DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NOR CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER THE I AM NUMBER FOUR SERIES, THE LORIEN LEGACIES SERIES OR ANY WORKS MADE BY PITTACUS LORE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PLEASE SUPPORT THIS RELEASE.

A.N. To make up for the very lackluster previous chapter I have done as I promised and have made this chapter longer than any of my previous ones. Thank you to all of those who have followed, reviewed, and favorited my story!

bob5631- John can as of Chapter 9 lift up to 20 tons, and while his durability is greater and it may be tougher for human weapons like knives and bullets to pierce them they will still probably get through. But that does give me an idea of further expanding the way TK is used and maybe incorporate some abilities from the movie Chronicle. Mogadorian weaponry won't have that problem as they were designed to kill the Loric even those with enhanced strength and durability. As for a fire shield beyond him catching himself on fire, there isn't much he can do for strictly armors sake.

Eliza Regendorf- Here is Six, I hope she meets your expectations for what you have been waiting for. I've done a lot of work on her, so she is going to be decently stronger than her book counterpart.

Chapter 13-

My name is Avice but you can call me Six, and I am Garde.

Many years have passed since we first arrived on Earth and I have lived an unsettled life, hopping from town to town. I avoid connections or ties ever since my Cêpan was killed, and focus on developing my fighting abilities and developing my Legacies. Invisibility was followed by telekinesis, and in the last year or so I've discovered a couple new abilities: one of which is that I can control and manipulate the weather and some basic elements.

I use that Legacy sparingly, as it's an easy way to attract unwanted attention. It manifested a year and a half ago, in a small suburb outside Cleveland. I had been following a lead on one of the Garde that didn't go anywhere and, discouraged, I was ambling back towards my motel, sipping an iced coffee. My leg burst into searing pain, and I dropped my drink on the ground.

My third scar. Three was dead.

I fell to the ground in pain and rage, and before I knew what was happening the sky above me filled with clouds. A full-on lightning storm followed.

XXXXXXXX

I am in Athens, Ohio, now. It's a cool little city, one of the best I've passed through in the past couple of years. College students everywhere. I've got a bit of a vagabond roughness to my appearance that stands out in suburban areas, but surrounded by college-age hippies and music nerds and hipsters I don't look quite so unusual. This makes me feel safe.

All of my leads have gone dead, except this last one. I have been hearing about some weird pale men in trench coats in the area recently and on more than one occasion too.

Upon hearing this I had dropped everything I was doing and left Athens, Georgia where I was staying at the time to come straight here. The irony of leaving one Athens for another was not lost on me and in fact, gave me credence to the belief that I'm on the right track.

I've been here for a day and haven't been able to find anything linking back to the sightings of the Mogs, also I have yet to discover one of my kind I was hoping I would find something here that would help continue leading me forwards. But I know it is coming. It's time to assemble the Garde. If my Legacies are developing at this rate, I am certain the same is true of the others like me. There will be signs soon, I can feel it. I am patient but excited: I am ready to fight.

I wander the street, it's late in the afternoon the sun already set and I am walking around just enjoying myself finishing the dregs of an iced coffee. It's become my drink of choice. I have resorted to pickpocketing to finance my appetites, but it's become so easy that I never have to outright drain anyone dry. I just take a few bucks here or there to get by.

I am suddenly pushed by a gust of wind, practically off my feet. For a second I think I've lost control, that it's my own power that caused it. But the wind ends as soon as it began, and I realize it did not come from me. But it has swung the door of another café open.

I almost kept walking, but my eye is caught by an open computer terminal at the back of the café. I use internet cafés to keep tabs on the news, looking for items that could turn into a lead on my kind. Doing it makes me feel closer to Katarina. I have become my own Cêpan.

I chuck my empty cup in the trash outside and step into the air-conditioned chill of the place. I take my seat, and begin scanning the news and looking for links to YouTube that catch my eye and one finally does.

It's an item from Paradise, Ohio. It's a grainy video, of poor quality as though it has been shot on somebody's cell phone. The front side of a house is in flames. The camera is shaky, but through it can be heard the dog's bark and the filtered gasps throughout the crowd. Then the person begins walking away from the crowd, to the side of the house, and eventually to the back. The camera zooms in to the rear window where the bark is coming from. The bark stops and about twenty seconds pass, and in the next moment someone flies through the window with a girl in one arm and the dog in the other, I hit the pause button on the video. The camera is zoomed in, and I can make out both of their faces. The posted date was today around two in the morning. It is now eight-thirty in the evening, so it has already had some time to gain attention. The video has a couple thousand views on it and a couple of comments, one of which catches my eye.

"OMG... is that John Smith? That new guy?"

I can't help but get a feeling that the Mogs have already seen this and if there were sightings of them in this town. Then they will be there soon. I do what sleuthing I know how to and pull up John Smith's school information and address. No pictures, and little information about him or his family.

I stand up so quickly I send the chair flying out from under me. I know in an instant he's one of us, though I don't know how I know. Something in that gust of wind. Something about the way butterflies are now fluttering in my stomach, brushing my insides with their wings.

