The Rise of Nine

13

I lie awake for hours, sitting and watching the fire outside the hut. Inside, Ella sleeps on the hammock; Six and Crayton snore under blankets on the floor. After a while, the fire goes from a raging and crackling blaze to glowing embers. I watch the smoke waft through the air, drifting to hang around beneath the canopy of trees. Eventually, the fire dies out entirely.

I just can’t sleep. For so many years, I was alone with my envy and anger, trapped in that orphanage. Now, finally, I can let it go. Now I believe there’s nothing we can’t do with all of us together. So I don’t know why I still feel this pit in my stomach whenever I get a moment to think. I know what the pit is, too; I feel lonely. But I’m not alone, I keep telling myself.

I look over at Eight, sleeping as close as he can to the fire for warmth. In the early morning light, all curled up, he looks small. He sleeps restlessly, under a thin blanket of twisted vines. I watch him toss and turn, running his hands through his already messy hair. I stoke the coals to create as much heat as possible and the crackle is enough to make him stir. I don’t know why, but I feel protective of him. At the same time, I think about his muscular arms and I want him to protect me. Must be something about opposites attracting. He is playful and I am, well, not.

Crayton’s forehead is creased with worry when he finally gets up and wakes the others. We all try to shake off the sleep cobwebs as quickly as possible. I know Crayton is wondering how he’s going to get us all on a plane.

My thoughts turn to Eight’s vision of Setrákus. He poses the greatest threat of all, even more than a bunch of well-armed Mogs. I know Crayton doesn’t think we’re ready to face Setrákus. We haven’t developed our Legacies, we haven’t had a chance to learn how to fight together, and we must find Four, Five and Nine before we face a threat like Setrákus Ra. When I said as much last night, Eight shook his head, frustrated by all the skepticism. ‘I know we could take him, together,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen him in my dreams and felt his power. I know what he’s capable of; but I also know what we are capable of, and it is far greater than anything he could ever be. I believe in us. But it won’t happen if we aren’t all convinced.’

‘I agree, we do need to bring down Setrákus Ra. But first we need to find the others. The chances of beating him are far better if you are all together, Crayton had argued. I could hear the worry in his words.

Eight stood firm, clearly believing we’re enough to take him. ‘My dreams have guided me to you all. And they tell me we can do this; we can’t run away, even if it is to find the others.’

Now Eight stands and stretches, revealing a bit of his stomach as his shirt lifts. He leans down and picks up a walking stick and twirls it in his hands. I can’t take my eyes off him. It’s such a new and unusual feeling for me and makes me feel shy and excited at the same time. ‘So where do you want to go?’ he asks, looking around at all of us.

‘East coast, United States,’ Six says. She kicks the bottom of his walking stick as it swings by and it flips up and into her hand. These two are quite the comedy duo. Six throws the stick back to him and he makes a big show of diving and missing it on purpose. Their play looks a lot like flirting. I have to admit, it makes me jealous. Even if I wanted to, I could never be this way with Eight, with anyone. This is just how Six is, easy. No wonder they’re having so much fun.

‘Okay, if that’s where you want to go, we have a couple options. A plane? Do we have enough money to buy tickets for all of us?’

Crayton pats his shirt pocket, nodding. ‘That shouldn’t be a problem.’

‘Great. We head back to New Delhi, buy some tickets, and we can be in the United States in a day or so. Or, we could be in the state of New Mexico in just a few short hours.’

‘We can’t all teleport,’ Six points out, drawing in the dirt with her toe.

‘Maybe we can,’ Eight says, a sly smile on his face. Six has drawn a circle and Eight reaches his foot over to add two eyes, a nose and a big smiley face. They grin at each other. ‘We just need to take a short walk, then it’s a simple matter of a giant leap of faith.’ He is clearly enjoying keeping us in the dark; I see the others nodding at him, so caught up in his confidence they forget to ask for any details. I don’t want to be the one to point out we have no idea what he has in mind.

‘Sounds a lot faster than a plane,’ Ella says. ‘And a whole lot cooler.’

‘You’ve got my attention,’ Crayton says, hefting my Chest up onto his shoulder. ‘You need to show us what you’re talking about, the quicker, the better. If Setrákus Ra is already here on Earth, we’ve got to move fast.’

Eight holds up a finger, telling Crayton to be patient. Then, he pulls off his shirt and pants. Wow. ‘Not before my morning swim,’ he says.

