“Even a monster isn’t the monster of their own story,” said Aru. “If you let us go, we’ll remember yours.”
The vishakanyas looked at one another. One by one, they each took a step back.
“You mean it,” said Aleesa, shocked.
“No one has asked to hear our tale before,” said another, turning her head.
“What say you, Lord Vasuki?” asked Aleesa, looking up.
Uh, thought Aru, pretty sure that’s a slab of rock.
But then a loud screech tore through the cave. The poison maidens lifted their arms and the last vestiges of the noxious fumes reversed, streaming through the air and disappearing into their skin. The ledge holding Brynne suddenly broke off.
“Brynne!” screamed Aru.
The ropes surrounding Aiden vanished. He lunged forward to catch Brynne before she hit the ground. Her wings stirred.
What’s happening? asked Brynne through the Pandava mind link.
You’re okay, Bee! You’re okay, said Aru, grinning.
Gently, Aiden laid Brynne on the floor. In a flash of blue light, Brynne transformed back into her normal self. She was crouching, her body bent and one hand clenched tight. Light streamed through the gaps between her fingers as she opened them slowly.
The second piece of the Syamantaka Gem sat in her hand.
Jagged beams of light hit the ground as the ceiling opened. In the distance, Aru could hear a rumble, like an avalanche building momentum. She looked up…and up…as the ceiling transformed. It had never been a ceiling at all, but the great hood of Lord Vasuki.
“I have heard quite enough,” said a low, ancient voice.
As he reared up, the cave city of Patala glittered behind him. Vasuki’s huge cobra hood was the length of at least six semitrucks put together. He was the color of twilight and so old that thick stalks of quartz and precious jewels had formed between his scales—scales Aru had mistaken for cave rocks.
Vasuki hissed and a warm wind gusted through the rows of treasure. The vishakanyas bowed low, and Aru quickly followed suit. Rudy crumpled down on his coils. Aiden bent down and Brynne, still disoriented, wobbled something like a curtsey. Only Mini didn’t move. She was breathing, but the poison had knocked her out cold.
“So, it has begun again, has it?” asked Vasuki. “The nectar of immortality is fought over once more….All things repeat…but not as they seem….”
Aru couldn’t see his mouth. She could barely stand looking at his eyes, which seemed huge as planets and were a fiery red.
“My adopted daughters do not wake me for trifles, and I see now that you have taken a piece of my treasure.”
“I…W-we…” stuttered Aru, gazing up at the serpent lord.
The remaining cavern walls trembled, and Aru realized the great snake was laughing.
“You think I shall give you my piece of the jewel because you imagine yourselves to be, what…heroes?”
And heroines, grumbled Aru to herself.
“There is nothing that surprises me,” said Vasuki. “Drop the jewel, take your lives, and go. That is my mercy.”
“I might surprise you? I’m pretty sure I’m not like your other descendants.”
It took Aru a moment to realize that Rudy had spoken. The naga prince was shaking a little as he rose on his coils and stared up at his ancestor.
The great snake sniffed the air, and his eyes narrowed. “You are one of mine?”
“Yes,” said Rudy.
“Then what do you mean you are different? You are, I imagine, like all of mine…a gatherer of jewels, a lover of all that glitters and glows. Majestic, yes, but not different from me.”
“Actually, I don’t really…like…jewels,” said Rudy carefully. The gems in their cases hissed. “I mean, they’re great and all, but I can’t see their colors the way other people do. I appreciate them for something else.” Rudy reached into his bag, pulling out the chunks of rock. “I…I make music with them.”
“Music?” asked Vasuki, tilting his head a little.
As he did so, bits of rock and debris clattered around them.
“Yeah,” said Rudy. He shoved some of his rocks forward. “Like this.”
Rudy’s music flowed through the cave, and it felt like that first time he’d saved them, when he’d shown up with speakers and annoyed the naga king Takshaka so much the Pandavas were able to escape the treasury. Only this time the music was of Rudy’s own making, and it was unlike anything that had ever played on a radio. It sounded like thunderstorms prowling across a mountainside and it felt like running your finger along the edge of a knife—dangerous and sharp.
Vasuki’s great eyes closed. His head swung a little. Aru crouched, ready for the snake king to lunge…but he didn’t.
Instead, he…bopped to the music?
Did not expect that one, said Brynne.
“A musician in the family,” said Vasuki warmly, opening his eyes. The music stopped. “That is…surprising.”
“Surprising enough that you’ll give us your piece of the Sun Jewel?” tried Rudy.
Aru sighed, thinking he had pushed things too far.
Vasuki paused, and then, ever so slowly, bowed his great head in a nod.
“I am amused by the possibility that you will do something different with it. Let us see whether you succeed in surprising me again….”
“Thank you,” said Brynne, clutching the jewel to her chest.
Vasuki gave a great rumbling laugh. He moved closer, his forked tongue darting toward Rudy.
“Hmm,” said the great snake thoughtfully. His eyes turned a hypnotic shade of green. “I like you, child.”
“Yay?”
“So I shall give you this final warning. You have awoken me. And when I move, so too does the world….”
Lord Vasuki lowered himself farther to inspect his treasure. Around him, Patala began to crumble. Chunks of the cave wall broke off and fell, crashing into one another. All the poison maidens except Aleesa retreated into the wall, and the Potatoes ducked for cover.
Aleesa flung out her hand, and the door at the end of the hall swung open. “Go!” she told them. She tossed a small lantern in their direction. Aiden caught it one-handed. “And take this! It shall contain the pieces of the Sun Jewel and guide you.”
“C’mon!” yelled Rudy. “I’ve got Mini!” He gathered her up while he was still in his naga form. His hood flared above her like a shield.
Aiden and Brynne ran ahead. Aru knew she had to leave quickly, too. She could feel the ground trembling and hear more rocks falling. But she couldn’t look away from Aleesa. For all Aru knew, no one would ever see the poison maidens again.
Aleesa smiled. She tugged one of her bangles off her wrist and threw it to Aru. When Aru caught it, she winced. It felt like she’d touched a too-hot pan.
“Go and remember us, daughter of the gods.”
“I will,” said Aru. “I promise.” She turned and ran, shoving the bangle deep in her pocket.
“Aru!” yelled Brynne from the doorway. “The whole city is falling apart! We’ve got to go now!”
Aru sprinted. She had just stepped across the threshold when the rocky floor beneath her gave way. A hundred feet below, a great cloud of dust and rock spewed from what had once been the city’s agora.