Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, page 17
Rudy’s expression crumpled. “Look, I’m sorry. But I can help—”
Brynne’s voice was gentle but firm. “I know it’s not your fault, but you still landed us in that yali pit.”
In the bird’s beak, the small gemstone glimmered, calling to Aru once more. With a pang, she remembered that she’d never explained her role in how they’d fallen into the pit. She couldn’t let Rudy take all the blame.
“He didn’t,” said Aru quietly.
The others turned to look at her.
Aru took a deep breath. “I saw something when I was trying to get the bird. A vision of the Sleeper. I think it came from the gem thing in its beak—I don’t know. I got startled, and I lost my grip.”
Rudy took the bird from her and gently pulled open the bird’s beak. It paused in its tune to squawk indignantly as Rudy plucked the jewel from its mouth.
“This isn’t an ordinary jewel,” he said. “It’s a receptacle for thoughts, emotions, memories…. I’ve seen stuff like this before, in my dad’s collection. This must’ve been what Mr. V was talking about! He said so himself, remember? That the Sleeper lost pieces of his soul or something when he went looking for the tree? In fact, I think if I—” Rudy pressed down hard on the jewel.
“NO!” yelled Aru.
But it was too late.
Something like a hologram emerged from the jewel, rendering an eerie sequence of scenes in front of them.
They saw a young boy in a market, his face turned away as he stared after a young child walking off hand in hand with her two parents laughing and smiling beside her. Someone grabbed the boy’s arm impatiently. “There you are! Come. It’s time to return home.”
The boy responded in a small voice: “The orphanage isn’t home. Homes have families.”
Whoever stood beside him laughed. “It’s the only home you’ll ever have.”
The vision jumped ahead, showing the young boy studying hard, building inventions, reading books. In every image, his face was hidden.
And then the projection changed to show the boy grown up—a man in his early twenties standing before a council of five elder Otherworld Council members. His dark hair flopped in front of his face, and when he pushed it back, Aru could see his eyes: one blue, one brown. It was him. The Sleeper. Only he was so young. He wore a dark polo with four red letters embroidered on the chest: OFCS. Aru recognized that acronym. It stood for the Otherworld Foster Care System, the same system that had taken in Sheela and Nikita.
“Ah, Suyodhana,” said a dark-skinned man, who leaned forward, steepling his taloned fingers. “You are perhaps the youngest and most accomplished member ever to seek permission to pursue a higher education in the magical arts. It’s tradition that every student wishing to pursue such studies takes on the burden of a quest. Yours was simple: show us the strongest substance in the world. And yet you have arrived empty-handed.”
The elders looked at each other, exchanging smirks.
Suyodhana smiled. “I have certainly fulfilled my quest, but before I show you the results, perhaps we can share a toast? I am honored to have even been given this opportunity to prove myself.”
He snapped his fingers and five golden goblets floated before the elders. The drink must’ve smelled delicious, because all five Council members sighed deeply.
“To our dreams,” said Suyodhana, lifting his own goblet. “May they never turn to nightmares.”
The members drank, and then the eldest one wiped his mouth and said, “And as for your quest?”
Suyodhana pointed at each of the goblets. “Every single one of those was filled with a rare poison for which there is no antidote.”
At once, the members paled. They scrambled to their feet, clutching their throats. One of them fell to the floor with a loud crash and started thrashing about and yelling, “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” Another fainted dead away. All the while Suyodhana watched without emotion.
“What’s the meaning of this?” gasped the elder. “How dare you!”
“How dare I what?” asked Suyodhana. “How dare I lie?”
They all paused.
The person who had been yelling about how he couldn’t breathe suddenly sat up. He pointed a shaky finger at Suyodhana. “So you poisoned us and then magically administered an antidote?”
“No.”
“Then explain why I am suddenly able to breathe!” said the man.
Suyodhana shrugged. “Because I never poisoned you. But you believed I did. And that, dear members, is the strongest substance in the world: belief.”
The vision jumped ahead once more.