Eight sprints to the edge of the cliff where the waterfall drops off. Without pausing, he dives with his hands out at the side. Like a bird, he seems to float, riding the waves of air. I rush to the edge of the cliff and look over the side, just in time to see him change shape and enter the water as a red swordfish, and then surface as himself. I suddenly get the urge to jump in too, and I follow him.

The water is startlingly cool when I dive in, but when I come up for air I can feel my face is flushed. What is going on with me? I’m not usually this impulsive.

‘Nice dive,’ Eight says, swimming over and treading water close to me. He shakes his head and his black, glistening curls whip around his head. ‘So, do you prefer being called Marina or Seven?’

‘I don’t care. Whatever,’ I say, feeling shy.

‘I like Marina,’ he says, speaking decisively for both of us. ‘Is this your first time in India, Marina?’

‘Yes. I was in Spain for a long time. In an orphanage.’

‘An orphanage, huh? At least you had lots of kids around you; you could make friends. Not like me.’

I can see how lonely he’s been. I decide not to correct him and tell him how all the other girls hated me and I had no friends until Ella showed up. I just shrug. ‘I guess. I’m happier now.’

‘You know what? I like you, Marina,’ he says. It sounds like he is rolling my name around in his mouth, savoring it. ‘You’re quiet, but cool. You remind me of –’

Suddenly, there’s a huge splash right between Eight and me. The waves rock us away from each other and I watch Six emerge, her wet blond hair falling perfectly down her back. She doesn’t say a word then dives back under the water, pulling Eight with her. I dive too, and watch them wrestle underwater until Eight, laughing, begs for mercy and Six lets him go.

‘Damn, you’re strong,’ he says as he breaks the surface, coughing.

‘And don’t you forget it,’ she says, grinning. ‘Now, can we please get out of here?’

The sight of Six and Eight all tangled up makes me jealous, but this is not the time for it. I duck my head under water to give myself a minute to pull myself together. I let the water enter my lungs and I sink and sink, until my toes touch the muddy and rocky floor. I sit down in the mush and try to collect my thoughts. I’m angry at myself for feeling so vulnerable. This is a crush! Nothing more. And do I really care if Eight prefers Six’s perfect, blond hair to my mop? I mean, she isn’t a threat to me. We have to work as a team, trust each other. I don’t want to be angry with Six, especially after everything she has done for me. For a minute I pace around the bottom, hoping to come up with something witty to say when I surface. I can do this.

I realize I’m directly under the spot where the waterfall enters the pool, where the water is clear and sparkling. The glint off something catches my eye. It’s a long silver object stuck in the muddy floor.

I go to take a closer look. It’s maybe fifteen feet long and, when I circle it, I’m stunned to realize it’s some sort of cockpit behind a long windshield. That’s when I see a Chest, just sitting there on the seat inside. I can’t believe it – is it possible that this is the silver ship that Eight saw fly away the day that the Mogs attacked, the day that his Cêpan was killed? I hear a muffled cry and realize it’s mine. I grab a handle on the fuselage, and pull. It doesn’t budge. The pressure at the bottom of the lake is so strong, but I keep pulling and soon the cockpit door swings open. A rush of water mixes with water that was trapped inside. The Chest is slimy when I grab it and race for the surface.

The first thing I see is Six and Eight, sitting in the grass and talking. Ella is twirling Eight’s walking stick over her head, then out in front of her. Crayton is watching Ella, his chin cupped in his hands. Ella sees me coming out of the water and spikes the stick into the grass.

‘Marina!’ she calls.

‘Hey, there you are! Where’d you go?’ Eight yells, coming over to the edge.

‘Come on out, Marina,’ Six calls. ‘We really have to boogie now!’

I lift the Chest up and out of the water, holding it aloft so they can all see it. I don’t even care the most revolting, mucky water is pouring off it and onto my head. I’m grinning so wide, my face hurts. I love the looks on their faces, mouths agape and eyes wide. I’m enjoying it so much I use my telekinesis to float the Chest over to Eight and Six and leave it there, in midair.

‘Look what I found, Eight!’

Eight disappears from the grass and reappears up in the air next to the Chest. He wraps his arms around it and hugs it. Slime and all. Then he teleports back to the edge of the lake, the Chest still in his hands. ‘I can’t believe it,’ Eight finally says. ‘All this time, it was right here.’ He looks stunned.

‘It was inside a Mog ship at the bottom of the lake,’ I say, walking out of the water.

