“If we want to get to Lanka, we need the mine,” said Kara. “Dad says there are golden guardians who watch over the Otherworld routes. Maybe we could find them? Is there any way to check for magic?”
“I highly doubt there’s any magic here,” said Brynne.
Mini brought out Dee Dee. In its compact-mirror form, it could detect disguised magic. When she opened it and spun around, the reflection glowed a soft violet. On Aru’s wrist, Vajra began to spark. Brynne’s choker flashed a brighter shade of blue, and when Kara raised her hand, her ring looked like sunshine bouncing off a windshield.
“Okay, scratch what I just said.” Brynne swiveled her head left and right.
“But where is it coming from?” asked Aru.
She rotated slowly in place. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but when she turned around again, a bright shape loomed at the bottom of her vision. Aru caught a flash of golden fur and large teeth before yelling, “AHH! DEMON HAMSTER!”
Vajra instantly lengthened into a spear.
“Tourists!” squeaked the creature excitedly. “It’s happening!”
“I am overwhelmed with joy,” said another creature, who sounded decidedly joyless.
Mere inches from Aru’s feet, the sidewalk had split down the middle to reveal a chasm. A bright marble staircase with veins of gold and silver spiraled down into it, and on the top step two tall rodents stood on their haunches. They came up to her knees and had golden fur, beaver-like noses, half-moon ears tucked close to their heads, and round black eyes.
If they were demon hamsters, they didn’t look very demonic.
“You think we’re hamsters!” said the first creature gleefully. It nudged the other one, who continued to stare blankly ahead. “I told you things were looking up!”
The second creature maintained its stony expression.
Beside Aru, Aiden moved closer to the animals. “What’s happening?”
Kara shot a warning glance at Aru, her eyes flicking to Vajra. Aru twisted her wrist and Vajra shrank back into a bracelet.
“Greetings, guardians of the golden road,” said Kara respectfully. She pressed her hands together and bowed.
Mini elbowed Aru, and the four of them copied Kara’s movements.
“This is so exciting! Pleased to meet you. I am Sonu, your afternoon docent,” said the first creature, bowing. “This is our illustrious curator, Kanak! Say hello, Kanak.”
“No.”
Sonu ignored that. “Might you be here for the twelve o’clock tour?”
“Say no,” Kanak whispered to Kara.
“Stop that, Kanak!” scolded Sonu. “We haven’t had tourists in almost a thousand years!”
“I’m…I’m sorry?” ventured Aru.
Sonu shook its head. “We had a miserable experience with the press. We did one interview—”
“I didn’t want to do it,” muttered Kanak.
“It wasn’t too long ago, maybe fifth century, with Herodotus?”
“Yeah, super recent,” said Aru.
Mini elbowed her again.
“But he mistranslated us and called us ‘gold-digging ants’!” wept Sonu. “The Persians called us ‘mountain ants,’ you see, and, oh, it just became a PR debacle. Everyone running after anthills when we’ve been right here all along.”
“So…you’re not hamsters,” said Aru.
