Page 17 of Aru Shah and the End of Time

Mini’s silence was a very clearYUP.

“Better pajamas than skin,” said Boo. “Unless it’s the skin of a demon you slayed. That would be fitting for a hero.”

Wearing heavy, stinking demon skin?

“I’ll stick with polyester,” said Aru.

“Polly Esther? That poor child!” squawked Boo. For a pigeon, he looked thoroughly disturbed. “Middle school children are uncommonly cruel.”

Perhaps sensing that the conversation was moving from stupid to stupefying, Mini piped up. “Why are some of the thrones only half there?”

Aru peered closer at the circle of thrones. Some of them were partly transparent.

“Not every guardian of the Council is in residence at the same time,” Boo said. “What would be the point of that when the world isn’t in need of saving? No one believed the lamp would be lit for another ten or twenty years. They thought there was more time to prepare for the Sleeper. Until…someone.” He glared at Aru.

Aru blinked innocently.Who, me?

Beside her, Mini risked a look beneath her feet and started swaying. “I’m going to be sick,” she moaned.

“Oh, no you don’t!” said Boo. He hovered in front of her face and pecked her nose. “You two are not going to embarrass me in front of the Guardians. Spines straight! Wings preened! Beaks pointed!”

“What’s going to happen?” asked Aru.

She didn’t normally feel anxious about meeting people. But Urvashi and Hanuman weren’t just any people. They weren’t legends, either. They werereal.

“It is the duty of the Council to deliver a quest. The Sleeper is out there right now, searching for a way to get the celestial weapons and use them to wake up the Lord of Destruction. You must get the weapons first.”

“Byourselves?” asked Mini.

“You’ll have me,” said Boo primly.

“Great. Because nothing saysCome at me, demonlike a pigeon sidekick,” said Aru.

“Rude!” huffed Boo.

“It’s not so bad!” said Mini with false cheer. “Isn’t the Council meant to help us?”

At this, Aru heard a laugh that sounded like someone tickling a chandelier.

“And why should I want to help you?” asked a silvery voice.

Before, the space had smelled like a summer thunderstorm; now it smelled as if every flower in existence had been distilled into a perfume. It wasn’t pleasant. It wasoverwhelming.

Aru turned to see the most beautiful woman in the world sitting in the throne labeledURVASHI. She wore black leggings and a salwar kameez top that would have appeared as simple as white spun cotton if it didn’t glimmer like woven moonlight. Around her ankles was a set of brightgunghroobells. She was tall and dark-skinned and wore her hair in a messy side braid. She looked as if she’d just stepped out of dance rehearsal. Which, given the fact that she was the chief dancer of the heavens, was probably true.

“Thisis what you brought back to save us? I might as well set myself on fire and save the Lord of Destruction the trouble.”

It took a moment for Aru to realize that Urvashi wasn’t talking to her or Mini. She was talking to Boo.

To the left of the celestial dancer, a deep voice let out a powerful laugh.

“You really hold on to a grudge, don’t you? Hasn’t it been a millennium since he ruined your outfit?”

The monkey demigod Hanuman materialized in his throne. He was wearing a silk blazer and a shirt patterned with forest leaves. His tail flopped over the back of the chair, and from one of his ears dangled a jewel that looked like a small crown.

“It wasn’t just any outfit, you big ape,” snapped Urvashi. “It was made from the skipped heartbeats of every person who had ever laid eyes on me. It tookcenturiesto sew! Subala knew that!”

“He’s a bird—what did you expect?” said Hanuman.