The Rise of Nine

I watch in horror as Ella and Sarah’s prone bodies are hit with Mog cannon fire. John reaches them and I rush to his side. He’s kneeling next to them and holding their hands as their bodies shake. We’re too late.

After all of this, after we made it this far and we all found each other at last, it looks like we’re about to lose another member of the Garde. And Sarah. John just found her again, and he’s going to lose her. I close my eyes as well, bracing myself for another scar to burn itself into my leg, a scar for Ella. I know this one is going to hurt the most.

But nothing happens. Is there something different about Ella that her death won’t cause a scar? That can’t be. I open my eyes and look at John, who’s still hunched over Sarah and Ella, still intently squeezing their hands.

I look closer at the girls and can’t quite believe what I’m seeing. Their wounds – cannon blasts to their bodies and hideous burns on their faces – are healing. ‘What’s happening? How are you doing this?’ I ask John, looking at him in wonder.

‘I have no idea,’ he says, shaking his head. ‘I didn’t know I could do this. I saw Sarah on the ground and I wasn’t going to let her die, or Ella. Not another one of the Garde. I won’t let that happen, especially now that we’re together. I took their hands and thought about how much I wanted their injuries to heal, how much I wished I could heal them . . . and it suddenly just started to happen.’

‘You’ve developed a new Legacy!’ I cry, squeezing his shoulders.

‘Or, I just wanted it so badly, a miracle happened. Whatever it is, they’re both healing.’ He lets out a laugh, filled with exhaustion and relief. John looks to the center of the room, where Nine continues to fight. ‘Marina, this is not the time we’re going to bring Setrákus Ra down. Even though our Legacies have come back, I don’t think we can defeat him just yet, and I don’t want to take the chance of losing another Garde member. We have to find Six. Then we need to figure out a way to get the hell out of here, regroup, and come up with a plan. We’ll kill him together or die together. But we do it on our terms, when we know we’re ready to do it.’

We hear a moan, and look down at Sarah and Ella. Their eyes are open and color is coming back into their cheeks. John leans over and kisses Sarah.

The casing is finally breaking off. I flex my arms and kick my legs and start to fall as the last of it crumbles. I use my telekinesis to lower myself to the ground.

I lie there for a second, trying to catch my breath. The smoke is so thick my eyes are watering. All of a sudden, a huge explosion rocks the room. An alarm goes off, red lights flash, and a piercingly loud siren fills the air. I can see John’s Lumen burning and I make my way through the haze towards it. Ella, Marina and Sarah are standing next to him, and as I get closer Eight appears, teleporting to Marina’s side. Bernie Kosar has turned back into a beagle and he limps over to John.

Ella cries out when she sees me and throws her arms around me. I return her hug and then look at John. Seeing his face again is like a dream come true. He touches my arm. ‘You okay?’

I nod. ‘What about you?’ I ask, and I know I sound as exhausted and beaten down as I feel.

‘We’re all alive so far – but where’s Nine?’ he replies, looking around as we all realize simultaneously that the battle sounds have disappeared. We run towards the center of the room, towards the area where Nine had been battling Setrákus Ra, keeping him at bay. Nine is lying on the ground, motionless, and Setrákus Ra is nowhere in sight. Marina falls to her knees next to him and frantically starts running her hands over his body while I spin in circles, trying desperately to see through the haze to make sure Setrákus Ra isn’t hiding, waiting to capture and kill us when our backs are turned. Aside from the shrill sound of the alarms, the room is eerily quiet and I realize there are no Mogadorians anywhere.

‘He’s alive!’ Marina cries. ‘He’s just stunned.’ Nine sits up, shaking his head groggily.

‘What happened?’ he asks.

‘I was going to ask you that,’ Eight says. ‘There was an explosion and everyone but the seven of us have disappeared.’

‘I don’t know – I didn’t see where he went. One second I was trying to hold my own, fighting him off, the next thing I knew I was here on the ground.’

‘What do we do now?’ Sarah asks.

‘We have to get of here,’ says John. ‘Setrákus Ra could reappear at any second, and this could be a trap. Even though this is a government base, it clearly isn’t safe.’

‘Anyone know a way out of here?’ I ask. They all look at each other grimly.

‘We have to go back the way we came in,’ says Eight. ‘My teleporting Legacy won’t work with so many of us.’

‘Okay,’ John says. ‘We don’t know what we’ll face on the way out and we may have to fight out way through more Mogadorians, or human soldiers, but we need to stay together now. We’re never splitting up again.’

Nine steps over and stands next to me, then looks me up and down. ‘I don’t believe anyone introduced us, proper like. It’s nice to officially meet you, sweetheart. I’m Nine,’ he says, winking at me. I roll my eyes and John snickers.

I look around for a second. It’s a miracle we’re all together, all still alive. Every living Loric on Earth but one is standing within a few feet of each other.

We’re alive and we’re fighting and that means we still have a chance. And we will meet Setrákus again, and soon. Next time, he will not get away from us.