Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Quartet #1)(28)

Aru felt silly for hoping their soul dads would care more, but it didn’t stop her from looking at the sky, wondering if she might see a message spelled out in lightning. Just for her.

“I told you, they will not meddle in human affairs.”

“What about demigod affairs?” asked Aru.

“No meddling. It is their rule.”

“So who is going to help us?”

Boo seemed lost in thought for several moments. He circled the ground, then tottered over to a small anthill beside a log. He stared at it.

“I think I might know someone who would be very interested in meeting you…” he said slowly. “Now if I could only find him. Hmm. Ah, wait! There! See that?”

He was pointing at the dirt. Aru and Mini exchanged nervous looks. Mini made a little swirling sign of He’s lost it next to her head.

Boo glared at them. “No. Look.”

Aru moved closer and saw a slender line of ants leading away from the log and over a pile of leaves.

“We must follow the ants,” said Boo.

“Yup,” said Aru to Mini. “He’s lost it.”

“We follow the ants, because all ants go back to Valmiki.”

“Valmiki? He’s alive?” asked Mini, shocked. “But he was alive thousands of years ago!”

“So were you,” said Boo curtly.

“Who’s Valmiki?” asked Aru. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“The sage of learning,” said Mini. “He’s the one who wrote the Ramayana!”

Aside from the Mahabharata, the Ramayana was the other ancient epic poem that lots of Indians knew. It told the story of Rama, one of the reincarnations of the god Vishnu, who fought a ten-headed demon to rescue his wife. Aru’s mother had collected some art depicting Rama’s adventures, and now Aru recalled an image of a sage sitting on an anthill. She also recalled something else about him:

“Wasn’t Valmiki a murderer?”

“Well, he started out as one,” said Mini.

“Even if you murder only once, you’re still a murderer….”

“He changed,” said Boo. “For many years, Valmiki sat and chanted the word mara, which means kill. But his chant changed over time and became Rama, another name of the god—”

“And then a bunch of ants swarmed around him, and that’s how he got his name!” chimed in Mini. “In Sanskrit, it means born of an anthill.”

Aru wasn’t sure that people could really change. On many occasions her mother had promised that things would be different. Sometimes she kept her word for as long as six days. For those days Aru would be walked to school, fed a non-bland dinner, and even spoken to about something other than her mother’s newest museum acquisition.

But things always went back to normal in the end.

Still, having that mom was better than having a frozen mom. Aru swallowed her urge to cry. What were they doing here? They needed to get those celestial weapons, and soon!

“People can change,” added Boo. His eyes looked very knowing in that moment, as if he’d read her mind. It didn’t escape Aru that Boo sounded a little defensive.

“Okay, if you say so. But why do we have to meet this guy?” asked Aru.

“Valmiki’s very wise,” said Boo. “He’s gathered all kinds of mantras, sacred words that will help you. But, be warned, he’s still awful….”

“Why?” asked Aru, shocked. “Because he was a murderer?”

“Worse,” said Boo. “He’s a…” His voice dropped. “A writer.” He shook his head in disgust.

Boo and Mini started marching forward (well, Mini marched while Boo rode on her shoulder), following the trail of ants. The ground was dark, and finding the insects was like trying to pick pepper off a black cloth.

“I can’t see the ants anymore,” Mini said.

“Use your phone light,” said Aru.

“Can’t,” said Mini. “It died before you guys even came to get me. Don’t you have one?”

Aru grumbled. “No. Mom won’t let me have one until next year.”

“I can see perfectly well,” said Boo, picking his way carefully through the grass. This was probably the one time a pigeon sidekick was useful.

Ahead were several skinny trees. Between them stood a tannish boulder that Aru was quite certain hadn’t been there when they were farther away. Boo walked up to the thing and pecked it twice.

“Valmiki! We are in need of your assistance!”

Was it Aru’s imagination, or did the boulder shift a bit?

“Oh, come out of there….”

Aru looked a little closer. What had seemed like a boulder was actually a giant anthill. She shook each of her feet, shivering a little. What if the ants were crawling on her right now?

The insects on the hill began to move quickly back and forth, forming lines that eventually spelled out words:

UNLESS YOUR LIFE YOU WANT TO CURSE

THE TIME IS NIGH TO SPEAK IN VERSE





The Hipster in the Anthill


“Oh no,” said Boo.

“What is it?” asked Aru.

“I hate poems that rhyme.”

The ants rearranged themselves into a new message from Valmiki: