Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Quartet #1)(20)

Aru felt ridiculous. What good was a ball against a demon? That was like trying to stop an avalanche with a spoon.

“There’s your proof,” said Urvashi. “Perhaps it means the gods do not wish the world to be saved.”

“Or,” squawked Boo, “it could mean that this time we need a different kind of hero.”

“Heroine,” corrected Mini under her breath.

Heroes. Heroines. Was that really what Aru was? Or was she just someone who made an epic mistake and had to do something epic to fix it?

Urvashi had a faraway look in her eye. Her mouth was pressed into a tight line. But a moment later, her shoulders dropped and she lifted her chin. “Very well. Come closer, children, to hear your quest.”

Aru and Mini shuffled forward. The air kept them aloft. Wind rushed up and wrapped around them, and Aru shivered.

This no longer felt like a fun roller coaster. The moment she’d seen that sparkling net cast by the god Indra, her heart had turned heavy. In theory, a quest sounded awesome. But in reality, a whole lot of lives hung in the balance.

Maybe that’s why superheroes wore capes. Maybe they weren’t actually capes at all, but safety blankets, like the one Aru kept at the bottom of her bed and pulled up under her chin before she went to sleep. Maybe superheroes just tied their blankies around their necks so they’d have a little bit of comfort wherever they went. Because honestly? Saving the world was scary. No harm admitting that. (And she could have done with her blankie right about then.)

Urvashi leaned out of her throne. “The Sleeper needs the celestial weapons to free the Lord of Destruction. You must awaken the weapons before he does. To do so, you must go to the Kingdom of Death. Within the Kingdom of Death lies the Pool of the Past. Look inside the pool, and you will discover how the Sleeper can be vanquished once and for all.”

“Scary kingdom, sleepy weapons, weird pool, got it. Okay, let’s get this over with,” said Aru. “So where’s the door to the kingdom? Is there an entrance here? Or maybe—”

“Normally, you get to the Kingdom of Death by dying,” said Urvashi.

Aru and Mini exchanged nervous glances.

“Eeny, meeny—” started Mini.

At the same moment, Aru shouted, “Nose goes!” She smacked her nose.

Mini turned pale. “Oh no…”

“Children,” said Urvashi, holding up her palm. “There is a way to open up the Door of Death without dying. You’ll need three keys. But they are hidden, and need to be found. The first key is a sprig of youth. The second key is a bite of adulthood. And the third key is a sip of old age.”

Aru stared at Urvashi. “Okay, so, which aisle of Home Depot do we go to?”

Mini laughed, but it was a panicked I-am-definitely-gonna-die kind of laugh.

“This map will help you,” said Urvashi. “Merely touch the symbol of the key, and you will be transported somewhere close to it. But from there, it is up to you to find and claim the real key.”

Urvashi opened her hands. Aru hadn’t noticed until now that images covered Urvashi’s skin from the tips of her fingers all the way up to her elbows. It was mehndi, a design made from the powdered leaves of the henna plant. They were temporary tattoos that women wore during celebrations like weddings and festivals. But this design was unlike anything Aru had ever seen.

For one thing, it was moving.

On Urvashi’s wrist, a branch sprouted blossoms. “The sprig of youth.”

A book opened and closed on the side of her hand. “The bite of adulthood.”

A wave of water washed across her fingers. “The sip of old age.”

But the very center of her palm was blank.

“You have nine days until the new moon, Pandavas. Less than that, perhaps, for time runs differently here than in the mortal realms,” said Urvashi. “Stop the Sleeper from stealing the celestial weapons, find out how he may be defeated from the Pool of the Past, and then you will receive Pandava training from the entire Council.” She paused to toss her hair over her shoulder. “Myself included. People would kill for the chance to be in my presence. In fact, they have.” She smiled. “Succeed, and your disgraced guardian can even rejoin the Council.”

Boo shuffled from foot to foot on Aru’s shoulder. “They’ll succeed, I know it,” he said. “They have me to guide them, after all, and I was illustrious.”

“Was,” said Urvashi. Ignoring Boo, she grabbed Aru’s hands. Then Mini’s. When Aru looked down, the same mehndi map was covering her own skin. “There,” she said. “Your map. Fight well.”

For the first time, Urvashi’s smile turned warm. But there was something sad about it. She folded her legs beneath her and tucked her hands into her lap. She looked so vibrant and beautiful that it was hard to believe she’d been present in all the ancient stories. Aru knew that Urvashi had not only trained heroes…she’d loved them. She’d even married one, and had kids with him. But they were mortal. She must have outlived them.

“So young,” Urvashi murmured. “It is not right.”

And with that, she disappeared.

Hanuman looked between Aru and Mini. “The daughter of Lord Indra and the daughter of the Dharma Raja? Daunting indeed. Before you leave the Court of the Sky, there is something I’d like to tell you.”