Throngs of people were collecting fish, bent over the exposed seabed, unaware of the swiftly approaching dam of water in the distance. Lord Gajanan had the same look as Puru. The beach had to be promptly evacuated. The two gods urgently dashed down the trail leading to the foot of the valley, shouting warnings to the passersby. Their hollers reached those laboring on the beach. Heeding the warning, some gazed at the horizon, and there it was, a great looming shadow of darkness surrounded by thunder and lightning, relentlessly approaching them. High winds began to sweep through the beach, bringing with them mists of the oncoming tide.

In a matter of seconds, the calm beach turned into a bedlam of confusion and chaos. Some parents gathered their children and hurried towards the paths leading out of the beach towards the hills. Their human speed, however, was not a match for the colossal tide hurling towards them. Others were too stunned to move from their place, surrendering themselves to fate. The screams and cries of men, women, and children were hard to hear over the roars of thunder and blowing winds.

Seeing that precious seconds were slipping by, Puru changed to his true form halfway down the valley, and so did Lord Gajanan. Armed with their divine powers, the two Gods now charged down the valley in long strides, leaping high in the air. In a matter of seconds, they landed on the beach and rushed towards the frightened swarm of people who were scrambling to escape the approaching calamity.

“O mighty Lord, please save us!” An older woman raised a cry as she hugged a child tight in her arms. Puru dashed towards them and gathered the two. He then collected two more children as a couple more ran up to him and put their tiny arms around his neck.

“Hold tight!”

With the six humans secured around him, Puru bolted off the beach and soared high through the air. The sky was growing darker by the minute. The storm brought in the cautionary rain, the towering wall of the ocean water only few miles away, clearly visible now. The Demon God landed on top of the hill. Finding solid ground under their feet, the group of humans scurried to the main road leading towards the town, not a second wasted on thanking their savior. However, Puru knew no matter how fast they run, the danger loomed heavily over them, over the entire region. He turned back and saw nothing but a dense haze of mist and dust, even losing sight of the other god in the commotion. His only signal was the terrified screams of the people down below.

Puru dived once more towards the beach. In the blurriness, he caught hold of three more people and flew them up to the edge of the hill before diving back in. That was his last rescue. Soon as he landed on the hilltop this time, the gigantic wall of ocean water crashed onto the beach and drowned its entire length, along with the unfortunate souls who were still waiting to be rescued. It was as if the great ocean had risen to engulf the entire land and now hurled towards the purple and orange valley at enormous speed.

“Puru!” A screeching nasal voice shot through the bellows of the wind. Puru looked to his right, and it was Lord Gajanan at a distance, standing on the precipice. “The air. Focus the Tantra.”

Puru immediately held out his arms and his lips uttered silent incantations. The air in front of him started to freeze, quickly solidifying to form a protective barrier, sky-high and formidable. The Tantric air wall, he raised, ran to join that of Lord Gajanan’s and the wall soon covered the length of the valley.

Not a second later, the entire column of ocean water smashed onto the frozen air wall. The water that usually lay in the depths of the ocean was now floating in front of Puru. He could see the bodies of unfortunate souls rolling around in the water, amongst other aquatic beings, all crashing against the air wall. As Puru continued to hold his arms out in front of him to support the wall, he felt the brutish strength of the ocean column pushing against the wall. He glanced at Lord Gajanan in the distance, face scrunched and trunk held out tight, struggling against the will of nature.

“Lord Gajanan, how long can your arms hold out?” Puru called out to his partner over the high winds blowing into his ears.

“Long enough for you to leave and rescue the rest, Lord Puru,” Lord Gajanan yelled back.

Most screams had subsided as people managed to distance themselves somewhat from the raging cataclysm that was dashing towards the valley. Puru felt his hair sticking to his face, from getting wet in the mist and rainwater. Lord Gajanan’s elephant ears were flapping wildly in the wind. Puru pulled his gaze back to the wall and caught sight of a nascent crack forming. It rapidly grew and branched, water slowly seeping in.

“Lord Gajanan, this won’t hold for long.”

“Fly away and do not stop until you cleared the clouds. Find an elevated land, and rescue the villagers to a high area.”

Lord Gajanan had hardly spoken the last word when with a loud rumble, the ocean water collided once more to the air wall and in a thunderous roar, the frozen air wall came crashing down. The two gods immediately leaped up and soared until they were well above the dark menacing clouds floating over the towering column of ocean water. The gigantic wave was now racing to engulf the enter land, swallowing and destroying every living and non-living matter in its path.