Eight disappears again and teleports directly in front of me, our noses practically touching. Before I can register how nice his warm breath feels on my face, he picks me up and kisses me hard on the mouth as he twirls me around. My body stiffens and I suddenly have no idea what to do with my hands. I don’t know what to do at all, so I just let it happen. He tastes salty and sweet at the same time. The whole world disappears and I feel as if I’m floating in darkness.

When he sets me down, I pull back and look into his eyes. One glance and I know this huge, romantic moment was a spontaneous and grateful gesture for him. No more, no less. I’m an idiot. I really need to let this crush go.

‘I never swim over here. From the start, I always dived off on the other side there,’ Eight says. ‘Stuck in the same area.’ He shakes his head. ‘Thank you, Marina.’

‘Um, you’re welcome,’ I whisper, still dazed by the first part of his thank-you.

‘Now that you’ve hugged it hello, don’t you want to open it?’ Crayton asks. ‘Come on, already!’

‘Oh! Right, of course!’ Eight yells, and he teleports back to the Chest.

Six walks towards me. ‘Marina! That was so awesome!’ She hugs me, then pulls away to shake me by the shoulders, smiling at me meaningfully. In a low voice, she whispers, ‘And am I seeing things, or did you just get kissed?’

‘Kind of weird, right?’ I whisper, watching her for any signs of jealousy. ‘But I don’t think it means anything.’

‘Not weird at all. I think it’s kind of great,’ she says, clearly thrilled for me, like a friend, or a sister. I’m ashamed of myself, for feeling jealous of her earlier. We both look over at Eight as Ella begins to make a drumroll noise to announce the Chest’s opening.

Eight has his palms on the lock. Almost immediately, it shakes and the Chest falls open. He quickly dives in elbow-deep, trying to touch everything all at once. He’s like a kid in a toy chest; he’s so excited. We all crowd around and watch. I can see some of the stones look like mine, but other items are completely different. There’s a glass ring, a curved antler, a black piece of cloth that shimmers blue and red when Eight touches it. He grabs a thin piece of gold the length of a pencil and holds it up. ‘Ahh, good to see you again.’

‘What is that?’ Six asks.

‘I don’t know its real name, but I call it “the Duplicator.” ’ Eight holds it above his head, like a wand. Then he snaps his wrist and it expands out, and down, like a scroll. Soon, it’s the size of a doorframe. He lets go and the frame hovers in front of him. Eight steps behind and we can see the occasional pair of hands and feet when he starts doing jumping jacks.

‘Okay,’ Six says. ‘That is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.’

Eight teleports to her side and stands there, head cocked to the side as he scratches his chin, like he’s judging a show. Our heads snap back to the golden doorframe. The hands and feet are continuing their steady pace. Wait. There are two of him now! The one standing next to Six claps, opens his palm, and the piece of gold contracts and zips back into his hand. Immediately, the second Eight disappears.

‘Impressive,’ Crayton says, clapping his hands slowly and loudly. ‘That will come in very handy sometime soon. At the very least, you will make an excellent distraction.’

‘I used it to sneak out of our house a few times,’ Eight admits. ‘Reynolds never figured out what I could do. Even before he died, I was always trying to figure out how to do the most with my Legacies.’

Crayton throws Eight’s clothes to him, and picks up my Chest. ‘Now, we really need to get going.’

‘Aw, come on,’ Eight says, pulling on his pants. As he hops about, he bats his eyes at Crayton and says in a wheedling voice, ‘I just got my Chest back. Can’t I get reacquainted with it? I’ve missed it so much.’

‘Later,’ Crayton says curtly. When he turns towards us, though, I can see he is smiling.

Eight drops the piece of gold inside the Chest and pulls out a green crystal, stuffing it into his pocket. He closes the Chest and picks it up with a dramatic sigh. In his most pathetic voice he says, ‘Oh, all right. Our reunion will just have to wait. Follow me, everybody.’

‘How often has Setrákus visited you in your dreams?’ Crayton asks. We’ve been walking more than five hours and we’re making slow progress up the mountain. Eight is leading us up a winding path that is more ledge than road. There’s a thin blanket of snow everywhere, and the wind is brutally strong. We’re all freezing, but Six protects us with her Legacy, pushing the wind and snow out of our way. Weather control is one of the more useful Legacies, that’s for sure.

