As I continue to struggle, I look below me. John is with Sarah and Ella, both down. He’s left a trail of blood behind him as well as piles of ash. Marina has run back outside to Eight. Bernie Kosar is still in the corner, but now he is tearing apart the Mogs that were dragging him a second ago. In the middle of the room, Nine is still facing off with Setrákus Ra and he’s been able to break his hands and face free from the black rock that was taking over his body.

Seeing that gives me hope that I can break out of my own stone prison and I continue my struggle until I feel the casing start to give way. I’ll be out soon. I am frantic to free myself. The only thing I want right now is to show Setrákus Ra what it feels like to have a real fight on his hands.

Just when I was giving up hope that I would ever be able to help Eight, my Legacy returned. I put my hands on the wound in the center of his chest and feel it start to work. With every second that passes, his heart beats stronger and stronger. I’ve never felt anything so good in my life, that steady bump bump bump. If I weren’t in the middle of the fight of our lives, for our future, I think I would start crying right now, but I stay strong, and keep my emotions in check.

I look down and see Eight’s eyes flutter open, then look up at me. ‘You need to know . . . Six tried to –’ he starts to say.

I cut him off. ‘That wasn’t Six. It was Setrákus Ra. I don’t know how, but it was him.’

‘But . . . ?’ The confusion in Eight’s eyes makes my heart break.

‘Eight, I can’t explain everything right now. How do you feel? Can you stand? We have to get in there, join the others and fight. Are you ready? I need to heal John and I need you to run interference. Got it?’

He nods and I start to get up, but there’s just one thing I need to do before it’s too late. I look into his eyes, his beautiful brown eyes, take a deep breath, and kiss him. He looks shocked as I pull back. I shrug at him and smile. ‘Hey, there’s no time like the present, right?’ Before he can say or do anything, I turn to find John. I need to heal him, fast. He took three cannon blasts protecting me. if I don’t get to him now, he’ll die.