No Man's Land

[beaku 2,656]

No Man's Land

4th July, 1556. A remote location in North-Western India:
A solitary lamp was the only guide of the lost horseman. He knew he had to hurry before he or his horse succumbed to acute exertion. It had been over 12 hours since he had tasted a drop of water. His destination was still miles away. Inspite of everything, he clung to an odd looking leather bag as if it was the only thing keeping him alive. Deep within his heart, he somehow knew that this night would be his last.
At last, he could see the tiny shed. His work was done. He heard an odd drum beat and a man's gruff voice followed, "Stop right there! Identify yourself!". He got down from his horse and answered in a hoarse, feeble voice, "It is me, Ali, great grandson of Ibrahim Khan. Here to deliver Mughal's gift."
"Come on, in brother. There's a drum of water on the other side, leave your horse there. "
After securing his horse, he entered the shed and gave the leather bag to the gigantic man. The man took it with utmost care and placed it inside a steel box and proceeded to secure it. Ali looked around and saw a sack packed for journey. For a moment, he fancied that it was the courtesy of this man to pack him ration for his return journey. But before he could blink an eye he heard a very familiar 'shink' and in the next moment, was aware of extreme pain in his back. "Forgive me, brother. May your soul rest in peace". Those were the last words he heard before eternal darkness took over.

5th July, 1556. Some hundred miles North-West of Delhi
The horse didn't seem to mind that his rider had suddenly gained a lot of weight or that fact that he was in a greater hurry than before. Shashipal was indeed in a great hurry. There was no time to be lost. He did regret the fact that he had to kill an innocent man who now lay inside the ground near the outpost. Shashipal had made sure that he was buried with honors with all Islamic rituals. That was the least he could do for him. But he also knew that a life, or even a hundred lives were of no importance when it came to the protection of the great secret he carried with him. The so called 'Mughal's Gift'. He had no idea what it was or why it had so much significance attached to it. All he knew was that it had been passed down for many generations and at any given time, not more than a handful of people were aware of its presence, including the Mughal emperor himself. He had heard of Emperor Humayun's death a few months earlier and the chain of events to secure the secret had immediately been set in motion. Had this happened a few years later, Shashipal would have known to divulge the knowledge to the new emperor. But, Jalaludin was only a little boy. There was no way he was going to understand the importance of the secret. Shashipal still wasn't sure as to what he was going to do once he reached Delhi. He had heard rumors about Hemu marching to take Delhi. But he had faith in the Mughal Army. They'd definitely not allow that.

23rd August, 1556. Delhi
Teg Bahadur stood in silence as the body of his old apprentice was being taken through various rites. At last, it was put on the pyre and fire was lit. "Rest in peace, brother", Teg Bahadur whispered. Few hours later, he was at his home staring at a large steel box. "Exactly how many souls must be sacrificed before this thing is secured?!" He was quite angry with himself and with his ancestors. He had heard of Hemu's victory at Agra. Despite all precautions and measures, he knew Hemu would take over Delhi. The secret was no longer safe there. It had to be dispatched to Kabul as soon as possible. "Enough is enough! Too many lives have been lost in this bloody ordeal! No longer will this cursed Gift be allowed to take lives. As the last brother, I swear that no one else shall know about it until a time when the lost lives can be redeemed." With that solemn pledge, he ordered his servants to take the box down to stable. He would leave for Kabul immediately. In the midst of a dark and silent night, the solitary traveler galloped towards his destination.


One man's will, thousands condemned.
Cities laid to waste, millions became slaves.
The might of ten thousand armies put to shame.
O' Great one, protect us from the ultimate doom. Thy bidding shall be done if thou can save us from the light brighter than thousand suns! Edited July 1, 2016 by beaku

[Night-Sisters 2,139]

~Added Title

~Changed Font to Trebuchet 

~Made various spelling corrections 

 

 

Quite liked this, hopefully there's more coming =)

Edited June 30, 2016 by Night-Sisters

[Destrod 2,634]

Amazing job! It was a good read .

[momy950666 960]

nicely written,had fun reading :)

[beaku 2,656]

Sorry for the amateurish formatting. I'm down with cold and had nothing to do so I just typed this out on my mobile... :blush:

And yeah, there's definitely more coming. I haven't actually come up with the whole plot yet. I'll just improvise depending on response. :D

 

P.S. Though I've tried to be as historically accurate as possible, there might be some inconsistencies to accommodate various plot points so please forgive those.

Edited June 30, 2016 by beaku

[Zenyth 6,494]

good read, had that feel of indian history emanating from it

[ToHoYoNTaDa 1,147]

Simply, Good!

[mydoom.exe 5,154]

Nice story, 10/10 good anime would like a sequel of some sort to this.

[Cyborg 3,189]

:o baki has lot of skills  :rolleyes:

[r_Tellurium1 9]

nice.

[NERF836 202]

Nice