( Volume 1 = Ashes of the Broken Tide )
The sea was red.
Not sunset red.
Not storm red.
Blood red.
Twelve-year-old Vikash Kumar Soy stood barefoot on the burning dock, his small fists shaking as smoke swallowed the sky, Warships surrounded the harbor like iron vultures, Their cannons still roared, their flags snapping violently in the wind.
The royal navy had arrived.
And they had not come to protect.
They had come to erase.
"TRAITOR OF THE CROWN!"
The shout echoed across the port as soldiers dragged a man in chains toward the execution platform.
Vikash's breath stopped.
His father.
Commander Arjun Soy — the hero of the eastern fleet, The man who taught him how to tie sailor knots, how to read stars, how to listen to the ocean like it was alive.
Now forced to kneel in front of the entire city.
The crowd watched in silence. Some cried, Most were too afraid to move.
Because every cannon in the harbor was aimed at them.
A navy officer stepped forward, cloak flowing behind him like a shadow with a heartbeat.
"Arjun Soy," the officer announced coldly, "You stand accused of treason against the Naval Empire, You sought forbidden knowledge of the Sea Throne, You betrayed the crown."
The crowd gasped.
Vikash didn't understand the words.
But he understood the fear.
His father slowly lifted his head, His face was bruised, yet his eyes were calm… almost peaceful.
Then he searched the crowd.
And found Vikash.
For a moment, the chaos disappeared, The screams, the fire, the smoke—gone, Only father and son remained.
Arjun smiled.
It wasn't a smile of defeat.
It was a smile of apology.
"I'm sorry," his lips whispered silently.
Vikash shook his head violently, tears spilling down his cheeks.
No. No. No. No.
This wasn't real.
This couldn't be real.
The officer raised his sword.
"Let this execution be a lesson to all who oppose the throne of the seas."
The blade fell.
And Vikash's world shattered.
The sky exploded into screams. His mother collapsed, Someone held him back as he tried to run forward, clawing and kicking and screaming until his throat tore apart.
But the worst part wasn't the execution.
It was what happened next.
"Burn the fleet," the officer ordered.
Cannons fired again.
Warships in the harbor—ships his father had commanded—were turned into floating graves, Sailors leapt into burning water, The sea swallowed them whole.
Flames spread across the docks like hungry monsters.
Homes caught fire, Markets collapsed, The entire port became a funeral pyre.
This wasn't justice.
This was erasure.
The navy wasn't punishing a traitor.
They were destroying evidence.
As soldiers marched through the chaos, Vikash lay in the dirt, trembling, His ears rang, His vision blurred.
The ocean roared louder than the fire.
And for the first time in his life, he felt it.
The sea wasn't calm.
The sea was angry.
A cold wind rushed across the burning harbor. The flames flickered violently as waves slammed against the docks again and again… like the ocean itself was trying to break free.
Vikash slowly pushed himself up.
His tears stopped.
Something inside him had frozen.
He stared at the officer standing over his father's body.
Memorizing his face.
His voice.
His existence.
"I'll remember you," Vikash whispered.
The words sounded small.
But the promise behind them was endless.
The ocean roared louder.
Smoke swallowed the sky.
And in the middle of a burning harbor, a broken child made a vow that would one day shake the entire world.
"I will destroy the navy."
"I will uncover the truth."
"And one day… the sea will belong to the free."
Lightning split the sky above the crimson ocean.
As if the sea itself had accepted the oath.
The boy who watched the sea burn would one day become the man the world feared.
Samudra Shaitaan was born.