The Rise of Nine

29

Once again I take the lead. Marina trails me and a growling Bernie Kosar runs alongside her. Ella still has my Chest, with Eight and Nine following close behind. My fire has made me invincible, and my flames instantly consume every Mogadorian soldier that comes charging around a corner or through a door. The fire has not only taken over my body, but also my mind. I have never felt so confident, so determined, so ready to defeat our enemies before.

‘She still hasn’t responded to me!’ Ella yells as we enter another hallway filled with sirens and flashing lights. ‘I don’t know if she can hear anything I’m saying.’

‘Well, she isn’t dead yet because we don’t have any new scars,’ Nine says, sticking out his leg as if to admire it.

My fire is getting higher and wider, licking the walls and ceiling of the corridor as I pass through. It’s hard to describe my energy, how I am barely able to contain it, like I might explode with it. I’m ready to fight Setrákus Ra and I know the others feel the same way. Nine and Eight are like wrecking balls swinging down the hall, pounding soldiers into oblivion, bouncing from one Mog to the other, and Marina is fighting fearlessly, using all means available to toss soldiers into the air. Ella, with fewer powers revealed, looks on a bit enviously as we swat away the soldiers. I wish I had the time to stop and tell her how vital she is, how important her ability to communicate telepathically was to our all coming together. How she, as the youngest Loric, represents our long life and the power of our Garde. We’re ready to take back Lorien and that’s only possible because of everything we bring to the fight, each one of us. The hallway splits off and we need to quickly decide which way to go. Separating is never going to be an option again.

‘Okay, Fire Boy, which way?’ Nine asks.

Marina steps up and says, ‘This way.’ Her ability to see in the dark is better than the limited view my Lumen offers, so I extinguish my fire and we all follow her to the left.

Marina doesn’t even hesitate at the entryway of a long wide room filled with tall brown columns. Neither do the rest of us. We have our weapons ready when we first hear the noise of people marching in on the far end of the room. I nudge Marina’s arm. ‘Hey, can you see who that is?’

‘Yeah. I’m guessing they’re government soldiers. They’re definitely not Mogs. There are a lot of them. I don’t know, twenty, thirty? There could be more than that.’ She turns and moves towards them. We all do the same. We can toss them aside easily, twisting their guns with our telekinesis. We blow through the big room, pass another corridor door, and turn left, where we find a dozen government soldiers dressed in black, protecting a heavy metal door. As soon as they see us, they step into formation to fully block the passageway and start firing. As if prearranged, Marina and Eight both raise their hands, stopping the bullets as they are fired, inches away from their barrels. Immediately, Nine joins the action and uses his mind to rip the guns out of the soldiers’ hands and lifts the soldiers up, dangling from the domed ceiling. We each grab a gun.

Nine wedges the tip of his staff into the doorframe they were guarding and rips it off its hinges.

Behind the doorway is another hallway, this one lined with doors on both sides. Nine runs ahead to each of the doors and briefly presses his ear to each one.

He reports one unmanned control room after another. Further down the hall we find what look like empty prison cells. I wonder if we’re getting closer to finding Six. She could be behind any one of these doors.

I spot a trail of blood in front of one of the doors. From ten feet away I rip the door out of its frame. The cell is pitch black inside. Before I have a chance to use my Lumen, Marina pushes by me. ‘There’s a person in here!’ she cries.

We hear a whimper from the back corner and I flash my lights into the darkness. There, scared and dirty, is someone I thought I would never see again. Sarah. I fall to my knees, my lights glowing dimly. I open my mouth to speak, but only a squeak comes out. I try again: ‘Sarah.’ I can’t believe she’s sitting in front of me. I can’t believe we found her.

After a quick glance up at me Sarah hugs her knees to her chest and looks afraid. Afraid of me. She drops her head into her knees and sobs. ‘Please don’t do this to me, please don’t trick me anymore. Not like this. I can’t take it, I can’t take anymore.’ She’s shaking her head over and over. I don’t think she’s even registered I’m not alone. I can feel everyone standing behind me, cloaked in darkness.

‘Sarah,’ I whisper. ‘It’s me, John. We’re here to take you home.’

