Ice trickled down her spine.
“Poppy?” she called, pushing herself to a stand. “Arielle? Burton?”
That’s when she saw them.
All three were still huddled together. They looked like a movie that had been paused in the middle of a fight scene. Poppy’s hand was on Burton’s chest. He was on his heels, tipping backward, about to fall. Arielle’s eyes were screwed shut, her mouth open in a silent scream. They were suspended in time. Aru reached out and touched them. Their skin was warm. A pulse leaped at each of their throats. But they didn’t move.Couldn’tmove.
What had happened?
Her gaze snagged on the red light in Burton’s pocket. The phone. Maybe she could rewind the recording. But the phone wouldn’t budge from his pocket. Everything was frozen. Except her.
This was a dream. It had to be. She pinched herself.
“Ow!” she said, wincing.
She was definitely awake. In a way, so were her classmates. But then, how was everything so…still? A creaking sound echoed outside the Hall of the Gods. She stood up straighter. It sounded a lot like a door.
“Mom?” she whispered, running out. Her mother must have heard the noise and come downstairs. She’d know what to do.
At the entrance to the Hall of the Gods, Aru saw three things that made no sense:
Her mother was frozen, too, both feet off the ground as if she’d been caught in mid-jog. Her black hair hadn’t even fallen against her back. Her eyes and mouth were open wide with panic.
The whole room looked strange and lightless and flat. Becausenothinghad a shadow.
The creaking sound hadn’t come from the door. It had come from the elephant.
Aru watched, stuck somewhere between awe and horror, as the stone elephant that had been standing in the museum for decades suddenly sank to the ground. It lifted its trunk—the same trunk Aru had been using as a backpack hook for years—to its forehead. In one swift, creaking movement, its jaw unhinged.
Panicked, Aru ran toward her mom. She reached for her hand, trying to yank her out of the air. “Mom! The elephant is possessed. Youreallyneed to wake up!”
Her mom didn’t move. Aru followed her gaze. She’d been staring straight at the Hall of the Gods the moment she was frozen.
“Mom?”
A voice boomed from the hollow of the elephant. Deep and rough and wizened. Aru shrank.
“WHO HAS DARED TO LIGHT THE LAMP?” called the voice. It was as dark as a thunderstorm. Aru thought bolts of lightning might shoot out of the elephant’s mouth, which, under any other circumstance, would have been very exciting. “WHO HAS DARED TO WAKE THE SLEEPER FROM HIS SLUMBER?”
Aru shuddered. “I—I did…but I didn’t mean to!”
“YOU LIE, WARRIOR! AND FOR THAT I AM SUMMONED.”
The sound of flapping wings echoed from the elephant’s open mouth. Aru gulped.
This was the end, Aru was sure of it. Did birds eat people? It probably depended on the size of the bird. Or the size of the person. Not wanting to test the idea, she tried burying her face in her mother’s side, but she couldn’t fit under her stiff arm. The sounds from the elephant rose steadily. A shadow lengthened on the ground. Huge and winged.
Whatever had been speaking flew out of the elephant’s mouth.
It was…
A pigeon.
“Ew!” Aru exclaimed.
Her mother had often reminded her that pigeons were “rats with wings.”
“Where is he?” demanded the pigeon. “One of the ancient five warriors lit the Lamp of Bharata—”
