Ella rests a hand on Crayton’s arm. A small smile breaks across Ella’s face and she seems to transform from a scared kid into a Garde prepared to fight. ‘It’s okay. I can do this.’

Six comes to my side. We’re both ready to fight if Ella needs us. The creature moves towards her; she slides my glasses back onto her face. Then, it attacks.

The creature swings all ten arms at Ella, but she ducks and avoids each one. It’s as if Ella sees every punch before it happens. The tree behind her ends up taking the beating. Large chunks of wood fly around her, hitting the creature’s face, bouncing off its chest. Not running away but not fighting back either, Ella circles the tree trunk, continuing to dodge the ten fists. The tree is getting pummeled.

Suddenly, Ella screams. ‘Oh no! What have I done?’

Before I can figure out what Ella means, there’s a loud crack and the heavy tree trunk tips forward. It’s about to crush the creature when the figure disappears just like all the others. As the tree continues its fall to the ground, a branch swipes the dark glasses off Ella’s face and they are crushed by a huge tree branch. ‘Marina, I’m so sorry! I knew the glasses were going to be broken, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it.’

Crayton, Six, and I run over to Ella, who’s staring in horror at the fragments of the glasses by her feet. ‘Ella! Don’t worry about the glasses. You held your own and that thing disappeared. What’s important is that you’re okay. I’m so proud of you,’ I tell her.

‘Ella, that was amazing!’ says Six.

‘Congratulations,’ the commander says, still sitting calmly, Buddha-like. ‘You have just defeated three of Vishnu’s avatars. You’ve passed his test. The first was Kurma, a half man, half tortoise who churned the ancient ocean so that other peaceful gods could regain immortality. The man with the axe was Parashurama, the first warrior saint. The last was one of the most powerful incarnations of Vishnu, the man-lion, Narismha. Now, we await Vishnu’s arrival.’

‘We’re done waiting,’ says Crayton, turning to the commander, jaw set and fists clenched by his side. ‘He better show himself and fast.’

‘Chill, chill, chill,’ a boy’s voice says, emerging from the high grass behind me. ‘The commander was just following my orders. I was being cautious.’

From the grass we now see the statue of Vishnu step towards us, alive and smiling.

‘I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you.’

10.

10.