Aru Shah and the Song of Death

by Roshani Chokshi

  She turned away then, gliding toward the row of Heartless. As she walked, Aru saw that she was changing even more. Her once lovely hair had now become wild and brittle. Two knobs protruded from her forehead…the beginnings of horns. And her skin had turned ashen.

  Once again, she was turning into the story people told about her.

  “Is anyone’s weapon working yet?” asked Mini. She shook Dee Dee, but the Death Danda currently had all the personality of a pencil.

  “Nope,” said Brynne.

  “Me either,” said Aru.

  “What are we going to do about Lady M?” asked Aiden.

  Hira, who had been silent until then, pulled her ragged sweatshirt around her body. “I feel really bad for her.”

  Once she said that, some of the tension fled out of Aru’s bones. She’d been worried that she was the only one who felt any pity for Lady M.

  “Hira,” said Aru, “could you stand over there and keep watch? Let us know when you see Lady M coming back.”

  Aru didn’t want Hira to overhear their conversation. She was a little too sympathetic to the rakshasi.

  Aru pulled Brynne, Mini, and Aiden into a huddle. “We can’t let Lady M—or anyone else—get the nectar,” she said.

  Lady M was working with the Sleeper, and Aru knew all too well the kind of beings the Sleeper kept in his company. Demons dripping in shadows. Foul-smelling asuras with blood on their hands. Those who’d lost out on the nectar of immortality the first time it was pulled from the Ocean of Milk, and couldn’t let go of the grudge.

  All of this made Aru’s head hurt.

  Brynne nodded. “So we fight.”

  “We fight,” echoed Mini.

  “Yeah,” said Aiden, resigned.

  Aru couldn’t take it anymore. She blurted out the doubt inside her:

  “This is the right thing to do, isn’t it?” she asked. Then, in a quieter voice: “I feel bad for her. But then…look at what she did.”

  The four of them surveyed the vast army of Heartless. People stolen from their lives, their free will yanked from them.

  “Answering a wrong with a wrong doesn’t make it right,” said Aiden.

  “If we don’t fight her, all those people and we are going to pay for it,” said Brynne. “We have to fight.”

  She said this last part more to herself than to anyone else.

  Aru agreed, and yet…what Lady M had said made her think of the Sleeper. If everyone had gotten her story wrong, what about…his? Aru shook her head. It felt dangerous to even have that thought.

  “Is there something else, Aru?” asked Mini quietly.

  Aru realized the three of them had been watching her.

  “No,” Aru lied. “Nothing at all.”

  If she said it enough times, maybe it would become true.

  Aiden looked over his shoulder toward Lady M. “The second we give her that answer, she’s going to want to take our heads off.”

  “I know,” said Aru.

  “And none of our weapons are working,” said Mini, fear edging into her voice.

  “Yet,” said Brynne. “It’s like our weapons called a temporary truce.”

  “Plus, all the nagas and Heartless are on her side.”

  A thought snuck into Aru’s brain.

  The nagas at the entrance to the ramp hadn’t been able to tell the difference between Hira and Lady M. If the nagas couldn’t distinguish between them, then maybe Takshaka wouldn’t be able to, either.

  “Uh-oh,” said Aiden. “Shah’s making that face.”

  “What? What face?” asked Aru.

  “That’s, like, your signature I’ve-got-a-plan face,” said Brynne excitedly.

  Aru liked the sound of that. She had a signature face? Excellent.

  “Does it make me seem really suave, like George Clooney in Ocean’s 11? Or tough, like Marlon Brando in The Godfather?”

  “More like a toad that’s thinking about a fly it wants to eat,” said Mini thoughtfully.

  “Wow. Awesome.”

  “So what’ve you got, Shah?” asked Brynne. “Tell us what to do.”

  In that second, Aru realized they weren’t just looking at her…they were looking to her. Like they trusted her. Pride flared through Aru. So what if she couldn’t shoot an arrow through a fish eye or whatever it was that Arjuna had done? She had her imagination and three sets of eyes that trusted her, and, honestly, it was enough.

  Aru checked to make sure Lady M was still far away. The demon princess was pacing back and forth slowly, almost sorrowfully, in front of her rows of Heartless troops.

