Brynne rubbed her stomach. “Mmm … sautéed squad.”
“Please stop,” said Aiden.
Thefour of them, remembering what they had come for, turned back to the archway. And stopped short.
It would seem that not all the boys had run. Sparky had stayed behind, his arms still crossed,his face still inscrutable behind his weird sunglasses.
“Didn’t you just see what happened to your friends?” asked Brynne.
Aru rubbed her eyes, blinked a couple times, and resumed staring at Sparky. That guyhadto be getting taller by the second. Around his head, she could see a faint shining corona, like how saints in old paintings sometimes looked like they were wearing gold astronaut helmets.But it wasn’t just saints who were depicted like that….
It was gods, too.
“I’m warning you,” said Brynne. “These arepowerfulweapons.”
Sparky clapped once. Aru felt a sharp tug in her chest, like someone had grabbed her heart and pulled. Mini made a pained sound, and even Brynne doubled over as if she’d been kicked in the gut. Aiden yelled, “Hey!”
Furious, Aru reached for Vajra and—
Herfingers closed around air.
Vajra!
Her lightning bolt was gone! How could her lightning boltnotbe with her? It felt like she had lost a limb. But when she looked up, she saw it, shining in its Ping-Pong form, in Sparky’s hand. In his other hand was Brynne’s wind mace, Mini’s Dee Dee, and even Aiden’s enchanted scimitars.
“That’s not how I like to fight,” said Sparky.
Itwas the first timeAru had heard him talk. His voice was warm and crackly, like a fire.
Aru had no clue as to how Sparkydidlike to fight. But it didn’t matter. She had no other weapons or defensive items left. In her backpack was a half-empty bottle of water, a package of Oreos that she’d shoved into its very depths so Brynne couldn’t sniff it out, and a useless vial from the Warehouse of Quest Materials: a single“bright idea.”
“Who … who are you?” asked Aiden.
Sparky shrugged. “Just someone who doesn’t like fighting…. You want to go into the Ocean of Milk, and I have a theory as to why. But you’ll have to earn your passage. If you want me to move out of the way, beat me in a contest.”
“What kind of contest?” asked Brynne suspiciously.
Sparky grinned. “Aneatingcontest.”
“Eating?” Brynne echoed happily.“Sign me up! I’veneverlost an eating contest.”
