ALL PERSONNEL MUST SUBMIT IDENTIFICATION PRIOR TO ENTRY
The second sign read:
VISITORS MAY GAIN ACCESS WITH GUEST PASS
“Personnel?” asked Mini. “I thought we’re seeing the god of love, not a CEO?”
Brynne parted the pond rushes with her mace. “I don’t see a guest pass anywhere.” She looked at the door. “We could always just smash it open….”
“Wait,” said Aru. “I think I see something.”
A glint of gold appeared on the shore of the pond. Aru stepped through the weeds and stopped short when she came across a large pile of sticks and dirt.
“A nest!” said Brynne, pushing past her.
In the middle of the nest was a golden key. Beside it napped a miniature white swan, no bigger than someone’s palm. It looked like it could fit inside a teacup.
“Aww!” said Mini. “So cute!”
“That key must be the guest pass,” said Aiden. He lifted his camera, snapped a picture, and then examined the digital file. “Hmm…The lighting is off….”
“Leave it, Aiden!” Brynne said. “Let’s grab it and go.” She started to reach for the key.
“Do you think we can pet the swan?” asked Mini. “Or maybe not? Can swans give you bird flu?”
“Wait, Brynne,” Aru said.
“What’s wrong, Shah? Frightened by a tiny bird?” Brynne eyed the swan. “You know, swan used to be a delicacy.”
“Gross! I don’t want to eat it! I want to avoid it. Have you ever seen a swan in action?” asked Aru. “They’re vicious.”
“Shah, that swan is the size of a toy,” said Brynne. “We’ll live.”
Brynne plucked the key from the nest. All four of them watched the swan. Nothing happened.
“See? Told ya!” Brynne started walking toward the hovering door.
Aru hesitated for a moment before following. Now she felt dumb. Maybe she had been overreacting….
They were halfway to the door when the warm spring air turned cold. Aru couldn’t see her shadow on the ground anymore.
“It got cloudy quickly,” said Mini, rubbing her arms.
Aiden looked up. His eyes widened. “It’s not a cloud.”
Slowly, Aru raised her head. That teeny-tiny, itty-bitty, so-cute-I-just-wanna-squeeze-you swan was no longer itty-bitty. In fact, it had grown to the size of a three-story house. Its long white wings fanned out to either side, obscuring the sun. With a heavy whoosh, it landed right in front of them, blocking the door to Kamadeva’s abode. It cocked its head sharply to one side. The feathers on its long white neck bristled.
“No sudden movements,” Brynne said to them, holding up her mace.
Mini ignored her. She dug into her backpack and pulled out a half-eaten granola bar. She broke it in two and tossed it to the swan. The swan looked at the granola, looked at Mini, then looked back at the granola.
“It’s vegan?” offered Mini.
The swan raised one webbed black foot. And it crushed the granola into the dirt.
“But it’s an excellent source of fiber!”
Apparently the giant swan did not agree. With a loud, honking squawwwwk! it charged.
Swans Are the Worst
Aru sized up the monster swan as it came at them. And herself, too. She knew she was small. She wasn’t that strong, either.
But she didn’t have to be.
The battle was a game in her head—dodge and jab, use the enemy’s own momentum against them, and let them do all the work.
“Mini!” shouted Aru.
Her sister knew immediately what to do. Dee Dee flashed and grew, sprouting from Mini’s sleeve. Purple light exploded in a burst in front of them. The swan squawked and stomped back, its webbed foot crushing the pond reeds that had surrounded its lake.
Beside them, Aiden tapped his leather bands and two shining scimitars shot out from the magical arm braces. He pushed a golden button on the top of his camera and it, along with his camera bag, folded up until it became a watch on his wrist.
Aru’s eyes widened. So that’s what emergency accessory transformation meant. Whoa.
A moment later, the swan found its balance and stalked toward them. Aru mentally ran through some strategies, but before she could say anything, Brynne leaped into the air and shouted, “Aiden, I’ll distract it! Take the key, but don’t go in without me!”
“Wait up!” said Aru. “We haven’t—”
“Stay out of the way, Shah!” shouted Brynne. “I’ve got this!”
She threw the key to Aiden, who caught it in his fist.
