Aru Shah and the Song of Death

by Roshani Chokshi

  Also by Roshani Chokshi

  Aru Shah and the End of Time

  Copyright © 2019 by Roshani Chokshi

  Designed by Mary Claire Cruz

  Cover illustration copyright © 2019 by Abigail L. Dela Cruz

  Cover design by Mary Claire Cruz

  All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney • Hyperion, 125 West End Avenue, New York, New York 10023.

  ISBN 978-1-368-04585-8

  www.DisneyBooks.com

  For my grandparents—

  Vijya, Ramesh, Apolonia, and Antonio—

  who carried so much in the crossing of oceans.

  I love you.

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1. New Demon Who Dis?

  2. Keeping Up with the Pandavas

  3. Aru Shah: Demigod and Hamster Impersonator

  4. We Literally Just Went on a Quest

  5. This Is Fine. Really

  6. The Warehouse of Quest Materials, aka “Do Not Touch That”

  7. Who Doesn’t Like Vegan Granola?

  8. Swans Are the Worst

  9. That One Time I Got Incinerated

  10. That Went Well…Not

  11. Terminal C. Get It? LOL

  12. Aru Shah Is a Piece of Sushi

  13. I Mean, Technically, We’re Family….

  14. Heeeere, Monstrous Kitty!

  15. No, I Can’t Sing. Leave Me Alone

  16. Mini Gets a (Spooky) New Power

  17. Uloopi’s Secret

  18. A Chocolaty Truce

  19. Dehhhh-Spah-CITO

  20. I Don’t Trust Nobody and Nobody Trusts Me

  21. The Dangerous Samosa

  22. Aiden Brings the Smolder

  23. Leave the Rock Outta This

  24. Mistakes Have Been Made….

  25. And Then Came the Fiery Cows

  26. Cows Are Officially Cancelled

  27. Sage Durvasa Curses

  28. We’ll Even Throw in Starvation for Free!

  29. Did Your Parents Really Name You Sparky?

  30. Brynne Loses an Eating Contest

  31. Aru Shah Is on Fire. No, but Seriously. Like, Fire Fire. This Is Not a Drill

  32. Presents from Uncle Agni

  33. But Real Talk, Where Are the Cookies?

  34. Oh No! Oh No! Oh, Wait a Minute….

  35. Hello, New Friend!

  36. The Tale of the Demon Princess

  37. Lady M Makes a Request

  38. Who’s the Heartless One Now?

  39. Shadowfax Saves the Day

  40. Well, This Is Awkward

  41. You Shall Not Pass!

  42. There and Back Again, an Aru Tale

  Glossary

  About the Author

  Keep reading for a sneak peek at Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez!

  New Demon Who Dis?

  Aru Shah had a gigantic lightning bolt, and she really wanted to use it.

  But if she used it now, she risked attracting the herd of zombies currently swarming through the Night Bazaar.

  “This is the worst Saturday ever,” moaned Mini, clutching her celestial weapon like a teddy bear.

  While Aru’s soul father—the god of thunder—had gifted her a lightning bolt named Vajra, Mini’s soul father—the god of death—had given her an enchanted danda stick named Dee Dee.

  The two of them crouched beneath a table by the Frozen Yogurt and Dreams stand, watching through the gaps in the wood as Otherworld citizens ran screaming, dropping grocery bags, or, in the case of one bull-headed rakshasa, walloping a zombie over the head with a tote full of tomatoes.

  Overhead, a loud announcement blared:

  “ATTENTION, ATTENTION! WE HAVE LOCATED AN UNWANTED DEMONIC PRESENCE IN THE AREA. PLEASE EVACUATE THE NIGHT BAZAAR. ATTENTION, ATTENTION…”

  Aru hated sitting still. But their job here wasn’t to fight, but to find…because somewhere in the Night Bazaar was a thief who had raised the Otherworld alarm and probably let in all these zombies.

  Unfortunately, that thief was also her newest Pandava sister.

  Which meant that, just like Aru and Mini, she was the reincarnation of one of the five legendary demigod brothers from Hindu mythology. Hours ago, they’d seen her carrying a giant bow and arrow just as Boo, their pigeon mentor, had said, That was your sister.

