No, I Can’t Sing. Leave Me Alone
The crab stepped forward. “There’s no one to rescue you, little Pandava.”
From out of the corner of her eye, Aru saw Aiden picking the lock on the cage with one of his scimitars. Mini was using Dee Dee as a flashlight to help him. The cage door swung open silently, the sound redirected with a wave of Brynne’s mace.
As silent as shadows, Brynne, Aiden, andMini dropped to the ground.
Aru grinned. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that.”
With a great roar, Brynne rushed at the gigantic crab. The crab reared up, swinging one of its pincers, and Brynne went flying against the wall. She slid down, shook her head, and then got back to her feet. She twirled her mace, probably trying to make her trademark wind cyclone … but instead of air, a force of bubblessurged forward, popping on the crab’s shell.
The crab tittered. “That tickles!”
Brynne examined the end of her mace in confusion.
Aiden tried to flash his scimitars, but his movementswerestrangely slowed, as if he were fighting a strong wind. The crab caught him around the leg, and he tripped backward. The crab stabbed the ground with a pincer, but at the last second Aiden rolled across thesand.
“Bubble power it is!” hollered Brynne, pointing her mace so that a stream of bubbles momentarily blinded the crab.
The crab stumbled, its legs nearly crushing all of them until Mini let loose a force field.
A crackling sphere surrounded the four of them. The crab batted away the last of the bubbles and then tapped at the sphere with one claw.
“Come now,” it coaxed. “I’ll be very quickabout it. I’ll eat you in one bite if you come out now. Two bites if you make this difficult.”
“That’s super enticing,” muttered Aru.
Quickly, she told the others what had happened with Varuna and Varuni.
“You promised to ‘fill its belly’ without asking what you’re supposed to fill itwith?” demanded Aiden. “Nice going, Shah.”
The crab had grown to the size of a submarine. All of them barelycame up to the first joint in its spindly blue leg.
“Can’t we just blast it with something?” whispered Brynne.
“Withwhat? Everything works weird in here!” Aiden said in an equally low tone. “It’s almost like we’re underwater without the water.”
“Besides”—Mini grunted, straining to keep up the shield—“the Otherworld will not like it if you break your promise to Varuna, Aru.”
Aru eyed the crab.“So let’s keep my promise. Let’s fill its belly. Just not for long.”
“What, like make it eat something and then spit it out?” asked Brynne. “What would even fit inside it?”
Aiden caught on to Aru’s idea first. Then Mini. The three of them looked at Brynne.
“You’vegotto be joking.”
The crab loomed above them. It slammed its pincer into the shield, and a crack spiderwebbed through it. Miniwinced.
“Why do people always stare at me like that?” the crab roared.
For their plan to work, they needed the crab’s mouth openwide. Wide enough that something could fly straight down its throat without it noticing. Which meant that they needed it to be talking … or shrieking.
“Ask him to sing,” whispered Aru.
“What, like the crab inMoana?” asked Aiden loudly.
“WHO SAIDMOANA?” thunderedthe crab.
