Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, page 24
“They took me completely unawares, and I jumped. My glasses fell off, and then I stepped on them, and ugh.” Shani sighed. “Manda left a few days ago to buy me a new pair, but she needed to stop by and visit her sister, too, and these things take time! So now I’m deeply bored, and every time I try to read anything, it either bursts into flames or gives me a headache. And forget movies. I tried to watch The Avengers with a mirror and ended up burning my entire entertainment system.”
“You could try an audiobook,” suggested Aiden.
“Why would I want a book that eavesdrops on my conversations?” demanded Shani.
“No, the book is read to you,” said Aiden. “By a narrator.”
Shani cocked his head. “Fascinating witchcraft…”
Brynne cleared her throat, tilting her head toward the door. Aru took another step forward. Shani didn’t seem to notice. Aru chanced one more step. Just twenty more and they could throw open the Door of New Day and escape into the mortal realm.
“Yup, humanity is wild,” said Aru, hoping Shani wouldn’t see the bug. “Well, it was great talking to you!”
“Oh, but don’t go just yet!” pleaded Shani. “I’m so lonely. How about some tea? I can boil water with a glance, but the sugar will taste burnt, sadly.”
“No, but thank you,” said Aru. “We really have to be going.”
The bug scuttled closer. Aru finally caught Brynne’s eye, then made a fist and hit her own palm.
Brynne frowned at her. You want a mortar and pestle for grinding spices? she mouthed.
Behind them, Rudy squeaked, “Bug!”
“What?” asked Shani sharply. “Where?”
“He didn’t say bug!” said Aru.
“Then what’d he say?” demanded Shani.
“He…uh, he said…um—”
“Hug!” said Aiden brightly. “He wants to give you…a hug.”
“He does?” asked Shani.
“I do?” said Rudy.
Aru threw him a look. Rudy gulped.
“I do!” said Rudy fumbling for something to say. “You know, it’s hard not to see stuff clearly. I should know. I’m color-blind. But think of it as just experiencing reality…differently.”
“Oh, well, that’s lovely,” said Shani, clasping his hands. “And I do like hugs.” The planet extended his arms.
“We’ll hold the door for you, Rudy!” called Brynne, taking another step forward.
Meanwhile, the bug kept inching its way toward them. Aru pointed at it wildly. Finally Brynne noticed. She aimed her wind mace at it, trying to blast it out of the way. It flipped upside down, then righted itself. It seemed even more determined now. A glinting silver light emanated from its hard shell. It clicked its wings.
Uh-oh.
The bug charged forward. Aru realized it was heading straight for Shani’s duck-slippered feet.
Rudy gave Shani a quick and awkward side hug. Shani started talking about how terribly sad it was that no one seemed to read poetry anymore. Aiden darted forward, Nikita bouncing across his back, as he tried to stab at the bug with his scimitars, only for Mini to block him.
“It’s a living thing!” she said.
Shani said, “Quite right, child. Literature is a living thing, much like myth itself! Fairy tales gain new life with every retelling and such. Very wise of you—”
“That living thing could get us all killed!” shot back Aiden, trying to spear it once more with his blade.
Shani frowned. “Kill? Well, people have died for the right to make art….”
Time slowed as everything spiraled out of control. Mini tried to trap the bug in a force field, but her aim was off and she only ended up bouncing the beetle into the air. Aru spun Vajra in her hand, thinking she could net it…. Unfortunately, Brynne aimed her wind mace at the same time, which sent the beetle arcing through the air. Too late, Rudy spied it. He leaped up, his palm outstretched….
But instead of batting the beetle out of the air, he sent it flying right toward Shani’s face.
“I’ve been meaning to reread Twilight. I could never decide if I was on Team Edward or Team Jacob, and I— Oop!”
The beetle smacked into his forehead.
Aru froze.
The beetle froze.
Shani froze.
EVERYTHING FROZE.
Then the beetle scuttled over his nose, and the planet screamed, “IT’S ON MY FACE! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!”
“Keep your eyes shut!” called Aiden.
