I'VE BEEN IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS FOR THE past two days, rolling back and forth in a hallucinating sickness. The effects from the blue force field outside the Mogadorians' mountain have lingered far longer than Nine told me they would, both mentally and physically. Every few minutes, my muscles seize and sear with pain.
I try to distract myself from the agony by looking around the tiny bedroom of this decaying, abandoned house. Nine couldn't have picked a more disgusting place for us to hide. I can't trust my eyes. I watch the pattern on the yellow wallpaper come to life, the design marching like ants over patches of mold. The cracked ceiling appears to breathe, rising and falling at frightening speeds. There's a large jagged hole in the wall that separates the bedroom and living room, as if someone tossed a sledgehammer through it. Smashed beer cans are strewn around the room, and the baseboards have been torn to shreds by animals. I've been hearing things rustling in the trees outside the house, but I'm too weak to be alarmed. Last night I woke to find a cockroach on my cheek. I barely had the energy to swat it off.
"Hey, Four?" I hear through the hole in the wall. "You awake or what? It's time for lunch and your food's getting cold."
I heave myself to my feet. My head spins as I stumble through the doorway into what used to be the living room, and I collapse on the dingy gray carpet. I know Nine's in here, but I can't keep my eyes open long enough to find him. All I want is to lay my head in Sarah's lap. Or in Six's. Either one. I can't think straight.
Something warm hits my shoulder. I roll over to see Nine sitting on the ceiling above me, his long black hair hanging down into the room. He's gnawing on something and his hands are greasy.
"Where are we again?" I ask. The sunlight coming through the windows is too much and I close my eyes. I need more sleep. I need something, anything, to clear my head and regain my strength. My fingers fumble over my blue pendant, hoping to somehow gather energy through it, but it remains cold against my chest.
"The northern part of West Virginia," Nine says between bites. "Ran out of gas, remember?"
"Barely," I whisper. "Where's Bernie Kosar?"
"Outside. That one is always on patrol. He is one cool animal. Tell me, Four, how did you of all the Garde end up with him?"
I crawl into the corner of the room and push my back up against a wall. "BK was with me on Lorien. His name was Hadley back then. I guess Henri thought it would be good to bring him along for the trip."
Nine throws a tiny bone across the ceiling. "I had a couple of Chimæras as a kid too. Don't remember their names, but I can still see them running around our house tearing stuff up. They died in the war, protecting my family." Nine is silent for a moment, clenching his jaw. This is the first time I've seen him act anything other than tough. It's nice to see, even if it's short lived. "At least, that's what my Cêpan told me."
I stare at my bare feet. "What was your Cêpan's name?"
"Sandor," he says, standing up on the ceiling. He's wearing my shoes. "It's weird. I literally can't remember the last time I said his name out loud. Some days, I can barely picture his face." Nine's voice hardens, and he closes his eyes. "But that's how it goes, I guess. Whatever. They're the expendable ones."
His last sentence sends shockwaves through me. "Henri was not expendable, and neither was Sandor! No Loric was ever expendable. And give me back my shoes!"
Nine kicks my shoes into the middle of the floor, then takes his time walking first along the ceiling and then down the back wall. "All right, all right. I know he wasn't expendable, man. Sometimes it's just easier to think of him that way, you know? Truth is, Sandor was an amazing Cêpan." Nine reaches the floor and towers over me. I forgot how tall he is. Intimidating. He shoves a handful of what he's been eating in my face. "You want some of this or not? Because I'm about to finish it off."
The sight of it makes my stomach churn. "What is it?"
"Barbecued rabbit. Nature's finest."
I don't dare open my mouth to respond, afraid that I might get sick. Instead, I stumble back towards the bedroom, ignoring the laughter that follows me. The bedroom door is so warped it's nearly impossible to close, but I wedge it into the doorframe as tightly as I can. I lie down on the floor, using my sweatshirt as a pillow, and think about how I ended up here, ended up like this. Without Henri. Without Sam. Sam is my best friend, and I can't believe we left him behind. As thoughtful and loyal and supportive as Sam is—traveling and fighting alongside me for the last several months—Nine is so very not. He's reckless, arrogant, selfish and just flat-out rude. I picture Sam, back in the Mog cave, a gun rocking against his shoulder as a dozen Mogadorian soldiers swarmed him. I couldn't get to him. I couldn't save him. I should have fought harder, run faster. I should have ignored Nine and gone back to Sam. He would have done that for me. The immense amount of guilt I feel paralyzes me, until I finally fall asleep.