Nine hangs back, but I can hear him say to someone, ‘So this is the famous Sarah; girl looks good, even dirty.’

Sarah pulls her legs to her chest even more tightly and peeks over her knees. She looks so vulnerable and scared; I just want to scoop her up. But I move slowly, ready for anything. This could be a trap. I haven’t come this far only to act without thinking. When I touch her shoulder, she screams in panic. I can feel everyone behind me flinch with the sudden noise, the sheer terror in her voice.

She presses her back against the wall, her hair sticking to the rough concrete. Then she lifts her face to the ceiling and cries, ‘Don’t trick me anymore! I’ve told you everything. Please don’t trick me anymore!’

Marina steps forward so she is standing next to me. She grabs my arm and gives me a shake, then pulls me to my feet. ‘John, we can’t stay here; we have to get moving. We need to take Sarah with us!’

Sarah finally looks beyond me and sees the others. I watch her take in Marina standing there, looking down at her. Her eyes widen and she looks back at me, then she looks around at the others who have stepped closer. Tears streak the thick layer of dirt on her cheeks. ‘What’s happening? Are you really here? Are all of you really here?’

I kneel down next to her again. ‘It’s me. It’s us. I promise. Look, even Bernie Kosar wants to say hi.’ He trots over and licks her hand, his tail wagging.

I lay my hands on hers, and when I see the bruises running up and down her wrists, my eyes fill with tears. I press her fingers to my lips. ‘Sarah, listen to me. I know I left you once. I promise you, I will never do that again. Do you hear me? I will never leave you.’ She is still looking at me as if I might disappear or turn into a fire-breathing monster.

A thousand other things I’ve been thinking about for so long race through my mind and I struggle to say more. I flash back to our last conversation at the playground, moments before the police took me away. ‘Hey, Sarah. Do you remember when I said that I think about you every day. Do you remember that?’ She looks at me and nods. ‘Well, I did and I do. Every day.’ She allows herself a tentative smile. ‘Now do you believe it’s really me?’ She nods again. ‘Sarah Hart, I love you. I love only you. Do you hear me?’

She looks so relieved, it makes me want to pick her up and tell her it’s over and I will keep her safe. Always. She kisses me, her hands on each side of my face.

‘Four, come on! We have to move,’ Eight shouts. He and the others have moved to the door, anxiously looking both directions of the hallway.

There’s an explosion in the hallway and Eight runs out to see what it is, followed by Ella and Marina. ‘What the hell is taking so long, man?’ Nine shouts to me, gesturing madly towards the door. ‘Stand the girl up and let’s get going! Sarah Hart, it is awfully nice to meet you, but we really need you to move! Now!’

Nine rushes over and helps me get Sarah to her feet. Once she’s fully upright, he gives her a quick hug. She looks surprised by the warm welcome, and I have to wonder about the wink he gives me over her head. ‘Sarah freaking Hart! Do you have any idea how much this jerk talks about you?’ I smile at Sarah, then Nine.

‘No,’ Sarah laughs quietly, leaning into me and winding her fingers through mine.

‘Okay, okay. Come on, you two,’ Nine says, turning to head back to the door.

I stare into Sarah’s blue eyes. ‘Before we go, I have to ask you something. And you need to understand that I have to ask it. You’re not working for them, are you? The government and the Mogs?’

Sarah shakes her head. ‘Why does everyone keep asking me that? I would never betray any of you.’

‘Wait. Who’s everyone? Who else asked you that?’ I ask.

‘Six,’ Sarah says, looking surprised I would even need to ask. Her blue eyes widen. ‘You didn’t find her?’

‘You’ve seen Six?’ Marina speaks up, excited. ‘When? Where?’

‘She’s fighting Setrákus Ra,’ Sarah says, starting to panic again. ‘They took her away a while ago.’

‘What? No way! That’s my fight!’ Nine yells.

‘Don’t worry, man, if we move fast, maybe you can get a piece of him,’ I say. Then I look down the hall to find Eight, Marina, and Ella running back towards us.

‘That way,’ Marina shouts.

I grab Sarah’s hand and pull her behind me. Everyone races down the hall where we find Bernie Kosar standing in front of a metal doorway that’s the size of a loading-dock entrance, barking uncontrollably.

