DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Lorien Legacies
**Hey, guys. Chapter 10! I decided to go from Adam's perspective for only the reason of events. The next four chapters overlap each other at one point, and so at chapter 14 we will see the aftermath of what has happened with the three groups. Also, chapter 9 was updated with a few mistakes that may or may not impact how you visualize this chapter, so feel free to go back and check if necessary. Enjoy!
-Chase
The Time for Ten - Chapter 10
The two groups hold hands and disappear at the same time, leaving only Ella, Malcolm, and I standing there. The area suddenly became quiet. I look first at Malcolm and then at Ella, who're both staring at the ground awkwardly.
"Oh, c'mon, guys! If we're gonna be stuck here guarding the house, lets at least have some fun." I say cheerfully.
I run to the house, and Ella follows on my tail. Malcolm walks in a little more slowly, but stops at door.
"I'm gonna keep watch outside." He tells me.
"Are you sure?" I ask.
"Positive, I'm not great around children." He says in response. He then turns around and walks back to the driveway.
I see a knife sticking out of his back pocket. At least he has a weapon, I say to myself. Then I turn to Ella.
"So, what do you want to do?" I ask her.
"Um... I don't know, actually. I've never really had much downtime. Unless I was with Marina in the orphanage, then I had loads of free time but wasn't allowed to do anything." Ella says.
"Well, um, we could draw?" I say questioningly.
"I hate drawing." Ella responds. "I once tried to draw a cat but Crayton thought it was a potato."
"All-righty then, lets see... How about painting your nails? I can probably make some sort of polish out of berries-"
"I want to train." Ella interrupts me.
"Train?" I say, slightly in surprise.
"Yep, just like we did before, but you versus me, not me versus Two. Malcolm can supervise!" She answers happily.
"If you say so..." I say back questioningly. Ella didn't seem like the type who wanted to train.
Ella and I walk back outside and over to Malcolm, who is sitting against a couple of stacked up chests.
"Ella and I are going to fight each other, for training purposes of course. If we need healing, she can open a chest and grab one of those stones. Can you supervise?" I ask Malcolm.
"I don't see who else would." He replies cooly as he spins around to face the mini arena.
Ella and I step into ready positions. We shake hands and back up about ten feet from each other.
"Ready, set, go!" Malcolm shouts.
Ella charges at me with surprising speed, but I easily dodge her as I was expecting this. I stomp the ground with my right foot, and a miniature earthquake rumbles under her, and she trips and falls. I then pin her to the ground.
Ella looks me dead in the pupils, or at least what she thinks are my pupils. "Rematch." She says strongly.
We each get up and brush off our clothes. We go back to the starting positions and wait for the call.
"Go!" Malcolm yells again.
This time, I charge toward Ella. She sidesteps and I go charging past, but this is just what I wanted. Without the Garde knowing, I had developed another legacy. I'm not sure how, or when, but at some point I was given the ability to go antigravity. I'm also not sure if this was supposed to be one of One's powers and if I stole it from her, or if One will develop it in the future. I've been hoping it's the second option. I run up the side of the house and climb onto the roof. I look down to see Ella and Malcolm staring at me, mouths open and both in awe.
"That's right, I forgot to tell you I developed a new legacy." I say with a grin.
I jump over the edge and flip my gravity to the wall again, and then I jog down the wall to the ground, and then back over to Ella.
"When did you develop that?" She asks excitedly.
"After I escaped Palm Island with the Chimaeras." I answer.
"That long! Why didn't you tell us?" Ella asks, clearly surprised.
"I wanted to make it strong, to build it up to a level of Garde worthiness." I say.
"Wait, how did you develop a legacy if you're a Mog?" She asks suspiciously.
"I have no idea, but I'm worrying that I accidentally stole it from One since I'm connected to her and all." I reply.
Suddenly Ella closes her eyes in concentration. She looks up at me with a startled expression. "John just told me there're Mogs on the way." She says grimly.
xxxxx
A half hour later, everything has been packed into the car. We placed Three and James in the back, and all nine chests and the two Chimaera left, Dust and BK, in the trunk. Malcolm had found a knife bag and stored all of the knives in it, except for three which each one of us took as a last precaution. When we are sure we have everything, we hop in the car and take off, heading toward Paradise.
"I'm sorry we didn't get to train more." I say to Ella.
"It's okay, I think getting out of that place was more important." She responds.
We keep driving in silence for another five minutes.
"Shit." Malcolm mutters under his breath.
"What is it?" I ask, searching the landscape for signs of Mogs.