‘He’s been talking to me for a while now, trying to trick me and get me to lose my temper,’ Eight says. ‘But now that he’s on Earth, it’s a lot more frequent. He taunts me, lies, and now he’s trying to get me to sacrifice myself so that you can all go back to Lorien. He’s been getting to me more than usual lately.’

‘What does that mean, exactly? “Getting to you”?’ Crayton asks.

‘Last night in a vision he showed me my friend Devdan hanging from chains. I don’t know if it’s a vision of something that’s actually happening or just a trick, but it’s really messing with my head.’

‘Four sees him, too,’ Six chimes in.

Eight spins around with a surprised look on his face and walks backwards, his mind clearly putting the pieces together. His foot comes dangerously close to slipping off the ledge, making me gasp and reach out nervously. But he never wavers as he continues. ‘You know, I think I saw him last night. I forgot about it until now. He has blond hair? Tall guy?’

‘And better looking than you? Yup, that’s him,’ Six says with a smile.

Eight stops backpedalling and looks thoughtful. The drop off to our left is almost two thousand feet. ‘You know, I always assumed it was me, but guess I was wrong,’ he says thoughtfully.

‘Assumed you were what?’ I ask, willing him away from the edge.

‘Pittacus Lore.’

‘Why would you think that?’ Crayton asks.

‘Because Reynolds told me that Pittacus and Setrákus were always able to communicate with each other. But now that I know Four can, too, I’m confused.’

Eight starts walking forwards again when Ella asks, ‘How can anyone be Pittacus?’

‘Each of us is supposed to take on the roles of the original ten Elders, so I guess that means one of us will take on Pittacus’s role,’ Six explains. ‘Four’s Cêpan told him so, in a letter. I read it myself. Eventually, we’re supposed to become even stronger than them. That’s why the Mogs are moving so quickly now, before we become more dangerous, better able to protect ourselves and attack them.’ She looks over at Crayton, who is nodding as she speaks.

I feel like I’m the only one who knows so little – nothing, really – of my history. Adelina refused to tell me anything, to answer a single one of my questions, or even hint at what I would one day be capable of. Now, I’m so far behind everyone else. The only Elder I even know of is Pittacus, never mind knowing which one I might become. I just have to believe I’ll figure out who I am when the time is right. Sometimes, I get sad when I think about everything I wish I already knew and when I think about what my childhood should have been. But there’s no time for me to mourn what can’t be changed.

Ella comes to walk with me, brushing her hand against mine. ‘You look sad. You okay?’

I smile at her. ‘I’m not sad. But I am mad at myself. I’ve always blamed Adelina for why I haven’t developed my Legacies the way that I might have. But look at Eight. He lost his Cêpan, but took what he had and just kept working at it.’

We walk together in silence for a few more minutes, until Eight speaks. ‘Do you ever wish the Elders had given us our Inheritance in locked backpacks instead?’ He switches his Chest to the other arm.

I look guiltily at Crayton. I move to take my Chest from him, but he just pushes me away gently.

‘I have it for now, Marina. Soon enough I’m sure you’ll need to bear its burden alone, but I’ll help while I can.’

We walk for another few minutes until the path along the ridge suddenly ends at a steep cliff. We’re a few hundred feet from the peak, and I stare over the Himalayas spread out on my left. The mountains are vast and seem endless. It’s a breathtaking sight, one I hope I’ll remember forever.

‘So, now where?’ Six asks, looking skeptically up at the mountain. ‘There is no way we can go straight up the peak. There don’t seem to be a lot of other options, though.’

Eight points at two tall, hulking boulders leaning against the mountainside, and then clenches his hand. The boulders separate, revealing a curved stone staircase that winds around and leads inside the rock face. We follow Eight up to the stairs. I feel both claustrophobic and vulnerable. If someone follows us, there’s no way out.

‘Almost there,’ Eight says over his shoulder.

The stairs are so cold; their iciness seeps up through my feet and body. They finally lead us to a huge rock cavern that has been carved out of the mountain.

We pour into it, gazing around in awe. The ceiling is a couple of hundred feet high, and the walls are smooth and polished. Carved deep into one of the walls are two sets of vertical lines several feet high and spaced five feet apart. A small blue triangle sits between the two lines, with three more curved lines carved horizontally above it.

‘Is that supposed to be a door?’ I ask, following the lines with my eyes.

Eight steps aside, to let all of us see better. ‘It’s not supposed to be; it is a door. It’s a door to the far corners of the Earth.’