Perhaps this recognition is a part of the charm, something that lets us know that a hunch is more than I hunch. I know.

I just know.

My heart races with excitement. He's out there. One of the Garde.

I quickly pull up directions to Paradise memorizing the directions I run out of the café and onto the street. Left, right . . . I'm not sure which way to turn at first.

I take a deep breath.

It's beginning, I think. It's finally beginning. I'm desperate to reach John before anything bad can happen to him. I recall which way I need to start heading in before I activate my newest legacy, my feet leave the ground and I'm flying through the air. Heading to John Smith.

XXXXXXXX

After leaving Sarah's house there is only one thing left to do.

I make my way back towards the house now, many hours have passed since I had set out to say my goodbyes to Sam and Sarah. Henri is no doubt pacing away a groove in the floor, anxiously awaiting my return so that we can depart as soon as possible.

I don't exert myself and I try to at least enjoy the peace and quiet while I can. Taking a deep breath in the scent of paradise wafts over me. This town may not be the largest or the best town with the nicest people, but it is where I was actually able to find some peace and enjoyment. It's not much longer before I can see the house in the distance.

Both Sam and Henri are in the kitchen when I walk in. I had seen that they had already taken out the backpacks and suitcases to Henri's truck, it nearly being stuffed full.

"Oh thank Lorein you're back John, I was beginning to worry," Henri says as he comes running up to me. The relief that I can feel when he first hugs me melts away the tension he was holding onto after I hug him back.

"Sorry Henri, but if I was going to say goodbye then I was going to do it properly and I wasn't going to leave feeling like I left something unfinished," I say.

"Well at least you're okay that's all that matters," Henri says as he pulls back. "Well, now that you are here we can get on the road."

"Okay, I am going to guess that Sam is going to join us on this journey," I say looking behind Henri at Sam.

"Yes, which I am guessing is your idea in the first place."

"I may have given him the idea of coming to talk to you, but him wanting to come is all him. He wants to find his dad more than anything and if we can't help him then who can?"

"John is right," Sam jumps in from behind Henri. "I think my dad was abducted by the Mogodorians because of his involvement with you guys, and since you guys are fighting a war with them you are bound to come across more of them, and maybe just maybe we find my dad while doing so."

"Yes yes.. you made your case very clear earlier and with John backing you up I don't have much to say against it. It is going to be difficult though so be prepared to start training with John and fighting for your life every day because that is what you are walking into," Henri says looking Sam dead in the eye.

"I can do it, I won't slow you down and I will make sure that I become an asset to you guys, both to help and further increase our chances of saving my dad."

"If we are all in agreement then let us get in the truck and head out. We still have a long drive ahead of us," Henri says as he picks up his keys and heads for the door.

XXXXXXXX

It has been nearly two hours since leaving Paradise and we are nearing Columbus, Ohio. I'm sitting in the passenger seat with Sam between Henri and myself. It's been a smooth ride so far since leaving Paradise. I find myself staring out the window thinking of Sarah and how much I miss her already, and how it could be years before I see her again if I ever do. I hope with everything in my being that it won't be long and that she will still be waiting for me when I finish this war.

A notification sound catches my attention while I am sightseeing, I turn to look at Sam and Henri of which Henri is side-eyeing me which means that the noise came from me. I dig my phone out of my pocket to see who is texting me, it could only be one person though.

I wasn't prepared to get a text from Sarah so soon after leaving, but when I open the text my blood runs cold, and the breath in my lungs is caught. What is on the screen is something I never wanted to see and something I hoped would never happen.

There on my screen is a photo of Sarah, tied up and gagged. Blood covering the left side of her face and she looks terrified. Following the picture is a text with the words.

"IF YOU WANT HER TO LIVE, MEET US OUTSIDE PARADISE HIGH SCHOOL. ALONE! WE WILL GIVE YOU UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO SHOW BEFORE WE START TO SLOWLY TEAR HER APART!"

Anger floods through my veins, I feel fear as well but my fear for Sarah is overwhelmed by the sheer amount of rage that I feel.

"Henri pull over now!" I shout at him.

"John what is..."

"Just do it! Now! They have Sarah, I have to save her," Henri must be able to see the desperation on my face because he pulls over quickly.

"I'm listening John, now take a deep breath and explain to me what's going on," Henri says after managing to find a safe place to pull over at.

I show him and Sam the photo and text from Sarah's phone, Sam goes pale immediately and Henri has a resigned look to him. Like he wants to stop me but knowing he wouldn't succeed.

"What's the plan, John? We can't just go rushing back and let you go in by yourself, you'll be falling right into their trap and you'd get both of you killed."

"I don't know okay? But I have to do something, they came for her because of me it's all my fault and I have to save her."

"I'll help you John however I can, I'll help you rescue Sarah," Sam says as he puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Alright, John I understand. I'll turn us around and we will try and think of some way to save her."

"Thank you Henri, but it will take too long," I say and before he even has a chance to say anything, I'm jumping out of the car and taking off as fast as I can back towards Paradise.