Brynne jumped to the side, frantically directing them all toward the Door of New Day. Aru started to run. Twenty steps, now fifteen…
But then the earth trembled. A tendril of ice wound through her heart as Aru realized that Shani had lifted his head.
Not the Tiny Legs!
Brynne, as strong and sturdy as ever, didn’t even blink.
“Don’t look back! Just go!” she ordered the Potatoes.
Aiden sprinted ahead, holding on to Nikita’s feet as he ran. One jump, then two, and he’d made it to the threshold of the Door of New Day. The door sparkled, and Aru could almost imagine the sensation of its strange, cool metal beneath her palms, like a pond that wasn’t frozen but whose surface she couldn’t breach.
“Come on, Shah!” called Aiden.
The ground shook under Aru’s feet, tripping her forward. Aru risked a glance over her shoulder and saw that Shani had flung the beetle off his forehead and was now scrubbing furiously at his face. He blinked once, and a smoking line of fire shot straight out of his eyes. The glare of it sent spots blinking through her own vision. His burning gaze fell on a birdbath, which, two seconds later, split down the middle like a banana.
“So revolting!” shouted Shani. “Where’d it go? Someone kill it!”
“It’s gone!” called Mini. “Just keep your eyes closed!”
But Shani wasn’t listening. He kept blinking, searing a new hole in the land each time. Rudy darted past him, clutching his messenger bag to his chest, and caught up with Aru.
“Well, there goes the garage!” howled Shani. “Manda will be furious with me!”
Aru could see the Door of New Day shining brightly not ten feet away, along with Aiden’s outstretched hand. She tried to take a step forward, but the ground opened right in front of her, plunging into a fifty-foot-long chasm that separated her, Brynne, Mini, and Rudy from the door.
Brynne hollered at them to move, and Shani loudly squealed, “I CAN STILL FEEL ITS TINY LEGS ON MY NOSE!” A burst of fire lit up the air behind Aru, and she felt as if a thin line of flames had started to nip at her heels. Shani was turning his gaze toward her and she needed to jump. Now.
Aru squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to leap forward, when someone yanked her sharply to the right.
“He almost looked at you!” said Mini.
Aru blinked. In the spot where she’d stood just seconds ago there were now plumes of smoke and a fathomless hole that promised an infinite drop.
“Over here!” shouted Brynne.
Shani whirled to where Brynne stood, nearly ten feet back. Before his flames could reach her, Brynne transformed into a giant eagle and grasped Rudy in one talon. With her other talon she pushed two huge boulders near Aru and Mini. They hunkered down behind the rocks. If Shani looked in their direction, at least the boulders would take the hit first.
And then they’d be out of places to hide.
Brynne said, “I’ll come back for you two!” As she flew Rudy over the chasm, Aru heard him moaning. “I can’t die now! I haven’t seen enough of the world! I don’t know what Florida is!”
Mini cast a force field around her and Aru, but Shani was a planet, and the cursed power of his vision could likely pierce anything.
“Aru, this would be a good time to come up with something sneaky,” said Mini.
Why didn’t they teach emergency tactics in Otherworld school? Aru wondered. Hanuman’s tutoring was all about thinking like the opponent, but this opponent was only thinking of himself. Urvashi’s lessons about etiquette and grace were useless in this situation, too. Boo hadn’t ever mentioned what to do in the event a planet with laser vision focused on them. She’d never even heard of something like this outside of X-Men. The Cyclops character also had laser vision…but when his let loose, there really wasn’t much to do except hope he looked somewhere else.
Aru paused.
Look somewhere else.
This whole time, they’d been telling Shani that the bug was gone, but he wasn’t listening, convinced it was still somewhere close by. What if this time they agreed with him?
Aru turned to her sister. “Mini, can you make an illusion of a beetle?”
She nodded and set to work fashioning a small light that flickered to life between her two palms. Judging by the sound of more things being incinerated, Shani seemed to be getting closer.
“If I can just find it and be rid of it, then it’ll be fine!” said Shani, his voice half-crazed.