"I left the tablet in John's dresser." He answers solemnly.
"Turn around, quick! We have to get it before the Mogs!" I yell.
Malcolm does so and floors the pedal. We go flying at ninety miles per hour back the way we came. We get there to see that nothing is changed. Malcolm sighs and I hop out of the car. I race inside and up the stairs to John's bedroom and grab the tablet, which is still there. I let out a sigh of my own. As I am going back down the stairs, I hear a faint beeping. I look up to see a black rectangle duct taped to the ceiling fan. On the timer it reads five-seconds. My eyes widen and I charge out of the house, faster then I've ever run.
"Start the car!" I scream fearfully.
Ella chucks a light blue square the size of an iPhone in my direction. It lands a foot behind me, and then the house explodes. I fall to my knees and cover my ears, dropping the tablet to the ground. I'm anticipating death, but it never comes. I turn around to see a giant blue wall, ten feet tall by twelve feet wide, standing behind me. It's midpoint is right where the square was. I turn back to the car to see Ella standing outside of it and Malcolm inside. Ella has a look of relief on her face and Malcolm looks like he just shit-himself.
"How'd you know?" I ask Ella.
"Before Crayton had died, he showed my what was in Marina's chest and how it worked... I'm not supposed to tell anyone what they do until she needs them. That cube creates a wall when the thrower has a chance of being hit by something." She explains.
The cube then retracts and we see whats left of the house. Rubble. We walk over to see that nothing is left but smoke in the air and a couple metal pieces here and there. I notice the shower rod is laying on the ground. Both ends were bent during the explosion to create sharp points. In total, it's about seven feet long. I've always wanted to learn to use a staff, I think to myself. That's when Ella screams.
I turn around and see an army of around two-hundred Mogs marching toward us. Ella has a cannon shot wound on her leg, and it's gushing blood. Malcolm drags Four's chest to her, and she opens it. Malcolm places the healing stone on the wound and Ella winces, but bears through the pain. I start to charge the Mogs. They begin to blast at me, but I duck, roll, and sidestep out of the way. I leap into the air and smash down to the ground to send a huge earthquake towards them, and almost all of them are knocked off their feet. I spin and slash and slice with my new pipe, ash falling around me everywhere. Malcolm and Ella finally run up to join me. Malcolm and I advance forward while Ella takes care of the stragglers. When the two of us finish off the last couple Mogs, we turn around. What we see is not what we expect.
Ella's wrists are tied together with rope, as well as her ankles. Her mouth is covered with tape, and she is being held by a massive Mog, but I know this Mog. His name is Rex, Rexicus Saturnus.
"I thought I might see you here." Rex says to me.
"I thought you were trying to help me out?" I ask him weakly.
"That was when you couldn't do much damage." He answers. "Now, I've come to take back the rightful heir of our beloved Setråkus Ra, and leave you two to perish." Rex waves his free hand and he disappears in a cloud of black dust.
"Is he dead?" I ask.
"No. There is a rare ability only a small number of Mogs can develop, and that is teleportation." Malcolm answers.
"Why do you always remember these things after the events where they occur?" I question frustratedly.
There's two things I notice in the next ten-seconds. One, there's another bomb falling from the sky, ready to detonate on impact. Two, the blue cube is laying where the feet of Rex was before. Ella is smarter than we give her credit for. Malcolm and I charge forward as the bomb flies toward the ground. Malcolm and I belly dive past the cube, and I chuck it a few feet back. It expands just as the bomb hits the ground, and I hear Malcolm scream in pain.
xxxxx
The six of us grab hands, and Kal teleports us away to the Paradise welcome sign. Immediately we are greeted by Mog blasts, but Six quickly shuts them up with her telekinesis. In the field to our right, I notice a ten set up about four-hundred yards away. You can faintly hear noise coming from inside of it.
"You four stay here behind the sign; Six and I will sneak up invisibly and catch what they're saying. Come fight if we need help, I think the signal will be pretty obvious." I explain.
Everyone nods in agreement and I take Six's hand, and together we stalk up to the tent. It is about fifty by forty feet and perfectly white. I hear the sounds more clearly now. It sounds like clinking glasses and broken cable connections, you know, like the static sound. We find a flap and sneak through it, careful not to make major movements to drag attention. Inside are about fifty or so Mogs. In the front on a stage is one Mog I really was hoping to not see, Setråkus Ra.