"JOHN!" I hear Henri shout as I take-off, faster than I would normally dare out in the open where others could see me.

I am running as fast as I can without using my Aevitas because I am certain that when I arrive, it will become a fight for not only my life but Sarah's as well. Leaving Henri and Sam back in the truck was a risk but one I needed to take under the circumstances, not only because it would be faster to just go on my own but also because I want them to be as far away from the fight as possible.

Although, the biggest reason why I left them was so that I could use some of this anger that is overflowing inside me. If I was forced to sit in the truck knowing that time for Sarah is running out and that I could get there sooner to try and buy her more time I don't think I would be able to think straight. Let alone be able to come up with a plan to kill every last one of the Mogadorians that are keeping her captive and then also rescue her in the process.

I push myself to go as fast as I can knowing that every second I waste Sarah is that much closer to death.

XXXXXXXX

It took me half an hour to reach Paradise from Athens with my flight legacy. I'm still a bit shaky and I'm not as fast with it as I know others of my people are but it is still much faster than running or driving there.

I arrive floating above the town and while doing so in conjunction with my weather manipulation legacy to create cloud cover so I won't get spotted in contrast to the moon and stars in the night sky.

I can see a handful of semi-trucks and SUVs pulling into the high school parking lot and they pull in alongside a few more of the black SUVs. After watching them position themselves so that there is only one entrance and that they have control over who comes and goes I see the Mogs start to climb out of their vehicles and one Mog in particular starts barking orders at the rest of them. I can't tell what is being said but I get a general idea as they all set off to do their own tasks. A handful of them are holding onto leashes that are attached to krauls. Krauls are short weasel-like creatures that the Mogadorians use like dogs to sniff out and attack their prey.

It's after most of the Mogs have started to set up a perimeter around the school and moving what vehicles are still in the lot around that I see the last of them get out of their vehicles though this time one of them is dragging with him a pretty blonde girl. I can tell from even this distance that she has been roughed up pretty badly with blood covering the left side of her face and matting down her hair which is sticking to her face. I can tell from that and the way they are dragging her that she won't last much longer in their care whatever that may be for exactly. Now that all the Mogs are visible I can tell that the majority of their forces are scouts, the ones holding onto the krauls and the ones that are following the piken around.

As I watch from my vantage point I can tell that they are trying to set up some kind of trap and that they are trying to use the girl to lure someone in, likely Number Four who I know goes by John Smith in this town. It isn't until I figure that out that it clicks in my mind that I have seen that girl before, she was in the video with John, she was the girl that he jumped out of a burning building with. It was hard to recognize her with all that blood at first but now it makes sense why they believe that using her will draw him in, he must care for her if he is willing to risk his own safety by doing something so reckless. So why wouldn't he recklessly come rushing in to save her.

The Mogadorian that was giving orders takes her inside and they are likely trying to find a secure place to keep her, but also close by to use as leverage for when he finally decides to show up.

There isn't much that I can do for her at this time without blowing my cover and potentially losing my chance of finding and helping Four before the Mogs get to him, so I decide to instead head to the rooftop of the school and to start scouting out what we are actually up against here.

XXXXXXXX

I have been going for almost an hour now. I know that I am getting closer to Paradise, just a couple more miles to go. Once I will be able to see the town I can start to slow down so as not to draw attention to myself undesirably, this will give me the ability to put my plans into motion and to scout out what I am up against.

Seeing the dim lights of the town I bring my speed down to manageable levels, and begin to move towards the forest that I know will keep me obscured and get me to the school the fastest. I get to the tree line without issue and begin my process of slowly wading through the forest taking my time so as to not get caught. Not knowing what to expect, I make sure that my dagger is strapped to my right wrist and that my bracelet is still firmly affixed to my left. Not knowing how much time they have been able to prepare or how many of them there are but I am hoping that it is a small enough force that I can quickly make my way through them get to Sarah and then quickly get out.

Unfortunately, battle plans never survive contact with your enemies and the real world retaliates with a blow you never see coming.

XXXXXXXX

An hour has passed since I started my reconnaissance of the Mog's forces and strategy for handling a fight up against a Loric that has been growing in strength. Apparently, they are waiting on further forces to arrive and are planning on using the piken and krauls that they already have here on-site to do as much damage as they can while more Soldiers can arrive with even more piken and krauls.

They have two piken right now, one that is in the woods with roughly fifteen Mogs, and five krauls. Two of the Mogadorians are Soldiers, they are larger than their scout counterparts. Normally only the Soldiers wield swords but in that entire group, I don't see a single one without one. There are two to four Mogs to each kraul depending on the group scouring through the woods, while also providing the ability to flank any opposing forces that may arise. The other is inside the school, they had to tear down some walls to get it inside. They are keeping that one inside to stay hidden and to be able to directly hold off John from getting to the girl. With that one inside there are about thirty Mogs and ten krauls, another twenty scouts scour outside the school but still on the grounds with two krauls divided between them split up as they are guarding the perimeter.

I couldn't get too close because of the krauls they have positioned around the classroom they have her in, but I know where they are keeping her at least.

