The Fate of Ten

The Mogs are already beginning to thin out. Some are actually retreating towards the Anubis, while others have formed a loose perimeter around the crater to protect their Beloved Leader. Setrákus Ra doesn’t seem at all concerned with any of this. He’s completely focused on operating that machine of his.

As I fight my way towards the crater, the tube begins to emit a whooshing sound. I can feel the atmosphere around us change—loose rocks are lifted up from the ground, and I feel a vague sense of gravity pulling me towards the crater. Fully powered on, Setrákus Ra’s device is starting to suck up the surroundings. I see Ella, still standing idly in the crater, still telepathically silent, her hair whipping towards the cylinder. The well itself begins to crumble, its bricks lifted loose and briefly hoisted towards the sucking machine before they’re deflected by a force field that’s probably similar to what protects the Anubis. This device of Setrákus Ra’s isn’t interested in the ground and debris; it filters them away, creating a mini tornado of dirt and brick.

And then it happens. With an ear-piercing shriek like a thousand tea kettles exploding, the cobalt-blue Loric energy shoots up from the ground and is sucked into the cylinder. The entire area is cast in a flickering blue glow that causes even some of the Mogs to look around in wonderment. It’s unnatural, the way the energy ripples up from the ground, at first wild and uncontained, but quickly caught and channeled through what I realize is a pipeline, transferring the Loric energy into the Anubis. I found the Entity’s glow comforting and serene back in the Sanctuary, but now—the air crackles with electricity, the flashes hurt my eyes and the noise . . .

It’s like the energy itself is screaming. It’s in pain.

“Yes! Yes!” Setrákus Ra bellows with delight, like some kind of mad scientist, his hands raised in rapture towards the energy funnel.

Marina loses it. Caution goes out the window as she sprints towards the crater. Two thick and sharpened icicles manifest over her hands like swords and she uses them to impale three Mogs on her way, spinning through the ranks of the ones guarding the crater. Then, she’s sliding down the rocky incline, towards Setrákus Ra and Ella. She’s going to take him on by herself. I did that once—it didn’t work out so well.

I sprint to catch up. There are other Mogs along the edge of the crater besides the ones Marina just punched through and they’ve all turned to take aim on her. She’s distracted, an easy target. But to me, still invisible, it’s the Mogs that are easy targets. I run behind them in an arc around the crater’s edge, dusting each of them as quickly as I can. Before I can kill him, one of them manages to squeeze off a shot that sizzles into the back of Marina’s leg. I don’t even think she notices.

In fact, Marina doesn’t even notice Setrákus Ra. Or doesn’t care. She attacks the pipeline directly, bombarding it with spiked orbs of ice. When those are either swallowed by the swirling dust and brick or deflected by the machine’s force field, Marina charges forward. She’s going to take the thing apart by hand if she has to.

Setrákus Ra catches her by the throat. He moves faster than a creature his size has any right to. As I sprint down the side of the crater, still invisible, Setrákus Ra lifts Marina by the neck so that her feet are dangling off the ground. She tries to kick at him, but he holds her out at a safe distance.

“Hello, girl,” Setrákus Ra says, his tone happy and victorious. “Come to watch the show?”

Marina claws at his fingers. She obviously can’t breathe. I’m not sure I’m going to make it in time.

From behind him, a wave of rocks and dirt hits Setrákus Ra in the back of the legs. He’s surprised and bowled over, losing his grip on Marina as he falls forward and instinctively braces himself with his hands. Marina manages to roll away as Setrákus Ra’s lower legs are buried by the rockslide. Ella lurches forward, like her own legs were hit, but she doesn’t cry out and her vacant expression doesn’t change.

It’s Adam that made the save, skidding his way into the crater from the opposite direction as me. There are blaster burns on his shoulders and a long cut on the side of his face from where some Mog scored a hit with its dagger, but he still looks ready to fight.

I end up coming down in the crater right next to Ella. That’s when it happens—pop—just like that, I’m visible again, and not of my own choosing. Setrákus Ra must be using his Legacy-canceling ability. Marina is on her knees a few yards from him, holding her throat and coughing. Meanwhile, the Mog leader is having a hell of a time dislodging himself from the landslide. At least Adam got him buried above the knees before our Legacies were turned off.

I take the opportunity to grab Ella by her shoulders. Up close, she’s even further gone than I expected. Her cheeks are hollow, her face gaunt, and there are dark black veins running beneath her skin like spiderwebs. Her eyes are glazed over and she doesn’t react at all when I shake her. The light from the Loric energy—still being sucked up through the pipeline—is reflected in her eyes. She’s staring at it.

“Ella! Come on! We’re getting you out of here!”

There’s no visible reaction, but her voice finally returns to my mind.

Six. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?

She’s lost it. Screw it—I’m going to drag her out of here just like we planned.

“Six!” Marina shouts, her voice raw. “We have to turn it off!”