The Sleeper was older, with faint lines framing his eyes. When he pushed the hair away from his face, Aru saw a wedding band. In his other hand, he held a wriggling key that looked just like the one Mr. V had given them. Aru recognized the floor covered with scales, the dimly lit hall. The Sleeper was in the Crypt of Eclipses.
He closed his eyes and twisted the ring around his finger. “I know the prophecy concerning me,” he said in a choked voice. “I wish to avoid it completely. Please! You don’t understand—I have a daughter on the way. I can’t let her inherit a world I am destined to destroy. Tell me what I must do. Please, tell me—I’ll pay any price.”
Tendrils of shadow appeared and wrapped around his hand; then they wound up his arm and plunged into his chest. He gasped in pain as the shadows seemed to tug something out.
“Childhood memories? Is that all?” he asked weakly. “I can bear it.”
And with that, the vault door opened before him and light spilled onto the floor.
The vision faded. And once it was gone, Aru realized there were tears streaming down her cheeks. When Mr. V had said that the key had unlocked pieces of the Sleeper, she didn’t think she’d actually have to see it happen.
“Does this mean I can stay?” asked Rudy, holding up the little blue jewel. But then he must have noticed that Aru was crying. “What’s the big deal, Shah? I mean, it’s kinda sad and all for the Sleeper, but imagine being his daughter. That would—”
Aiden elbowed Rudy in the ribs, and a look of understanding crossed the naga’s face. “Oh…” he muttered.
“Gimme a sec,” said Aru, walking down the hill to be alone.
She didn’t know what to think or how to feel after seeing the vision.
I’ll do anything.
Dimly, she remembered the twins’ nightmares. The way their mother had screamed at them not to follow her, the tears in her eyes as she choked out, I would do anything not to leave you.
Aru felt a flash of fury. The twins had gotten to experience that love, at least for a little while. They’d gotten to see it in action. But not Aru.
If her father had never become the Sleeper, her life would have been so different. Full of smiles and laughter. And love.
What had happened? Why had he failed at changing his fate? And how could her mother have locked him away when all he’d done was try to fix things?
What if the same thing happened to her? The prophecy mentioned an untrue sister…. Could it be her, even though she had no intention of betraying anyone? All Aru wanted to do was save the Otherworld, save her friends and family…. But what if she still somehow ended up the villain? Opal’s taunting words flew back to her: The flesh-and-blood daughter of the Sleeper.
Maybe evil ran in her blood…. Like father, like daughter…
“Aru?”
She spun around and saw Brynne, Mini, and Aiden walking toward her.
“Talk to us,” said Mini.
“I’m fine—” started Aru, but her voice cracked, and she stood there shaking.
Mini went to her first, wrapping her arms around Aru in a tight hug before stepping away to search her face.
“I get it, you know,” said Brynne softly.
Aru looked up. Brynne’s arms were crossed and she was staring at the ground.
“It’s really tough to see the mom or dad you should’ve had,” she said. “Gunky and Funky used to tell me how nice Anila once was. I don’t know why she couldn’t be that way for me.” Brynne fiddled with her stack of melted-down-trophy bracelets, her mouth a grim line. “For a while, I thought it was because I wasn’t good enough, or that it was somehow my fault…but now I know that’s not it.”
A lump rose in Aru’s throat. That was exactly how she’d felt. As if the mere act of being born had somehow caused all this to happen.
“This isn’t about you, Shah,” said Aiden firmly. “And maybe you thought you lost someone great, but you don’t know how he would’ve been as a dad. People change. Trust me.”
Aru forced herself to nod. Maybe he was right. She’d never know.
“But the prophecy…” she said. “And Opal—”
“Forget Opal,” said Mini, throwing up her hands. “She doesn’t know everything! And just because what you saw back there made you upset, that doesn’t mean you’re sympathizing with the enemy and going to go rogue on us.”
Aru gaped at her. “How’d you know—?”
“Because we’re sisters,” said Mini, squeezing her arm.
Brynne looped her arm through Aru’s. “Now c’mon. We’ve got a tree to find and some sleep to catch, and I found everything we need for making s’mores in Aiden’s bag.”