  “We’ve got something the other side doesn’t have,” said Aru.

  The others looked at her blankly.

  “Well, it’s definitely not weapons, brainpower, or looks,” said Mini.

  “Speak for yourself,” said Brynne.

  “So, what is it?”

  “It’s a who,” said Aru. Her gaze slid to the rakshasi girl a few feet away. “Hira.”

  Aru motioned to her to join them.

  “I thought you wanted me to watch out for Lady M,” Hira said.

  “Change of plans,” said Byrnne. “Tell her, Shah.”

  “You’re going to be our secret weapon,” said Aru.

  The rakshasi paled. “Me?”

  “Yup,” said Aru. “You’re going to—”

  But she couldn’t share the strategy just then, because Lady M was on her way back over.

  “Aiden, Hira,” Aru said hurriedly, “I’ll explain later. Just make sure you’re beside one of us at all times.”

  Hira nodded, unsure.

  Lady M walked over. She looked demonic now, her pupils slitted like a cat’s, and she was turning the golden arrow slowly in her hand, like a baton…or a sword. “I assume you have made up your minds, Pandavas,” she said, her voice rasping.

  “We have,” said Aru. “We are here to retrieve the bow and arrow of Kamadeva. Turn them over to us, or we’ll have to take them by force.”

  Lady M’s bottom jaw jutted out, showing her now-much-larger lower canines. “Very well. All things happen for a reason, and I shall respect the outcome, regardless of who wins. Shall we begin?” A ripple of energy coursed through the army behind Lady M.

  Aru didn’t know what was going to transpire next. Would some pretty naga girl slither forward holding checkered flags and count them down to battle? Would there be jousting? Would Aru have to channel Rocky Balboa and start boxing with Lady M?

  But it wasn’t any of those things.

  As one, Aru and her friends said yes. It was totally synchronized and totally eerie. At once, Vajra came to life in Aru’s pocket, electricity buzzing through the Ping-Pong ball. She pulled it out and it grew into a glowing bolt. She was willing to bet everyone else’s weapons reactivated immediately, too.

  But even that wasn’t the reason they started fighting.

  Lady M raised the bow and arrow, aimed it at Aru, and let loose. A lot of things happened simultaneously, but to Aru, it seemed like time slowed to a crawl. She was gradually bringing up Vajra, sluggishly stepping aside. Mini and Brynne got into formation—it must have been superfast, but at that moment, they could’ve been swimming through thick honey. Brynne swung her mace. Mini aimed her shield. Hira darted back and forth uselessly.

  But Aiden…

  Aiden dove in front of her. And it was only a split second later, when Aru saw the terrible smile on Lady M’s face, that she realized Aiden had done exactly as the demoness wanted.

  The arrow hit him with full force. Aiden crumpled to the ground.

  “No!” screamed Brynne.

  She dropped her mace and ran to him.

  Lady M picked up the bow again, and plucked the string. Before Aru realized what was happening, the arrow flew back into the demoness’s waiting hand.

  Terrible guilt pressed down on Aru’s lungs. She had let all this happen. And now…

  “Take care of them,” she heard Lady M command her troops.

  The Heartl
ess turned as one toward Aru, Mini, Hira, and Brynne.

  Then, miraculously, Aiden pushed himself off the ground, knocking Brynne onto her butt.

  “Hey!” she said.

  Aru started breathing again. There was a second when Aru thought Aiden would brush himself off and whirl his scimitars against Lady M.

  Instead, he snarled at Aru, his hands raised threateningly.

  Aiden had gone Heartless.

  Who’s the Heartless One Now?

  Aru wanted to give up right then, but she knew she couldn’t.

  Takshaka slithered through the ranks of the Heartless to stand by Lady M’s side. She tilted her head, and the army of zombies began to move.

  They marched toward the girls, stopping only when they were about twenty feet away to flank them in a semicircle, trapping them against the metal dome. Aru and Mini and Brynne faced them, hiding Hira behind their backs.

  The only way to win would be to wrest control of the Heartless from Lady M. The arrow was in her right hand, glinting brighter now that it was being used. Lady M’s appearance had continued to become more monstrous, as if she were turning just as Heartless as the men she’d abducted and dragged to the floor of the Ocean of Milk.

