Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, page 13
Yamuna smiled. “Spoken with true wisdom, little Pandava.”
“At least I’ll always know what I did,” said Mini quietly.
The river goddess turned to Aru. A cool mist enveloped her body, and Aru’s mind went blank.
Aru, Mini, Rudy, Brynne, and Aiden stepped off the end of the bridge and onto the pathway to December, the ground level of the House of Months. Crisp snow crunched underfoot. The silver trees were strung with lit candles that cast a warm glow over everything.
Rudy turned and looked at them triumphantly, both hands on his hips. “You’re welcome,” he said smugly. “Told you I could get us to the other side.”
“Yeah, well, you needed my help,” said Aiden.
“And mine,” added Brynne, crossing her arms.
Aru shook herself. She had the weirdest sensation of having just woken up from a dream she didn’t remember. The others looked a little dazed, too…except for Mini, who smiled to herself.
Aru had a weird flash-forward, if that’s what it could be called. For a moment, it was as if she were seeing Mini not as she was, but as she would be. A young woman with chin-length cropped hair and a serene gaze. Someone totally comfortable with letting another person drive the car because she had picked the destination. It made Aru proud of her friend, even though she couldn’t say why.
“Thought you’d be a little nervous in there,” said Aru.
Mini twirled Dee Dee on her finger and shrugged.
“Nope, I’m good,” she said, grinning.
At Least There’s Not a Dragon
No one tells you what to expect when you walk into a month. Would there be ugly souvenir key chains? Commemorative plates? It took a moment for Aru’s eyes to adjust to the brightness of December when they went inside.
Lengths of shadow hung from the ceiling beams, with placards beneath each proclaiming things like:
SOURCED FROM THE FINEST CAVES AND TREES
FREE OF HUMAN LIGHT POLLUTION
IDEAL FOR EVENING GOWNS, OR DRAPES FOR A MONSTROUS LAIR
The carved walls radiated cold and shimmered like freshly fallen snow. Aru peered closer. It was snow. A small sign nestled in it declared: FORAGED FROM THE PEAKS OF THE HIMALAYAS! AN ORGANIC, BREATHABLE MATERIAL DESIGNED TO KEEP THE BODY COOL.
“There!” said Rudy, pointing to a low platform of carved ice in the middle of the room. “We need to take the elevator up to January. The Crypt of Eclipses should be located just inside January Twentieth.”
The group watched as a crystal elevator just big enough to fit all five of them descended to the platform. The doors slid open, and out stepped a beautiful kinnara couple. The man’s skin was the color of strong tea, and the woman’s skin reminded Aru of a shiny new penny. Delicate wings swept down from their shoulders and across the floor.
The woman smiled at Aiden. “Love your outfit.”
Aiden turned red. “Thanks.”
As the couple walked away, Aru wanted to riot. HELLO. What about us?
Rudy threw up his hands. “Seriously? My jacket is from the fall collection, which hasn’t even been released yet! And she compliments you? Where’s that sweatshirt even from?”
Aiden shrugged with just the hint of a smile. “The back of my closet?”
“Ugh. Let’s just go,” said Rudy.
They headed to the elevator.
“Are you strutting, Wifey?” asked Mini.
Aiden suddenly slowed. Brynne looked him over and snorted.
“Yup, he’s definitely strutting.”
“Am not,” said Aiden.
“Yeah you are!” said Aru, laughing.
“Am not.”
“R-2—”
“D-2,” said Aiden before giving up and shaking his head. “Why are you guys like this?”
“Boredom,” said Mini.
“Belligerence,” said Brynne.
“Brilliance,” said Aru.
The three of them grinned at each other.
The elevator featured twelve differently colored buttons, one for each month. January’s was a shiny gold that looked brand-new.
“Ready?” asked Rudy.
They nodded.
“It can be a bit bumpy—”
“We can handle it,” said Aru, rolling her eyes.
Rudy pressed the topmost button. The elevator jerked to life, shooting upward with such force that they fell to the floor.
“Is this elevator possessed?” said Aru, gripping the railing.
