“The first person to bring the other to their knees is the winner,” I said. “If I beat you, you go back to the Nowhere Place. If you beat me, I’ll send the gandaberunda back to the top of Mysore Palace and break its golden eye.”

“How do I know you’ll keep your word?”

“How do I know you’ll keep yours?”

I could see him mulling this over, those teeth clenched. Then a huge bison demon rumbled from behind him, “The girl cannot possibly beat you in a fight, my king. She is every bit as foolish and conceited as every other human, so why not use this chance to teach her a lesson?”

The Asuras stirred, obviously very keen on the idea of teaching a silly little girl a lesson. Mahishasura’s pride couldn’t resist it.

“Very well,” he growled. “I accept your terms.”

I nodded. My hands were sticky with cold sweat, but I gripped the sword tightly and took another step forward, then another, until there were only a few feet between the demon king and me. He didn’t pick up a weapon of his own. I guess he didn’t need one. His claws and teeth were all he needed to tear me down.

“You may strike first,” he said generously. Behind him, his hordes snickered.

So I struck first. I heaved my sword up and swung it uselessly in his direction. He batted the blade away with the back of his gauntlet. Laughter snorted out of his nose and he didn’t bother to strike back. When he’d cornered the Good Witch, Pip, and me inside Lalith Mahal the other day, blocking our escape, he’d told us that he had fun watching us scurry around his fortress like frightened mice, so it came as no surprise to me that he didn’t try to finish our battle quickly. It was more amusing for him to watch me humiliate myself.

He let me strike, over and over and over—futile, pathetic jabs with a sword I could barely lift off the ground. After all, I was not a natural warrior. I was, in fact, an absolutely terrible warrior.

“Is this supposed to be our evening entertainment?” Mahishasura taunted me while the horde of Asuras howled with laughter. “You cannot even hold that sword properly! And you think you can win?”

I wanted to tell him that yes, I did think I could win, and I was in fact going to win, but the words died in my throat. What if this didn’t work? What if I had made a big mistake? Was it too late to back out? If I stuck to this plan and I failed, I would cost everyone everything.

Stop it, a voice in my head said. It sounded a lot like Ashwini. You’re obsessing again. And that’s okay, but you need to see it for what it is.

I could do this. The terrible thoughts were inside my head, not out here. Maybe they would always be there, but I could see them for what they really were now.