Chapter 3: The Phoenix’s Warning
The clash of steel and the hum of energy filled the air as Prithvi faced Kangana at the base of the glowing artifact. Her strikes were fast and precise, her blade moving with unnatural agility as it crackled with shadow energy.
Prithvi’s Kavach VII reacted in perfect synchronization with his movements, the suit’s systems enhancing his reflexes as he deflected her attacks. Sparks flew as their weapons clashed, each strike a test of strength and strategy.
“You’re wasting your time,” Kangana hissed, her voice cold and sharp. “The artifact will awaken. The shadow cannot be stopped.”
“Funny,” Prithvi said, blocking another strike. “I hear that a lot, and yet here I am.”
He ducked under her next swing, activating his thrusters to propel himself backward. Raising his arm, he fired a concentrated blast of elemental energy. The shot struck the ground at her feet, sending her sprawling.
But Kangana recovered quickly, her movements fluid as she rose and charged again.
Arjun wasn’t faring much better. While Prithvi battled Kangana, the cultists had turned their attention to him, swarming like ants around the towering artifact. Vritra blazed in his hands as he cut through their ranks, each strike a precise combination of power and efficiency.
“Riya,” he said into his comm, his voice strained, “I could use some help here.”
“Working on it,” Riya replied, her tone clipped. “But you might want to hurry. That artifact’s energy levels are climbing fast, and if the stabilizer goes critical—”
“I get it,” Arjun interrupted, slashing through another cultist. “Big explosion, lots of death. I’m on it.”
His eyes darted to the base of the artifact, where runes pulsed with an ominous green light. He adjusted his stance, focusing his energy as Vritra’s blade began to hum with temporal power.
One strike. That’s all it would take.
Prithvi barely registered the battle around him as Kangana drove him toward the edge of the excavation site. Her attacks were relentless, each swing of her blade forcing him to stay on the defensive.
“You can’t save them,” she sneered, her strikes growing more vicious. “The prophecy will be fulfilled, and the Phoenix will burn.”
The words hit harder than any blow, and for a moment, Prithvi faltered. Kangana seized the opening, her blade slicing across the Kavach VII’s armor. The impact sent him staggering backward, the suit’s systems struggling to recalibrate.
“You’re weak,” Kangana said, raising her blade for the killing strike.
But before she could land the blow, a surge of heat erupted from Prithvi’s chest. The reactor core of the Kavach VII flared brightly, and his vision blurred as a wave of energy rippled through his body.
The battlefield vanished.
Prithvi was no longer standing at the excavation site. He was floating, weightless, in an endless void of fire and light. The flames danced around him, their heat searing but not burning, as if he were part of them.
In the distance, he saw two colossal forces clashing—a massive serpent of water and shadow coiling around a fiery phoenix. Their battle raged across the heavens, each strike shaking the void with a deafening roar.
The serpent’s eyes glowed with malice, its scales shimmering with the power of the elemental rings. The phoenix, brilliant and radiant, countered with wings of flame that cut through the darkness like a blade.
As Prithvi watched, the phoenix faltered. Its light dimmed, its flames flickering as the serpent tightened its coils. The shadow began to overwhelm the fire, and the void grew colder, darker.
“No,” Prithvi whispered, his voice a mere echo in the void.
The phoenix turned its gaze toward him. Its eyes, ancient and knowing, burned with a silent plea.
“Rise,” the phoenix said, its voice reverberating through the void. “You must rise, or all will fall.”
The serpent lunged, its jaws closing around the phoenix in a final, brutal strike. The flames were snuffed out, leaving only darkness.
Prithvi gasped as the vision ended, the fiery void replaced by the chaos of the battlefield. His reactor core dimmed, and he staggered, clutching his chest as his suit’s systems recalibrated.
“Prithvi!” Arjun’s voice cut through the haze. “Snap out of it!”
Kangana didn’t miss a beat. She advanced on Prithvi, her blade aimed for his exposed flank. But before she could land the strike, Arjun appeared, intercepting her with a swing of Vritra.
“You’re not dying today,” Arjun said, his voice steady despite the chaos around them.
Prithvi shook his head, forcing himself to focus. The vision lingered in his mind, its weight pressing down on him like a physical force. But there was no time to dwell on it.