“Nope, just covering a lot of ground!” Rudy shouted over the clatter the elevator made as it rocketed higher and higher. “The House of Months is huge!”
Aru’s ears popped and she scooted closer to the middle, linking arms with Brynne and Mini. Aiden seemed perfectly content standing by the railing and staring out the clear doors. Rudy, utterly used to the ride, just fidgeted with one of his jacket buttons.
After they passed through December and November, Aru adjusted to the speed and started to appreciate the view. They were now entering October. Even through the elevator doors she could feel the month’s crisp air, smell the toasted cloves and rolled cinnamon bark in steaming cider, and see the sunlight spangling through red leaves.
In what seemed like a blink, the elevator flashed past September and through summer, rising to April, where it stopped. The doors opened, and a burst of botanical scents rushed in.
“Ugh!” said Mini, burying her face in her elbow. “Allergies!”
Aru peered out to see clouds of white flowers drifting across a ceiling of blue roses and sapphire lilies. The room was crowded with huge bouquets in crystal vases, and there were bright signs that said things like:
BUY ONE SNAPPING VIOLET, GET ONE FANGED DAISY FREE!
FOR A LIMITED TIME, NIGHT-BLOOMING CORPSE FLOWERS—GUARANTEED TO MAKE YOUR DEN REEK OF THE DEAD!
A gigantic light-skinned asura in a glamorous suit made of scales stood before them with an armful of flowers. He took one look at the crowded elevator and sighed.
“I’ll wait for the next one,” he said before mumbling to himself, “Why are florals so expensive? I hate anniversaries.”
The doors closed and up they went, climbing through windy March, then February. Aru asked to get out for a minute at her birthday month, curious to know what kind of wares were sold there.
Turns out, it was a famous parfumerie. Aru poked her head out, peering into the sea of aisles carrying fragrances that ranged from “the scent of middle school love, with notes of Burt’s Bees Lip Balm and AXE Body Spray” and “the aroma of breakfast, with a maple syrup base” to “a freshly opened new book blended with ink and hot cocoa.”
Brynne cleared her throat impatiently, and Aru retreated back onto the elevator. It took off and, at last, they reached January.
Abruptly, the doors slid open and Aru and her friends stumbled into the bleary light of a new year. Unlike the other months, January spun. They stepped onto a revolving floor where numbered chambers starting with January 1 sped around them, each one displaying a different scene: a loud holiday party, a lazy Sunday by the fire, a snowball fight. Aru felt like she was on one of those spinning theme park rides that always got shut down because someone vomited.
“The eclipse fell on January twenty-first,” said Mini, her eyes darting down the line of days coming their way.
Once they hit January 10, the festive cheer and tinsel of the previous scenes vanished, replaced with a series of empty gray rooms marked STORAGE. It was as if these days served no purpose but to account for the passage of time.
“Ready?”
Rudy jumped into one of the scenes. A wave of magical energy crested over the Pandavas and Aiden, and they were swept in after him. Aru braced herself, shutting her eyes and raising her arm as a shield….
When she blinked her eyes open again, they were standing in another space entirely, on a marble walkway that stretched about twenty feet before it ended under a huge silvery arch, with the words CRYPT OF ECLIPSES printed across it in neat black letters.
“We made it!” Rudy said, flashing them a grin. “Don’t everyone thank me at once.”
No one said anything.
Rudy shrugged and turned to walk toward the arch.
“Why hide stuff in an eclipse?” wondered Mini as they followed him.
“Well, an eclipse is when one celestial body obscures another and a source of illumination is cut off,” said Aiden. “So, if there’s no light, it sounds like a good time to hide something.”
“One celestial body what?” repeated Rudy, shaking his head. “Everyone knows eclipses are just when Rahu or Ketu get mad and swallow the sun or moon.”
“Rahu or Ketu?” asked Aru. “Who are they?”
“Technically, they’re the custodians of the crypt, but they leave it to the yalis to handle security,” asked Rudy. “Don’t worry, it’s not like R and K come here. At least, I’ve never seen them.”
“Is this the entrance?” asked Brynne.