I move on to get back to my vantage point on the roof, so that way I can help Four out when he arrives. I can feel it in the wind. John is close, really close.

I barely even get settled into position on the rooftop when I hear it. A roar coming from the woods. The roar of a piken.

XXXXXXXX

I am getting close to the exit of the woods now and not even a mile away from the school when I notice something is wrong. I can hear some shuffling and sniffing, and it's then that I notice the faint reverberation of footsteps coming my way.

I can hear slight high-pitched yipping sounds as though coming from small animals. The sounds are muffled, though obviously growing louder. Something fast-moving coming my way. I can see a short weasel-like creature, the same ones that I saw in my vision of the fall of Lorien. The same ones I witnessed going after and slaughtering the children.

Quickly I snatch it off the ground with my telekinesis, and with straight brute force, I compact its body killing it instantly. It doesn't give off a noise before dying but that doesn't stop a couple more barks of Mogadorian and running steps coming my way, seeing no other option I light my Lumen to better see my foes.

Immediately I can see ten huge figures, in long black trench coats, and black hats. They're carrying long gleaming swords. Along with them are two more weasels all coming towards me, Lumen shining bright on them. The Mogs stop and cover their eyes shielding them from the Light. The weasels though leap at me unimpeded covering the rest of the distance to me.

They move much slower in comparison to me as I snatch the left one out of the air and crush it with my bare hands, while with my dagger is skewer the other one spilling blood and guts all over me. I am not quite fast enough though as the Mogs have gathered their bearings and have moved within striking range with their swords.

I try my best to back away but before I have a chance ten different blades are coming my way all at once, but even with my enhanced abilities I know I can't dodge them all. Thankfully my bracelet activates just before one of the Mogadorian's swords cuts into my right forearm, deflecting the blade away. With a shout, I use my telekinesis and shape it as if it was shielding me in the form of a bubble and I push the Mogs away from me. Only having a second before they are on me again, I grit my teeth and glare at them.

I dash forwards and swing my dagger for the two closest of them catching them in my sweeping attack they turn to dust. Then with another burst of telekinesis, I push the seven of them to stumble back while one is able to keep his bearings he comes to meet me swinging his sword my way poised to cut me in half.

I move in to meet him and allowing my bracelet to deflect the attack, I attempt to run him through with my dagger. But just as I'm about to a jolt of pain flares up from my leg. I grit my teeth through the pain and follow through and pierce the Mogadorian's chest turning him to ash. I look over to my calf for what's causing the pain. There I find a dagger similar to the swords that the Mogs carry sticking out of me. Looking to my left I see one of the Mogs looking at me with a savage grin on his face, arm extended like he had just thrown a knife, the same knife now impaled within me.

Basic first aid told me to leave the knife in me until I could properly stop the flow of blood, and tend to the wound.

My back against a figurative wall and my mobility now hampered, I activate Aevitas. With time slowed down, they don't stand a chance anymore. I use my telekinesis to grab ahold of a sword that lay abandoned from the Mog I just killed, and with it, I cleave the head off of every Mog nearby me.

Out of breath, exhausted, and bleeding I turn off my Legacies. Forgetting until I do so that I still had my Lumen running, now in complete darkness, I sit down to try and catch my breath.

But just as I do I can hear some laughter no doubt coming from more Mogs. Then comes the sound of multiple sets of footsteps, accompanied by the thunderous rhythmic beat of heavy footfalls coming right for me. Something large is coming towards me alongside the Mogs, and I know that I'm about to fight for my life.

XXXXXXXX

All I can do is watch. The beast stops in the very center of the small clearing I've found myself in, just a mere thirty feet away from me. I look at it fully for the first time. A looming figure, hazy in the dark and the cold of the night. Taller and bigger than the beast at the school, forty feet, standing upright on two hind legs. Thick, gray skin stretched tightly over slabs of bulging muscle. No neck, its head sloped so that its lower jaw protrudes farther out than its upper. A set of fangs points towards the sky, another set points to the ground, dripping drool. Long, thick arms hang a foot or two above the ground even while the beast stands straight, giving it the appearance of slightly leaning forward. Yellow eyes. Round disks at the sides of its head that pulsate with the beating of its heart, the only sign that it has any sort of heart at all.

It leans forward and brings its left hand to the ground. A hand, complete with stubby short fingers with claws like a raptor, claws meant to rip apart anything they touch. It sniffs at me and roars. An ear-splitting roar that would have pushed me backward if I weren't already against a tree.

Just as I think it's about to pounce on me, something incredible happens. I can see a sort of red lightning arcing above the creature's head before it connects with the beast's head. A shriek escapes its massive jaw as it jerks about and incredibly it disappears briefly before I can see its skeleton as it was being electrocuted by the red lightning. The lightning doesn't let up though and in just a matter of seconds, it topples over dead.