This time Nine does use his rock to look through the door. Like before, a white cone of light appears, then we can see right into a huge room. ‘Looks like there’s something going on in there. I see movement in the shadows,’ Eight says. ‘I’ll teleport through and scout it out.’

‘Wait a sec, Eight.’ I hold up my hand to stop him. ‘No scout. We should just do this, all of us.’

Eight looks at me for a second, then nods. ‘You’re right. This is for all of us.’

When we’re all gathered at the door, I look down the line of determined faces. Even Sarah. She’s gone from weepy rescue-girl to warrior in a heartbeat. Pretty impressive. Of course, she hasn’t got a clue what we are pretty sure is about to happen. It’s likely this is going to be an epic battle, if not the battle. I have a feeling in my gut that everything has led up to this moment. This could be what we’ve been working towards.

‘Whatever’s inside, whatever happens,’ I say, lighting the Lumen in my palms, ‘we will kill Setrákus Ra, no matter what.’ I’m saying this for me, not them.

‘We’re all on this, dude,’ Nine says.

I hold a glowing palm over the door, and just as I’m about to blow it inwards, a woman with red hair and an arm in a sling comes hobbling through a door at the far end of the hall. She and I gasp at exactly the same time; then she turns and darts back through the door.

‘Wait! Agent Walker!’ I shout after her.

‘Walker? Are you kidding me?’ Nine asks, incredulously. ‘The chick soldier who tried to capture us?’ The others just look on, confused for a beat, before Eight speaks up.

‘I’ll get her for you,’ he says, and then disappears. When he materializes a moment later he’s got her, arms twisted behind her back. The first thing I do is rip off the gold badge on the front of her shirt.

Nine plucks the badge out of my hand and makes a great show of examining it carefully. ‘Well, well, well. Who do we have here? Special Agent Walker?’ Nine laughs. ‘Lady, you look awful!’ He hands the badge back to me as if it suddenly has cooties.

‘Do you know how pathetic you are?’ I yell. ‘Cutting deals with the Mogs, doing their dirty work, for what? They are going to destroy you!’

‘I’m doing my job,’ she says stiffly. Eight has a tight grip on her. ‘We are doing what’s best for this country.’ She stares back at me defiantly, but I know we will make it clear how much she has to fear from us soon enough.

Sarah points at her. ‘I’ve seen you before. John, she was there when Six was taken away.’

Nine grabs Agent Walker by her shirt’s lapels like some gangster from a movie. Eight never loosens his grip on her arms. Nine shoves his face right into her face. ‘I want this one, I get to kill her.’

Walker is now frantically struggling to back away from Nine and free herself of Eight. ‘Wait! I know where your ship is!’ Special Agent Walker pleads. ‘I know you want it and you’ll never find it without me.’

‘Our ship is here?’ Marina asks, clearly uncertain if she can trust what Agent Walker says.

The agent narrows her eyes. ‘I’ll show you if you let me go.’

‘What do you think, Four?’ Nine asks.

‘John? What happens when you find your ship?’ asks Sarah, grabbing my arm.

‘We don’t have time for this!’ Marina says. ‘I know Six is inside this room. The fact that this woman will say anything to keep us from going in tells me I’m right! Forget about her! Who cares if or where our ship is, until we have Six!’

Nine says, ‘I’ll handle her.’ Walker floats up into the air and hangs by her belt hook on the light fixture high above us, red-faced with fury. Nine looks at us, winks and flicks the fingers of one hand behind his back, blowing the door open. ‘Marina’s right. Six and Setrákus Ra come first. Shall we?’

He smiles at Sarah. ‘You’re pretty badass from what I’ve heard from Johnny here,’ he says, handing her Walker’s Mog cannon. ‘Think you can handle her?’

Sarah takes the cannon. ‘If she moves from that light, I’ll blast her. Gladly.’

I look at the rest of the Garde. ‘It’s time.’

We rush inside. We don’t have to figure out who’s doing what. We just know. It’s quiet and dark and an awful stench permeates the air. All I can think of is the arena that kept appearing in my visions. Is this it? I look around, trying to see if I can tell. The center of the large room is dimly illuminated. Nine runs into the circle of light and yells, ‘Time to come and play, Setrákus, you piece of shit!’

