Aru Shah and the Song of Death

by Roshani Chokshi

  “Can I get some light, Vajra?”

  The lightning bolt glowed softly, revealing the last list Mini had written before she’d disappeared:

  THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN I’M SCARED

  1. Water kills 99% of germs

  2. I am the daughter of death ~~dEaTh~~

  3. If I freeze up: What Would Aru Do?

  Aru’s whole heart ached with guilt. Mini was wrong. Aru couldn’t do anything. Instead, she thought about what Mini would do…. Mini wouldn’t want to jeopardize the lives of all those human Heartless…. Mini would put others before herself. Like she always did.

  Aru shoved the notepad into the backpack and slung it across one shoulder, next to her own pack.

  “We’re so close. We can’t leave now, not without the thief’s song,” she said.

  “But Mini—” Brynne started.

  “Is strong,” said Aru firmly. “She’s also the key to this. We need the soul song and the thief’s name. So let’s get the song out of the treasury, then get to Mini. Immediately.”

  “I agree,” said Aiden.

  Brynne looked between them and threw up her hands. “Fine! Let’s go. And don’t forget to pick up that stupid jewel the naginis gave us.”

  In her concern over Mini, Aru had almost forgotten about the heart of Uloopi.

  “I wish we could just go to the Council and throw it in their face,” said Brynne, “but I bet they’d accuse us of stealing it or something.”

  With that, Brynne stomped off, and Aiden followed her.

  The jewel was half-buried in the sand near where the first nagini had stood. Aru pulled out the emerald and rubbed it on her hoodie until it glittered. As much as Aru hated to admit it, Brynne was right. The Council of Guardians might not believe them if they showed up without the bow and arrow and the name of the thief. Takshaka would just lie about the heart of Uloopi.

  Right now, Aru didn’t trust the Council of Guardians. And that frightened her. Because if she couldn’t trust the people who were supposed to be looking out for them, who was left?

  A Chocolaty Truce

  Dream logic is weird.

  In a dream, Aru could show up to school wearing a gown made out of paper clips only to be supremely embarrassed that she’d forgotten her homework. And no one would care about the gown. Which was why it didn’t seem odd to Aru that she was strolling through Home Depot dressed up as a stuffed olive. Mini walked beside her in the dream, wearing her all-black getup.

  Earlier, Aru, Brynne, and Aiden had camped outside what they figured was the secret entrance to the naga treasury. According to the symbols on the door, it wouldn’t open until dawn.

  “There goes another day,” Aiden had said. “Only five left. I’m setting a timer on my phone so we’ll be up and ready to go first thing.”

  Brynne had only nodded in agreement.

  Aiden threw his satchel on the ground, laid his head on one half, and closed his eyes. Brynne flopped down, taking the other half of the satchel pillow. No one offered Aru anything. Not that she blamed them. She’d had plenty of time to apologize for blaming Brynne earlier, but she hadn’t. Too many other things had been darting through her head, like Mini’s face as the naginis stole her away into the cave.

  So Aru had curled up alone and fallen into a miserable sleep. And when she saw Mini in her dream, it was like none of the bad stuff had happened.

  At first, Aru didn’t even notice that they were strolling through the massive hardware store. Which made no sense, because the last time she was there, she’d gotten into trouble for accidentally turning on a radial saw and was kindly “asked” not to come back.

  Ever.

  In fact, she was pretty sure there was a picture of her face at every cash register, asking the employees to be on the lookout.

  “Whaddup,” Aru said, nodding at Mini.

  “Why are we in Home Depot?” asked Mini.

  “Why would we not be in Home Depot?” asked Aru. “This place is awesome. They literally have an aisle that’s just doorframes. It’s fun to stumble out of them. And then if you run up to people asking ‘What year is it?’ they get all confused. It’s great.”

  “You’re a menace to society, Shah.”

  “I try.”

  Mini laughed, but then her face turned serious. “I don’t wanna be trapped here forever.”

  “In Home Depot?”

  “No! In the land of sleep. That’s where the naginis put me to steal some of my waking energy, and now I’m stuck here!”

  “In Home Depot?”