  Aiden now stood with the rest of the zombies, staring straight through Brynne, who looked like she was going to cry.

  “I didn’t protect him,” she said, her voice breaking.

  “Then we’ll just have to save him to make up for it,” said Aru. “Do your thing, Mini.”

  Mini aimed Dee Dee at the first line of Heartless, which included Aiden. A burst of violet light blasted them, and they fell to either side. Almost immediately, they started to get back up, unharmed.

  Aru tossed Vajra at Aiden while he was down, and the lightning bolt covered him in its net form. He fought it, growling. The net wouldn’t last forever, but Aru didn’t need forever.

  “Hira?” she asked, turning.

  The rakshasi raised a timid hand. She had been crouching on the ground, her arms wrapped around her knees. “I don’t know what you want from me,” she said. “I can’t do anything right. I can’t help!”

  Aru grabbed her by the shoulders. “That’s not true. You’re the key to all this. Here’s what we need….”

  Takshaka gloated loudly. “Told you they would never come around.”

  “So be it,” said Lady M. “I tried to convince them. My conscience is appeased.”

  They were now standing within the half circle of Heartless, talking in front of the girls as though they weren’t even there.

  Brynne’s chest was heaving, her eyes red. She turned to Aru, her face grim. Then she shouted, “Lady M!”

  The demon princess whirled around. “I am sorry about your friend, but it had to be done,” she said. “We need as many soldiers as possible to defend us against the gods. But first, we have to take care of you, Pandavas.”

  Her voice had changed. Now it was screechy, a horrible sound that made Aru want to clap her hands over her ears. Lady M shouldered the bow and raised the arrow, preparing to set the Heartless on them once and for all.

  Brynne charged, pointing her wind mace. Not once did she take her eyes off Aiden. She’d powered wind channels before, but nothing like this, like a tornado full of rage. Lady M braced herself, yet she wasn’t the target….

  Takshaka went sprawling. His tail whipped forward, knocking Lady M off her feet. The arrow flew out of her hands, as if desperately happy to be free of her. The Heartless instantly froze in place.

  “Now!” cried Aru.

  Mini turned her shield into a mirror dome and tossed it on top of Lady M, covering her completely.

  As Aru had hoped, Takshaka dove for the arrow. He caught it before it hit the ground. He didn’t bother picking up the bow.

  “A foolish move, Pandavasss,” he hissed. “But what did I expect?”

  Just keep talking, thought Aru. She called Vajra back into her hands.

  A part of her still felt bad for Takshaka, but it was eclipsed by a greater fury. He’d tried to kill them in the treasury. And he’d tricked Uloopi. As for Lady M, her thirst for vengeance had caused her to enslave hundreds of people…including Aiden. The terrible things that had happened to Takshaka and Uloopi weren’t right, but neither were their actions.

  Through the Pandava mind link, Aru sent a message to Brynne: Go.

  Takshaka raised the arrow and the Heartless stormed forward. It was absolutely terrifying…and absolutely what Aru had expected. The zombie army surged like a tidal wave, swallowing Lady M. Brynne sent a fire-laced windstorm their way, careful to avoid Aiden.

  Heartless-Aiden, now free from the net, kept lunging at Aru, his scimitars whirling menacingly.

  “So rude!” said Aru, blocking him with Vajra. “We’re supposed to be on the same side.”

  Heartless-Aiden made a weird grunt, which Aru took to mean My bad. Can’t really help it.

  Aru steadied herself, preparing for his next blow. When it came, Aru fell to the ground, just like Hanuman had taught her in combat practice. Aiden roared, ready himself to plunge his blades straight through her. At the last second, Aru rolled out of the way. Aiden snarled. He tried to lift the scimitars to strike again, but they were stuck in the damp sand.

  “I want you to know we’re still friends,” she told him.

  Then she whacked him on the head with the lightning bolt and Aiden slumped over, unconscious.

  Takshaka was struggling to control the arrow. Brynne had picked up the bow and was holding it behind her back.

  “Meenakshi!” he yelled. “Where are you?”

