The Awakening of Tides

The moon hung low over Sagarapur, its pale reflection rippling across the still sea.Not a sound stirred except for the restless whispers of the waves lapping against the shore. The people of the coastal town, once bustling with laughter and fish-sellers’ calls, now huddled inside their dim huts, afraid to even look toward the ocean.
The night after the first monster’s defeat had been peaceful. Too peaceful.The villagers had called Kedar and his friends heroes. Garlanded them. Offered them the last of their food. Even Guru Parshu’s distant students would have been proud of the way the trio had fought together.
For two days, everything stayed quiet. The team believed it was over.But evil never sleeps that easily.

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1. The Barrier
On the third night, screams echoed from the southern pier.
By the time Kedar and Anant reached there, half of the pier had vanished beneath the tide.A fisherman’s boat lay shattered — and there was no sign of the man who’d sailed it.
Then, a glowing line appeared across the horizon — a translucent dome of blue energy rising from the ocean, sealing the entire bay like a divine curse.
“Wha—what is that?” Shakti whispered, eyes wide as the barrier shimmered overhead.
Aryan tapped furiously on his wrist tablet. “Some kind of energy field… I’ve never seen this before. It’s not man-made. The readings— they’re off the charts!”
A crackling hum filled the air, making their hair stand on end. Kedar reached out, pressing a hand against the glowing barrier. The energy stung his palm, like touching molten metal.
He gritted his teeth. “We’re trapped.”
Aryan’s eyes widened as he checked the signals again. “It’s not just us. The entire village is inside it.”
“Then we fight our way out,” Anant said coldly, his chakra disk shimmering faintly at his side. “Something made this barrier. We’ll find it… and break it.”

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2. The Descent
By morning, Aryan’s mind was already in motion.He built three specialized Dive Suits — powered by miniature Prana cores and reinforced with metal and seaweed fibers. The suits had transparent helms, glowing chest seals, and flexible tubing along the arms for oxygen circulation.
“These will last about an hour underwater,” Aryan explained, adjusting the seals on Kedar’s armor. “The Prana cores inside will keep your vitals stable. You’ll also be able to channel your powers through the suit — though… Kedar, your fire might be tricky.”
Kedar gave a small smirk. “When has it ever been easy?”
Aryan sighed, shaking his head. “There are life cables attached to each suit — they’re connected directly to me. If something goes wrong, I’ll pull you up immediately.”
Anant twirled his chakra disk, the edge humming faintly. “You worry too much, genius.”
“And you underestimate too much,” Aryan shot back, tightening the last strap.
Shakti checked her blade systems — twin aura sabers that gleamed faintly like liquid moonlight. “Let’s end this before the sea decides to swallow more lives.”
The team exchanged silent nods.Then, one by one, they waded into the surf — and vanished beneath the dark waves.

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3. Beneath the Blue Abyss
The world below was a graveyard of forgotten light.
As they descended deeper, rays of sunlight fractured into silvery shards across broken statues and coral-coated ruins. Ancient stone faces stared blankly from beneath the sand — remnants of a time when this coast had once extended far into the ocean.
Kedar floated at the front, his hands glowing faintly orange within the dark.He couldn’t summon flames underwater, but he could manipulate heat, creating bursts of steam to move faster or repel approaching creatures.
“Vitals steady,” Aryan’s voice echoed through the communicator. “Stay close. Don’t split up. My sensors are detecting faint bio-signatures about fifty meters below.”
“Looks like we’ve got company,” Anant muttered, readying his chakra disk.
Then the sea shifted.
A shimmer of movement — dozens of shadows darting in and out of the coral.The first creature lunged.
It was like a man twisted into a lobster’s form — claws sharp enough to slice steel, eyes glowing green, shell glistening with algae. It screeched, bubbles bursting from its maw.
Kedar kicked off the seabed, dodging as the claw sliced through the sand where he’d stood.
“Contact! We’ve got hostiles!” he shouted.
Shakti’s twin aura blades ignited — a gleaming X of blue light. She slashed through one creature’s arm, the blade leaving trails of light through the water.
“Behind you!” Anant warned.
He swung his chakra disk, the weapon spinning like a silver sun. It sliced clean through two of the creatures, splitting into two halves mid-spin — one circling back, the other driving forward. The precision was divine.
Kedar felt his chest tighten — the fire in him wanted to roar, but water smothered it. Still, he focused. Heat. Pressure. Expansion.
Steam exploded from his palms, blasting him forward like a rocket. He slammed his fist into a monster’s chest, the boiling force cracking its shell open.
Even underwater, his eyes burned faintly red.
“Nice one!” Shakti shouted, parrying another claw. “You’re learning!”
Kedar grinned through the comms. “Just improvising!”
One by one, the creatures fell — their shells sinking into the dark sand. But each time one died, the ocean floor pulsed with faint red light, as if feeding off their deaths.
“Something’s wrong,” Aryan’s voice trembled slightly. “The energy field around the village just spiked. Kedar— what did you guys just do?”
“Destroyed about twenty of those things,” Kedar answered.
“Then you just woke something up,” Aryan whispered.

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4. The Tremor
The sea began to quake.A low rumble rolled through the depths, sending waves of sand and broken coral spiraling upward.
“Everyone regroup! Now!” Anant barked.
From the abyss below, a golden light began to glow — faint at first, then brighter, until the entire seabed shimmered with blinding radiance.
“Is that… a gate?” Shakti whispered.
Then, out of that gate, a claw emerged.
It was the size of a boat — plated with red armor, dripping with molten light. Another followed. And then a head, crowned with coral horns, eyes like burning sapphire and blood.
The creature roared, a sound so deep it shook the ocean itself.
Kedar felt it reverberate in his chest — ancient, angry, alive.
On the surface, Aryan nearly dropped his monitor. “What the hell is that?! Its size— it’s… impossible!”
The sea floor cracked beneath the beast’s emergence.Tiny lobster minions scurried away in fear, bowing their heads as if before a god.
Kedar’s communicator hissed with static, but through it, a whisper came — low and echoing, speaking in ancient Sanskrit.
“You dare disturb the slumber of KARKOTAKA — the King of the Abyss?”
Everyone froze.
Kedar’s pulse spiked. His fiery aura flickered, even under the crushing water pressure. Anant clenched his chakra disk tighter, and Shakti raised her blades, trembling slightly.
“Kedar…” Aryan’s voice quivered through the line. “You need to get out— now.”
But the Lobster King raised his massive claw, the glow of runes illuminating his shell.
“None shall leave the sea alive.”
The barrier above them shimmered — the water itself becoming a prison.
Kedar’s red eyes glowed through the darkness. He clenched his fists, bubbles bursting from his lips.“Then I’ll break your curse myself.”
To be continued...