“Squeeze through!” said Mini, turning sideways and trying to work her leg through an opening in the stones.
Brynne grabbed hold of one white bar only to wince. “It stings just to touch it!”
Jambavan was closing in. Fifty feet…now twenty.
Aiden jumped in front of Aru, brandishing his scimitars.
Rudy was digging through his satchel of enchanted musical rocks. “Where did it go?!” he said, panicking. “I thought I packed the enemy-interference quartz, but THIS IS THE SOUNDTRACK TOBEAUTY AND THE BEAST!”
“Why do you even have that?” Aiden asked.
Jambavan reared up a foot away from them. Aiden swung out his scimitars and Jambavan knocked one aside with a lazy brush of his paw, sending it spinning fifty feet away. Then the bear king growled, slamming back down onto all fours.
“We were sent here by Lord Agni,” said Mini in her best calming voice. “I’m sure we can talk this over?”
Jambavan rose again on his back two legs. He stood at least seventy feet tall. When he stared down at them, his eyes were totally black.
“No.”
The monster opened his mouth, and all the blood drained from Aru’s face. Her back was pressed against one of the white rods. She could feel its stinging sensation like a soft pinch through her winter clothes.
This is it, she thought.Eaten by aliteralbear. What is life?
The bear king loomed over them, claws outstretched, jaws rippling in a snarl….
Then a loudcreakmade him stop. Aru, who had closed her eyes for the final moments, cracked one lid open. Jambavan looked like he’d been caught in the world’s weirdest game of freeze tag.
“Uh, what?” asked Rudy, staring up at the immobile bear king.
Jambavan still didn’t move. Aiden, who still had one scimitar outstretched, lowered it slowly. He stepped forward cautiously and poked the bear king in the side.
Nothing.
“I KNEW THAT THING WAS BROKEN!” called a voice in the distance. “Stupid robot.”
Aru craned her neck around Jambavan to see…Jambavan. He looked almost identical to the frozen, murderous bear king looming above them.Almost. For one, this Jambavan’s belly happily protruded, and where the automaton stood tall, the real bear looked stooped and tired. He wore a red knit scarf around his neck, thick beige socks, and a pair of sandals. The biggest difference, however, was in his eyes, which shone with warmth and alertness.
“Ah, human children!” he said, clapping his paws in delight. “You must be cold! I don’t know why my fireplace didn’t alert me to guests—perhaps I slept through the alarm. Sometimes that happens.” He shrugged, then tilted his head. “Why, you remind me of my own cubs when they were your size….”
Aru, whose heart was still racing, tried very hard not to think about bear cubs that were five feet tall.
“Come in, come in, get out of the cold!” said the real Jambavan, yawning and squinting at the desolate, frigid land outside his cave. “I was rather in the mood for hot chocolate. Anyone else interested?”
Jambavan’s cave palace was surprisingly cozy. The floor was polished rock, accented with woven rugs. From the main hallway, the cave opened into a spacious chamber. At its center was a huge, unlit floating fireplace, its rock funnel disappearing into the ceiling. Soft emerald-colored moss studded with small purple and pink wildflowers covered the right wall of the chamber, while the left had a panel of glass overlooking the vast, desolate tundra. Aru frowned. In the distance, she saw something that looked like massive gray tree trunks. She’d never seen trees like that.
“Must remember to dust those photos,” said Jambavan, aiming a critical eye toward the large frames that dominated the back wall.
“Are you from the Council, hmm?” he asked, tottering around in an old bathrobe. “Some kind of interns for the census, perhaps? I do hate traveling to the Otherworld. Hanuman and Urvashi deeply disliked that I only sent my facsimile, but what of it?”
He waved an indifferent paw, not bothering to wait for the Potatoes to answer. “Have you ever added salt to hot chocolate?” asked Jambavan as he strode ahead of them. “It’s my secret ingredient for the most exceptional cup of cocoa, if I do say so myself.”
Aru glanced nervously at Brynne. Normally when any sort of recipe-related talk came up, Brynne would bellow about the superiority of her ingredients. But she hadn’t had an appetite lately. She hadn’t even bothered making any snacks before they left. Instead, the Potatoes were relying on some kelp-and-algae protein bars that Rudy’s older brother ate “strictly for the gains.”
They tasted like salty old socks.
When Brynne didn’t respond at all, Aru and Mini exchanged worried looks.
“Make yourselves at home by the fire!” said Jambavan, extending a paw toward the massive couches. A single cushion looked like it could comfortably seat a family of five. Jambavan glared at the craggy ceiling overhead, which had a chandelier of bleached antlers. “Music! Lights! You know the drill!”