Mini whimpered.
“What was that?” shouted Shani.
“The beetle!” called Aru, standing up slowly. “It’s right behind your feet!”
Shani whipped around. In the same second, Mini whispered something to her Death Danda and a plume of violet light wound its way toward him, scuttling forward in the shape of a beetle.
“Take my arm!” Aru said to Mini.
Shani swung his head, searching for the beetle. His gaze seemed to be everywhere at once. One glance, and a palm tree hissed as it went up in flames. One blink, and the pit of broken musical instruments burst into flames, filling the air with the twanging of popped guitar strings.
“I’ll stomp you out of existence in every universe!” roared Shani.
He turned about in wild circles. Aru flicked her wrist and Vajra sprang to life as a hoverboard.
“Children!” he called out. “Children, do you see it?”
“Watch out, Shah!” yelled Brynne from the other side of the chasm.
Aru jumped onto Vajra and pulled up Mini, who clung tightly to her as they soared over the chasm. Aru didn’t blame her. It was like staring into the vast abyss of space. There was nothing but endless stars and the light of dying planets, sketches of universes yet to be made….
Deadly heat snaked toward them.
Shani was lifting his gaze….
Up ahead, Aiden raised his camera to his face and yelled, “Close your eyes!”
Aru did as she was told and sensed the flash of Aiden’s enchanted camera against her closed eyelids.
Shani yelped. “Ah! Too bright! I can’t see!”
Aru and Mini tumbled onto the ground right before the Door of New Day. Quickly, Aru reached out, grabbed hold of the knob, and turned it as hard as she could. When she flung the door open, a cold voice asked, “Where do you wish to go?”
In the reflection in the silver door, Aru watched as Shani’s white-hot laser vision burned a thin path from the edge of his property, across the chasm, and…Right. Toward. Them.
“Don’t you dare say Home Depot, Shah!” hollered Brynne.
But now it was in her head! And it seemed the door heard, because the light around it rippled. The next instant, they were toppling through the ether with the faint sound of Shani’s voice trailing them:
“So sorry about that! Do visit again! Would love to hear more about your adventures!”
You Brought Us to Home Depot?
Aru plopped to the ground, feeling warm asphalt beneath her palms and inhaling springtime air full of the familiar scents of wet grass and hay. She lumbered to her feet, blinking away the sudden daylight.
Rudy was lying on the pavement, kissing it and declaring, “Sweet ground! I’ll never leave you again!”
Meanwhile, Brynne, Mini, and Aiden were helping Nikita to her feet. Rohini had said a couple of loud sounds would wake her up. Apparently, their escape from an angry planet had done the job.
Nikita rubbed her eyes, and the blossoms on her crown of flowers opened slowly. She looked first at everyone, then stared around at her surroundings, her eyes focusing on something just behind Aru. The corners of her mouth turned down.
“Really, Shah?” she said. “You brought us to Home Depot?”
Only now did Aru realize they were standing in an empty parking lot right outside the giant hardware store. She couldn’t care less. All that mattered was that Nikita was awake and safe with them.
“Always the rude attitude with you,” said Aru.
“Especially after we just pulled off that daring rescue,” said Brynne.
“Um, technically, we won her,” said Mini.
“I mean, I knew you would,” Nikita said snootily. Then she beamed. “And you’re going to save Sheela, too, right?”
Aru forced herself to smile even as she wondered just how exactly they were going to pull that off. She sighed, then looked at the sky. The Door of New Day had spat them out at dawn. Just like Rohini had warned them, they had exactly one more day to find the Tree of Wishes.
“You know me,” Aru said. “More saving, more doing. All that.”
Brynne checked her watch and grimaced. “It’s Holi,” she said. “The Otherworld is going to expect us back at Amaravati for the festivities tonight.”
Aiden lowered his camera, blinking against the sunrise. “Then that means we’ve still got twelve hours.”
“We can’t go back without the tree,” pointed out Mini.
For once, Rudy was exceptionally quiet. He kept turning around in the parking lot, looking a little dazed.