"Tonight," He starts, "we will capture my heir once again, and we will attack the Garde coming here for the Life Crystal. The army stationed in the Himalayas are also awaiting the arrival of Garde members. Hopefully, tonight will end this war. Thanks to our new general, Rexicus Saturnus, we have placed bugs on the third defect, Gregor Sutekh, and have received all the information on what and where the Garde are doing. They may have fixed Five, but I sincerely doubt they'll figure out about Gregor." Setråkus Ra finishes.
Six pulls me back outside. "Call Ella, now." She whispers.
I focus my mind and reach out to her. I feel her mind answer. Ella? The Mogs are coming to get you. Be prepared.
Okay! I hear her respond.
"All set." I say to Six.
Then I focus harder than before, and I call out to Marina. Pick up, pick up! I think to myself. Then I feel her mind answer.
John? She asks.
Mar! Gregor has bugs on him, get them off, quick! The Mogs have been expecting us and you too. Also, they are going after Ella. I explain.
Oh god. Keep me updated. She responds, then our connection dies.
"I just told Mar about Gregor and Ella." I tell Six, forgetting to whisper.
A Mog pokes his head out of the tent hole and Six and I freeze to the spot. We quietly stare at him as he looks around for where the voice came from, and then he slips back inside. I quietly sigh in relief. Then, out of the other corner of the tent, Setråkus Ra steps out while on a cell phone. We edge closer to hear his conversation.
"You're almost there? Good." Setråkus starts. "No, I don't care about Malcolm, I want Adamus dead and Ella under our captivity." He pauses again to listen to the other caller. "She can bring back the legacies using assegai manipulation. If I can control her, we can use that to our advantage. Plus, they need her and Pittacus's heir to defeat me. They also need the talisman, but they'll never find its center stone." I realize he is talking about the talisman I'm wearing, the one Henri told me about. That means I didn't originally have the talisman, and Henri either found it or was given it. If it holds part of the power to defeat Setråkus... Then it was once owned by Pittacus. Setråkus opens his mouth to speak. "Number Seven knows the location, but she was told at a young age. I doubt she will ever remember." So that's her connection to the talisman, she has the hidden center stone. Then I realize where it is. Mar's chest has a red stone on the top, while the rest of us have loralite. "Even if the others figure out where it is, only Number Seven can remove it! It has the same release structure as the Life Crystals." Ra adds. We need to regroup soon after we collect these two crystals. It will make us one step closer to winning this war. Then I realize something huge. Ella isn't the only one needed to defeat Setråkus Ra. I'm the only one that the talisman works on. I am part of the key to defeating Setråkus.
My mind is racing from all these thoughts, and it causes me to step on a dried leaf. Setråkus Ra flips around and stares in our direction, eyes squinting. "I have to go." He says and hangs up the phone. He slowly walks toward us, staring at our exact location. Six and I carefully step back, one foot at a time. We are moving at the same pace as Ra, so he never gets any closer. We pass by the flap we originally entered from, and Setråkus stops in front of it.
"I know there is a Garde right there." He says and points directly at us. "But, now is not the time to fight." He finishes and ducks into the tent.
Six and I spin around and bolt to the others, careful not to make any more sound. We reach them, and Six explains what we just learned. In the meantime, I call out to Marina. She doesn't pick up for about a minute, but then I feel her mind in mine.
What is it? I'm in the middle of a fight, and it's hard to concentrate while fighting. She tells me.
The stone on your chest. I need it to fully power the talisman, and the talisman is another key, besides Ella, to defeating Setråkus. I tell her.
Well, that'll have to wait till I grab this crystal and then yours. She says forcefully, clearly struggling to keep connection.
Okay. Good luck. I send to her.
You too. She says and mentally hangs up.
Next I call out to Ella. She answers immediately, and she's in a panic.
They caught me again! They dropped a bomb on Malcolm and Adam, but I left a Lorien wall thingy to help them. Adam is fine but from what I see Malcolm is badly hurt. Ella tells me in a panic.
Don't panic! Just... Leave it to us. We will get you back after the Life Crystals. Until then, keep safe, and don't tell the Mogs anything. Promise? I ask.
Promise. She responds and hangs up.
I turn toward the others who're looking at me expectantly.
"Marina's group is in a fight. She couldn't tell me much cause fighting while using telepathy is difficult. Ella is kidnapped again, and she was forced to watch a bomb drop on Adam and Malcolm. She says Adam is fine, but she's not sure about Malcolm." I say solemnly, looking at Sam for the last part.
He crouches to the ground with his hands in his hair. "Dammit!" He yells.