  “Aru,” said Mini, grabbing her by the shoulders, “remember the card that Kamadeva gave us? For when things get really bad?”

  Vaguely, Aru recalled a business card being placed in her hand. The name S. Durvasa…and a warning not to waste his time. “Yeah?”

  “Use it! We need the sage’s protection to get me out of here. I have the true name of the bow and arrow thief, but the naginis enchanted it so it can only be heard in person,” said Mini. “Go to Durvasa. He can get me out of—”

  “Home Depot,” said Aru.

  Mini rolled her eyes. “Yes, Aru. Home Depot.”

  “Got it. Let’s go look at the doors now!”

  “Aru, one more thing,” said Mini. There were tears in her eyes. “I miss you guys a lot. But don’t be mad at anyone, okay? There’s something else I need to tell you, but I’m running out of time…. Just use music. Okay?”

  “Okay, okay! Let’s go find a saw!”

  “Aru. Say ‘music.’”

  “Mooooooo-zique.”

  Mini took a deep breath. “I don’t know how much of this you’re going to remember, and I’m going to try my best to tell the others too, but just try, try, try to remember what I’ve told you. Music and Durvasa.”

  Someone was shaking Aru’s shoulder.

  “What year is it?” she asked muzzily. Then she laughed. “Gotcha.”

  “Shah, wake up!” the voice said. “It’s almost dawn! We should be able to get into the naga treasury soon. Let’s get moving.”

  Aru opened her eyes. Aiden was crouched beside her.

  Behind Aiden, Brynne was still waking up. She yawned and said groggily, “I had the weirdest dream.”

  Aru blinked. In bits and snatches, her own dream came back to her. Mini. Mini talking about using something? Cows…? She distinctly remembered someone saying Mooooooo.

  “Mini was in it,” said Brynne. “Warning me about dancing? No, that’s not right—she was telling me to dance. But I was mad that the grocery was out of salt and basil leaves, and I didn’t want to make pesto without them.”

  That made Aru sit up straight. “Wait, really?”

  “I mean, you can make pesto sauce with cilantro, too, but basil adds—”

  “No, about Mini! I dreamed about her, too.”

  “Same here!” said Aiden.

  “Were you in Home Depot?” asked Aru.

  The others looked at her funny.

  “No? Okay, never mind.”

  “If we all had the same dream, maybe Mini was trying to reach all of us,” said Aiden. “She is in the land of sleep. Maybe she had special access to our dreams?”

  “Yeah, maybe,” said Aru.

  Aiden looked between Aru and Brynne. “Mini is okay…for now, at least. She wants us to keep going, so we can find the song and save her. But we’re not going to get far if you two can’t get along.”

  “Ugh,” groaned Brynne. “Don’t say it….”

  Aiden crossed his arms. “I think you guys should talk.”

  His words hung in the air. Brynne and Aru caught each other’s eyes and then looked away quickly. Aru remembered Mini telling her not to be mad at anyone. It was hard, when she was missing Mini so much…but fighting with Brynne seemed pointless.

  While Brynne had her back to them, Aiden wordlessly handed something to Aru—a brown paper bag labeled FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY. Inside was a slightly smushed 100 Grand candy bar. Aru bit back a scowl. She hated 100 Grands. The
y tasted great, but she would never forget when a neighbor offered to pay her “a hundred grand” to clean out the garage. Aru had spent hours battling spiders (death) and cobwebs (more death) in mid-July in Georgia (such death that she’d been reincarnated twice in the space of an hour) only to get a melted chocolate bar as payment.

  “Betrayal…” said Aru, glaring at the candy.

  “I’m going to check the door,” Aiden said, leaving them.

  Aru knew what he wanted her to do. He and Mini were right. She took a deep breath.

  “Brynne?”

  “No.”

  “I’ll give you a hundred grand.”

  “What?” Brynne turned, then saw the chocolate bar. “Very funny, Shah. Are you trying to bribe me with candy?”

  “Will it work?”

  Brynne was silent for a moment, and then she sighed. “Yeah. Give it.”

  Aru tossed her the 100 Grand. “I’m sorry about what I said.”

