But no, Oliver realized. The plane did not belong to a foe, but a friend. Because there, on the tail, was a design that Oliver was very familiar with: a hoop with three evenly spaced eyes. The symbol of the School for Seers. Seeing it here, in 1940s Germany, amongst the swastikas, seemed incredibly incongruous. It was almost as if hed conjured it with his mind.

Then Oliver saw something that shocked him to the core. As he looked through the strange cockpit window he discovered that the plane was being flown by none other than Professor Amethyst!

Hitler screamed something in German. Instantly, Oliver heard the sound of soldiers boots. He turned his gaze from the sky to the commotion ahead of him, watching on with terror as the soldiers ran for their weapons. They got into a huddled formation, pointing their guns at the sky, and began to fire at the plane.

NO! Oliver screamed.

The noise was like nothing else. A thousand cracks, each one like a splinter through his eardrums. The gunfire was so loud he could feel it in his bones. There was nothing Oliver could do but cower and pray he wasnt hit in the crossfire. Pray that Professor Amethysts plane withstood the bullets. Pray that he would make it out of this alive.

OLIVER! he suddenly heard a voice cry.

He looked sharply over his shoulder. His brain could not accept what he was seeing. It was too incongruous. It must be a mirage. But no, she was real. There, standing in the shadows, was Esther.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

Everything happened at once. Oliver watched as Walter, Hazel, Simon, and Ralph emerged out of the shadows. They stood in an arrow formation behind Esther.

Oliver had no time to consider how they here or how had they had found him. The only thing his brain could comprehend was that he was still alive when a second earlier his death had seemed like a certainty.

Still sprawled on the floor, his body useless and his powers absent, Oliver felt a surge of gratitude and relief as his friends advanced on the soldiers. He had saved the world, now they would save him.

While the soldiers were all distracted by Professor Amethysts plane, Ralph summoned his powers, directing them upward, and pulled thick, dark clouds across the sky. They rolled in like black waves, suffocating the light. A blinding darkness descended. The sound of gunfire immediately ceased. Without a clear visual on their target, the soldiers had nothing to aim for.

Simon, meanwhile, pulled raindrops from Ralphs clouds. They thundered down in a torrent, instantly soaking Oliver and the rest of the soldiers to the bone.