Then Brynne morphed. Blue light blazed around her. Where she had once stood, there was now a blue elephant almost as large as the swan. Elephant-Brynne swung her head. Tusks out, trunk raised, she charged at the bird. Aru had just enough time to roll away before she got trampled.
As it turned out, elephant trumpeting and swan honking sounded a lot like how Aru imagined fighting dinosaurs would. Elephant-Brynne tried to dig her tusks into the swan. It honked loudly, thrashing. Feathers exploded in the air. The swan pumped its wings. They unfurled to the length of an airplane. And when they were flapped vigorously, the effect was like that of a jet turbine. Even the puffy white clouds overhead were blown back by the wind. The tops of the trees swayed. Aru grabbed hold of a branch just to keep from flying away while Elephant-Brynne tumbled head over heels and smacked into a tree trunk.
The wind died down. With a loud TAKE-THAT-WEIRD-BLUE-ELEPHANT! honk, the swan toddled forward. Its target was clear:
Aiden.
He had only just recovered his balance. Staggering forward, Aiden brandished his scimitars. The swan started pecking at him like he was a particularly yummy breadcrumb. Aiden dodged, parrying the swan’s stabbing beak as if it were a sword. But the swan was faster.
Elephant-Brynne came charging back into the scene. “DO SOMETHING, SHAH!” she bellowed, which, firstly, was supercool, because she could be a talking animal, but secondly, was not helpful, because Aru was doing something. At first, she’d tried to throw her lightning bolt, but Vajra missed. Near Aiden, Mini’s force fields kept flickering, weakened by her fear.
Aru needed to think….
If Hanuman had taught her anything, it was to assess a fight not just from her point of view, but also from the eyes of the enemy. What did the swan want?
Elephant-Brynne trumpeted again, but the swan didn’t turn around to face her. Its entire attention was focused on Aiden—who had the key. The key that had been lying in the middle of the swan’s nest…like an egg. Which meant the swan considered the key its baby!
“I have an idea!” shouted Aru.
Brynne’s bellowing drowned out her voice. That left Aru only one option—the Pandava mind link. The last place she wanted to be was inside Brynne’s head, but she didn’t have a choice.
She closed her eyes, reaching for Brynne’s mind the way she reached for Mini’s….
Brynne?
Elephant-Brynne jumped up and let out a startled cry. WHO THE—?
I need you to turn into a bird.
What?! Why? GET OUT OF MY HEAD! And no, I got this—
Dude, you just got thrown into the trees.
Aiden was tiring quickly. His scimitar jabs were slowing even as he ducked and danced through the swan’s legs. Finally, Mini cast a shield just in time to block a peck from the swan’s wickedly sharp beak. Aiden dove into a thicket of springtime hedges.
Brynne tapped into her thoughts: What kind of bird?
Aru grinned as she answered her. Then she sent a message to both Brynne and Mini. New plan. We have to work together. Mini, do you remember what the key looked like? We need a duplicate.
On it! came Mini’s reply.
The swan pecked at Mini’s violet force field. The bird made one, then two cracks in it, and finally the shield splintered. The swan was waddling past Mini toward Aiden’s hiding place when Aru ran forward and shouted:
“Did you know some people eat swans as a delicacy?”<
br />
The swan lifted its webbed foot. Aru stepped back. The swan drew closer as she retreated, matching her step for step. All the while, the bird’s narrow head swayed back and forth. Foe or food? it seemed to be asking.
“Would you rather be a swan burger or a swan panini?”
The swan hissed.
“Oh, sorry. Swan pasta, maybe?” Aru taunted. Then she telepathically asked Mini, How’s the decoy coming along?
Nearly ready.
Just as the swan let out an outraged squawk, Mini shouted, “Look what I’ve got!” She waved a perfect replica of the key in the air.
The swan paused. It looked at the hedges, then at Mini. Then it squawked something that sounded a lot like WHAT FRESH BETRAYAL IS THIS?
Now, Brynne! Aru ordered.
In a flash of blue, Brynne changed from an elephant to a regular-size swan. She swooped down low and snatched the fake key from Mini’s outstretched hand. Then, with two powerful pumps of her wings, she shot off into the sky.
