Aru Shah and the Soul Trident

We Are Resilient Weeds

A mass of energy, similar to the portals during their trials, swirled before Aru. Gulping, Aru took a step forward and raised her hand at the void. Heat radiated off of it and nearly scorched the unwanted body hair off her fingers.

"This is it, guys," she said, her voice no more than a whisper.

Brynne took a step closer to her and put a steady hand on her shoulder. "We're ready."

Mini nodded and sidled up beside her. Her brown eyes glinted in the darkness, revealing nothing but determination in them. "Let's do this."

Rudy made a whimpering sound but clutched his bow tightly and said, "Do we really have to?"

Aru glanced back at him and said, "I mean, you're welcome to stay, but who knows what else is in this cave?"

The naga prince swallowed nervously, his throat bobbing up and down. "Nevermind."

Aru felt a hand on her other shoulder, and turned to see Aiden.

"We'll get through this," he said, although rather than to her, it seemed like he was trying to convince himself. Aru squeezed his hand and said, "We will."

And she took the first step into hell.

Pathal-Loka was exactly how Aru had imagined it. After taking her first step into the portal, she was hit with a blast of hot air to her face. The smell of despair and death lingered in the atmosphere, and she wanted to hide her nose in her shirt.

It looked somewhat like a desert, without the sand. A red sun burned brightly against the amber-colored sky without rest, yet strangely enough, ominous, stormy gray clouds thundered. But it wasn't the same type of clap of thunder that usually soothed her. No, this one was frightening and unwelcoming.

Aru shuddered, but continued to study the rest of the land. Crimson and brown cliffs made up most of the terrain, and there were no plants whatsoever in the area, except for a sad couple of weeds.

Mini crouched down and touched the tip of the withered, brown leaf of said weed, and it crumbled beneath her fingers.

She watched it with round eyes as it turned to dust.

Her sister gulped, and shakily said, "We-we won't end up like that, right?"

Brynne scoffed. "We're not weeds, Mini. We're the freaking Potatoes."

"But weeds are resilient," said Aiden solemnly, clicking a picture of the dead plant.

"We're resilient weeds," Aru said, looking out into the distance in a way that she hoped was dramatic. The next second, her hair whipped into her face and she sputtered out strands of hair.

"God, Aru. We're not weeds, we're the Potatoes," argued Brynne, scowling.

"Weeds, Potatoes, whatever," interrupted Rudy. He wrinkled his nose and said, "Remember what Hanuman told us? We can only be in this realm for about fifteen minutes before we turn into spirits."

For once, Rudy said something sensible. "You're right," said Aru. She glanced at Aiden. "How long has it been?"

Aiden looked at his watch. "Two minutes."

"Okay, let's get going and find this monster," said Brynne grimly. "Before we turn into ghosts."

"And before the Sleeper does, if he hasn't already," added Rudy worriedly.

Aru bit her lip. She had completely forgotten about the Sleeper and Kara. Absent-mindedly, she twisted the SSS ring around her finger nervously. Would she be ready to face them? She wasn't sure herself.