**Thanks for the kind reviews. I will try to keep the chapters long, but that means more time will be needed to write them. Enjoy!
The Time for Ten - Chapter 2
I release my hand and charge up the stairs, leaving Adam with the chests. I see Bernie Kosar laying in a puddle of blood and ash. I race over and my hands instantly start to get their icy feeling. Slowly, BK's gashes close up, and he looks up at me with a wagging tail. Adam walks up the stairs with a chest under each arm, and BK tackles him back down. I reach out to BK with my legacy and tell him that Adam is on our side. Immediately he stops attacking. Something I do notice as I walk down the stairs is that a lock is sitting on the ground, not connected to a chest. Whose chest does that belong to, I frantically think to myself. I flip over the first dropped chest, it's Nine's. The lock is still on. I longingly look over to the second chest. I lean it back, just enough to see it. I scream and start sobbing. It's Eight's chest. Eight is dead. I stand up and point at Adam.
"You came here to help, right? Well, how intense are the Mog's tracking systems?" I start asking. I walk towards him and shake him by the shoulders. "Are there more than just ten Garde?" I finish in a serious note.
Adam nods. "I can program it into a tracking device once we are in a safe spot." He says and gulps.
I peer at him through squinted eyes. "Just because I can't see your pupils doesn't mean I can't sense nervousness." I tell him as I push him back. "We are meeting Sam and some others at the zoo, lets go." I shove a chest into his arms and march toward the stairs, carrying the two full chests that are left with telekinesis.
The two of us climb the stairs to the roof. I look to BK. "Can you change into a bird or something and carry us to the zoo?"
BK glows white and shape-shifts into a huge green bird with a pointed beak and a spiked tail. He squawks and leans his left wing down for us to climb up.
"John, I want you to see this," Adam says and reaches into his pocket. He pulls out six black ants and sets them on the roof.
From left to right, they begin to shape-shift. The first ant turns into an orange cat. The next ant changes into a monkey with white tipped arms, legs, and tail. The third and fourth ants each change into a jay, one a green and one a blue jay. The fifth ant changes into a border collie, and the sixth ant a husky. Chimaeras. Adam found the lost Chimaeras! All six of them jump onto me.
"He's a Loric! Guys, we need to help him!" One of the Chimaera says telepathically.
"Adam... Thank you so much! This is going to help a lot," I say.
"Not to be pushy, but the Mogs are in the elevator," He says in response.
I hear the ding of the elevator and the slapping of boots against tile. The Chimaera turn back into ants and jump into Adam's pocket. I shove Adam up onto BK's back and then I levitate myself up. Adam is still carrying the chest, and I carry the two others. The Mogs start to climb onto the roof as we take off. I shoot a fireball at the staircase with my free hand to stall them, and then we are off on BK's back flying over the city of Chicago.
xxxxx
BK lands us in the zoo's parking lot and we hop off his back. BK shrinks back into his beagle form. Sam and Sarah jump out of a blue Subaru convertible and run toward me. I get a huge hug and a kiss from Sarah; the kiss was magnificent. Sam smiles at my and then notices Adam.
"You're alive!" He says excitedly as he runs off to get his dad.
"Sarah... It's Eight," I pull up my jean leg to reveal my new scar.
"No... No! What happened?" She asks, panicked.
"In my dream... Five, he was in a Mog uniform. I think he was the one who told them where we were, and I think he's the one who killed Eight," I explain.
Sarah hugs me and breathes out deeply. "It's okay. We can still do this." Just then Same and Malcolm come running back.
Malcolm breezes by a hugs Adam, and Adam does back. They hold this for a minute before realizing the three of us standing here awkwardly.
Now that I have everyone's attention again, I roll up my jeans again. "It's Eight." That's all I have to say for the two Goode's to understand.
"Adam, can you hot-wire the tablet to show the extra Garde?" I ask him while handing over the tablet.
"Sure thing, John. Malcolm, want to help? There are more than ten Garde on this planet." Adam explains.
Malcolm nods enthusiastically and follows Adam to the curb to sit on. Sam, Sarah, and I look at each other. We all seem to know what to do at the same time.
Suddenly, the Chimaera bound or fly up to us, all in different forms.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that Adam found the other Chimaera, now with a total of seven." I tell the two happily.
"What're their names?" Sarah asks. "Or, can I help name them?"
I wave my hand toward the Chimaera as a gesture of 'go ahead'. That leaves just Sam and me. I pull him a little farther away from the others.
"I think Six is going to head toward West Virginia. Since the Mogs attacked them by surprise, I think she will want to do the same. I also think that Marina is going to be a little sensitive, so lets watch out for her. As for Nine... Who knows," I tell Sam.
About a half hour later, Adam and Malcolm walk over with the tablet, and the five of us huddle around it with the Chimaera on guard duty. Adam is holding the tablet.
"Okay, I've programmed a couple things into here. First off, it no longer needs to be charged, it runs on the Mog infinite battery. Second, the blue dots indicate the original ten Garde. The green dots show the location of any other Gardes on this planet. Red squares show the location of Mog bases, and purple squares indicate the location of Mog towns. Overall, I think the indicator you'll like the most are the white dots. Those are the location of the fallen Gardes of the ten in legend." Adam explains to us.
There is one blue dot in Chicago, that's me. There is another in West Virginia, and I'm guessing that's Ella. Also in West Virginia are four white dots. The dead Gardes, I think to myself, they're with Ella. Just across the border of Georgia are three blue dots moving slowly. Along with those three dots are two green dots. There are also three more green dots in Maine, two in Oklahoma, and four in California, all of those in groups.
"Six, Marina, and Nine found some more Garde!" Sam says excitedly.
"I heard that these leftover Garde were here from before the battle, and they call themselves numbers also, even though they are not bound to the curse," Malcolm explains.
"They're heading for West Virginia, just like I thought. We need to meet up with them, especially if it means saving Ella," I say.
Sarah and Sam nod in agreement, but Adam looks at me warily.
"Are you sure you're ready?" There are many Mogs in that area.
"I've gone in there twice and come out alive with only three people. I think I can mange it with ten," I tell Adam sternly.
He puts his hands in the air like he's surrendering. "Whatever you say, boss."
We all pile into the car, Sarah driving, me at shotgun, and Sam, Malcolm, and Adam in the back. We stored the Chimaera in the trunk except for BK, who is on my lap and looking out the window. Suddenly Sarah freezes in her motion.
"John," she says steadily, "look behind us."
I do so and my jaw drops.
I guess the Mogs weren't fully done with us after the penthouse.