  Brynne caught it, ripped open the wrapper, and took a bite. “No one expects me to be a hero. Not with asura blood.”

  Aru felt her throat tighten. “Yeah? Well, try being the daughter of the Sleeper, the guy who started all this and is off building an army to take over the world or some other villain cliché,” she said. She tried to laugh, but it came out as a grunt.

  Brynne looked at her sharply, as if seeing her for the first time. “You’re better than that. We both are.”

  Aru nodded. She wanted to believe that, but sometimes she wasn’t sure. Sometimes, when things went wrong, it was easier to blame what was in her blood than to take responsibility.

  “Aiden is right…” she said, sighing. “We have to work together.”

  “Yeah,” Brynne said, the corners of her mouth pulled down. “I guess I’m just used to doing stuff alone.”

  Aru fell quiet. She remembered how scared Brynne had looked when she’d assumed they were going to leave her behind. Aru thought of the trophy bracelets on her wrist and the photo album she carried around in her backpack, as if she was hoping to show them to someone.

  “Well, you’re not alone anymore.”

  Brynne rubbed at her eyes, still frowning. Then she stood up and helped Aru to her feet, too. Next, Brynne did something Aru had never imagined possible. She broke off half the candy bar and held it out to Aru.

  “Eat up, Shah,” she said gruffly. “You’ll need the energy. I don’t care if you’re family—I’m not carrying you anymore.”

  Aru took a bite, and even though she’d had 100 Grands before, this one tasted extra special, like the beginning of something new.

  The two of them started walking over to the secret door.

  “Did Aiden give you that candy bar?” asked Brynne.

  “No?” And then a few seconds later, “Yeah, he did.”

  Brynne just smiled. “Classic Ammamma.”

  “You guys ready?” asked Aiden.

  “Yeah,” said Brynne and Aru.

  “Good,” said Aiden. Aru thought his smile looked a bit smug.

  “Weapons out,” said Brynne, touching her blue choker. With a flash of azure light, it turned into her celestial mace.

  Aiden put his wrist cuffs together, and scimitars flashed into his hands.

  When Aru reached into her pocket for Vajra, her fingers brushed the business card Kamadeva had given them. She pulled it out and showed it to Aiden and Brynne.

  S. DURVASA

  DO NOT BOTHER ME WITH INFANTILE CONCERNS

  I WILL CURSE YOU FOR WASTING MY TIME

  Flashes of her dream came back to her.

  “This is who Mini wants us to contact!”

  Though she wasn’t sure why. Mini had said something else, too…. What was it?

  Aiden let out a whoop of joy. “The S probably stands for sage! We’ll go straight to Durvasa after we find the song. Now, how do you think this door works…?”

  Brynne took one look at it and kicked it open.

  “Wait…that’s it?” said Aru. “I thought there’d be more to it! Like in Lord of the Rings, where there’s a riddle door with the message ‘speak friend and enter.’ Except I can’t remember what friend is in Elvish.”

  Brynne rolled her eyes, but her smile was warm. She stepped through first.

  Aiden held open the door for Aru. As she walked past him, he said, “It’s mellon, by the way.”

  “Nerd.”

  Varuna had said that the route to the naga treasury was secret.

  The good news was that he had told the truth.

  The bad news was that they were picking their way through sewers.

  They were beneath the naga city, which—based on what Aru could see from the sewer grates—was nestled in a giant air bubble in the middle of an ocean. It was like living in a snow globe! But she could barely concentrate on how cool that was, because the worst stench rolled toward them. Aru thought the smell alone had burned away all her nose hairs.

  They three of them stood in a sprawling underground network of tunnels. Slime oozed down the walls. Under Aru’s shoes, snake skin crumpled like soggy paper.

  “Ooh,” said Brynne, cheerily toeing a pile of rotten vegetables. “This would make great mulch. Great mulch means great dirt, and great dirt means great vegetables, and great vegetables make great food!”

  Aiden gagged. “Stop saying ‘great.’”

  “How can you even think about food?” demanded Aru. Because her sleeve was covering the lower half of her face, it sounded like Hah can yoo eben hink abou foo?

  Brynne rapped her knuckles on her stomach. “Ironclad gut.”

