Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava Quartet #3) - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,65

they were searching for the wish-granting tree.

Garuda regarded them. Then his gaze slid to the raven.

“You want an explanation, little demigod?” demanded the raven. “Observe.”

The raven cawed three times, and the birds dove from the trees, all of them converging and flying in a circle around the accused. In the middle of the vortex they created, images appeared in the air. Aru saw a younger Garuda covered in writhing snakes as he walked down a huge white hallway in what looked like a palace. There was a look of anguish on his face as the snakes twined around him and flicked his ear with their tongues. Garuda glanced behind himself, and the view shifted to show two older women standing at the entrance of a large door. Their similar eyes and chins told Aru they were related.

One of them, draped in a sari made of glimmering scales, smiled slyly at Garuda. “Go on, then,” she said. “Take your cousins out to play, and do not let any harm befall them.”

“Please, sister, let my son rest,” said the other woman. “You have no quarrel with him.” She wore a simple outfit of spun cotton, and her hair was pulled back. Her face was sad and gaunt, whereas her sister’s was round and shining.

“You are the one who lost the bet, Vinata,” said the fancier woman. “How is it my fault that you agreed to be my servant? I can command you to do anything I please. I may not be able to control your son, but he will listen to you. And right now, my sweet children desire fresh air. I do not wish their poor, soft bellies to be torn up by the ground, so Garuda will carry them.”

“When Kashyapa returns, he will be displeased at how you’ve come to treat me, Kadru,” said Vinata.

Aru recognized the name Kashyapa. He was a powerful sage.

“When our husband returns. He’ll be meditating for a thousand more years, I imagine!” scoffed Kadru. “Which means I can enjoy a thousand more years of your servitude. Leave us, Garuda. My hair needs to be braided, and if your mother is distracted, she’ll do it sloppily.”

Garuda looked at both women with barely restrained rage. His mother merely nodded.

The image in front of Aru faded as the birds broke out of their circle and hovered in the air.

“Our king spent years in the service of his aunt, the mother of all snakes,” declared the raven. “It was only through hard work and nobility that he managed to free both himself and Vinata. And that is why birds and snakes do not trust one another to this day.”

Aru had no idea there was a mother of snakes…. Now she kind of wondered whether the whole “mother of dragons” thing from Game of Thrones was actually real, but it didn’t seem the right time to ask.

“The naga boy before you is a direct descendant of Kadru and her slimy spawn!” said the raven. “He’s the grandson of the naga king Takshaka, after all!”

“Yeah, well, he and I are not on great terms, trust me,” said Rudy.

“Trust you?” the raven squawked. “I think not.”

“But—” started Rudy.

With a flash, a ring of magical torches instantly illuminated the night sky. Aru blinked against the sudden light while the birds flapped in place before them. She glimpsed thousands of shining black eyes and sharp beaks and had the uncomfortable realization that they looked a lot like missiles.

Garuda raised his arm, then brought it down. As one, they struck.

Surprise Ostrich!

“Incoming!” hollered Brynne.

The girls moved immediately into defense mode.

Aru cast Vajra, and the lightning bolt transformed into a net. A swath of birds was caught in mid-flight. They squawked as they dropped to the forest floor, squirming beneath the mesh.

“Knock ’em out,” Aru commanded Vajra.

With one pulse of the lightning net, the birds fell unconscious. Vajra zipped back to Aru’s side, electrifying Aiden’s scimitars on its way.

Brynne tossed her mace between her hands, looking hungrily at the birds. “Braised, roasted, shredded…I like fowl,” she said.

At that, some of the birds veered away, swooping close enough that Aru felt a breeze on her face.

Aiden leaped in front of Brynne, swirling his scimitars to amplify her wind vortex. It blew through the birds and they cartwheeled away, cawing angrily.

“Adrishya,” said Mini.

Violet light swept up the Pandavas, Aiden, and Rudy, instantly rendering them invisible.

They ducked, weaved, and sidestepped to avoid attack, and the birds whooped and cawed in frustration.

“Now!” said Brynne.

Aru, Brynne, and Aiden channeled everything they could