“Thanks,” he said, his voice hoarse.
“Don’t thank me yet,” Arjun replied, parrying another of Kangana’s strikes.
Prithvi turned his attention to the artifact. The runes pulsed faster now, their glow intensifying as the stabilizer approached critical mass.
“Chanakya,” he said, his voice firm. “How do we shut this thing down?”
The AI’s voice was calm but urgent. “The stabilizer’s energy field must be disrupted at its core. Recommend simultaneous attacks to overload the structure.”
Prithvi activated his thrusters, rising into the air as elemental energy surged through his suit. “Arjun, on my mark!”
Arjun nodded, breaking away from Kangana and focusing on the artifact. Vritra’s blade pulsed with dark energy, the weapon eager to strike.
“Three… two… one… now!” Prithvi shouted.
He unleashed a concentrated blast of fire and air, the energy spiraling toward the artifact like a comet. At the same time, Arjun struck the base with Vritra, the blade’s temporal power cutting through the stabilizer’s runes.
The combined attack hit with a deafening roar, shattering the stabilizer and sending a shockwave rippling through the site.
The artifact pulsed violently, its energy collapsing inward. The cultists fled in panic, their connection to the ritual severed. Kangana snarled, her blade dimming as she retreated into the shadows.
“You haven’t won,” she hissed before disappearing into the jungle.
As the dust settled, Prithvi and Arjun regrouped near the smoldering remains of the artifact.
“Is it over?” Arjun asked, his tone wary.
Prithvi looked at the ruins, the weight of the vision still heavy on his mind. “Not even close.”
He turned, his gaze fixed on the horizon, where storm clouds gathered in the distance.
“The real fight is just beginning.”
Back at Surya Industries’ headquarters, the mood in the briefing room was tense. The team sat around the circular table, their faces illuminated by the soft glow of holographic displays. The Ring of Rahu, now encased in a containment field, pulsed faintly at the center of the room like a sinister heartbeat.
Riya stood at the console, her fingers moving swiftly as she projected a hologram of the Phoenix Prophecy. The ancient script shimmered in the air, its intricate patterns shifting like firelight.
“This is what we’ve been able to decode so far,” she began, her voice steady despite the weight of the subject. “The prophecy speaks of a great storm—an elemental war between fire and water, shadow and light. It names the Phoenix as the only force capable of restoring balance.”
“Sounds pretty straightforward,” Arjun said, leaning back in his chair. “We’ve got Prithvi, our resident Phoenix. So what’s the problem?”
“The problem,” Riya replied sharply, “is that the prophecy also speaks of sacrifice. And it’s not vague about it.”
She tapped a section of the hologram, zooming in on a passage. The words glowed brighter, their meaning clear even to those unfamiliar with the ancient language: The fire must burn itself to ash, or the storm will drown all.
Sona frowned, her arms crossed. “What does that mean, exactly? ‘Burn itself to ash’?”
“It means someone pays the price,” Vikram said quietly, his gaze fixed on the table. “The Phoenix can stop the storm, but only by burning out completely. No coming back.”
The room fell silent.
Prithvi stood near the back of the room, his arms crossed. He hadn’t spoken since the meeting began, his thoughts still clouded by the vision he’d experienced at the excavation site.
“This prophecy,” he said finally, his voice low but firm. “Is it certain? Or is it just one possibility?”
Riya hesitated. “It’s… hard to say. Prophecies are rarely absolute. But the language here is unusually definitive. If we’re interpreting this correctly, it’s not just a possibility—it’s a certainty.”
“And if we’re interpreting it wrong?” Prithvi asked, his gaze steady.
“Then we might be running straight into disaster anyway,” Riya admitted.
The silence was broken by Arjun, who leaned forward, his tone challenging. “Prophecies are just words. They don’t account for people like us.”
“And how exactly do you plan to fight fate?” Vikram asked, his voice sharp.
“By not giving up before the fight even starts,” Arjun shot back.
“That’s enough,” Prithvi said, his voice cutting through the tension.
The room fell quiet again as he stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the hologram. The swirling flames of the Phoenix seemed to dance in his eyes, mirroring the fire of his resolve.
