“So…what do you want us to do?” she asked, looking around the molten room. “Do you have an obstacle course? Are we going to do some training-montage stuff? You know, ‘wax on, wax off’—you say cryptic, inspiring things and we sit around and despair until the cryptic things make sense and then—boom!—our weapons come back and everything is awesome?”
Agni looked confused. “‘Wax on, wax off’?”
Aiden snorted back a laugh.
Through their Pandava mind link, Mini sighed.This is not the right time to quoteThe Karate Kid.
“Ignore that part,” said Aru to Agni. “Point is, can you help us?”
Agni touched his glowing necklace and shook his head. “NowI know what’s different,” he said, before waving a hand in their direction. “Your weapons—they’re gone.”
Beside Aru, Brynne winced. Her fingers fluttered to her neck, where Gogo, her wind mace, had often rested in the form of a choker.
“Your weapons were proof of godly favor. Without that, you cannot wield my weapons, either,” said Agni carefully.
Aru nearly swayed on the spot. Her plan had failed, and now they had no way to fight the Sleeper. She squeezed her eyes shut, her thoughts yanking her back to that awful moment when Kara had betrayed them.
I’m doing this because I love you guys.
Aru still didn’t understand how it could’ve happened. How could Kara say she loved them and then leave them open to attack? And why, instead of trying to protect Aru, was the Sleeper choosing destruction?
If the Pandavas were on the “right side,” why hadn’t their weapons been restored? What was the point of any of this?
Brynne’s voice pulled Aru out of her thoughts. “How do we win back godly favor?” she asked Agni.
“By way of a test, I imagine,” said Agni, stroking his chin.
Brynne’s face lit up. “We’re ready! Let’s do it. What’s it gonna be? Obstacle challenge? Ten-course meal? I can do it all.”
“It is, perhaps, more difficult than that,” said Lord Agni. “I’ll show you.”
From Agni’s back four additional arms sprouted and rose gracefully into the air. He reached forward and touched each of their foreheads with a different index finger. Aru was glad he didn’t go for their noses. The day was bad enough without adding a cosmicboop!to it.
Aru felt a sudden pinch of heat on her skin, and her vision clouded over. When her eyes cleared, she was no longer in a volcano but standing on a palatial terrace in an ancient kingdom. She turned, looking for her sisters, but she was alone. Maybe they were all seeing this vision from Agni individually.
Helloooo, she called through the Pandava mind link. There was no answer.
The terrace looked out over a lush green valley. Not ten feet away, a tall, dark-skinned, and solemn-eyed king sat on a throne of gold, speaking to a group of advisers gathered around him. To his left was a large weighing scale with huge sacks of coins piled beneath it, guarded by two soldiers strapped with knives and swords. A sacred fire lay before the king, and as he threw an offering of rice into the flames, a soft caw sounded.
“Help!”
A pigeon swooped out of the sky, alighting on the throne’s armrest. “You must help me, King Shibi!” said the bird.
“What ails you, creature of my kingdom?”
Aru made a mental note to use that line one day.
“I am being pursued by a hawk who wishes to eat me!”
The king nodded. “I will protect you.”
Aru wondered if the king was going to offer the pigeon a job in his kingdom, but in the next moment, a huge red hawk dived toward the bird.
“Your Highness, give up that bird!” said the hawk. “It is mine to eat!”
“I cannot,” said King Shibi. “It is under my protection.”
“Am I not under your protection, too, great king? Am I not one of the creatures that lives in your land? Is my family to starve for lack of fresh meat?”
