‘I was thinking of Marina,’ Six says, surveying the scene and seeing immediately that Eight is in no condition to be of help to anyone. I’m honored she wants me to fight alongside her, but I know I’m too weak to stand. ‘Where’s Crayton?’ she asks, looking around.

I’ve been so focused on healing Eight I’d forgotten about him. I whip around just in time to see him digging the Chests out from under some rubble. Then he picks up both Chests and starts to make his way back over to us. Just as Six moves to help, an explosion blows apart whatever was left of the ceiling. Huge chunks of snowy rock fall into the cave, followed by hundreds of bullets. Eight stands over Ella, using his telekinesis to deflect the debris and gunfire. Six starts firing into the exposed sky with the Mog cannon. There’s another explosion high overhead, and a few seconds later a silver ship like the one I saw at the bottom of the pool crashes into the crumbling mountain just above us. A bleeding Mogadorian soldier tries frantically to extricate himself from the cockpit. I struggle to my feet as he punches a hole through the windshield, and before he can pull himself out, I use my telekinesis to bring two boulders up and smash him between them. A cloud of ash floats to the ground.

A rocket enters the cave, blasting the wall nearest Crayton. The panel carving we were all entranced by just moments ago is decimated. Crayton is thrown by the blast and he flies into the middle of the cave, landing next to the blue Loralite stone as the Chests skid across the floor. He isn’t moving. I’m stunned – it all happened so fast.

‘Papa!’ Ella screams.

Even though the walls are crumbling around us, I race with Ella to Crayton’s side. She takes one of his hands. I put mine on his body and close my eyes, trying to find a sign of life. I search for anything to work with, to heal, but there’s nothing.

‘Save him!’ Ella yells at me, her small face twisted in anguish. ‘Marina, please, you can do this! You can fix him!’

‘I’m trying,’ I say, but it comes out as a sob. He’s dead. Her Cêpan is gone.

‘Just concentrate like you did with Eight! You can do it again!’ Ella is frantic, stroking Crayton’s head and petting his hand.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Six charge towards us with her cannon firing into the sky. Eight teleports next to me. He leans over and says, ‘You can fix him. Come on, Marina.’