Following the creature five Mogs and two weasels come into the clearing. The weasels try their best to escape the hold their masters have on them to get to me. I groan as the pain in my leg flares up when I try and stand briefly before I get my bearings, knowing that I have little choice I prepare myself to use Aevitas again. Their laughter reaches me as they catch sight of me resting against the trunk of a tree thinking they have me right where they want me. I turn on Aevitas and use one of the swords still in the clearing and I bisect them all with it. They turn to ash immediately, fight over with I let my legacy drop, and just as I am about to relax a person appears right in front of me. Startled I turn on Aevitas and move quickly getting in range before dropping it once again to see what I am up against.

When the person turns around to face me I am shocked when I see the face of a girl above the glow of my hands I see a face slightly older than mine. Hazel eyes that also look grey as the glow of my hands reflect off her eyes, high cheekbones, long dark hair pulled into a ponytail, a wide mouth and strong nose, olive-toned skin. I can't take my eyes off of her, she is beautiful.

I smile, understanding now that she was the one to stop the beast using a legacy to stay hidden while killing it. The same Legacy my grandfather had. Invisibility. The ability to make those things he touches invisible as well, like the house on Henri's second day of work.

I don't doubt that she is one of us, that she is another one of the nine. I can feel it, that she is Garde.

XXXXXXXX

Invisibility already active I fly as fast as I can towards the roar of the piken, in record time I am hovering just above the treeline and most importantly right above the piken.

Dropping down atop the beast with my hands glowing as red lightning sparks between them. I grasp onto its head and watch as its head jerks and spasms trying desperately to get away but finding no escape. Because I was able to get its head with minimal effort there is no chance of the piken being able to respond quickly or appropriately to knock me off of it. I watch as like me it goes invisible but with the lightning coursing through it I can see its skeleton thrashing about spasming.

Mere seconds later it crumples to the ground, its lifeless body spasms as the remnants of my lightning still courses through it. While still using both my flight and invisibility Legacies I simply hover over the top of the piken when it crumples to the ground.

Using three different Legacies in conjunction together is very taxing but my options to take it down were pretty limited to begin with. So taking it out of the fight immediately was necessary for our chances of victory without sustaining grave injury in the process.

Dropping to the ground next to the beast I turn off all but my invisibility, and just in the nick of time too. Five Mogs and two krauls come sprinting into the clearing following the trail left by the piken on its journey towards whatever caught its attention. One kraul yips and pulls on its leash towards me and the other pulls try to get beyond me picking up what I can only guess is a scent.

Hearing a groan come from behind me I whirl around to see John the blond guy from the video whom I believe to be Four sitting there with a diamond dagger attached to his hand while another sticking out of his calf, this one paler than the other and I recognize it as a Mogadorian dagger. I managed to stop the piken a mere thirty feet away from reaching him.

The Mogs have caught sight of him as well, hearing their laughter I turn back to face them to try and protect John only to see a pile of ash where they had stood mere seconds ago. Too shocked to think straight I let my invisibility drop and turn to face him again only to see him standing a foot away from me looking down at me with a shocked smile on his face.

He's so close that I can't help but notice how much larger he is than I am, not only does he tower over me at my five foot eight inches. He is also very well-built, well-toned muscles with broad shoulders. He is like an oak tree bearing over me.

"Who are you?" I hear him say to me. His voice is soft but firm, and I feel a hint of familiarity almost like I recognize it.

It takes me a couple of seconds before my brain catches up to what just happened and nearly tripping over my own words I manage to respond.

"A...Avice, but you can call me Number Six or just Six if you prefer?" I stutter at first, some nervousness bleeding out before I regain my confidence. "What legacy do you have that lets you decimate Mogs like that so quickly? I didn't even notice you doing so until it was all over."

"I go by John right now, and I am Number Four," Four now introduced as John says. "And that was my legacy Aevitas, it allows me to slow time to a fair degree. I just used one of the Mog's swords and simply cut them in half. It's actually quite taxing especially with all the damage if sustained so far."

It isn't until he says so that I am reminded of his wounds and the knife sticking out of his leg.

"Are you okay? We should definitely get your leg looked at," I express some concern over his obvious wound and his paleness stands out against his naturally tanned skin.

"Do you have your chest?" I press on. "Is your Cêpan still alive? Is there anywhere we can go nearby to better help treat your wounds?"

"Henri my Cêpan is coming, I don't know exactly how long it will take him. I ditched him an hour ago and ran straight here alone to try and save Sarah, my girlfriend. So he will probably still be half an hour away at best. And if we have anything to help me in the chest I don't know about it and even then that's with Henri. The best I can do to stop the blood loss is to get something on my arm and leave the knife where it is," There is a twinge in my chest when he mentions a girlfriend but I get distracted when John tears off a sleeve of his shirt before handing it over to me. "Help me with this, would you? I can't quite do it myself," motioning towards the dagger in his leg.

"I can get this knife out of you and cauterize the entry point if you want? That way we can stop the blood loss and get you starting to heal," I ask him as I start to put pressure near the knife.

"How do plan on doing that? I have Lumen as one of my Legacies and have trained it to the point of being immune to fire," John says with a grimace as I was just about to pull the knife out.

"I could use my lightning to..."