“Good job, Wifey,” said Aru.
Aiden rolled his eyes.
But he still smiled.
In her dreams that night, Aru found that she, Brynne, and Mini were once more in the twins’ astral realm. It wasn’t a nightmare like last time. But it wasn’t exactly happy, either. The twins stood on a worn stage inside an abandoned theater. Glittering cobwebs hung from chandeliers made of hard candy. It was a dream, and so things were just standard weird—ten jellyfish bobbed in the air, patterned in purple polka dots. A stingray moved overhead, the underside of its wings plastered with sheet music.
Sheela ran to greet them, throwing her arms around Mini, who had clearly become her favorite.
Brynne awkwardly patted Sheela on the head, whispering to Aru, “Is this what you do with children?”
“She’s a human, not a puppy,” said Mini.
Nikita stood off to the side, wearing a silk turban and a velvet dress on which clouds slowly gusted across the fabric.
Aru walked over to her.
“How’d you like the outfits?” asked Nikita brusquely.
Aru grinned. “They were—”
“Fabulous? I know,” said Nikita, waving a hand. “Don’t tell me more. I don’t need to be bored with the details of my genius.”
Aru smirked. Before, she would’ve found Nikita rude and annoying, but she understood her a little better now.
Nikita must’ve found Aru’s silence unnerving, because she crossed her arms, pouting. “Don’t think just because you saw our nightmare that we’re going to be close or something,” she said. “We can take care of ourselves.”
“I know.”
“We’re used to people leaving,” said Nikita.
Aru’s voice softened. “I know.”
“Good,” added the scowling ten-year-old.
Aru nodded, then looked up at the dream chandeliers. “Trust me, I’d love to be rid of you, but you’re pretty useful. The outfits were amazing and probably saved our lives. Plus, I kinda like the novelty of having baby sisters.”
“I’m not a baby!”
“That’s what babies say.”
Nikita scowled. “I don’t like you, Shah.”
“Now you sound like family!”
A smile pulled at Nikita’s face, but then Sheela suddenly screamed.
“No!”
Aru and Nikita whirled around to find Sheela sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth. Her eyes glowed, and tears streamed down her face. Mini grabbed her shoulders, trying to help her up, but Sheela wouldn’t move.
“He’s making a terrible mistake….” Sheela turned her unfocused gaze on Aru. “And you will hate him for his love.”
Aru jolted awake to sounds of commotion outside the tent, which was suddenly empty. She pulled on a sweater and trudged into the cold night. Rudy, Aiden, Brynne, and Mini already stood in their campsite, looking up at the sky. And they weren’t alone. Thousands of birds filled the trees around them.
The wooden eagle, lying on its side between the two tents, called out its strange riddling tune.
“Remember how the eagle has the letter G on it?” Aiden asked her.
“Yeah…”
“It does stand for Garuda.”
The king of the birds? Aru frowned. “How do you know?”
Aiden pointed up at the stars, and Vajra sparkled with panic.
“Because,” said Aiden, “he’s decided to pay us a visit.”
Quoth the Raven…
Garuda, king of the birds, flew toward them. Aru hadn’t met very many kings. She had, however, seen advertisements for pro wrestling matches, and this was starting to look like one. She and her friends might have been standing in the middle of a ring for all that was happening around them.
The surrounding trees bent and groaned under the weight of thousands of birds cawing and screeching from the branches like an audience thirsting for a fight. Maybe it had something to do with being in Garuda’s vicinity, but Aru found she could understand everything the birds were saying…and it wasn’t exactly polite.
“Eat them, my king!” shouted a jackdaw in the branches.
A blue jay with a southern accent hollered, “I brought some Tabasco sauce to share with y’all!”
A small chickadee the length of Aru’s pinky chirped in a sweet, high-pitched voice, “SHOW THEM A FRESHLY WASHED WINDOW AND HAVE THEM RUN INTO IT A HUNDRED TIMES.” Then it cackled hysterically.
Aru was starting to regret every time she’d filled up the bird feeder.