  “Aru!” whispered Mini.

  “Shh! A zombie might find us—”

  “I think…I think one already has…” said Mini.

  Aru turned around just in time to see a pair of pale hands flip over the table they were under. Bright sunlight and moonlight washed over them from the half-day-half-night sky overhead. Aru blinked against the sudden brightness. She couldn’t get a good read on the zombie’s features, even as it snapped off a table leg (the stand howled, “HOW DARE YOU!”) and brandished it at them.

  Aru probably should’ve been scared, but she had a fearsome weapon, and she knew how to wield it.

  She flung Vajra as if it were a javelin. The lightning bolt zapped the wooden peg out of the zombie’s hand, and he pulled his arm back, stung. The entire yogurt stand tipped over on top of him.

  “Run!” said Mini.

  Vajra zoomed back into Aru’s hands and she took off. Around them, the Night Bazaar had fallen into chaos. Storefronts had been toppled, and while most of the shop owners had evacuated, the displays kept fighting. An enchanted flower stall turned its pumpkin vines into a row of exploding jack-o’-lanterns, and the kitchen appliances section summoned an army of wooden spoons to beat a group of zombies over the head. When some of the intruders spilled a bowl of glass beads and started slipping and sliding on them, a yaksha storeowner hollered, “YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT! NO SATURDAY DISCOUNT, EITHER!”

  “That zombie is chasing us!” Mini yelled at Aru.

  Aru glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, the same zombie stalked after them, shoving aside the feral grocery carts that were anxiously zooming through the Night Bazaar.

  “Why do all zombies lurch?” asked Aru. “Is that, like, a universal zombie thing?”

  She cast Vajra like a net, thinking that would stop him, but the electrified mesh slipped right off, and he stepped over it. Aru frowned. Maybe her aim wasn’t as good when she was running…but Vajra had never failed as a net before. Vajra bounded back to her, transforming into a bracelet that wound around her wrist.

  Mini skidded to a halt in front of the entrance to the frozen pizza and enchantments aisle. A herd of grocery carts, packed tightly together in fear, blocked their way.

  “There she is!” said Mini.

  At the end of the aisle, Aru caught sight of the other Pandava girl. The thief. She had shifted into a blue wolf and was carrying the large bow and arrow in her mouth as she ran.

  “Hey! Stop!” yelled Mini.

  But they couldn’t chase after her. In front of them, the grocery carts hissed and zoomed back and forth like a pack of angry cats. Behind them, the zombie lurched ever closer.

  “Can you make us invisible?” asked Aru. “Maybe we can slip past him?”

  Casting a shield of invisibility with Dee Dee was one of the new powers Mini had learned in Pandava training. Except she wasn’t that good at it yet. Mini waved her danda stick in an arc, creating a force field around the two of them—but it immediately flickered and died.

  Beyond the grocery
carts, the Pandava thief slipped away before Aru could try to ensnare her.

  A low growl erupted behind them. Aru turned slowly, willing Vajra to turn back into a lightning bolt. For the first time, she could take a good look at the zombie. He was tall and wore a white coat open over a bare chest, and there was a strange pale scar right above his heart. Not so much a wound as the center of a spiderweb, which looked like frost creeping out over the skin. And then she noticed something even more bizarre. The coat’s buttons were enamel pins in the shape of teeth. Embroidered words next to the left lapel read:

  DR. ERNST WARREN, DDS

  OPEN WIDE!

  “The zombie is a dentist?” said Aru.

  “My aunt’s a dentist,” said Mini. “She said it’s soul-crushing.”

  “Makes sense.”

  As if highly affronted, the zombie let out a guttural cry and charged at them.

  Weeks of training kicked in immediately. In a split second, both girls stood back-to-back, their weapons out before them. The zombie roared and raised his hands. Mini swung Dee Dee at his ankles, knocking him over. Aru spun Vajra in her hands until it became a rope. Then she threw it at the zombie, binding his wrists and ankles.

  Mini beamed at Aru, but a second later her smile fell.

  “Don’t panic,” said Aru. “Two against one worked fine!”

  “What about two against two dozen?”

