Aru Shah and the City of Gold

The fourth book in the Pandava series follows Aru Shah, a fourteen-year-old demigod. Aru is one of five Pandavas, girls who carry the reincarnated souls of the heroic brothers from the ancient Indian epic the Mahabharata and wield celestial weapons granted by their divine soul fathers. She races to secure a powerful golden army before her father, the Sleeper, can invade the legendary city of Lanka.

Aru wakes chained to a rock in the Sleeper's underground lair, where she meets Kara, a girl her age who claims to be the Sleeper's other daughter. Kara has lived there for two years, her earlier memories erased, but she has recently uncovered the truth about her father's wars. She possesses a sunlight trident called Sunny and wears an enchanted ward that hides her from gods and demons. Kara offers to help Aru escape in exchange for being taken along, and together they flee through a hidden portal to the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture in Atlanta.

Aru reunites with her Pandava sisters: Brynne, a shapeshifter who wields a wind mace, and Mini, who wields a staff called the Death Danda. Their companion Aiden Acharya, a photographer with enchanted scimitars, is also present. Aru has been unconscious for nearly two months. Her mother, Krithika Shah, has left on an urgent research mission, and the Otherworld, the magical realm parallel to the human world, is in crisis. Lord Kubera, the god of wealth who rules Lanka, has shut down all portals and imprisoned the Pandavas' mentors, Hanuman and Urvashi. Kubera summons the Pandavas to complete three trials within three days; success grants them his Nairrata army of enchanted golden soldiers.

Aru reveals that Boo, the Pandavas' pigeon mentor and former sorcerer king, secretly betrayed them to the Sleeper at a magical Tree of Wishes, trading information for a wish to break his own curse. Aru herself made a wish on the tree but cannot remember it, due to a curse guaranteeing she would forget "in the moment when it matters most." Kara claims to know what weapon the Sleeper seeks but refuses to name it until the Pandavas commit to bringing her along. The group votes to accept Kara, who proves herself by defeating Brynne in a sparring match.

Using Kara's knowledge that "all gold roads lead to Lanka," they enter a hidden underground route through a gold mine in northern Georgia. At a junction guarded by golden mongoose statues, Mini identifies the lead sphere as the correct choice to open the path, but Kara insists the golden one is true. Aru sides against Kara out of loyalty to her sisters. The wrong choice triggers a trap, but they escape through teamwork, and Aru acknowledges Kara was right.

They emerge into a banyan forest and are captured by vanaras, the monkey-people of the ancient kingdom of Kishkinda. The giantess Queen Tara warns them against fighting in anger and explains that the ocean to Lanka is enchanted to reject anyone. When Brynne transforms into a bird to fly across, the ocean swats her from the sky. Inspired by a dream visit from the youngest Pandava twins, Aru realizes the ocean cannot distinguish its own reflection from itself. Mini expands her compact into a reflective disk, and they glide across unchallenged. Tara pledges her people's future aid.

In Lanka, they battle a hundred-foot-tall golden guardian and discover Kara cannot enter Kubera's palace because she is not a Pandava. Before parting, Kara names the weapon the Sleeper seeks: the astra, a surviving shard of the Brahmastra, an ancient divine superweapon capable of destroying all godly weapons. Inside, Kubera shows them a memory of Boo calling the Pandavas "nothing more than weak children." He challenges them to reach his throne in three steps, expecting failure. Aru uses Tara's gift to grow to giant size, Brynne becomes an elephant, and Mini leaps onto the armrest. They demand the army, the astra, and the return of Hanuman and Urvashi.

The first trial tests heart: Brynne must restore her friends' draining souls using an oversized spoon that cannot reach her own chest, sacrificing her strength for theirs. Afterward, Aru formally dubs Kara an honorary "Potato," the group's nickname. Between trials, a disguised sage tests whether the Pandavas can see past appearances; only Mini's compassion spares them from disqualification. The second trial tests restraint: A blue lotus spawns doppelgängers fueled by vengeance. Kara throws herself in front of Aru and falls unconscious, wounded by a blade made of revenge. Aru chooses to stop fighting and releases her anger; the doubles vanish. The third trial tests mercy: Rival sun goddesses Saranyu and Chhaya demand the Pandavas judge who is more beautiful. Aiden, the tiebreaker, declares that whichever goddess shows mercy by healing Kara and letting them leave would be the more beautiful. Both agree.

Passing through a hallway of secrets belonging to Surya, the sun god, Aru sees a vision of her desperate mother and reacts violently, accidentally cracking open a pillar of prophecies. A voice whispers to Aiden: "The girl you love will be the death of you." They are dropped into space but caught by Airavata, Lord Indra's cloud elephant, who carries them to Lanka.

At Kubera's throne room, now a golden pier on the ocean, Hanuman and Urvashi reappear. The Sleeper's army materializes, and gold rain falls, each droplet expanding into a Nairrata soldier. With enhanced powers, the Pandavas lead the golden army in battle. Boo flies out of the mist, frantically warning them. Aru, still furious, screams, "I wish you would just get out of our lives!" The platform explodes. Boo is killed; only a gray feather lands in Aru's palm. The Sleeper reveals the battle was a distraction while he advanced toward the nectar of immortality. Kubera transfers the army, gives them the astra, and presents an egg containing Boo's reborn soul. Aru realizes her angry wish inadvertently fulfilled Boo's curse, which required a wish to free him.

Eight months pass. On Aru's fifteenth birthday, she overhears Kara confess romantic feelings for Aiden, who gently declines. Aru then confesses her own feelings, and Aiden kisses her. An explosion follows. The Sleeper attacks, freezes everyone, and reveals Kara's true identity: She carries the reincarnated soul of Karna, the son of Surya and secret half brother of the original Pandavas, who fought them without knowing they were family. Krithika arrives, and Kara's ward confirms Krithika is her biological mother too. Krithika had given up Kara before meeting the Sleeper, intending to return, but the Sleeper later stole Kara from a loving adoptive family and erased her memories.

Devastated, Kara is manipulated by the Sleeper, who frames himself as the only parent who chose her. She embraces Aru, then removes the astra necklace. Because Aru specified that only a Pandava sister could take it, and Kara qualifies as Karna's reincarnation, the astra obeys. Kara activates it, and a shockwave destroys all the Pandavas' weapons: Brynne's mace dissolves, Mini's staff melts, and Vajra, Aru's lightning bolt, shoots into the storm clouds. The Sleeper departs with Kara, vowing to "break the world in half to make our family whole."

Krithika reveals the labyrinth hiding the nectar can only be navigated by light from the sun, and the Sleeper intends to use Kara's solar powers. Meanwhile, the Boo egg hatches into a tiny firebird carrying Boo's reborn soul. Aru finds a coin from Agni, god of fire, who once promised weapons when she needed them. Despite losing their celestial weapons, Aru rallies the Potatoes for a final mission: find Agni, obtain new weapons, and reach the nectar of immortality before the Sleeper and Kara. They have ten days. The story continues in the fifth and final book.