“AND I DEMAND…I DEMAND…NIDRAVATVAM!”
To Aru’s ears, the words slurring from Kumbhakarna’s mouth sounded almost identical.
Almost.
In the image, Ravana’s face fell. He stood up and darted out of the way as his huge brother fell into the earth beside him and promptly began to…snore.
The vision faded, and once more the Pandavas were back in the forest with The Lady, who was laughing to herself.
“Ah, the fool,” she said, delighted. “A goddess tied his tongue so that when he meant to ask for the seat of Indra, he asked for a bed, and when he asked for the annihilation of the gods, he asked instead for sleep.”
Maybe Aru would’ve laughed, too, but the trees looked different now. When she turned in her seat, she could no longer see the path they’d taken. Impossibly, the forest was even thicker and darker, and no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t catch sight of either Kumbhakarna’s outstretched hand or the final portal that had set it aglow.
“Where are we?” asked Aru.
“I told you,” said The Lady, “we’re taking a shortcut. And anyway, we’ve arrived. Time to dismount from your steeds.”
The night mares stopped. Mini bent over her horse, frowning. Loose Teeth swiveled her head to look at her rider, and in the blue infernos of her eyes Aru detected something like sorrow.
Something feels off, said Aru through the mind link.
Loose Teeth looked forward again and whinnied, trotting sideways. She bucked slightly.
“Whoa, what’s wrong?” asked Mini, rubbing Loose Teeth’s neck, but the mare wouldn’t calm down.
“I said dismount,” said The Lady.
All the horses except Loose Teeth began to roar. Creepy Party Clown slowly turned her head toward Aru. The horse’s lips pulled into another terrifying grin. Aru scrambled out of her saddle, nearly tumbling headfirst to the black forest floor below.
Rudy slipped sideways off his horse, hollering, “HOW DARE YOU!”
Mini dropped gracefully from her saddle, and while the other horses backed away, Loose Teeth stayed with her, nuzzling her shoulder, her tail flicking nervously like a cat’s.
“What’s going on?” demanded Brynne. “You said you’d show us a shortcut out of here!”
“And this is, in a way,” said The Lady.
Aiden hopped down from Inexplicable Natural Disaster and walked straight over to Aru. He stood in front of her, and Aru could feel the heat coming off him as he raised his scimitars defensively. Brynne’s hand moved to the choker at her throat. Aru’s gaze whipped around the forest. She hated this feeling, that she was trapped and couldn’t do anything to help her friends. She watched, horror climbing through her, as fallen leaves and pine needles on the forest floor swirled into the unmistakable shapes of five little beds.
The Lady, now hovering twenty feet off the ground, turned to face them. “You want a shortcut out of all this mess? Out of all this pain? Oh, don’t try to tell me otherwise, children. My horses relayed your sweet fears as they quietly feasted upon them.”
Aru glanced over her shoulder. Ten feet away, Creepy Party Clown met her gaze and licked his nose with a tongue the color of dried blood. She felt sick.
“The horses told me that you’re just so…tired,” said The Lady. “I’m doing you a favor, really. You’ll see that it’s better this way. Besides, the goddess Nidra would consider herself robbed if you didn’t visit her realm of sleep. All your fancy enchantments and wake-me-up amulets mean nothing here. It is time to pay your debts in another manner.”
The leaves and needles rose up, swirling around The Lady and choking off the forest around them. “It’s time, sweet heroes…to rest.”
The debris churning around The Lady exploded.
The horses scattered, whinnying loudly as they fled the forest. The pine needles hurtled toward the Potatoes like tiny darts.
“Ow!” said Mini when they hit her skin. “They’re drawing blood!”
“Get together!” shouted Aru.
The five of them huddled, standing back-to-back as if that might offer some protection. Aru had just raised her hands to her face, bracing herself for impact, when a shadow fell across her.
“Loose Teeth, what are you doing?” asked The Lady in a shrill voice.
Aru peeked between her fingers to see the needles hitting the horse’s wings, which were spread in front of them like a shield. Loose Teeth neighed, her forelegs kicking at the air as the needles settled once more onto the ground. Mini broke away from the group and patted the horse’s shoulder. The night mare grinned.
“No matter,” said The Lady. She snapped her fingers and a black root snaked out of the ground, heading straight for Mini.
“Move!” yelled Aru.
“Mini!” screamed Brynne, spinning to cast her mace.
But it wasn’t Aru or Brynne who reached Mini first.
It was Rudy.
The naga prince darted out, transforming in a flash into his half-serpent form. His eyes glowed red, and his red-and-gold-banded tail slapped the root away as he snarled at The Lady. He looked surprisingly formidable. And it wasn’t missed that he had tapped into his own power to protect Mini. Her eyes widened.
Rudy opened his mouth. Clearly he was going to say something epic and awesome, and maybe even romantic….
“What about Plushy Scales? I’ll get nightmares without Plushy Scales—” Rudy slumped to one side. The bed of pine needles zoomed over to catch him. His tail curled up, and within seconds he was snoring.
Never mind, then, thought Aru.
“Plushy Scales?” asked Aiden, raising an eyebrow.
“Why are you doing this to us?” Mini asked The Lady. “You’d better not hurt him!” Her face blazed with fury. Beside her, Loose Teeth stamped the ground.
“There’s a war on the other side of this realm, and we have to be there—” started Brynne.
The Lady laughed humorlessly. “I have heard it all. I know all about the wars that end all wars, and the truth is, nothing changes. People die. Lives are sacrificed. And who bothers to remember? No one.”
The Lady gradually began to descend. Black debris swirled around her feet once more. Brynne raised her wind mace again and Aiden fumbled with his scimitars. The edge of one of his golden blades touched the ground, and it seared the grass with a hiss. A small pile of leaves briefly caught fire. Aiden watched it, his brow furrowing as if he’d just had an idea.
Aru’s eyes flicked from the burned leaves to the grinning Lady. “But this time it might actually be different,” Aru said quietly. “This time, we have the chance for true change. The chance for a life in which no one needs to be sacrificed…or hurt. Or forgotten.”
The last four beds inched closer, and Aru felt a terrible drowsiness wash over her. She swayed on the spot until she felt a warm hand close around her wrist, and she looked up to see Aiden staring at her. The starry flecks in his eyes held her steady.
“Don’t you dare, Shah,” he said. “Stay with me.”
His words helped Aru shake off her drowsiness. Aiden let go of her hand, and Aru imagined she felt sparks chasing one another across her skin.
“Who are you?” Mini demanded of The Lady.