‘On the third night in the mountains, she left to gather firewood, leaving me and Reynolds alone for the first time the whole trip. I knew something was wrong. I felt it in the pit of my stomach. Lola returned quickly – with a dozen Mogadorian warriors. Reynolds, he was so in love with her, he was heartbroken before he remembered to be scared. He screamed at her, begging her to explain why she would do this to him, to us, to me. Then one of the warriors threw a bag of gold coins in Lola’s general direction. She was promised a lot of money by the Mogadorians to provide a service.’ Eight sneers the word. ‘Like a dog jumping on a treat, she dove at it. It all happened so fast. She dove, one of the Mogadorians raised a glowing sword and stabbed her in the back, and the bag of coins exploded at her feet. Reynolds and I just stood there, frozen, watching her die.’
I resist the urge to dash ahead, grab his hand, and squeeze it to show how much I understand how he feels. I look at his straight, proud back, watch the purpose in his long strides, and know what he needs right now is his space. At least, that’s what I want when I think about Katarina dying.
His last word, die, hangs in the air. Finally, Crayton clears his throat and says, ‘We don’t need to hear any more right now. You can stop if you want.’
‘They couldn’t kill me,’ Eight’s voice gets louder, as if he’s trying to drown out the sad memories. I know the trick. It rarely works. ‘Even when they managed a direct hit with one of their swords, across my neck or into my stomach, I didn’t die. But they did. The deadly cuts meant for me happened to them instead. They couldn’t kill me because of the charm, and I did everything I could to protect Reynolds. But we were separated in all the chaos and I teleported too late. Reynolds was . . .’ He pauses for a second. ‘One of them took my Chest. I tried to stop him. I grabbed one of their swords and I tried to stab him through his stomach, but I missed by this much. Pretty sure I took off his hand, though. Anyway, he got away. Right after he ran into the woods, I saw a tiny silver ship shoot up through the trees. I killed the others.’ His voice is so cold, so emotionless, I shiver.
‘I lost my Cêpan too,’ Marina says quietly after a moment.
‘Me too,’ I add. I glance over at Ella, who has moved closer to Crayton. At least she still has him. Hopefully we won’t lose the last Cêpan that any of us knows.
The sky above us grows darker by the second. Marina volunteers to walk in front so that she can lead the way with her Legacy of night vision. I smile when she takes Eight’s hand, happy that someone tries to comfort him.
‘I’ve spent so much time in these mountains,’ Eight says.
‘All alone?’ Ella asks.
‘I was alone for some of it. I didn’t know where to go. And then one day I came across an old man. He was sitting under a tree with his eyes closed, praying. My Legacy to become other shapes had arrived months earlier, and I approached him in the form of a small, black rabbit. He felt my approach. He laughed before he even opened his eyes. There was something about his face that I trusted. I guess he reminded me of Reynolds, before Lola came into our lives. So I hopped into the bushes and teleported behind a line of trees in the opposite direction. When I approached him again, in my regular form, he offered me some lettuce. It was clear that he knew me, would always know me, no matter what form I took.’
‘We’re coming to another lake,’ Marina says, interrupting Eight. Now that the talking has stopped, I can hear the lapping of water and a quiet waterfall beyond.
‘Yes, we’re close,’ Eight confirms. ‘We’ll eat and sleep soon.’
‘So, then what happened? With the old man?’ Crayton asks.
‘His name was Devdan and he was a very enlightened, spiritual person. He told me all about Hinduism and Vishnu. I clung to his stories. In my mind, they represented how we’re trying to save Lorien. He taught me ancient forms of Indian martial arts, like kalarippayattu, silambam and gatka. I worked with my Legacies, my powers, to see how far I could take what I learned from him.
‘One day, I went to meet him in our usual spot and he wasn’t there. I went back day after day. But he never returned and I was alone again. It was many months later when I stumbled upon Commander Sharma and his army during a training exercise.’ He hesitates before continuing. ‘Unfortunately – or fortunately, I’m not sure yet – it was while I was in the shape of Vishnu and they vowed to protect me from any evils. I knew it was because I was in a form they worshipped, and I hated preying on their beliefs, but I couldn’t resist. I guess I hated being alone even more.’
Marina starts to lead us around the lake. Eight tells her to head for the waterfall we can hear in the distance.
‘Did the Mogs ever come back?’ Crayton asks.
‘Yes. They still return in the tiny silver ships every so often, buzzing around the mountains to see if I’m still here. But I just turn into a fly or an ant and they keep going.’
Crayton says, ‘That lines up with all of the reports of UFO sightings in this region.’
‘Yes, that’s them,’ Eight says. ‘With every visit, they become more careless about detection. I haven’t seen one in a few days, but they’ve been much more frequent in the last six or eight months. I took this to mean the conflict was escalating.’
‘It is,’ I say. ‘We’ve been finding each other, joining up. Marina, Ella, and I just met up in Spain a few days ago. Number Four is waiting for us back in America. And now we’ve found you. That just leaves Five and Nine.’