Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava Quartet #3) - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,66

at the flock—concentrated tornadoes, winnowing electrified blades, and bolts of lightning. When a large percentage of the birds had fallen away, Mini replaced the veil of invisibility with a violet shield. The birds that had somehow managed to slip through the cracks were rewarded with a powerful conk to the head when they hit the force field.

The Pandavas regrouped, quickly catching their breath. Aru glanced over at Rudy to see that he was kneeling on the ground, rummaging around in his messenger bag.

“Rudy, what are you doing?” demanded Aiden. “Go hide!”

“No,” he said. The wooden eagle lay before him on the grass. He pulled out glowing stones with a glimmering mesh overlay—something that looked like the heart of the moon, and a chunk of quartz that wriggled as if it were alive. “Garuda thinks it’s broken, but I can fix it.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” asked Aiden.

“Of course not!” said Rudy cheerfully.

“Then why—?”

“Because I’m the only chance you’ve got.”

Aiden spun as a furious albatross dove toward him, nearly taking out his eye with its vast wings. Mini’s force fields were getting better with practice, but they could still just barely cover the five of them. A flock of sparrows dove repeatedly at the violet shield until small cracks appeared in it, like ice breaking on a puddle. At one point, a horde of parakeets flew at Brynne, spurring her to leap into the air and shape-shift into a huge blue bird with skinny legs, and squawk, “SURPRISE OSTRICH!”

The parakeets screamed as Ostrich-Brynne kicked them out of the air and plopped back to the ground.

“Surprise ostrich?!” yelled Aru. “That’s the best, most random thing you’ve ever—” She dove behind Mini’s shield as a flock of hummingbirds with needle-sharp beaks zigzagged toward her.

While Aru was on the ground trying to get her bearings, she noticed that only one figure remained silent and still in all the chaos:

Garuda.

He never moved, never flinched, and never took his eyes off the Pandavas. She bet that even when they were invisible, the king of the birds could see them just fine. The fact that he refused to fight sent a chill through Aru.

He didn’t fight because he didn’t need to.

Garuda was invincible…and he was biding his time until he was needed to close the deal. Which meant Rudy had to fix that broken eagle, stat. Aru didn’t think Garuda was the type to make small talk. Or, actually, any kind of talk.

Aru looked over at the naga, who was nodding and…humming along with the jewels.

“This isn’t rearrange-your-playlist time, Rudy!” shouted Aru. “Can’t you go any faster?”

Gogo had just blown away another group of birds, but the sky buzzed with new attackers.

Rudy sat with his knees pulled to his chest while the mechanical eagle perched on his shoulder and croaked its hoarse tune into his ear. He closed his eyes as he worked, rearranging jewels by touch until he’d shaped what looked like a lopsided star. “Just a little more time!” he said. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”

He shoved a sapphire into place, then set the eagle in the middle of the jewels. A wild look of joy spread across his face. “There! Listen! Don’t you hear it?”

Aru tilted her head, expecting something grand. But she didn’t hear anything except the powerful beat of wings just outside Mini’s force field.

She stood up. This is it, thought Aru. A parakeet is going to be the death of me.

“I hear it…” said Mini, a look of awe blooming across her face. She lowered her hand for an instant, and the violet shield flickered out.

“Watch out, Shah!” yelled Aiden.

Holding up a sparking Vajra just in time, Aru repelled a flock of cackling chickadees. At the same instant, she heard something, too. It was a sound that made the whole world seem like poured honey—slow and thick and golden. She glanced at Brynne and Aiden as they spun in perfect tandem. Pollen from the springtime trees dusted them like stars. Even the chickadees didn’t look so awful now.

The eagle was singing a new song. It made Aru think of the slow shift of something vast and celestial, like the rotation of a planet, or the sound constellations made when they settled into the sky at night.

All at once, the birds stopped attacking.

Mini’s force field vanished. Brynne and Aiden lowered their weapons, and Vajra snapped back into a bracelet on Aru’s wrist. A shadow fell over them, and Aru looked up just in time to see Garuda hovering above