"That would still be generating heat to cauterize it, I would just end up electrocuted," He says with a sigh. "I guess we are going to have to do my original plan and snap the handle off the blade, then we can put a tourniquet over that until Henri arrives."

He's so certain that is the only way to go about this and I haven't been able to come up with any other ideas. So following his lead, I put one hand next to his wound and another on the handle.

"Alright, if you can use your telekinesis to strike at just below the handle, it should break off," He takes a deep breath in before I feel a jerk against the blade and hear a snap as the metal gives way under the pressure.

"You should be good to go now," I tell him once I have finished tieing the tourniquet.

"Time to get back in the fight, thank you for your help by the way. I don't think I would have been able to defeat that monster myself especially with how exhausted I was right then. Are there any more of those beasts by the way? And how did you defeat it so easily?

"If you want to get back in the fight I won't stop you but we need a game plan if we are going to do that. And you're welcome by the way. I have the legacies of elemental control and lightning hands as well as invisibility. So I simply just dropped on top of the piken and got ahold of its head."

"Piken, okay we always just called them beasts that's good to know. What about those smaller weasel-looking ones?" He says.

"Those are krauls, and yes there is one more piken inside the school. I came as quickly as I could once I saw the video of you jumping out of a burning building. The time has come for us to meet up and exterminate the Mogs, to train and grow in power. I arrived here in time to see them setting up a perimeter to try and catch you as you came running in to save that girl...

"You saw Sarah?! Where is she? Is she okay? They took her and are going to kill her if I don't arrive alone."

The desperation on his face is clear, he wants to save this girl at all costs. "I know where she is roughly, I couldn't get to her without blowing my cover, and I am glad that I didn't, or else I wouldn't have got to you in time. I can go invisible and follow you up to the school, you could feign surrender and lure as many in as you can. I would then be able to take down as many as possible with the least amount of effort. They would be surprised enough by some of their numbers dropping from an unknown foe that you could finish off the rest of them. Then we can tag-team the last piken, and then get your friend out of there."

"That sounds like a good plan to me, let's hope for the best," John says as he gives me a tight smile.

XXXXXXXX

We head off towards the school, Avice told me that she would be close by and that she would step in if things went south otherwise she was going to find a spot to ambush the Mogs from. It's not far from the entrance to the school from where we were and most of the Mogs have already gathered there. Hearing the commotion caused by our fight in the woods. There are twenty scouts each holding a blaster rifle in their hands, or on their backs in the case of the two that are holding back krauls.

One Mogadorian much larger than the rest of the group even taller than the Soldiers I fought just back in the woods steps forwards. A massive gleaming white sword is strapped to his back.

"John Smith, Loric. I am Xarc Doushrikk trueborn son of General Drarc Doushrikk. You have come for the girl have you not? I told you to come alone and you have that is good. The girl will not be harmed if you come with me and surrender. I shall ignore you attacking my men and killing one of my piken so long as you comply," His voice is grating, it is both deep and guttural, a savage grin on his face. I had never heard one speak before but it sends a chill down my back hearing him talk so casually.

"Can I at least see her one more time before you take me away? So that I may say goodbye?" I ask wanting to both see her and stall so that Avice can get into a comfortable position to strike down as many as possible.

"If you let my men shackle you and put you in one of our vehicles I will allow you to see her one last time," His smirk never leaving his face.

I don't quite believe him when he says this and before I can respond there is a red light that appears next to the Mogadorian that goes by Xarc. I recognize it as the same light that appeared next to the piken's head before Avice killed it, and thinking she is about to kill him too I grin. That was a mistake, the Mog catches my grin and spins around quickly. He goes to dodge away from the red crackling lightning but it follows him as he tries to flee. He shouts as the lightning connects but it isn't the instant kill I was hoping for. He groans and struggles to his feet and before Avice can close the distance the scouts have open fired on her position and my own. The Mogs holding onto the krauls release their hold as they pull out their blasters.

I jump backward my bracelet shimmering into existence blocking a handful of blaster shots as I use my telekinesis to pull Avice to me. I may not have been able to see her but I could tell where she was and therefore was able to get a grip on her.

"I'm fine John, kill as many as you can I'll focus on this one," Avice says breaking free from my grip as she grabs Xarc with her telekinesis throwing him into the air before meeting him up there, both turning invisible and disappearing.

Now in a twenty-two versus one situation, I prepare myself for an uphill battle when a loud screech is heard from above me. Thinking a new Mogadorian creature has arrived I am caught off guard when a Golden Eagle comes in dive-bombing the two weasels taking them in its talons before ripping their heads off with its razor-sharp beak.

"Hadley! Is that you?" I shout to the bird, no other option comes to mind of why an eagle of all things comes to my rescue.

Not having the luxury of waiting for a response I turn back to the now twenty enemies. I turn on my Lumen and point it at as many of the Mogadorians as I can I go sprinting away towards the piled-up vehicles in the parking lot to try and get some cover. My leg nearly buckling underneath me due to the pain in my calf, I just barely get to cover without getting hit. Blaster shots go flying around me, slamming into cars and hitting my shield when they are close to my head where I sit. A handful attempt shooting at the eagle that has now taken to dive-bombing them, the bird trying its best to claw out their eyes.

