant. They try to destroy his business empire. They attempt to kill one of the most influential men of the country. Yes, my friends, it is this very society which is trying to erase the name of the Vashishthas from the face of this planet. And do I let them do it? Do I let them kill me after all the sacrifices my forefathers have made to protect the identity of this institution? Absolutely not”, he said with an expression of solitude on his face.
“The man who tried to kill me today is present right here”, he said with boldness in his voice so as to overpower the commotion which his words had caused in the crowd before him. “Yes, it is true. He is sitting right between you folks, staring at me steadily, waiting for the moment when I disclose something relevant so that he could have the perfect excuse to kill me”, he said in an absolute tone. His face was expressionless. He always carried this face whenever he was about to do something big. Anyone who was watching it live on their TV sets could surely guess that something unnatural was about to transpire. Harish Vashishtha slowly moved his hand to the inside of his coat pocket and placed his finger on the trigger of the fully loaded colt mustang resting there.
“Now I speak directly to the Masters”, he narrowed his tone suddenly and stared into the cameras. “Whatever actions I have taken were directly aimed at the benefit of our secrets, to keep our history alive, to keep our brotherhood alive. But there is one thing you should know for sure. I tried my best to save our secret from the evil. If there was anything that I could have done to prevent it, I surely would have. But you all should know that I always was, and will always remain loyal to our cause.” He picked up a pen and wrote something on a paper resting on the table before him. The crowd was silent, the media men anxiously waiting for something big to happen. He took out his gun and kept it in his lap; the prying eyes of the people unaware of what transpired under the table.
Harish Vashishtha took a deep breath and suddenly looked at a man seated in the front row, who hastily removed the buttons of his coat and took out a revolver. He was waiting for Harish to make a silly move and he would pull the trigger without any hesitation. The man had a strange tattoo towards the left side of his neck; a bull, one which Harish recognized seeing that very morning. Harish firmly held onto his gun. His face showed a glimpse of smile as the man with the bull tattoo was well within the range of his bullet. Moreover, the man was unaware that Harish too had a weapon.
“I have always been responsible and had followed my duties uprightly. I tried to save our secret”, he said without shifting his gaze. “I was and always will be loyal to our cause. So I have destroyed the only thing which could lead anyone to the greatest secret in the history of mankind. And Masters, I know that you will be pleased with what I am about to do.”
The crowd shrieked in horror as he took out the gun in the full view of the cameras. The man with the bull tattoo was abruptly about to make his move, and that is when he heard Harish speak. “I am now with you Sumathi.” Tears rolled down his eyes as he took the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
The nation fell silent as they saw blood spurting out the other side of Harish Vashishtha’s face. Everyone was stunned to even make a move. The sound of the gunshot echoed through the silence of the masses, as they saw the lifeless body of one of the most influential figures of the country, swaying to the right and falling down on the concrete floor below.
It took some time for the TV viewers to realize that it was all happening right before them; live . They came to their senses when they saw people rushing up the stage. All of a sudden there was a roar of cries emerging like fire, quickly filling up the vacuum which was created. There was rumbling in the crowd. Cameramen plunged to the stage to capture the best of the horrific moment. They wanted to send out the live images to the world before the guards would stop them. Prateek Kabra was struggling along with the other cameramen who were being thrown off by the guards. There was enormous commotion everywhere on the stage and cries were still being heard. He managed to punch through two guards and brought his camera close to the lifeless body of Mr. Vashishtha, whose disfigured face was brought to the attention of millions of Indians watching it live on their TV sets. Prateek moved back two steps when he instead shifted his focus to a piece of paper lying on the table where Harish had written something just seconds before his death. He managed to zoom in on the writing before being stormed off by a guard. What it read was going to haunt the minds of his countrymen for the rest of their lives.
The Ring of the Seven
Chapter 2: The Treasure Hunters
“The thing about treasure hunting is that it is always the unexpected. I started out, looking to solve the mystery of the lineage of an ancient family of my hometown and ended up finding an invaluable pearl. A similar thing happened when I was vacationing near Maldives and ended up finding the sunken treasure of a seventeenth century Portuguese f
leet. And don’t even get me started about the mystery of the haunted fort in Rajasthan… that one, was exquisite by all measures. I never seek the treasure, you see… it is the treasure itself that finds me”, he looked away from the camera towards an elegant woman standing towards his right. “IT IS THE TREASURE ITSELF THAT FINDS ME? Seriously? What are you guys doing? Want to make me sound like a magician?”
“No Aarav, it is not that. We just thought that it would suit our narrative better…” the woman tried speaking up but was chided by the other man the very same moment.
“Oh god! Why on earth am I shedding so much money on PR? Why the hell do I even need your services?”
“Just finish with interview”, his friend who was standing in the back requested him, while guzzling down an energy drink.
“I am trying to. You know I really am. I don’t like it either, to sit with so much make-up caked on my face, and repeat these boring lines like a robot the entire day. I have work to do. Much important work than any of these pesky PR guys will understand. Actually, you know what, let’s do the entire thing without a script. From the beginning. Let us roll the cameras again.”
The cameraman rolled his eyes before starting to record the interview over for the third time since that morning.
“I never started out to be a treasure hunter you see”, Aarav spoke looking hard into the camera and clearing his throat. “For the others it is just a whole lot of adventure with a little bit of history, but the reality is far from what they show in the movies. It all begins with the utmost trust like any other job. You have to believe that there is plenty of treasure out there, lying under cold dark waters for ages, waiting to be found by you. Because the truth is that most people whom I’ve met in this field have sacrificed their lives in search of that treasure which would make them rich, and yet they live out their days into the oblivion, forever unknown and forgotten in the end. I am not in this field for the money you see; that is collateral to the art. I’m a treasure hunter because I love it, because the mere thought that there is a ton of forgotten treasure sitting out there, waiting to be found by me fills me up with excitement and makes me…”, he paused all of a sudden as an elderly woman disturbed his interview.
Secret of the Himalayan Treasure Page 1