“Whether the prophecy is right or not, it doesn’t change what we have to do,” he said. “Varunasura is moving. If we don’t stop him, the world burns—or drowns, or falls into shadow. So we focus on the fight in front of us.”
“And what happens when we get to the part where the fire burns out?” Sona asked, her voice softer than usual.
Prithvi met her gaze. “We deal with it when the time comes.”
Riya cleared her throat, breaking the heavy silence. “There’s more. The prophecy doesn’t just mention the Phoenix. It also names the Ten Rings.”
She tapped another section of the hologram, and a new image appeared: a circle of symbols, each representing one of the elemental rings.
“The rings are more than just weapons,” she said. “They’re tied to the balance of the elements. Together, they form a kind of… cosmic equilibrium. If Varunasura controls all ten, he could tip that balance permanently.”
“Into chaos,” Vikram added.
“Exactly,” Riya said. “But if we control the rings, we might be able to use them to restore balance—without the need for sacrifice.”
Sona frowned. “You’re saying the rings could be an alternative to the prophecy?”
“It’s a theory,” Riya admitted. “But it’s the only one we have right now.”
Prithvi nodded. “Then we focus on the rings. How many does Varunasura have?”
“Three, as far as we know,” Riya replied. “And he’s actively hunting the rest.”
“What about us?” Prithvi asked.
Riya glanced at the containment field. “With Rahu, we have two. The Ring of Surya is still missing, but if we can find it, it might tip the scales in our favor.”
“Then that’s our next move,” Prithvi said. “We find Surya.”
The meeting broke up shortly after, each member of the team heading to their respective stations. Sona stayed behind, leaning against the wall as Prithvi studied the hologram in silence.
“You’re taking this pretty well,” she said finally.
Prithvi glanced at her. “Should I be panicking?”
Sona shrugged. “Most people would, if they knew they were prophesied to burn out saving the world.”
Prithvi smirked faintly. “Good thing I’m not most people.”
She stepped closer, her expression softening. “You don’t have to carry this alone, you know.”
“I’m not alone,” he replied, his voice steady. “I’ve got all of you.”
Sona didn’t press the issue. Instead, she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll figure this out. Together.”
Prithvi nodded, his resolve unshaken. “Together.”
But as Sona left the room, the weight of the prophecy settled over him once more. He turned back to the hologram, the words burning in his mind: The fire must burn itself to ash.
For the first time, he wondered if fate could be fought—or if it was already too late.
Arjun’s boots echoed against the polished floor of the training chamber as he swung Vritra in a slow, deliberate arc. The blade hummed faintly, its dark energy resonating with each movement, but his strikes lacked their usual precision.
The weight of the prophecy was pressing on everyone, but Arjun refused to let it consume him. Prophecies, he thought bitterly, were just glorified guesses wrapped in mysticism. He’d seen too much, fought too hard, to believe the universe was written in stone.
A clang echoed as he drove Vritra into a practice drone, splitting it in half. Sparks flew as the machine collapsed, its torso sparking on the ground.
“That one looked like it had a future,” Vikram’s voice cut in, light but laced with curiosity.
Arjun glanced over his shoulder to see Vikram leaning against the doorframe, his gauntlet glowing faintly.
“Not in the mood for an audience,” Arjun muttered, pulling Vritra free from the drone.
Vikram stepped inside, unfazed. “Good, because I’m not here to cheer you on. You’ve been chewing on something since the briefing. Care to share with the class?”
Arjun sheathed his blade, his expression dark. “The class doesn’t need to hear it.”
“Let me guess,” Vikram said, crossing his arms. “You’re not buying the whole ‘Phoenix Prophecy’ thing?”
“Buying it?” Arjun let out a bitter laugh. “It’s a death sentence wrapped in flowery language. We’re just supposed to accept that Prithvi burns himself out and that’s the only way to win? Doesn’t sound like much of a prophecy to me.”
Vikram raised an eyebrow. “And you think you’ve got a better answer?”
“Maybe I do,” Arjun shot back. “Maybe we stop chasing the past and start fighting like we mean it. These prophecies, these rings—they’re distractions. Varunasura doesn’t care about fate. He cares about power. And if we’re too busy arguing over ancient texts, he’s going to steamroll us.”