  Aru followed Mini’s gaze. Panic zipped through her heart as she watched twenty zombies step out from behind the wreckage of storefronts. All of them wore the same slack-faced expression and ripped shirts that revealed identical frostlike wounds right over their hearts. Froyo Zombie shucked off the lightning rope a moment later, and Vajra whipped back into Aru’s hands. Beside her, Mini cast another force field, but it blinked and fizzled out.

  “Our weapons aren’t working…” said Mini.

  Aru didn’t want to admit it, but Mini was right. It should’ve been impossible. Celestial weapons usually overcame everything except, well, other celestial weapons.

  Just then, a shadow crossed over them. Both girls looked up in time to see Boo careening their way. He carried a small gray vial in his talons.

  “Those are my Pandavas!” he squawked at the zombies.

  He dove in front of the girls, smashing the vial on the ground. Plumes of smoke shot up, obscuring the zombies’ view. Flapping quickly, Boo did a U-turn and said, “No time to waste, girls. Go after your sister!”

  Some sister, thought Aru. That other Pandava, whoever she was, had landed them in this mess.

  “But what about you?” asked Mini worriedly.

  “I am a pigeon capable of mass annoyance.” Boo puffed out his chest. “Don’t worry about me. Just find her!”

  Aru and Mini turned to face the crowd of angry grocery carts. The cart nearest to her gnashed its metal grate, then reared up on its hind wheels.

  Aru swung Vajra the rope above her head and lassoed the cart. It bucked angrily, but the lightning lariat held tight. Aru clambered into the carriage and pulled Mini in after her.

  “Giddyup!” yelled Aru, now using Vajra as reins.

  The grocery cart snorted, reared back, and then charged through the rest of the herd and down the frozen-food aisle. Mini leaned out of the cart, knocking hundreds of boxes onto the floor to stop the zombies in their tracks.

  “I’ll be paying for this out of my allowance for years!” she cried.

  Aru tugged the reins to the right, steering the cart toward the last place they’d seen the Pandava girl. At the end of the aisle, a dirt path led to an arena where she knew some students trained. Aru and Mini had never met any of the other kids who, because of their lineage, were entitled to study in the Otherworld. Aru liked to think that she and Mini were kept separate from them because, as Pandavas, they needed exclusive lessons. But Mini suspected it was really because the two of them were in remedial classes….

  Once they reached the arena, Aru spotted a pair of girls fighting for control of a golden bow and arrow. One was the Pandava sister they had seen before—the shape-shifter. She had chestnut skin and brown hair with gold highlights. She was also ridiculously tall, and though she had long limbs, they weren’t gangly like Aru’s, but thick and sturdy, and covered in metal bracelets.

  And the other girl? Aru felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her lungs.

  “How is that possible?” whispered Mini.

  Because the person the Pandava was fighting was…

  Aru.

  Keeping Up with the Pandavas

  “Isn’t that…you?” said Mini, the tiniest amount of uncertainty flickering in her voice.

  Real Aru pointed at Fake Aru, who was currently unleashing a powerful uppercut against the other Pandava girl. The bow and arrow were on the ground behind them.

  “Would I ever wear denim on denim?!” demanded Aru.

  “Good point,” said Mini. She pushed her glasses up on her nose.

  The Pandava girl, Aru realized begrudgingly, had some serious moves. She darted ridiculously fast, dodging blows and kicking up dirt. At one point, she transformed into a massive blue jaguar (which was so unfair) and attacked Fake Aru, but Fake Aru held her own. With a final powerful blow, Fake Aru sent the Pandava girl–jaguar flying back against a wall, where she slid to the floor, unconscious. In a flash of blue light, the big cat turned back into a girl.

  Fake Aru dragged her arm over her mouth, breathing heavily, and picked up the bow and arrow. Then she snapped her fingers. The zombies, who had continued running rampant through the Night Market, immediately went still.

  Aru’s eyes widened. Fake Aru was controlling the zombies. But how?

  “She has to be a rakshasi,” whispered Mini.

  Aru recalled from Pandava class that some rakshasas, beings with animal heads, could take on the appearance of gods, demons, and humans. Including, it would seem, Arus. But why would a rakshasi decide to look like her?