‘Where’s Six?’ Marina says. She joins Nine in the center of the room, along with Eight. They quickly drop their Chests and start to look around.

‘You guys! There’s something up on the ceiling,’ Ella says, her voice echoing around the room. I look up to see a small formation of rocks hanging from the ceiling.

I shine my Lumen on the object, and bathed in its glow, it almost looks like a statue. ‘This isn’t right. I don’t know why, but there’s something wrong here,’ I say in a low voice.

While we watch the shadows for any sign of movement, Nine uses his anti-gravity Legacy to run up onto the ceiling and look at the rock formation. When he starts to get close I hear a familiar voice yell, ‘Stop!’

I whip around to see Six standing alone in the doorway. A loop of thick rope hangs from her hip, and in her hand is a jagged blue sword. She looks unharmed. Now that is the Six I remember; confident and strong. Did she do it? Is it possible that Six has already killed Setrákus Ra?

‘Six! Oh, my God, it’s you!’ Marina cries. ‘You’re okay!’

‘It’s over,’ Six says. ‘Setrákus Ra is dead. That formation on the ceiling is Mogadorian poison. Stay away from it.’

The relief in the air palpable. Eight teleports to Six’s side and wraps his arms around her in a huge hug.

Six was always the strongest of us, stronger than even me or Nine. She just saved Lorien, Earth, and possibly the universe. I want to pick her up, put her on my shoulder, and parade her back to Lorien.

I start towards her too, but Ella grabs my wrist and pulls me back. I hear her in my mind. John. Something’s wrong.

The next few moments happen in what feels like slow motion. Six pulls the jagged blue sword back and thrusts it forward. Horrified, I watch Eight become rigid, then the tip of the sword breaks through the middle of his shoulders. He slumps forward. Six pushes Eight’s body off her sword and he falls to the floor, motionless.

‘No!’ Marina screams from behind me and rushes towards Eight.

I’m paralyzed with shock until my instinct to fight kicks in. I look down and a massive fireball has formed in the palm of my right hand. Whatever confusion I was just feeling has cleared and I know what I need to do. This can’t be Six. And whoever this really is, I need to kill them.

‘Six,’ I say, rolling the fireball on the tips of my fingers. ‘What did they do to you?’

She laughs and raises her other hand into a fist. Blue lightning shoots out between her knuckles and spreads along the ceiling of the room. My fireball disappears. What’s going on?

‘Four!’ I look up to see Nine flying through the air from above me. His anti-gravity Legacy must have failed him too. I manage to catch enough of him to stop him from slamming down on the ground and help him get to his feet.

Marina stands protectively over Eight, guns aimed and ready to fire. Eight is still on the ground and I can’t tell how badly he’s injured. At least I know he’s alive, since I don’t have a new scar. Marina lets loose a burst of bullets, but they stop inches from Six’s face and drop uselessly to the concrete. I try to light myself with my Lumen again, but nothing happens.

With her sword held high, Six’s body starts to convulse and blur with a quick flash of white. She grows taller and her long blond hair shrinks into a small patch on top of a large skull. Her face elongates and morphs, and somehow I know she’s changing into Setrákus Ra even before the glowing purple scar appears on his neck. Two battalions of Mog soldiers silently emerge from doors on the sides of the room and flank him. Without a word, Nine, Marina, Ella, and I move closer to one another, standing over Eight, to make it clear we will face him together.

‘All of you in one place. How convenient for me. I hope you’re ready to die,’ he snarls.

‘I think you have that wrong,’ I reply.

‘That’s what Number Six thought, too. But she was wrong. Very wrong.’ He smiles, his revolting and stained teeth glinting in the dim light.

Nine looks over at me and rubs his hands together, all eager anticipation. ‘Johnny boy, have we discussed how important oral hygiene is to me?’ He looks back at Setrákus Ra, ‘Dude, brush your teeth before you even think about threatening me!’ He extends his glowing red staff, turns to Setrákus Ra and charges. Thankfully we still have the power of our Inheritance.