There was a click, the door swung open, and one final flight of stairs loomed ahead of us.

We ran.

The door crashed shut, cutting us off from both serpent and stink.

“Arghafffargh,” Ashwini sputtered, smacking at herself as if that would knock away any last traces of the stink bomb.

I stepped off the stairs and let my breath out in a rush, pretty much ready to collapse on the thick cream-colored carpet of the open, airy hallway ahead.

We’d done it. I’d done it.

Once she’d recovered, Ashwini asked with foreboding, “What’s next?”

“This is the top floor,” I said, as my knees wobbled. “The gandaberunda is next.”

25

At the end of the hallway, right below the highest dome of the palace, we pushed open a window and stepped out onto a delicate balcony that circled the entire golden dome. I gulped, unwisely looked down, and saw just how far above the city we were. This was almost as bad as flying across the city in an Asura’s talons.

Thunder crashed above us and made me jump. In all the excitement of solving the labyrinth of the palace, I had forgotten about Mahishasura’s deadly storm. I grabbed hold of the balcony rail and held on for dear life. Ashwini laughed, giddy with delight that we’d actually made it up here. “We’re almost there,” she said. “We’re nearly free!”

I craned my neck all the way up and looked for the gandaberunda. It loomed above us on top of the ridged dome, a glorious golden statue at least twice my size. This version of the mythical eagle, which I had based on the one that’s still a part of the emblem of the real Mysore, had two heads, enormous folded wings, and three emerald eyes. The fourth eye was a golden jewel.

The statue must only have been about six feet above my head, but it seemed very far away. There were no stairs on the balcony, no ladder, no easy, convenient way to scale the rest of the dome.

I was going to have to climb.

And then the thunder abruptly stopped. The skies cleared. A pale-gold sunrise winked down at us.

This seemed like good news at first, but it wasn’t.

“Kiki,” Ashwini said, much too calmly. “Start climbing. Now.”

I turned just in time to see her draw her sword. My skin prickled. “They’re coming, aren’t they?”

“Don’t look,” said Ashwini. She shoved a sheathed knife into my hand so that I could use the blunt end to break the golden jewel. “Just get to that statue as quick as you can. I’ll hold them off.” Her jaw was set, her hair fluttering in the wind. She had never looked more heroic. “Go, Kiki!”

I don’t want to say goodbye, I wanted to tell her. Now that we’re here, it’s too soon. I want more time with you.

But there was no time to waste, and she’d done so much to get me here. I couldn’t fail her now.