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?”
King Shibi bowed his head. “If you must have fresh meat, then take my own.”
He gestured to a soldier to place the pigeon on one weighing pan of the great scale. Then he…well, Aru couldn’t bring herself to watch, but from the cries of “Ah! My leg!” she gathered that the king was cutting pieces from his own thigh and putting them on the other pan to equal the bird’s weight.
And yet, when Aru peeked at the scale, the pigeon’s side was still lower.
She stared at the king’s advisers. Some of them were crying in sympathy for the king’s plight, but no one was stopping him. Not a single person was like, Hmm, that’s a weirdly heavy pigeon, or Wow, what are we feeding these birds? Nothing!
Finally, there was a great clanging sound as King Shibi jumped onto the scale, shouting, “Take me! Spare the pigeon!”
A vivid glow enveloped the king, the scale, the birds, and the terrace. Aru blinked a couple of times as heat overwhelmed her senses. Two divine voices called out, their words shaking the floor and practically rattling her bones.
“OH, KING SHIBI, WE HAVE WITNESSED YOUR GOODNESS AND YOU HAVE PASSED OUR TEST. BE WELL, AND FIND YOURSELF RESTORED.”
When Aru blinked, she was once more in Lord Agni’s volcano lair. His extra arms had vanished, and he was regarding the Pandavas excitedly.
“Oof,” said Mini, swaying a bit. “I feel woozy.”
“Well!” said Agni. “I think that was clear enough!”
“Uh, no?” said Aru. “King Shibi couldn’t ask his royal chef to make a chicken sandwich for the hawk? He had to jump straight to offering his own leg?” Aru briefly thought of Boo ruffling his feathers and quickly added, “Not that I wanted anything to happen to the pigeon.”
“What was the point of that?” asked Brynne. “What’s the test? Some kind of…food challenge?”
“No,” said Aiden quietly, and all eyes turned to him. “The test is about what we do when we think no one’s watching, isn’t it?”
Agni smiled. “You wish to enter the labyrinth containing the nectar of immortality, yes?”
The Pandavas nodded.
“Then do so,” he said. “And perhaps the manner in which you do will win the favor of the gods.”
“Perhaps? Might? These aren’t exactly words of comfort,” said Aru. “How will we know for sure?”
“Well, for starters, you’ll possibly remain alive.”
“Possibly?” repeated Brynne.
“But we can only navigate the labyrinth with the light of the sun,” said Mini. “How are we going to do that? The Sleeper already has the advantage because Kara is the daughter of the sun god.”
“You said you would help us,” pressed Aru. “If you can’t give us weapons, there has to be something.”
At this, the goat—which had been persistently trailing after Aiden and trying to nibble Shadowfax’s leather strap—bleated excitedly. Aru didn’t speak goat, but if she did, she’d bet it was saying something like Ooh! Show them the thing!
“There is,” said Agni. “Though it is known to do more harm than good….” The god of fire unclasped the bright necklace around his neck and held it out to the girls. “Only one thing can guide you through the labyrinth. This is one part of the Syamantaka Gem, but you might know it by its other name—the Sun Jewel.”
“This is perfect!” said Brynne, grabbing the necklace. “We’ll use it to get into the labyrinth and—”
“That piece alone will do nothing,” said Agni. “Only when it is whole can its light guide you.”
“Why isn’t it whole?” asked Mini.
Agni sighed. “The jewel has not always brought happiness. It caused strife amongst those who were so dazzled by its brightness that they could recognize no other light. To safeguard humanity from temptation, the jewel was chiseled into three pieces. One piece was given to me. Another went to Vasuki, great king of all the nagas. And the final piece is with Jambavan, king of the bears.”
The longer Aru stared at the Syamantaka Gem, the more she kept hearing the Lord of the Rings soundtrack echoing in her head. One ring to rule them all…
“What?” said Agni.
“What?” said Aru.
“You just said ‘And in the darkness bind them’?” said Agni, frowning.
“SO, ANYWAY…” said Brynne loudly. “All we have to do is reunite the three pieces and the jewel will work, right? And that way we’ll be able to get into the labyrinth and win back the gods’ favor?”
“That’s assuming we can find the pieces,” said Aiden.
Agni flicked his wrist. A small flame hovered above his palm. “Take this. It’ll act as your ticket. Merely say where you wish to be.”
Aiden braced himself as Agni poured the flame into his hands, but it didn’t seem to hurt. Aiden’s shoulders loosened. The flame crystallized into a ruby and he slipped the fire-red stone into the pocket of his hoodie. After that he gingerly swung his backpack to the front, unzipped it slowly, and peered inside. Aru rolled her eyes. Aiden was acting like his backpack was a treasure chest.
You’re not that great, thought Aru.
“Where does King Vasuki live?” asked Brynne.
“Where does he not live?” returned Agni. “He is the lord of all the naga folk. He is as much in their blood as he is in their land.”
Well, that’s helpful, thought Aru.
Aiden looked like he’d bitten down on a lemon peel. “Pretty sure I know who can help us find him.”