Something sailed out of the trees toward them. Brynne held out her mace. Mini cast a shield. Aiden pulled out his scimitars. And Rudy…well, at least he had the mechanized eagle between his hands. Aru aimed Vajra as a spear, on the verge of letting it loose….
Bam!
An object fell to the ground, tendrils of smoke writhing from it.
It was…
“Toast?” asked Aru.
Aiden inspected the smoldering loaf of bread. “Well, it is now.”
“How would you like empty carbs thrown at your head?!” shouted a duck. “Some of us don’t like that processed nonsense!”
“Some of us are gluten intolerant!” honked a goose.
“Why don’t you featherless noodles ever give us things that don’t taste like cardboard?” huffed an owl.
From the trees, the birds began to chant:
“NO MORE BREAD!”
“NO MORE BREAD!”
“NO MORE BREAD!”
Aru turned to her friends, but they were just as bewildered as she was.
A gust whooshed past them. Aru shielded her eyes with the inside of her elbow, squinting as dirt and twigs rose in a tiny storm. She had never stood next to a helicopter, but she imagined it was kind of like this. In the midst of that powerful wind, a figure landed in front of them. The force of his touchdown sent a tremor through the earth.
Aru lowered her arm when the gust died down. She knew Garuda from the statues her mom had on display in the museum. Aside from the fact that he wasn’t made of sandstone, the real king looked a lot like those sculptures. His eyes were a handsome shade of amber, and human-shaped, but his face was covered in brilliant green feathers, and he had a sharp golden beak instead of a nose. Bronze wings nearly seven feet long lay folded behind his shoulders; their tips brushed the grass. From the neck down, he looked like a strong man with tanned skin, except that his hands and feet ended in sharp bird-of-prey talons. Garuda had a wide-brimmed solid-gold baseball cap over his dark curly hair, and wore long silk shorts covered in trophy badges. On his shoulder, a shiny black raven cawed loudly, and the bird chant stopped.
“You know him as Khagesvara!” shouted the raven. “King of the birds!”
The birds cheered. The Pandavas drew a little closer. Rudy tugged his hood over his face.
“You know him as Suparna!” squawked the raven. “He who has beeeeee-ooootiful feathers!”
At this, Garuda nodded, acknowledging the crowd for the first time. He shook out his wings, vast enough that Aru and her friends ducked instinctively to avoid getting thwacked in the face. His feathers shone brightly, Aru thought, like the glint of a knife’s blade.
“You know him as Nagantaka!” said the raven. “THE DEVOURER! It’s the one, the only…GAAAARUDA!”
The king turned in a slow circle, arms up and muscles flexed. The birds cheered so hard, a fine layer of feathers drifted down to cover the forest floor.
“And what do we have here?” asked the raven, its beady eyes fixed on Rudy.
“Can I leave?” he mumbled to the Pandava crew. “This is not going to end well for me.”
“Is that a…? No!” said the raven, hopping onto Garuda’s head. It cocked its head to the side. “It’s a snake!”
The birds honked and screeched in displeasure.
“I’m not a snake!” said Rudy, puffing out his chest. “I’m a—”
Aiden smacked his palm over his cousin’s mouth. “Not the time, dude.”
“Ooh, I know I see me a snake!” the raven hooted with delight. “We hate snakes!”
Garuda nodded, scowling.
“Leathery ropes with faces,” the raven said with a shudder, before turning its attention to the Pandavas. “And some demigods. Aww, that’s cute. Folks, let’s give ’em a round of indifferent applause. Congrats, kids! You’ve got some shiny weapons! I like shiny. But none of those can even scratch our king! Ask Indra. He tried with that same lightning bolt.”
In response, Vajra gave an electrical shiver of displeasure.
“We have no desire to scratch Garuda—” started Mini.
“Who put glasses on top of this pair of living toothpicks?” cackled the raven.
Mini flushed, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. At the same time, Aru and Brynne lifted their weapons.
“I’m surprised you’ve got so much to say,” said Aru. “Shouldn’t you be squawking from some old guy’s fireplace?”