“You’re not wrong,” Vikram said after a pause. “But the rings aren’t just relics. They’re tools. Weapons. And right now, they’re the only thing standing between us and Varunasura turning the world into a waterlogged wasteland.”
Arjun sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I get that. I do. But this whole prophecy thing? It’s poison. It’s making Prithvi think he’s already dead. And if he starts fighting like he’s got nothing to lose, we all lose.”
“Maybe,” Vikram admitted. “But what’s the alternative? Pretend the prophecy doesn’t exist? Ignore the one thing that might actually tell us how to stop Varunasura?”
Arjun didn’t answer. Instead, he turned and walked toward the far wall, his back to Vikram.
“Look, I know it’s a mess,” Vikram said, his tone softening. “But Prithvi needs us on the same page. If you start questioning the mission, it’s going to tear the team apart.”
Arjun turned back, his expression hard. “I’m not questioning the mission. I’m questioning the way we’re going about it. And if that makes me the bad guy, fine. But someone’s got to be.”
In the control room, Riya monitored the satellite feeds, her fingers flying over the keyboard as streams of data scrolled across the monitors. The faint hum of the equipment filled the room, but her focus was unwavering.
Prithvi entered, the weight of their earlier conversation still visible in his posture. “Anything?” he asked.
“Plenty,” Riya replied without looking up. “But none of it’s good. Varunasura’s forces are on the move again. Coastal villages in Gujarat, Sri Lanka, even parts of Indonesia—there’s a pattern, but I can’t crack it yet.”
Prithvi leaned over the console, his gaze narrowing. “What about the Ring of Surya? Any leads?”
Riya hesitated. “That’s the problem. There’s no record of its location—not in our archives, not in the prophecy, not even in the cult’s communications. It’s like it vanished.”
Prithvi frowned. “Could Varunasura have it already?”
“I don’t think so,” Riya said. “If he did, we’d know. The Ring of Surya is tied to light and energy—he wouldn’t be hiding it. He’d be using it.”
Prithvi nodded, his mind already working through the possibilities. “Then we keep looking. If we can’t find Surya, we focus on the other rings. We don’t let him get ahead of us.”
Riya glanced at him, her expression unreadable. “How are you holding up?”
Prithvi straightened, his face unreadable. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t have to pretend with me,” she said, her tone gentle but firm.
He hesitated, then exhaled slowly. “The prophecy… it’s a lot to process. But I can’t let it get in the way. We don’t have time for doubts.”
“You’re allowed to be human, you know,” Riya said softly. “Even if you’re the Phoenix.”
Prithvi managed a faint smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Before Riya could respond, the comm system crackled to life. “Riya,” Vikram’s voice came through, “we’ve got a situation.”
“What kind of situation?” she asked, her tone immediately professional.
“Arjun,” Vikram replied. “He’s… let’s just say he’s not in the prophecy fan club. You might want to talk him down before things get ugly.”
Prithvi’s expression darkened. “Where is he?”
“Training chamber,” Vikram said.
Prithvi didn’t wait. He turned and strode out of the control room, his resolve hardening with each step.
The confrontation in the training chamber was brief but intense.
“You don’t get it,” Arjun said, his voice rising as Prithvi entered. “This prophecy isn’t just about you. It’s about all of us. If we’re going to fight, we need to fight like we’re going to win—not like we’re walking into a funeral.”
“And you think I don’t want to win?” Prithvi replied, his voice calm but edged with steel.
“I think you’re letting this prophecy control you,” Arjun shot back. “And if you go down, we all go down with you.”
Prithvi stepped closer, his gaze unwavering. “I’m not letting anything control me. But we don’t get to ignore the stakes. This isn’t just a fight—it’s survival. For all of us.”
The tension between them was palpable, but neither backed down. Finally, Sona stepped into the room, her voice cutting through the silence.
“Enough,” she said firmly. “We don’t have time for this. If we’re going to stop Varunasura, we need to trust each other. That means you, Arjun.”
Arjun hesitated, then exhaled sharply. “Fine. But if we’re going to trust each other, we need a better plan. One that doesn’t end with us sacrificing ourselves to a prophecy we don’t even understand.”