“Why are there white marks on the ground? Is this an ancient battlefield?”
“It’s a parking lot,” said Mini. “We tend to end up in those often.”
“And depending on when you’re trying to park, it’s definitely a battlefield,” added Aiden.
As Aru considered next steps, she touched her sapphire pendant. Two of its hollows were now filled—one with the memory of the Sleeper’s sacrifice of his own childhood, the other with the memory of when he’d chosen her name. Aru may not have found the tree—yet—but she had made other important discoveries. And she wasn’t going to give up. Not when the Sleeper knew what they were after, and definitely not when Sheela was depending on them.
“We have a riddle,” she said to Nikita. “And we think you’re the answer to it.”
“I don’t like riddles,” said Nikita. “Those’re more Sheela’s thing.”
Rudy reached into his messenger bag, pulling out the little pane of moonlight and reading it aloud:
“All growing things know where the tree can be found,
But it takes the right ear to hear the right sound.
All growing things know, but not all wish to talk.
The youngest of roots are the best to unlock.”
“Can you, um, talk to plants?” asked Aru.
Nikita shook her head.
Aru’s stomach plummeted. She had been so sure….
“They prefer it when you talk with them,” said Nikita. “They like conversation.”
“Oh,” said Mini. “That’s good!”
“But only if they’re magical,” said Nikita. “And from the riddle, it sounds like we need baby ones.”
“Where are we going to find magical baby plants?” asked Brynne, peering around the parking lot.
When Aru looked back at the store, she saw the familiar arched awning with bright orange lettering declaring:
PLANT NURSERY
“I know where we could start?” she said.
The five of them walked toward the entrance, dragging Rudy behind them as he swiveled his neck around and frowned. “What’s that?” he asked, looking at one of the soda machines outside the store.
“A vending machine,” said Aiden.
“What does it…‘vend’?” asked Rudy.
“Soda,” said Aiden tightly.
“What’s soda?”
“A drink.”
“Can I try one?” asked Rudy.
Aru had a brief but vivid image of Rudy after he’d downed a can full of sugar syrup, running in circles around the parking lot. Maybe everybody else had the exact same vision, because as one they responded with a resounding “NO.”
Brynne looked at Aiden. “Can I knock him unconscious?”
When they got to the entrance, everything was locked. According to the hours of operation, the store wouldn’t open until six in the morning, and that wasn’t for another thirty minutes.
“We could wait?” offered Mini.
“And give the Sleeper an extra half hour to find us and kill us?” asked Brynne. “No thanks.” She took one look at the door, then curled her hand into a fist.
“Breaking and entering? That’s illegal!” said Mini before pointing to a corner of the building. “And there’s a camera!”
Aru summoned Vajra, transforming the bolt into a tiny spear no larger than a Sharpie. She flung it at the security equipment, which sparked once and drooped.
“There was a camera,” said Aru.
Brynne grinned, raising her fist once more.
Rudy clapped and started chanting, “Heist! Heist! Heist!”
“Just do it already!” said Nikita. “Sheela’s waiting for us.”
Mini turned her cheek. “I can’t be a witness to this.”
“Um, guys?” cut in Aiden. “How about using Mr. V’s key?”
Brynne scowled, dropping her hand.
“He said that only Aru could use it first. He didn’t say that none of us could use it after that.”
Aru didn’t like this idea. She herself wanted zero part of the thing. “You know what it does to people,” said Aru. “But if you’re willing to take that risk, go wild.” She dug the velvet pouch out of her backpack and handed it to him.
Aiden pressed the key to the door and a delicate filigree of golden light spread across the glass. The lock whirred softly as its gears shifted and twisted. Aru watched Aiden’s face intently, wondering what exactly was being opened inside him…. For her, it had been a bruised ache for the father she’d never had. Aiden paused for a moment, his eyebrows drawn together. His eyes darted in her direction, and for one full second he openly stared at her. His eyebrows quirked up like he was shocked by whatever he’d seen there. But then he quickly shook himself.