  “She must be an evil one,” said Aru, brandishing Vajra. “That outfit says it all.”

  The lightning bolt flared to life. Dee Dee turned into a violet spear. But just as the two of them rushed toward Fake Aru, a burst of white light threw them back. Fake Aru turned to face Real Aru and Mini.

  The rakshasi wiggled her fingers in a hello, which was not only really rude, but seemed to cause the zombies to perk up and lurch into attack mode again. In a flash, Fake Aru disappeared with the bow and arrow…but not without leaving something behind:

  A massive fire.

  Searing flames erupted in a circle all around Mini and Aru. Black smoke choked off any sight of the zombies.

  “Boo!” shouted Mini. “Help us!”

  Aru looked up. The skies were empty. Their pigeon mentor was gone. The other Pandava girl was still slumped on the ground.

  Right above her head, Aru heard wind ripping through the air and felt the whump of vast wings. She shielded her eyes, squinting up as several Guardians—the celestial beings who protected each generation’s Pandavas—started to descend from the sky. Aru felt relief and annoyance twinned inside her. Why couldn’t they have shown up thirty seconds earlier?

  There was Hanuman, the monkey demigod, who appeared as a giant version of himself. His cheeks looked strangely full. Beside him was Urvashi, the stunning apsara, wearing a black tank top that read DANCE IS MY SUPERPOWER. Behind them, Aru could see two other figures from the Council of Guardians: a gigantic bear wearing a crown, and an old, scowling woman with the lower body of a snake.

  Something about her was even scarier than the zombies.

  “SHIELD EACH OTHER!” shouted Boo, swooping overhead.

  Aru cast a wide net over herself, Mini, and—though she probably didn’t deserve it—the unconscious Pandava girl. Then Mini blasted a force field of violet light around them—successfully this time. The magical shields had barely materialized before jets of water, as if from a bunch of fire hoses, hit the flames. Aru glanced up to see Hanuman shooting water from his mouth. He must have s
lurped up a whole lake. The fire died, steam hissing in the air.

  Once the smoke cleared, Aru expected to see an army of soggy zombies. But instead, all she saw was the wreckage of the Night Bazaar: Stalls overturned. Strips of night sky dangling down in the air. A couple of shopkeepers shouting about insurance. Aru ignored all that.

  The zombies had disappeared completely. Not a single trace of them was left.

  Mini coughed. “That was awful!”

  “I know,” said Aru. “All those zombies—”

  “And the smoke!” Mini reached for her backpack and took out her inhaler. “It almost gave me an asthma attack.”

  “How?” asked Aru.

  “Well, there’re these small airways in your lungs called bronchioles, and if you have asthma, the airways become inflamed, which—”

  “No! Not the asthma! The zombies! Where did they go? There were, like, hundreds! Can zombies disappear?”

  Mini wheezed. “They can if they’re being controlled by something else. Like that bow and arrow.” She pointed her chin toward the now-weaponless Pandava girl. Mini walked over to her, still clutching her inhaler, and Aru followed.

  Behind them, the Guardians alighted on the ground.

  Aru crouched beside the new girl.

  “Hey,” she said gruffly. She shook the girl’s shoulder.

  Mini lifted the girl’s wrist and looked at her own watch. “Her heart rate is seventy beats per minute and strong. That’s good.”

  Sluggishly, the Pandava blinked up at them. Her hazel eyes grew wide.

  “Sit up slowly,” coaxed Mini in her best one-day-I’m-going-to-be-a-doctor voice. “That was a rough hit. How’s your vision?”

  Leave it to Mini to be super nice to the person who had wrecked their Saturday. Aru crossed her arms, scowling.

  The girl blinked again and looked around. Then her gaze focused on Aru. She pushed herself off the ground, shoving Mini aside.

  “I can see just fine,” growled the girl. “I can see the thief right in front of me. Hand it over.”

  “I’m not the thief, you are!” said Aru, holding up her hands. “But that rakshasi—the one who looked like me—took the bow and arrow. Just so we’re clear, I’m the real Aru.” She gestured at her outfit. “Note the lack of denim on denim.”