"Quiet down!" Six says to him. "I know it's hard, but there are creatures over there that are plenty happy to kill us right now."
Sam nods and gives a little sniff.
"So what's the next move?" Sarah asks.
"We need to find that crystal. Once we locate it, we wait until Marina gives us the all clear. Then we can run to it and have Eight teleport here with the group. Then we protect Marina while she grabs the stone, and we can all escape." I explain.
"Do we each have any specific jobs?" Kal asks. It's the first time she has spoken since we spotted Gregor.
"Actually, I'd like you and Six to scout ahead. Six can make you both invisible, and then you'd teleport to the well." I tell her.
"Sounds good to me. C'mon." She holds her hand out to Kal.
She takes it and they disappear, both from sight and the area.
"So should we head into town?" I say.
The four of us start to walk to town.
"So this is where the mighty John Smith grew up..." One says aloud.
I laugh. "Yep, also Sam and Sarah."
"When did you tell them you were an alien?" She asks.
"Well, they say me use my lumen during an attack by the football team, and that led to Sam holding me at gunpoint. Sarah gradually figured it out and pieced it together just before a huge fight against the Mogs at the school. A few minutes after that is when Six came in." I explain.
"Interesting..." One says and takes in her surroundings.
We are beginning to hit the neighborhoods. I'm surprised we haven't been attacked. That's when I see it; my house.
It is still old and dilapidated, but it's filled with so many memories. It's where I developed telekinesis and lumen, and where I met BK. It's also the spot where I cremated Henri. This house means a lot to me. I would want to go inside, but I bet all my legacies it's booby-trapped.
"Lets not go inside." I say, holding Sarah back.
She nods in understanding and we continue walking. A small pond comes up on our right, and around it are multiple geese. Some honk as we walk by. Then I hear a gunshot.
We spin around to see Agent Purdy thirty feet away with a pistol in his hand. Of course, the government agent missed.
"Nice to see you again, Purdy." I say and lift him in the air with my telekinesis.
"Did he just call him pretty?" One asks Sarah quietly. Sarah giggles in response. "No, Purdy." She says with emphasis.
"What are you doing here?" I ask him, a stern vibe in my voice.
"J-j-just guarding." Purdy answers.
"Guarding what?" I ask as I push him higher into the air.
"T-the crystals!" He says in a panic.
"Are they in the Goode's well?" I ask.
He nods and glances toward the ground. I lower him a bit. One turns around and scans the area to make sure nobody sneaks up on us. I put Purdy on his feet, but hold him where he is. One and Sarah have gone back-to-back for guard purposes, and Sam is standing over my shoulder.
I'm about to question Purdy further when a dark dust forms out of the corner of my eye. I have just enough time to realize to duck as the barrel of a gun comes swinging at me. Instead of me, the barrel hits Sam and he is knocked out. The suddenly appearing Mog shoots Sarah in the calf and knocks out Kal. He then points the gun at my head.
"Don't move." He says to me firmly.
I drop Purdy and switch my telekinesis to jab the gun into the Mog's skull, and he passes out. Then I hear a gun click.
"Turn around." Purdy says more confidently.
I slowly spin around to see him pointing a gun to a spot right between my eyes.
"It's your turn to feel the pain" He says. Purdy starts to pull the trigger and I prepare for the worst, when suddenly Kal comes flying out of nowhere and slams into Purdy's side. Purdy shoots and hits the unconscious Sam in the arm. He and Kal tussle on the ground, but Kal eventually overpowers him and pins him down. I run over and heal both Sarah and Sam from the gunshots, and then One from being knocked out. Six then also flies out of space, with a Mog cannon, and shoots Purdy square in the head. Everyone but Six looks away from the headless body.
"This was almost the same scenario as with Agent Walker." Six says with a grin. "Well, they're taken care of. The well area is pretty much clear, plus or minus a few Mogs."
"So now we wait for Marina's signal?" Sam asks.
As if waiting for the cue, the five Garde appear beside us. Marina looks rattled and Eight looks as though he will pass out any minute. Nine, Five, and Gregor have cuts and bruises all over.
"Where's Two?" I ask cautiously.
"There's no time to explain now, but we need to go get the other one of these." Nine says, holding up a Life Crystal.
**So I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I wanted to make the Purdy situation with Four similar to the Walker situation with Six to show that the humans are mainly thinking on the same page. Even though we now know that Marina's group was pretty much successful, we are going to see what actually happens in the next chapter, especially with what happens to Two. So please review and I hope you enjoyed!
-Chase