  The Heartless were going haywire. Hundreds swarmed in all directions. Aru extended Vajra in front of her and sent out pulses of lightning to confuse the zombies. Mini cast an invisibility shield over them, and a fiery tornado—courtesy of Brynne—flashed in a wide circle around Mini, Hira, Aiden, and Aru. Anyone who got too close received the heel end of the magic sneakers Brynne had chosen at the Warehouse of Quest Materials.

  “Now?” she asked Aru.

  Aru nodded, breathless. In a rush, the fiery tornado collapsed. Lady M stormed out from behind Brynne, her face a mask of fury as she shoved past the confused Heartless.

  “There you are!” said Takshaka, relieved. He bowed his head a little and held out the arrow. “Please, take it.”

  She grabbed it from him and nocked it on her bow. “It’s about time!” she snapped.

  “Make them obey!” Takshaka pleaded.

  Lady M held the arrow up in the air, and the Heartless froze in place. Then she pointed it in front of her, in the direction away from the dome over the labyrinth. As one, the Heartless turned and began marching.

  “What’s going on?” Takshaka asked, panicking. The scales on his tail flashed a vivid red.

  Lady M’s eyes widened as she shook the arrow, which sent the Heartless scattering in all directions. “I don’t know! Th-they must have tampered with it!”

  “Duck!” shouted Mini.

  Aru and Brynne crouched down as Mini’s mirror dome spun back to her hand, now flat as a discus.

  A new shriek joined the din. “Impostor! Thief!”

  Another Lady M—this one truly monstrous, bent-over and bloodied, with huge tusks protruding from her bottom lip—pushed her way through the drifting zombies.

  Takshaka, thoroughly confused, looked back and forth between the two demonesses. “H-how?” he stammered.

  “You fool!” rasped Lady M. “They had a shape-shifting rakshasi working with them!”

  Hira had started transforming back to her real self: a frightened rakshasi clutching the bow and arrow.

  Aru had to act quickly. This was the final part….

  The last step.

  The cruelest step.

  Aru glanced at Aiden still unconsciously slumped next to his stuck scimitar. He—and all the others—would stay that way if she didn’t finish this.

  Lady M now looked exactly like the monster from the stories. Aru wished that t
he sight of her this way made things easier, but it didn’t.

  Mini reached out and grabbed Aru’s hand, as if she knew exactly what Aru was thinking. Brynne knocked Takshaka back with a blast from her wind mace. Hira threw the arrow to Aru, who caught it one-handed. At her feet, Vajra transformed into a hoverboard, and Aru zoomed fast, holding out the arrow. Lady M’s eyes widened. At the last second, Aru turned her face away….

  But her arm kept moving.

  She plunged the arrow into Lady M’s chest.

  Lady M let out a terrible scream. A wave of energy roiled the seascape. Above them, shock rippled the Ocean of Milk.

  Aru didn’t need to see that the arrow had hit its mark, because she heard it. My soul will become a song of death, Lady M had said. Aru would never forget the sound. The song of death was like ice creeping across a windowpane, and a warning shout unleashed a second too late, and water closing over your head, and the silent chime of a moment that has been forgotten forever. It was impossible and painful and, ultimately, inevitable.

  When Aru finally opened her eyes again, Lady M was crumpled at their feet, the arrow sticking out of her chest. Dimly, Aru felt Brynne’s and Mini’s hands on her shoulder. She must have fallen off Vajra, but she didn’t remember that.

  All around them, the Heartless stopped and clutched their chests. Then they looked around at one another, wide-eyed.

  “What was in my burrito?” asked one guy, turning in a circle.

  “Where am I?” asked another.

  Aru heard the sound of approaching hoofbeats. The celestial mounts! The Council of Guardians must have sensed that the bow and arrow were recovered. Which meant that help was on the way.

  Takshaka hissed, then opened a portal in the middle of the sand. He made to depart, but not before viciously saying, “This changes nothing, Pandavas. By my count, you took too long. You may have changed these Heartless back to mortal men, but you’ll still be exiled.”

  He disappeared, leaving Aru feeling as if she’d swallowed a pound of rocks.

  She heard a groan behind her. Aiden was sitting up and rubbing his head. Aru and Mini raced over to him. He stared up in wonder at Mini, but his eyes narrowed when he saw Aru.