Prithvi nodded, his voice steady. “Then let’s make one.”
The research lab hummed with quiet intensity as Riya sifted through centuries of fragmented records. Ancient texts were overlaid with modern holograms, maps lit up with shifting energy signatures, and strings of decrypted cult transmissions glowed faintly on one of the central monitors.
“Anything yet?” Sona asked, leaning against the doorway.
Riya didn’t look up. “Not unless you count more dead ends.”
Sona crossed the room, her sharp eyes scanning the holographic maps. “If the Ring of Surya is as powerful as they say, someone should’ve left a clue about where it is.”
“You’d think,” Riya muttered. She tapped a command into the console, and the hologram shifted, overlaying historical battle records from the early Navagraha Wars. “The problem isn’t finding mentions of the ring. It’s finding anything useful. Half the records are myth, the other half are propaganda. It’s like the thing vanished off the face of the earth.”
“Maybe it did,” Sona said.
Riya frowned. “No. Artifacts like the rings don’t just disappear. Someone hid it. The question is: who?”
Before Sona could respond, a soft chime interrupted them. A message appeared on Riya’s screen, its source encrypted but marked with a single word: Kaal Sarp.
“Speak of the devil,” Riya muttered, opening the transmission.
The image of Kaal Sarp appeared, his mask obscuring most of his face. His voice, as always, was calm but edged with a quiet menace.
“You’re looking for Surya,” he said without preamble.
Riya exchanged a glance with Sona before replying. “And I assume you’re about to make this easier for us?”
Kaal Sarp’s expression didn’t change. “The ring’s location isn’t a secret—at least, not to Varunasura’s inner circle. The question is whether you’re prepared for the truth.”
“Spare us the cryptic nonsense,” Sona said. “Where is it?”
Kaal Sarp’s gaze shifted slightly, as if weighing his words. “The Ring of Surya is buried beneath the ruins of Kalinga, hidden by those who sought to keep its power out of Varunasura’s hands. But you won’t like who betrayed them to him.”
Riya’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”
Kaal Sarp hesitated for the first time. Then he said, “Raaj.”
The name hit like a thunderclap.
Sona’s hand tightened on the edge of the console. “That’s impossible. Raaj died fighting Kali Purush. He was one of us.”
Kaal Sarp’s gaze remained steady. “And before that, he was working with the Naga cult. He helped them track the ring to Kalinga. His betrayal destroyed the guardians who were protecting it.”
“You’re lying,” Sona said, her voice sharp.
“Believe what you want,” Kaal Sarp replied. “But if you go to Kalinga, you’ll find the truth written in its ruins. And you’d better move fast—Varunasura already knows where it is.”
The transmission ended, leaving a heavy silence in its wake.
The briefing room was filled with tension as the team convened to discuss the revelation. Prithvi stood at the head of the table, his expression unreadable as he reviewed Kaal Sarp’s message.
“Raaj’s betrayal,” Vikram said, breaking the silence. “Do we believe it?”
“No,” Sona said firmly.
“We don’t have to believe it,” Riya said, her tone measured. “But if Kaal Sarp is right about the ring’s location, we can’t ignore it either.”
Arjun leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed. “And if he’s lying? If this is some kind of trap?”
“Then we’ll deal with it,” Prithvi said, his voice steady. “But the risk is too high to ignore. If the Ring of Surya is in Kalinga, we need to get there before Varunasura does.”
Sona’s jaw tightened. “And what happens if we find out Raaj really was working with the cult? What does that mean for everything we’ve been fighting for?”
“It means we move forward,” Prithvi said. “No matter what.”
The ruins of Kalinga were a stark reminder of the cost of war. The once-thriving city, now a wasteland of crumbling stone and overgrown vines, stretched out beneath a blood-red sunset.
Prithvi and his team descended from their transport, the faint hum of the Kavach VII’s systems blending with the rustle of the jungle. The air was thick with humidity, and the distant cry of a bird echoed through the stillness.
Riya activated her scanner, the device emitting a faint pulse of energy as it mapped the area. “The readings are strongest near the central plaza,” she said. “There’s a massive energy signature buried beneath the ruins.”