They had made it to two pillars that looked like they were made of wet shadows. Where the thin January light hit them, Aru could see shapes in the damp black stone. They flickered strangely, as if they were alive. She shuddered, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling. She tightened her grip on her backpack, which held the living key in its velvet pouch. All they had to do was get to the A7 vault, use the key to open it, and find the clue to the tree’s whereabouts. Easy enough, thought Aru.
“Not like I’m scared or anything, but this place is kinda creepy,” said Brynne.
Mini took a deep breath, steadying herself. “Well, at least there’s not a dragon?”
Aru, Mini, and Brynne passed between the pillars together. Aru closed her eyes against a fine mist of rain that drifted across her face. No sooner had she opened her eyes when a siren blared.
“I DETECT THE PRESENCE OF GODS! I DETECT THE PRESENCE OF GODS!”
Vajra sprang into the air, on the verge of transforming, but Aru quickly caught it and shoved it back onto her wrist.
“We can’t give away who we are!” she hissed at it.
Beside her, Brynne and Mini were trapped in similar struggles with their own weapons. The alarm shouted louder. Bright lights flashed on, blinding Aru. She could just make out the shape of a huge door ahead when plumes of steam shot toward them.
The smoke parted, revealing a huge reptilian face. It had catlike yellow eyes with black slits, and its nostrils were smoldering. The creature’s scaly head was the size of a dining table, with slender horns protruding above its eyebrow ridges. Aru didn’t even want to imagine what the rest of it looked like.
The monster’s gaze lingered on them one by one, and then it croaked out, “Gods?”
Well, Never Mind, Then
Aru had only just processed that there was an actual dragon staring at them when the sound of something lumbering echoed through the antechamber. The only thing worse than one dragon was…two.
Aru braced herself and drew closer to her sisters. There was no way they could take down two dragons without using their Pandava weapons. Their clothes might be enchanted, thanks to Nikita, but Aru doubted that her pants, Brynne’s jacket, and Mini’s skirt and sweater would do much for them in this situation.
Beside them, Aiden had his hands in his sleeves, ready to summon his scimitars. Rudy was trying to hide behind Aiden with little success due to his blindingly white jacket.
A new form manifested before them…but it wasn’t exactly a dragon. Rather, it was part of a dragon. Specifically, its tail, four taloned feet, and a torso that looked as if it had sprouted flames at the top. The other creature turned its head, and Aru bit back a gasp. That’s all it was—a head! A head glancing at the rest of its body.
“You’re late, Ketu!” said the dragon head. “I despise it when you’re late—”
“You despise most things, Rahu,” said Ketu calmly.
Aru’s eyes widened.
Um…did the headless dragon torso just talk? she asked her sisters.
Their incredulous stares were answer enough.
Ketu sighed and the flame atop the torso wavered. Aru realized that the fire functioned as his head.
“We’ve been through this before, and there’s simply no point in getting worked up over it again,” said Ketu. He plopped onto his tail, pressing his taloned front feet together like he was praying. “You must free yourself from attachments.”
“Easy for you to say! You are unattached!”
“And that is by the will of the universe—”
“Oh, don’t give me that. The universe didn’t throw a spinning chakra at our neck—a god did, you blithering trunk!” spat Rahu.
“Anger,” said the torso serenely, “makes one blind to happiness. Again, free yourself from useless attachments.”
“And how does that fit with your collection of scented candles? That’s definitely a useless attachment, if you ask me. What’s the point when you don’t even have a nose?”
Ketu rolled off his tail and planted his feet on the ground. The flame rippled across his back. “They were on sale!”
Aru was watching all this, utterly spellbound, when she felt a sharp jab in her side. She looked over to see Brynne pointing with her chin. About fifty feet beyond the two pillars where the dragon halves bickered was the door to the crypt—solid black with shadows and mist curling out from its gap. All they had to do was get to it.
Maybe they could sneak past while the head and the torso argued.
Brynne took a step forward, and Rahu swung to face them.
“You,” he said.
“Oh, right—them,” said Ketu, waving his tail. “How do you do?”