The swan let out a strangled cry—meaning MY BABY!—and took off after Brynne.
When Aru was sure the swan was gone, she and Mini ran over to the hedges. Aiden clambered out of his hiding spot, his face pale.
“That was a total Slytherin move,” Aiden said to Aru, dusting himself off. Sparks of electricity shot off Vajra and Aiden quickly added, “Not that that’s bad.”
“Is that your House?” Mini asked Aru.
Yes.
Aru shrugged. “Maybe? I dunno. I’d totally pretend to be Hufflepuff just to stay closest to the kitchens, though.”
Aiden stared at her. “You’re bizarre, Shah.”
It didn’t sound like an insult. For a split second, Aru felt that same tug of…something.
Aiden touched the watch at his wrist. His camera bag and camera returned to his hip. He lifted the camera to his eye, toggling one of the switches.
“I see Brynne,” he said.
Aru squinted up at the sky, but all she saw were two bird-ish specks.
“Where’d you get an enchanted camera?” asked Mini, awed. “Is that legal? Because according to the Otherworld Transportation Security Guidelines—”
“Not this again,” groaned Aru.
“—you’re not allowed to bring a purchased enchanted object back into the mortal realm unless you’re over the age of eighteen.”
“How do you even know that?” asked Aiden.
“I like rules,” said Mini primly.
Aiden lowered the camera. He rubbed his thumbs along its sides. It wasn’t sleek or modern, but that wasn’t a bad thing in Aru’s opinion. She could tell that for Aiden, the camera was like a blanket or teddy bear (or, in Aru’s case, a pillow in the shape of a fried egg named Eggy). Kinda dumpy-looking, but obviously loved.
“It’s a Hasselblad that belonged to my dad,” said Aiden. “It’s from 1998, back when he wanted to be a photographer. A mechanic in the Night Bazaar modified the internal mechanism of the SLR and converted it into your modern digital SLR and added a Bluetooth chip. That way, the photos don’t have to be developed but automatically get sent to my phone, to check out, and to my laptop, for editing.”
Aru and Mini just blinked at him. Aru had no idea what he’d just said.
“That’s…good?” offered Mini. “Especially that he gave it to you?”
“Yeah,” said Aiden, but then the corners of his mouth tugged down. “He said it was a present, but I think he just didn’t want it anymore. He doesn’t want a lot of things anymore.”
A loud squawking made the three of them look up.
Aiden looked through the camera. “Uh-oh.”
Suddenly, ringing so loudly in their minds that both Aru and Mini clapped their hands over their ears (as if that would make a difference), came Brynne’s voice: GET TO THE DOOR!
No longer was Brynne a distant speck in the sky. Now she was zooming back toward them, and she wasn’t alone. The monster swan was hot on her heels, squawking loudly.
“RUN!” Aiden shouted.
They raced to the hanging door.
“Vajra!” called Aru.
The lightning bolt had been lying on the ground, waiting for her command. Now it transformed into a glittering hoverboard, long enough to hold the three of them.
“Woo-hoo!” Aru said.
Getting Vajra to transform was no easy feat. But at least Aru was getting better at it. All she had to do was keep her focus. They jumped on, and Vajra zoomed toward the bright blue door. Aiden held out the key.
Behind them, they heard loud squawking from the other bird. Aru risked a glance over her shoulder and saw Swan-Brynne flying as fast as she could toward the door.
“Faster, Aiden!” yelled Mini, as he tried to jam the key into the lock.
“I’m going as fast as I can!”
Finally, the key turned. The door swung open. The three of them tumbled onto the floor. Vajra swung backward, and the force of the lightning bolt slammed the door shut.
“Oh no! Brynne’s still out there!” said Mini.
Aru, her chest heaving, jumped to her feet and threw open the door. “I’m sure she—”
Swan-Brynne flew straight into Aru. Both girls were knocked down. Aru hit her head, hard, against the floor. It hurt like anything. There was another flash of blue light as Brynne transformed back into a girl. She was breathing heavily. Her eyes were red and…teary?
Aru’s sarcastic Thanks a lot! died on her lips. “Brynne?”
“Did you try to leave me behind?” she asked. Brynne was gripping her mace so hard that Aru felt bad for the weapon.
