Page 36 of Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

Another nodded sagely. “You mean,whyis France?”

“OFF WITH HER HEAD!” screamed a fourth.

BRYNNE, THERE IS AN ACTUAL GUILLOTINE HERE! HOW MUCH LONGER—?

Gimme…just…one…more…minute….

The bigger guard shoved Aru toward the machine. Aru tried to shake the magical bindings off her wrists, but they only tightened.Vajra! Vajra, wake up!she thought. Her lightning-bolt ball seemed to get smaller, like a cat curling up for a nap. Something about the enchanted ropes was keeping its magic at bay.

Up close, the guillotine stood fifteen feet high. Tiny crabs scuttled up and down the wooden frame, and the whole thing leaned a little to the left. The blade, rusted by seawater and dinged up in places, still looked sharp.

“Any last words, human?” asked the judge.

Stall, Shah! And do NOT say “Let them eat cake!”

“Uh, don’t eat cake?”

The judge frowned. Even the lawyer looked confused. Just then, Aru felt a release of pressure around her wrists. She glanced down and watched as her bindings slowly undid themselves. Some five feet away, Aru caught the faintest sparkle of violet. She grinned.

Don’t worry, Aru…came Mini’s gentle voice.We’re here! Had to get away from that net before our powers could work, but I’ve got the invisibility shield up and running.Waiting for your signal.

“Strange choice of last words, human, but oh well!” said the lawyer.

Aru felt the last of her bindings slip off.

“Oh, right, I forgot one more thing,” said Aru. She snapped her fingers, and Vajra shot ten feet up in the air before landing in Aru’s hands as a ginormous agitated lightning bolt. Aru grinned. “I’m notallhuman.”

NOW!

Mini threw off her invisible shield.

A gasp ran through the crowd of vanaras around them. For a second, it was like the whole amphitheater was holding its breath. Aru spun around, trying to find a clear exit, when a chorus of shrieks lit up the air….

The vanaras charged.

Aru spun Vajra. The vanaras howled, tumbling backward. Aru had barely had a moment to grin when something pelted her. Fruit pulp exploded across the podium. A massive shape sailed toward her. Aiden’s scimitars cut through the air, slicing an incoming basket of bananas clean out of the sky. Mangoes and giant papayas hurtled their way. Mini sprang forward, casting out a shield, and the fruit splatted across it.

“What a waste of antioxidants,” mourned Mini.

“I think I’ve found an exit!” said Brynne, pointing toward a break in the walls of the amphitheater.

Aru nodded. Now they just had to get there.

“All right, Potatoes,” said Aru, “time to make like a banana and—”

Aiden’s face darkened. “Aru, don’t you dare—”

“SPLIT!” cackled Aru.

Everyone looked horrified except Kara, who let out a giggle. Mini turned off the shield when it seemed the last of the fruit had rained down on them. A knot of vanaras hopped forward, baring their teeth and raising sticks with dangerously sharp ends. In a flash of blue light, Brynne transformed into a giant baboon. She growled, curling her lips to reveal long, stained fangs.

The vanaras dropped their sticks.

Aru, Aiden, and Kara jumped off the podium and raced toward the break in the wall, Brynne and Mini close behind. The vanaras must have anticipated where they were going, because they leaped ahead and tried to surround them.

Aru transformed Vajra into a lightning net, spinning it out to catch a ball of vanaras, when a huge shadow fell over the amphitheater. She looked up to see a bare foot the size of a dining table slam into the middle of the space, nearly smashing the judge’s podium. Aru tumbled backward, and Mini sprang in front of her and everyone else, preparing to cast a protective shield over them.

“Run!” Aru called as the giant’s shadow loomed larger.