A roar coming from the school catches my attention and it is so loud that it nearly deafens me as another piken and easily twenty more Mogadorians come flooding out of the school.

Using my telekinesis I grab two cars that are parked in the lot and throw them at the growing pile of Mogadorians. Thankful more now than ever that Henri drilled hard work into me from a young age. The cars act more as a distraction than a lethal projectile, I manage to kill five Mogs with them but succeeded by cutting off a direct line of sight to me from the largest threat.

Hadley no longer pestering the Mogs flies above the piken before mid-dive starts to transform. He starts to grow from his small form, into a massive creature and tackles the beast to the ground before getting back up and planting his feet. Looking over at him his feathers have fallen away, replaced by oblong scales. He looks like a dragon, but without the wings. His body is thick with muscle. Jagged teeth and claws, horns that curl like a ram's. Thicker than the beast, but far shorter. Looking every bit as menacing. Two giants on opposite sides of the clearing, roaring at one another.

The beast swings. A hammer swing that starts in the clouds and pours down with brutality. Hadley blocks it with his horns and then charges before the beast can swing again. A colossal collision just outside the school with cars all around acting like a ring for the two massive beasts. Hadley thrusts up, and sinks his teeth into the beast's side. The beast knocks him back. Both of them so quick that it defies all logic. Bleeding gashes already down the sides of each.

While they fight, I turn back to the Mogadorians. A few were smart enough the try and encircle me to try and pin me down. Fortunately for me though there were only twelve of them. I grab the closest car to me with my telekinesis and slam it down atop three of them before swinging it in an arc around me. Two more follow suit, blaster fire has started and while their aim is impressive I am both quicker than they are even hindered as I am and I have my bracelet to further add to my protection. Using the car as another layer of defense I pull it in close and plant it into the ground. Then with telekinesis, I pull the car's doors off its hinges and wing them towards the Mogs. Far quicker than me using a car to hit them, I take out four of them, instantly crumbling to dust as the door passes through them. Three left, I leap over the car, and grabbing one I use him as a shield from the blaster fire coming from his allies. Turning to ash in my hands I jump sideways and grasp the last two Mogs in my telekinetic grip, crushing them to death a second later. Now free from blaster fire I turn back to the fight of monsters.

The beast is still upright on two legs while Hadley must fight on four. The beast makes a charge. Hadley lowers his head and they smash into one another. Somehow the beast ends up on top. It sinks its teeth deep in Hadley's throat. It thrashes, trying to tear his throat out. Hadley twists under the beast's bite but he can't shake free. He tears at the beast's hide with his paws but the beast doesn't let go.

I am about to try and force the beast to let go when an arc of red lightning slams into the beast's side. It howls in pain letting go of Hadley. The beast snaps at the air and swings its fist trying to stop the pain it feels, but finding nothing it turns back to Hadley who lays at its feet. Looking at him now, he begins to change again, shrinking down to his normal size, while remaining lifeless.

Using Aevitas I slow time down. This time feels a little different than normal but I can't quite tell why and I don't have the luxury of trying to figure it out. Mid run to the beast I take my dagger off my right hand and strap it to my left. That way I can use my dominant hand to punch it as hard as I can and while I didn't have a plan other than punching it I wasn't expecting it when the beast's head explodes upwards from where I hit under its chin. I put my all into the punch and my efforts show when its whole head is ripped off its body and goes flying. Blood spraying everywhere as I realize that I stopped using my Aevitas legacy after that punch connected.

Mogadorians all around me are stunned to silence, blood everywhere, and a piken's head lays next to its slowly disintegrating body. I take note of the slightly more than a dozen Mogs around me and as I'm about to try and fight more, a sense of nausea overwhelms me. Toppling to the ground, whatever was in my stomach from earlier in the day comes out of me. I lose my hearing and everything is so disorientating, I must have pushed my Legacies too far. I don't know how long the nausea lasts but eventually, I'm able to get my bearings.

All around me are piles of ashes, the piken I killed had even disintegrated by this point. I can see Avice a short distance away, struggling to get up I stumble over to her. She rests on her knees next to a bloody German Shepard.

"Hadley! Hadley are you..." Before I can ask anything, or check up on him I hear the roar of an engine and the spinning tires on asphalt and gravel.

Whipping around expecting more Mogadorian SUV's I'm both surprised and elated to see Henri's truck pulling into the school's parking lot. Putting the truck in park Henri comes flying out and nearly tackles me to the ground in his attempt to get to me.

"You stupid stupid boy," Henri says as he pulls my head into his shoulder, I can hear a tightness in his voice. "You could have died, and for what a girl you just met."

"I'm fine Henri and I know I messed up but I had to try," turning back to Avice I can see more blood on her than wounds. "Did you find her?" I ask her.

She nods her head but doesn't say anything. Something isn't right.