Mini was the first to recover. “No? That’s why Aru opened the door….”
Brynne lowered the mace. She took a deep breath. “I knew that.” Then she raised her chin and crossed her arms. “Well, go on. Say it.”
“It was my idea, too. I’m not saying thank you—”
Brynne looked shocked. “Thank you? That’s what you thought I meant?”
Now it was Aru’s turn to be confused. “What’d you think I was going to say?”
“No jokes about turning into a bird?”
“Birds are nothing to joke about,” said Mini, shuddering.
Brynne looked embarrassed and instead turned around to gaze at their new surroundings.
The building they were in reminded Aru of pictures she’d seen of the New York Stock Exchange. The floor was polished marble, and it seemed like they were inside a lobby. Large windows revealed different views: sleepy neighborhoods, bright cities, coastal towns, and sunlit meadows. A shimmering veil of soundproofing magic—the same kind Urvashi used in her dance studio—separated them from the clusters of giant circular hubs that dotted the entire floor and hundreds of Otherworld people in sharp suits who were screaming into their headsets. Aru was used to sky ceilings, and the god of love had chosen the night heavens for his. It was beautiful. The cosmos seemed closer than usual, as if Aru could reach out, pluck a planet, and put it in her pocket. On one wall, enchanted screens that looked like panes of moonlight buzzed with numbers. They were similar to the stock screens her teacher had showed them in their Civics and Economics class. Aru didn’t remember much from that class, but she had learned green arrow = good; red arrow = bad. And right now, she was looking at a ton of red arrows.
UNIVERSAL HEART SKIPS
–1000.23
INTENTIONAL EYELASH FLUTTERING
–800.21
FAKING INTEREST IN YOUTUBE CAT VIDEOS
–900.41
PEOPLE MAKING ED SHEERAN PLAYLISTS
–3000.18
At that moment, an extremely handsome young man walked toward them. His hair was a shock of black curls. He wore a dark Nehru jacket, and a bright blue parrot rode on his shoulder. He would have looked like the executive of a global corporation and also like a Bollywood movie star if it weren’t for one strange detail: his skin. It was bright green. This man could only be one person. Or god, to be exact.
He was Kamadeva, the god of love and
desire…and the owner of the bow and arrow that had been stolen.
The four kids respectfully bowed and touched the ground before the god, but Kamadeva seemed unmoved.
“Lord Kamadeva—” started Aru, trying to take a step forward before she found that she couldn’t. Her feet were frozen in place.
“Teens are usually my favorite consumers,” said Kamadeva. “But thieves? Not so much.”
Four gleaming swords appeared in the air. They hovered for a second before the blades turned and pointed at the kids’ throats.
That One Time I Got Incinerated
“We’re not thieves!” said Brynne.
“I will be the judge of that.”
Kamadeva smiled. Aru had never seen a more beautiful—or crueler—smile in all her life.
“Ah, one of you thinks I am weak…” he said, his gaze turning to Brynne. “Is it because you do not see me wielding a mace? Or a sword?”
“I—” started Brynne, but she couldn’t lunge at him, not with a sword pointing at her throat.
“You think desire is nothing, do you? Empirical evidence points to quite the opposite. I can start a war, you know.”
Kamadeva waved a hand and the four of them stared down as a scene unfurled across the marble floor:
In the woods, Surpanakha—an ugly tusked demoness with red eyes and sagging gray skin—confronted two handsome men and a beautiful woman. When Surpanakha saw the handsome Rama—who was an incarnation of the god Vishnu—and his younger brother Laxmana, she transformed into a beautiful woman, and tried to make one of them marry her. But Rama pointed to his wife, Sita, an incarnation of the goddess of good fortune. And Laxmana refused Surpanakha with a vehement Heck no! (At least that’s what Aru imagined he said.) Furious, Surpanakha rushed at Sita, and Laxmana cut off the demoness’s nose, revealing her true nature.
Humiliated, Surpanakha ran to her brother, the great demon king Ravana. She told him about her dishonor and blamed the beautiful Sita.
Ravana’s ten heads turned to Surpanakha. “What does this Sita look like?”
Aru Shah and the Song of Death Page 6