Eight drops the piece of gold inside the Chest and pulls out a green crystal, stuffing it into his pocket. He closes the Chest and picks it up with a dramatic sigh. In his most pathetic voice he says, ‘Oh, all right. Our reunion will just have to wait. Follow me, everybody.’

‘How often has Setrákus visited you in your dreams?’ Crayton asks. We’ve been walking more than five hours and we’re making slow progress up the mountain. Eight is leading us up a winding path that is more ledge than road. There’s a thin blanket of snow everywhere, and the wind is brutally strong. We’re all freezing, but Six protects us with her Legacy, pushing the wind and snow out of our way. Weather control is one of the more useful Legacies, that’s for sure.

‘He’s been talking to me for a while now, trying to trick me and get me to lose my temper,’ Eight says. ‘But now that he’s on Earth, it’s a lot more frequent. He taunts me, lies, and now he’s trying to get me to sacrifice myself so that you all can go back to Lorien. He’s been getting to me more than usual lately.’

‘What does that mean, exactly? “Getting to you”?’ Crayton asks.

‘Last night in a vision he showed me my friend Devdan hanging from chains. I don’t know if it’s a vision of something that’s actually happening or just a trick, but it’s really messing with my head.’

‘Four sees him, too,’ Six chimes in.

Eight spins around with a surprised look on his face and walks backwards, his mind clearly putting the pieces together. His foot comes dangerously close to slipping off the ledge, making me gasp and reach out nervously. But he never wavers as he continues. ‘You know, I think I saw him last night. I forgot about it until now. He has blond hair? Tall guy?’

‘And better looking than you? Yup, that’s him,’ Six says with a smile.

Eight stops backpedaling and looks thoughtful. The drop off to our left is almost two thousand feet. ‘You know, I always assumed it was me, but guess I was wrong,’ he says thoughtfully.

‘Assumed you were what?’ I ask, willing him away from the edge.

‘Pittacus Lore.’

‘Why would you think that?’ Crayton asks.

‘Because Reynolds told me that Pittacus and Setrákus were always able to communicate with each other. But now that I know Four can, too, I’m confused.’

Eight starts walking forwards again when Ella asks, ‘How can anyone be Pittacus?’