I ignore her – she is clearly not listening to me. I walk back to the door and put my ear to it again. I hear footsteps – definitely more than one person – coming down the hallway. I consider my options. I can either lure them into the cell or I can take them down where they are. Either way, I know I need to deal with them, turn Sarah invisible, and pick a direction for us to get out of here.

Sarah stands up. ‘What about Numbers Seven, Eight and Nine? Where are they? Are they together?’

If she doesn’t quiet down, she’s going to get us captured, or worse. I hiss at her, ‘Sarah! Enough! Stop!’ I put my ear against the door again and instantly know something is wrong. It sounds like the hallway is packed with men. We’re trapped. I spin around to tell Sarah, but she looks like she’s in the middle of a seizure. I am frozen seeing her body convulse and flop around the floor of the cell.

‘Sarah!’ I let myself become visible and run over to try and keep her head from slamming down on the cement floor. Has she been drugged?

Sarah’s body starts to shake so fast she becomes a blur. I can only watch helplessly as a white outline appears around her body. I reach out to touch it but before my fingers reach it, the line turns black. I focus on Sarah with my mind to try and stop her convulsions with my telekinesis, but as soon as I try my brain feels like it’s burning, like an enormous amount of dark energy is invading my skull. The next thing I know, I am falling backwards, holding my throbbing head, my eyes squeezed shut. When I open them again, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Sarah Hart is growing taller, and darker, until she’s at least seven feet tall. Her blond hair shortens until it’s a short black buzz cut. Her face morphs into a demonic monster’s. A purple scar appears on one side of her now thick neck; then it slowly elongates until it reaches the throat. When the scar finally stops growing, it begins to glow.

Did I just watch Sarah turn into Setrákus Ra? I’ve never seen him, but I’ve heard enough to have a pretty good idea of what, or who, I’m looking at.

The door bursts open and I am momentarily blinded by a flash of blue light. The next thing I know, a dozen Mog soldiers rush in, cannons up and ready.