an entire forest. Wind swirled around us like deep bellows. A giant suction of air followed by a strong wind disturbed the short grass and caused prickly goose bumps to rise on my arms.
Kishan looked up and froze. “Don’t move, Kelsey.”
The air began moving harder, like the bellows were pumping faster.
I hissed, “What is it, Kishan?”
A rustling noise stirred behind me. It sounded like someone was dragging a heavy bag through a pile of leaves. Twigs cracked, leaves shuddered, and branches groaned. I heard a deep, sibilant voice.
“Why isss ittt you are comminngg to my foressssttt?”
I slowly turned and looked into a giant, unblinking, horned eye. “Are you the guardian of the world tree?”
“Yessssss. Why are you presssssenttt?”
I looked up and up and up. Now I knew what I’d been looking at before. The giant snake was coiled around the tree, and the six-foot segments were the snake’s body. It was perfectly camouflaged. In fact, as I watched, its body shifted color to match its environment like a chameleon. Its head was as big as Ren’s Hummer, and there was no way to know just how long its body was. Kishan stepped up beside me to take my hand. I noticed he held the chakram loosely in his other hand.
“We’re here to claim the airy prize that rests at the top of the tree,” I declared.
“Why sssshould I let you passssssss? Why do you neeeeddd the Divine Ssssscarffff?”
“The airy prize is a scarf?”
“Yessssssssss.”
“Huh. Well, we need it because it will help break the curse placed on two princes of India, and it will also help to save the people of their country.”
“Who areee thesssseeee princccccccesss?”
“This is Kishan. His brother Ren has been kidnapped.”
The giant snake flicked its tongue out toward Kishan several times, who withstood the inspection bravely. I would’ve run in the other direction.
“I know not thesssssseee brothersssssss. You may notttt passsssssssss.”
The huge head began to turn as heavy coils slid over the ground. I felt a similar movement on my arm and shouted, “Wait!”
The snake turned back toward me and lowered its head to see me better. Fanindra stretched out her coils and slid around the back of my neck. She raised her head toward the giant eye and flicked out her tongue several times.
“Whooo isssss sssssheeee?”
“Her name is Fanindra. She belongs to the goddess Durga.”
“Durgaaaaa. I have heard of this godddeessssssss. Thissss ssssnakeee is herssss?”
“Yes. Fanindra is here to help us on our quest. The goddess Durga sent us and gave us weapons.”
“I sssssseeeeeeeee.”
The guardian peered at Fanindra for a long moment as if pondering our fate. The snakes seemed to be communicating silently with each other.
“Youuu may crossssss. I sssseennsssse your purposssssse is not malicccioussssss. Perhapsssssss you will be succccessssssful. Perhapssssss it issss your dessssstiny. Who knowssssssss? You will passsss through four houssssseeesssss. The houssssse of birdsssssss. The housssse of gourdssssss. The housssse of sssssirenssssssss. And the houssssse of battsssssss. Beee cautioussssssss. To move on, you musssst make the besssstt of choiccccessssssss.”
Kishan and I bowed. “Thank you, Guardian.”
“Bessssst wisssssheesssss.”
The large snake swung its heavy body, and the great tree rumbled. The coils wrapped around the trunk moved, separating to reveal a secret passage into the trunk and a hidden stairway. Fanindra wound her body around my upper arm and settled into her dormant state.
Kishan pulled me into the passage. I had enough time to recognize the floor was covered with sawdust, when the snake moved. Its body dropped over the passage, sealing us into the black root of the giant world tree.
20
The Tests of the Four Houses
Fanindra’s emerald eyes began to glow and provided enough light that Kishan could retrieve our flashlight. Five feet beyond us was another tree trunk that appeared as solid as the one outside—a trunk within a trunk. Between the two trunks was a spiral stairway. He took my hand again before we started our climb. The stairs were wide enough that we could walk side by side and deep enough that we could stop and rest or even sleep if we needed to.
We ascended at a slow pace and rested frequently. It was hard to tell how high we’d climbed. After several hours, we came upon a door of sorts. It was yellow-orange and bumpy. A rough, woody stem was at the exact place where a knob should have been. I strung my bow and nocked an arrow while Kishan readied his chakram. He stood to the side, took the handle, and pushed the door slowly inward while I slid in