I start to cry. I can’t do it. I know there is nothing for me to heal, but I try and try to summon my Legacy, pleading for it to work. But Crayton is dead; there’s nothing for my Legacy to connect with. I move my hands to his  crushed chest and stomach. I can feel all of his broken bones beneath my hands. Ella gets behind me and  pushes  on my shoulders, pressing my hands harder onto Crayton.

Six stops shooting and grabs my arm. She looks me in the eye. I shake my head.

Ella falls to her knees, sobbing. She crawls over to Crayton and whispers into his ear, ‘Let Marina fix you. Please don’t go. Please, Papa.’ She looks up at me, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her voice is angry. ‘You didn’t even try, Marina! Why won’t you try?’

I wipe my tears on my shoulders. ‘I tried, Ella. I tried, and there was nothing I could do. He was already gone. I’m sorry.’ I sit back on my heels, but keep my hands on Crayton’s body.

A rocket hits the far wall, separating it completely from the mountain. We know from our walk up that behind the hole is a straight two-thousand-foot drop. Cold wind sweeps in and over us. Eight turns to Six. ‘Give me the cannon. I’ll be right back.’ Six hesitates for a second before handing it to him. Eight disappears, and I look up to see him sprinting along the crumbling lip of the hole, leaping from spot to spot as the rocks crumble away. Even in flight, he never stops shooting. Soon, two silver Mog ships explode into balls of flame.

I keep moving my hands across Crayton, but Six yanks me onto my feet. ‘Stop. He’s gone.’ I look down at Crayton, his rugged face, his bushy eyebrows, and remember the first time I saw him at that café in Spain. I thought he was my worst enemy. Instead, he saved my life. I stretch out my hands to try one more time, but Six hugs me close to her. I feel her tears on my neck. Her lips touch my ear as she whispers, ‘There’s nothing we can do.’

Sobbing, Ella reaches over and grabs Crayton’s left hand. She kisses it and places it against her cheek. ‘I love you, Papa.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ I say again.

She looks up at me and tries to speak, but she can’t. Gently, she lays Crayton’s hand on his chest and strokes it once more before standing. Eight teleports next to us and returns the cannon to Six. Another strong gust of freezing wind blasts over us and flips open one side of Crayton’s jacket. We all see it at the same time – a white envelope in his inner jacket pocket. FOR ELLA is written on the outside.