"Where is she Six?" A sense of despair fills me as she doesn't respond, it is then that I notice all the blood on her. "Where did all this blood come from Six?" My voice growing louder, more desperate.

"I was too late John, she was already gone by the time I got there," She says, and I can hear the regret in her voice that she has to be the one to tell me before turning Henri. "You're Henri right?" Her voice is light and strained. "Help him in there would you, he's pretty weak right now and shouldn't be alone. He'll need help seeing her. She's in the home economics room."

Henri looks at me before sighing, he loops his arm around my side and helps bring me to my feet. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Sam, he's looking over at the school. I can't see his face all that well other than the tears streaming down his cheeks.

We make it into the room, blood everywhere. I already know what I am going to find, the tears prematurely coming down my face and when we find her body I break. Her body is mutilated like they started with torturing her to get information before growing bored and running out of time so they just killed her.

I sit there hugging her lifeless body to my own wailing at the loss of an amazing life, of the person I had hoped to eventually spend my life with. The person I came to love.

There is some shouting from outside that draws Henri's attention sometime later, telling me he'll be back soon I am left alone.

I spend a few more minutes alone with her remembering all the times we spent together. All the things we talked about wanting to do in our lives the things we wanted to see. Kissing her forehead I say goodbye for the last time. Getting up I decide here and now that I will never allow someone I care for die again. I will stop at nothing to kill EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!

XXXXXXXX

Coming outside I find even more piles of ash than before. A bloody Sam and Henri over the top of him applying pressure to a wound in his side.

'No no no no not again not Sam, not already,' I scream mentally as I go running over to Sam and Henri. "Is he going to be okay? Will he make it?"

"Yes thankfully it wasn't a deep cut, Sam was grabbing the chest to get the healing stone in there when he was jumped by some Mogadorian scouts. A handful of them were hiding out trying to find an opening and once Sam pulled the chest out of the truck they decided then was a good idea. They managed to get the chest out of Sam's hands and stab him before taking off. Six flew off after them but she hasn't returned yet."

"They got the chest? Why they can't access it can they?" The panic overwhelmed the simmering rage that I was feeling before coming out the school doors to see this mess.

"I don't know John, they shouldn't be able to but who knows. Let's focus on Sam first," I nod and look down to Sam who has his eyes closed with a grimace on his face. "Light your Lumen and focus on the light coming from just your pointer finger. After that think of it growing hotter. We will need it to cauterize his wounds."

Doing what Henri says after a minute of concentration I manage to light just my finger. Then focusing on imagining my finger getting hot, it eventually sparks like a blowtorch before I manage to turn down the heat. Holding Sam still, we manage to get his wounds cauterized and then we move him into the bed of the pickup.

Henri and I spend the next half an hour going over all my various wounds nearly all of it is spent in silence. After pulling the dagger out and while Henri stitches the wound closed, I begin to imagine what I will do to the next Mog I see. With the knowledge that I can light my finger on fire and control it, the only thing on my mind is the limitless possibilities of what I will be able to do with more practice.

Avice arrives shortly after Henri finishes going over all my wounds descending to the ground with some grace but lacking some control.

"Were you able to track them down?" Henri says when she sets down.

She shakes her head before sitting down on the pickup next to Sam and I. "I tried to find them but I lost sight of them in the trees. They must be taking it to one of their bases. And the only base that I know of is in West Virginia. It is very possible they took it there."

"How do you even know where the cave is?" I ask her.

"That's a long story," she says. "Probably one better left for the road."

"The dark stars must have surely fallen on us this day," Henri says.

"What.. what did you just say?" We all turn to look at Sam staring at him for a second before Henri repeats himself.

"John, you told me that my dad was a greeter right? And if my dad left something behind, something that maybe could help us. Like what you guys came here for in the first place, I think I know how to find it. When I was seven, he told me that my future was mapped on the sundial. I would ask him what he was talking about, and he'd just say that if the dark stars ever fell, I was supposed to find the Ennead and read the map by my birth date on the sundial."

"What's an Ennead?" Avice asks.

"It's a group of nine deities in Egyptian mythology."

"Nine?" Avice asks. "Nine deities?"

"And what sundial?" I ask.

"It's starting to make sense to me now," Sam says. "I used to get so frustrated because he was always saying all this weird stuff that only he understood. A few months before he disappeared, my dad dug a well in our backyard and he said it would collect the rainwater from the gutters and whatever; but after the concrete was poured, he put this elaborate-looking sundial on the stone lid. Then he stood looking down at the well and he said to me. 'Your future's mapped on the sundial, Sam.'"

"And you never checked it out?" Henri asks.

"Sure I did. I twisted the sundial around, trying my date and time of birth and a few other things, but nothing ever happened. I thought it was just a stupid well with a sundial on it after a while.

"Let's go check out this sundial of yours Sam while we still can," I say.

A.N. Thanks again to all of you enjoying this story of mine. I plan on writing for as long as I have ideas but I don't know when or how often I will be putting out new chapters so please bear with me as I try and find a comfortable pace for myself. And sorry for the sudden character death, I felt that if I did it now. It would further help propel his growth just like it did in the official series.