Aiden shoved Rudy forward. The naga boy trembled for a moment, then took a deep breath, fixing the dragon parts with an imperious stare. He raised his hand, and the scales on his wrist shimmered.
“I am Prince Rudra of Naga-Loka, and this is my entourage,” he said, his voice wavering only a little. “I’m here to enter the crypt, which I’ve visited many times with my parents. My father has a chamber here, and—”
Rahu sniffed the air, moving closer.
“We are requesting entry,” Rudy finished quickly.
Aru had to hand it to Rudy. She didn’t think she’d be able to keep her cool if a disembodied dragon head struck up a conversation with her.
“The presence of gods was detected,” said Rahu. “We do not allow gods into this crypt. They may send an attendant, but they themselves are not welcome here.”
“Do we look like gods to you?” asked Aiden. “I mean, seriously. Maybe your alarm system is faulty.”
“Maybe a god snuck past?” tried Brynne. “We’ll go inside with you to check—”
“Ha!” Rahu snorted. “Even we are not permitted past the Door of Shadows.” His eyes rolled in its direction.
“We only guard its entrance,” added Ketu. “Which is preferable, really. I don’t like the crypt—it’s very drafty in there.”
A spark of hope shot through Aru. If the dragons couldn’t go in, all the Pandavas had to do was figure out how to get through the door without the guardians noticing…which meant they needed a distraction.
“We’ll have to see some identification,” growled Rahu.
“Please,” added Ketu.
Aru glanced at the hem of her pants, where the coiled-up sticky threads were disguised as embroidery. A plan formed in her head. Through their mind link, she quickly shared it with her sisters.
Aru took a step forward. “We need some ID from you, too. How do we know you really are Rahu and Ketu?”
“You want us to prove our identities?” Rahu was so insulted his nostrils started smoking again.
While Mini whispered the plan to Aiden and Rudy, Brynne started to pace.
Rudy said, “You’ve never been here when I’ve come with my mother or father. We always head straight to the door and trust the yalis inside to act as security guards.”
“Yeah,” said Brynne. “I mean, why would the great and fearsome Rahu and Ketu be protecting the entrance to their own crypt?”
“I am great,” said Ketu delightedly. “I think I shall add that to my list of morning affirmations, right after ‘Though I am a half, I am whole.’”
Aru bent down and pretended to adjust her shoelaces. Her fingers brushed the enchanted swirl designs on her pant legs. At her touch the threads separated from the fabric, entwined, and elongated to form a sticky translucent rope. Aru quickly balled it up and tossed it to Aiden.
He caught it with a sharp clap.
Rahu swiveled to face him.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Aiden said, his hands clasped in front of him like he had just finished applauding. “Give it up for the yalis.”
Mini quickly changed the subject. “You don’t seem to like gods very much,” she said to the dragon body.
Rahu snorted. “The gods are liars! Despicable! Tricksy!”
Aru couldn’t help herself. “Hobbitses?”
“Hobbitses?” Rahu blinked. “Is that a profanity of the human realm?”
“Sure,” said Aru.
Aiden cast her a look that clearly said Why are you like this, Shah?
Rahu grumbled, “Then they’re all tricksy hobbitses, and we hate them.”
By now, Aiden had tossed the sticky ball to Mini.
“Hatred solves nothing,” said Ketu peaceably. “Hey—what are you doing there? I hear footsteps.”
Mini, who was sneaking behind the dragon head while trying to unwind the rope, froze. In the firelight from Ketu’s torso, the cord was slightly visible. Aru hoped his vision was weak…given that he didn’t have any eyes.
“Just trying to appreciate, um—”
“All angles of the situation,” finished Aru loudly.
Ketu turned back toward Aru.
“Are there other split dragons like you?” she asked.
Rahu huffed. “It is impossible to be like us! We were created by the gods!”
“By accident, perhaps,” mused Ketu. “But Rahu is correct. We’re unique, because nobody could’ve been made like us….”
“Made?” prompted Brynne, while Mini looped the middle of the cord around a pillar. It stuck fast.