  “I need an ironclad nose,” said Aiden woozily.

  Brynne raised her wind mace to her lips. She blew on it, and a continuous breeze wafted around them, carrying away the stink.

  Brynne immediately took the lead. As the daughter of the Lord of the Winds, she had a perfect sense of direction. She always knew whether they were going north, south, east, or west. Aru cast out Vajra like a torch, and the three of them stomped down one of the less nasty passages. Occasionally, Aiden had to hack through strings of black gunk with his scimitars to clear an opening for them to step through.

  When they came to the occasional grate in the tunnel, Aru caught glimpses of the sprawling naga city above them. They had to be careful to stay in the shadows in case there were guards on the lookout, but they saw enough to get a sense of the enchanted kingdom that Uloopi ruled. It reminded Aru of New York City. Wide boulevards. Fashionable nagas and naginis slithering down the streets, shopping bags in hand. Sometimes Aru caught the names of storefronts: FANGS “R” US and OPHIDIAN EMPORIUM: YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR ALL THINGS SCALY.

  There was even an Apple store.

  But what she loved most were the seascrapers—huge, twisting spires that looked like they were hewn out of the bones of some long-forgotten sea creature and were so tall they almost touched the top of the air bubble. The sea might not have stars, but the water surrounding the naga realm was lit up with its own magical lights. Anemone the color of moonlight bloomed in the alleys.

  At one of the grates, Aru was lucky enough to get a glimpse that lasted more than five seconds. Sadly, that was just when someone decided to drop their coffee cup. A red holiday cup from Slitherbucks, with a green-and-white logo of a crowned naga on it, fell through the grate…

  …and splashed all over Aru’s shirt.

  “This is just awesome,” Aru muttered. “How could it get any worse—?”

  Brynne held up a hand. “We’re here,” she whispered.

  Aiden looked around, and his confused expression matched Aru’s feeling. How could this be the legendary treasury of the nagas? They were in the middle of the sewage system, belowground, and there was no door or anything else marking an entry to another place.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” said Brynne. “I am the daughter of Lord Vayu. I never lose my sense of direction.”

  Aiden peered at the ground. With his right foot, he scraped aside so
me of the goop. There was a small bronze insignia there, along with a couple of raised bumps that looked like buttons. He bent down, shining his phone’s flashlight app to get a better look—which was a good thing, because Vajra refused to get anywhere near this ground, thwacking Aru in the head when she tried a couple times to lower it. She finally just changed it to a bracelet.

  Aiden’s scimitar hovered over one of the bronze buttons. “Huh,” he said, “I wonder if—”

  He didn’t have to wonder long. The second his blade touched the button, a circular plate beneath their feet suddenly whooshed downward. The three of them screamed as the surface fell away and they were plunged into darkness.

  The plate stopped nearly three hundred feet down from the sewers, straight in the belly of the naga treasury. Wall torches in the shape of snakes with tongues of flame dimly illuminated a wide circular space about the size of a football field. Hundreds of shelves that ran from floor to ceiling surrounded them. Piled onto their surfaces were untold wonders that Aru recognized from stories: a crystal goblet full of bright jewels, which was labeled PROPHETIC DREAMS; bottled constellations; and the jawbone of some deep-sea creature, which opened and closed as if it remembered chewing a former enemy.

  “Whoa,” said Brynne, slowly rotating.

  Aiden reached for his camera, but Brynne batted it down. “Someone might see the flash!” she scolded.

  “There’s no one here, Bee,” said Aiden, snapping a couple of pictures. “That was the whole point of the secret passage. And no way am I going to miss documenting this.”

  “You’re not a journalist in a war zone!”

  “Yet,” said Aiden.

  Aru didn’t see any sign of the thief’s soul song, but they’d only just started looking.

  Then, from high above, Aru heard a faint hissing sound. The three of them moved into a tight circle. They looked up…and there, hanging from a shelf, was a huge scaly tail. Aru traced it to the prone torso of a man. A little farther and she found his familiar face, with ropy scars and milky eyes.

  “Aru Shah. You and I have unfinished businesss,” he hissed.