“Let’s move,” Prithvi said, his tone clipped.
The team advanced cautiously, their weapons at the ready. The ruins were eerily quiet, the shadows stretching long across the cracked stone.
As they approached the plaza, they found it guarded by a group of cultists, their serpentine eyes glowing faintly in the dim light.
“Looks like we’re not the first ones here,” Arjun muttered.
Prithvi activated his suit’s thrusters, propelling himself into the air. “Engage. Take them out, but stay focused. The ring is the priority.”
The battle was swift and brutal. Sona moved like a whirlwind, her plasma baton striking down cultists with precision and ferocity. Vikram’s gauntlet unleashed bursts of arcane energy, scattering their ranks and creating openings for Arjun’s blade.
Prithvi landed in the center of the fray, his suit glowing as he unleashed a wave of fire and wind. The cultists fell back, their defenses breaking under the combined assault.
“Riya, status?” he called over the comm.
“I’m almost through,” she replied, her voice tense. “The energy signature is… strange. It’s like it’s fluctuating between dimensions. Whatever’s down there, it’s not just the ring.”
Prithvi’s instincts prickled. “Be ready for anything.”
As the last cultist fell, the team regrouped in the center of the plaza. Riya knelt beside a massive stone tablet, her scanner projecting a hologram of the energy field below.
“There’s a chamber beneath us,” she said, her voice hushed. “And it’s sealed tight. This tablet might have the key.”
Prithvi studied the inscriptions, his gaze narrowing. The symbols were ancient, but he recognized fragments of the same language used in the Phoenix Prophecy.
“It’s a puzzle,” Riya said, already working to decipher the runes. “Give me a minute.”
Sona paced nearby, her tension palpable. “If Kaal Sarp’s right, this place was a graveyard. The guardians died protecting that ring. What happens if we disturb it?”
“We don’t have a choice,” Prithvi said. “If Varunasura gets here first—”
A sudden rumble cut him off. The ground beneath their feet shook, and a massive stone door began to slide open, revealing a staircase descending into darkness.
Riya stood, her expression grim. “That’s not ominous at all.”
Prithvi stepped forward, his suit glowing faintly in the dim light. “Stay sharp. Whatever’s down there, we’re not leaving without the ring.”
The team descended into the chamber, the shadows closing in around them.
The descent into the chamber was steep, the air growing colder with each step. The walls of the narrow staircase were etched with faint carvings, their worn patterns telling fragments of a story too old to piece together. The dim glow from Prithvi’s Kavach VII and Riya’s handheld light cast dancing shadows that stretched unnervingly across the passage.
Arjun gripped Vritra tightly, the blade humming faintly in response to the oppressive atmosphere. “This place feels wrong,” he muttered, his voice low.
“It’s been untouched for centuries,” Riya replied, though her voice lacked its usual confidence.
“Not untouched,” Sona corrected. Her sharp gaze flicked to the floor, where faint scuff marks in the dust hinted at recent activity. “The cult’s already been here.”
Prithvi’s jaw tightened. “Stay alert. We’re not alone.”
The staircase ended abruptly, opening into a massive chamber that seemed to defy the laws of architecture. The ceiling stretched impossibly high, lost in shadow, while the floor was dominated by a circular dais. Around the dais, nine statues loomed, their features weathered but still recognizable as the ancient guardians of the Navagrahas.
At the center of the dais, encased in a swirling sphere of golden energy, floated the Ring of Surya. Its surface gleamed like the sun itself, the intricate carvings pulsing faintly as if alive.
Riya’s breath caught as she stepped forward, her scanner lighting up with frantic readings. “This is it,” she whispered. “The Ring of Surya. It’s… it’s generating its own dimensional field. The power levels are off the charts.”
Arjun moved cautiously toward the dais, his eyes scanning the statues for traps. “If it’s this well-protected, why didn’t the cult take it already?”
“Because they couldn’t,” Sona said, her voice tense. She pointed to the base of the dais, where the faint remains of a shattered ritual circle glowed faintly. “Whatever they tried, it wasn’t enough. The guardians must’ve left something behind to stop them.”
Prithvi approached the dais, his suit’s sensors whirring as they analyzed the energy field. “Chanakya, any advice?”
The AI’s calm voice replied. “The energy field surrounding the ring is highly volatile. Disrupting it without a stabilizing mechanism could trigger a catastrophic reaction.”
“Translation?” Arjun asked.
“Translation,” Riya said, her voice clipped, “we can’t just grab it and run. We need to stabilize the field before we remove the ring.”
“And how do we do that?” Sona asked.
Riya hesitated, her gaze flicking to the carvings on the statues. “The guardians. If this chamber was built to protect the ring, there has to be a mechanism tied to them. I need time to figure it out.”
“Time we might not have,” Prithvi said, his voice sharp. “Work fast. We’ll cover you.”
Riya knelt at the base of one of the statues, her scanner projecting faint holograms of the inscriptions. Her fingers moved quickly, deciphering the ancient text with practiced ease.
“This is incredible,” she murmured. “The guardians weren’t just protecting the ring—they were tethered to it. Their energy stabilizes the field, like anchors. If we can reactivate the tethers—”
A sudden rumble cut her off, and the room seemed to grow darker. The faint glow of the ring dimmed, and the air grew heavy with an unspoken threat.
“We’ve got company,” Sona said, her plasma baton snapping to life.
From the shadows, figures emerged—cultists clad in dark robes, their eyes glowing faintly as they surrounded the chamber. At their head was Kangana, her serpent-shaped helm gleaming in the faint light.
“You’re persistent,” she said, her voice cold. “But you’re out of your depth. The Ring of Surya belongs to Varunasura.”
Prithvi stepped forward, his suit glowing as he raised a hand, flames crackling around his gauntlet. “You want it? Come and take it.”
Kangana smirked. “Gladly.”
The battle erupted in an instant.
Prithvi launched himself into the air, firing bursts of fire and wind at the cultists below. The flames illuminated the chamber, casting jagged shadows as the cultists retaliated with blasts of shadow energy.
Arjun moved like a storm, Vritra carving through the cultists with terrifying precision. The blade’s temporal energy distorted the air around him, creating afterimages that made him impossible to track.
Sona fought back-to-back with Vikram, her plasma baton crackling as it struck down cultists with brutal efficiency. Vikram’s gauntlet unleashed waves of arcane energy, scattering their enemies and shielding Riya as she worked frantically at the statues.
“I need a minute!” Riya shouted, her voice strained.
“You’ve got thirty seconds!” Prithvi called back, dodging a blast of shadow energy and retaliating with a burst of fire.
Kangana descended from the dais, her blade crackling with shadow energy as she engaged Prithvi directly. Their weapons clashed, the force of the impact sending shockwaves through the chamber.
“You think you can stop the inevitable?” Kangana sneered, her strikes fast and relentless.
“I think you talk too much,” Prithvi shot back, his suit glowing brighter as he deflected her attacks.
At the base of the dais, Riya’s scanner beeped as the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. “Got it!” she shouted. “The tethers are reactivating!”
The statues began to glow, their weathered forms radiating faint golden light. The energy field around the ring stabilized, its chaotic pulses calming into a steady rhythm.
“Prithvi!” Riya called. “The ring is secure! Take it!”
Prithvi broke away from Kangana, propelling himself toward the dais. He reached out, his suit’s containment system activating as he grasped the Ring of Surya.
The moment his fingers closed around it, the chamber erupted in light. The energy from the ring surged through him, merging with the core of his suit. For a brief moment, he felt invincible—like he was holding the sun itself.
But the moment was short-lived.
A sharp pain shot through Prithvi’s chest, and his vision blurred. He staggered, clutching the ring as his suit’s systems faltered.
“Prithvi!” Sona shouted, rushing to his side.
He tried to speak, but his voice failed him. The glow of the ring dimmed, and he collapsed to his knees.
From the shadows, Kangana smirked. “Even the Phoenix burns out.”
The cultists began to retreat, their mission incomplete but their confidence unshaken. Kangana lingered for a moment, her gaze fixed on Prithvi. “You can’t stop him,” she said softly. “Varunasura will rise.”
With that, she disappeared into the shadows, leaving the team to grapple with their battered leader and the ring they had fought so hard to claim.