It's dark. I'm no longer in a house in the mountains with Nine. I no longer feel the painful effects of the blue force field. My head is finally clear, although I don't know where I am, or how I got here. When I shout for help, I can't hear my voice even though I feel my lips moving. I shuffle ahead, hands out in front of me. My palms suddenly start to glow with my Lumen. The light is dim at first but quickly grows into two powerful beams.
"John." A hoarse whisper says my name.
I whip my hands around to see where I am, but the light reveals only empty darkness. I'm entering a vision. I angle my palms towards the ground so my Lumen will light my way, and start towards the voice. The hoarse whisper keeps repeating my name over and over. It sounds young and full of fear. Then comes another voice, gruff and staccato, barking orders.
The voices become clearer. It's Sam, my lost friend, and Setrákus Ra, my worst enemy. I can tell I'm nearing the Mogadorian base. I can see the blue force field, the source of so much pain. For some reason, I know it won't hurt me now, and I don't hesitate to pass through it. When I do, it's not my screams I hear, but Sam's. His tortured voice fills my head as I enter the mountain and move through its mazelike tunnels. I see the charred remains of our recent battle, from when I tossed a ball of green lava at the gas tanks at the mountain's bottom, sending a sea of fire raging upwards. I move through the main cavernous hall and its spiraling ledges. I step onto the arched stone bridge Sam and I so recently crossed under the cloak of invisibility. I keep going, passing through tributaries and corridors, all while being forced to listen to my best friend's crippling howls.
I know where I'm going before I get there. The steady incline of the floor lands me in the wide room lined with prison cells.
There they are. Setrákus Ra is standing in the middle of the room. He is huge and truly revolting looking. And there's Sam. He's suspended inside a small spherical cage next to Setrákus Ra. His own private torture bubble. Sam's arms are stretched high above his head and his legs are splayed, held in place with chains. A series of pipes are dripping steaming liquid onto various parts of Sam's body. Blood has pooled and dried under the cage.
I stop ten feet away from them. Setrákus Ra senses my presence and turns around, the three Loric pendants from other Garde children he has killed dangling from his massive neck. The scar circling his throat pulses with a dark energy.
"We missed each other," Setrákus Ra growls.
I open my mouth but nothing comes out. Sam's blue eyes turn in my direction, but I can't tell if he sees me.
More hot liquid drips from the pipes, hitting Sam in the wrists, chest, knees and feet. A thick stream flows onto his cheek and rolls down his neck. Seeing Sam tortured finally gives me a voice.
"Let him go!" I shout.
Setrákus Ra's eyes harden. The pendants around his neck glow and mine responds, lighting up as well. The blue Loralite gem is hot against my skin, and then it suddenly bursts into flames, my Legacy taking over. I allow the fire to crawl along my shoulders.
"I'll let him go," he says, "if you come back to the mountain and fight me."
I glance quickly over at Sam and see that he has lost his battle with the pain and has blacked out, chin resting on his chest.
Setrákus Ra points to Sam's withered body and says, "You must decide. If you don't come, I'll kill him and then I'll kill the rest of them. If you do, I'll let them all live."
I hear a voice yelling my name, telling me I have to move. Nine. I sit up with a gasp and my eyes snap open. I'm covered in a thin layer of sweat. I stare through the jagged hole of broken drywall and it takes me a few seconds to get my bearings.
"Dude! Get up!" Nine yells from the other side of the door. "There's a ton of stuff we need to do!"
I get to my knees and fumble around my neck for my pendant. I squeeze it as hard as I can, trying to get Sam's screams out of my head. The bedroom door swings open. Nine stands in the doorway, wiping his face with the back of his hand. "Seriously, bro. Get your shit together. We need to get out of here."