The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter LXXXV: Raza and the Pirates

Amidst all the chaos that was happening in the icy mountains of the Himalayas, one character was still on the loose- nobody knew where he was exactly. Raza, the greedy, selfish, good for nothing pirate was missing. Ram Babu saw him getting dragged away by the Yeti in the hollow mountains and presumed that he was dead but in reality he was very much alive. After the incident, the Pirate found himself trapped inside a massive cavern with his hands and feet tied. The Yeti thought that he was dangerous and decided to keep him captive until they figured out what to do with him. They called the white man to decide his fate and the hermit immediately came to the conclusion that he was a harmless little fellow whose only dream was to get rich beyond his wildest imaginations. But he was still a pirate and had caused a lot of trouble in his heyday. So the white man suggested that he should be kept their prisoner for some time until he had learned his lesson. So for the past month or so, Raza was trapped in a cavern in some remote place in the Himalayan Mountains.

He was treated more like a slave to these wild creatures. They made him clean up after they eat and even work on repairing their huts. Some other days they would tie a long rope to his leg and send him to forage wild herbs and fruits as they watched from a distance. If they ever found him loitering about and neglecting his work, they would smack him lightly in the head which would persuade him to keep working. There was no escape- where would he go? Even if he tried, there was only ice as far as the eye could see- he wouldn’t survive half a day without help in these mountains. The more he spent time with these apes, the more he realized that they were much intelligent than he had previously thought. They were not the mindless apes that he presumed but much sociable and smart, except they had no notion about modern technology- they were more or less like early Neanderthals. But soon Raza would catch himself wondering, what if these apes- these Yetis were early human beings who have survived till now? That would be a mind boggling fact.

Whenever the day was over, the Yetis would shove him down the empty cavern and throw him some veggies and an occasional piece of deer meat. He would light a fire inside his prison, cook the food, eat and fall asleep. Some nights, he would dream about his heydays, the days when he used to rule the rivers as the most notorious pirate of all time. The police had a price on his head but he would never get caught. He would often dream about finding great treasures and becoming a rich landlord and even marrying a lovely woman. But there would be nights when he would have nightmares, which would wake him up in cold sweat. Those nights, he would lie in the darkness with his eyes open, thinking about the foreigner and his friends- Ram Babu, the Princess, the Thug- Kali. He wondered where they were. Have they been successful in their quest? Did they find the treasure he was after? He would often think about his mates- his loyal friends whom he presumed to be dead in the train accident. If they were here, they could easily defeat the Yetis and rescue him. But Alas! They too had to die because of his selfish mission. He would sometimes feel guilty about their deaths but his moral compass was faulty and painted by greed. So, he would scoff and tell himself that they all knew the risks when they signed up to be pirates! Deep in his heart, he was a selfish, lonely and greedy man and he really wished to get out of this place somehow…

Far away from the Himalayas, in some unknown location, Raza’s crew were scavenging for food and shelter. With their boss missing, the second in command, Ali, took charge. During the train fire, most of them jumped out of the train and landed into a lake. They were injured but alive. Three of them never made it. Days later, they gathered themselves and began searching for food. Their Boss had abandoned them and Ali wanted to find that selfish son of a gun and make him pay. While most of the others simply wanted to stay alive and feed themselves. They didn’t care who was in charge as long as their bellies were full and they had a few gold coins in their pockets. The crew was now comprised of eleven men including Ali. Eleven dumb idiots with their collective IQ lesser than a ten year old. But Ali was different. He was smarter and ambitious than Raza but he lacked the guts to ever question him. He was barely five foot tall and had a large fat belly. With Raza gone, he finally had the confidence to stand up in his place and lead the group which he always wanted to. He announced to his crew that he would now be in charge and he gave a speech on how he would soon lead them towards a great treasure which Raza would could never do. The crew cheered on hearing the word treasure- that was all the motivation they needed. Ali set priorities – firstly, they need to find food and shelter by any means necessary and then look for better weapons. After they are well rested and fed, they would go and look for Raza. Ali doubted that Raza had abandoned them so that he could have the treasure all for himself. He swore to put his blade through Raza’s heart if he ever met him again. He assumed that the foreigner must have been leading Raza towards a great treasure which must have blinded Raza and he betrayed his crew. Such treasure must be truly greater than all the treasures in the world, he presumed. So, he sought to find the whereabouts of the foreigner and Raza- this would be his ultimate goal!