“Thank you, Senorita Marina,” Hector says.
“For what?”
“I know it was you who cured my dear mother. She told me it was you, that you were her angel; and I’ll never be able to repay you for it.”
“You already have, Hector. I was very happy to help.”
He shakes his head. “I haven’t yet, but I’m sure going to try.”
While Crayton refills both clips and takes inventory of his ammo, Hector navigates the windy and unpredictable road. We bounce and skid along the sharp turns and sudden hills. But despite the speed, it doesn’t take long for a convoy of vehicles to be seen in the distance behind us.
“Don’t worry about them,” Crayton says. “Just get us to the lake.”
Even though the truck is barreling down the road, the convoy closes the gap. After ten minutes, a flash of light sails just over the truck and explodes into the countryside ahead of us. Hector instinctively jerks his head down.
“My God!” he says.
Crayton turns around and breaks the back window with the butt of his gun, then fires. The lead vehicle is upended, which makes us all cheer in celebration.
“That should keep them far enough back,” Crayton says, quickly reloading the gun’s clip.
And it does for a few minutes, but as the road grows more precarious and twists down the mountain at sharp declines, the vehicles catch right back up to us. Hector mutters under his breath as he whips around each bend, the gas pedal buried, the truck’s back tires swinging frighteningly over the edge of the towering cliff.
“Careful, Hector,” Crayton says. “Don’t kill us before we get there. At least give us a chance.”
“Hector is in control,” Hector replies, bringing no comfort whatsoever to Crayton, who keeps a white-knuckled grip on the headrest in front of him.
The only refuge is the road’s perpetual turns, which keep the Mogadorians from getting a straight shot, though they try anyway.
As we race around a particularly sharp bend, Hector can’t turn us quickly enough and we go off the edge of the road. At a seventy-five-degree angle, the truck races down the dense mountainside, smashing through saplings, bouncing off boulders, barely avoiding thick trees. Ella and I scream. Crayton yells as he flies forward and slams into the windshield. Hector doesn’t say a word; he clenches his teeth and maneuvers us around and over obstacles until we miraculously land on another road. The truck’s hood is severely dented and smoking, but the engine is still running.
“This is a, uh, shortcut,” Hector says. He tries the gas pedal, and we quickly rumble down the new road.
“I think we lost them,” says Crayton, looking up the cliff.
I pat Hector’s shoulder and laugh. Crayton sticks the barrel of his gun out the back window and waits.
Eventually the lake comes into view. I wonder why Crayton believes the lake will save us.
“What’s the big deal about the lake?” I ask.
“You didn’t think I’d come to find you with just Ella, did you?”
For a moment I think to tell him that up until a few hours ago I thought he had come to kill me. But soon the Mogadorians appear behind us again, and Crayton turns around while Hector’s eyes dart up to the rearview mirror.
“This is going to be close,” Crayton says.
“We’ll get out of it, Papa,” Ella says, looking at Crayton; and hearing her call him that fills my heart with affection. He smiles warmly at her, then nods. Ella squeezes my hand. “You’ll love Olivia,” she says to me.
“Who’s Olivia?” I ask, but she doesn’t get a chance to answer before the road turns at a ninety-degree angle and declines sharply towards the lake ahead. Ella tenses in my arms as the road ends, and Hector barely lets up on the gas as the truck rams straight through a chain-link gate that surrounds the lake. We hit a slight bump, and the truck’s tires leave the ground entirely before landing with a thud and bouncing on the shore. Hector speeds straight for the water, and just before we reach it, he slams on the brakes and brings us skidding to a stop. Crayton shoulders open the passenger-side door and dashes towards the lake, rushing straight into the water until it reaches his knees. With the gun still in his left hand, he hurls an object as far as he can with his right and begins muttering something in a language I don’t understand.
“Come on!” he screams, thrusting his hands up in the air as though offering encouragement. “Come on, Olivia!”
Hector, Ella, and I rush out and run up near him. I have the Chest under my arm and in an instant I see that the water has begun to crest and bubble in the lake’s middle.
“Marina, do you know what a Chim?ra is?”
But I don’t get to answer, because just then a lone Mogadorian vehicle, a tanklike Humvee with a gun mounted on top, erupts onto the scene and speeds down the hill. As it comes right at us, in the water, Crayton unloads a barrage of bullets into the windshield. The vehicle instantly goes out of control, crashing straight into the back of Hector’s truck. It creates a deafening bang, followed by the crush of grinding metal and breaking glass. As the dozens of other vehicles in the convoy rumble down the last hill and begin firing, the world erupts in fire and smoke as explosions rock the beach, causing all four of us to hit the ground. Sand and water rain down, and we scramble back to our feet. Crayton snags me by the collar.
“Get out of here!” he yells.
I take Ella’s hand and we run as fast as we can around the left side of the lake. Crayton begins firing; but it’s not one gun that I hear but two, and I can only hope it’s Hector’s finger pulling the second trigger.
We race towards a cluster of trees sloping down from the mountainside, jutting out all the way to the water’s bank. Our footsteps slap on the wet stones, and Ella’s accelerated pace matches my own. Gunfire continues to rattle through the air; and just as it lets up, a loud animal roar booms over our head, causing me to stop short. I turn to look at the creature able to create such a paralyzing call, knowing it’s not of this world. A long, muscular neck protrudes ten or fifteen stories out of the water, the flesh a gleaming gray. At the end of it, a giant lizard head separates its pebbled lips to show an enormous set of teeth.
“Olivia!” Ella cheers.
Olivia rears her head and lets loose another earsplitting roar, and in the middle of it, a series of high-pitched yipping sounds roll down from the mountain. I look up and see a pack of small beasts descending towards the lake.
I gasp. “What are those?” I ask Ella.
“Krauls. Lots of them.”
Olivia’s neck is fully emerged and thirty stories high now, and as the rest of her body surfaces, her neck widens and her torso thickens. The Mogadorians immediately fire at her, and Olivia slams her head down on several at a time, creating large piles of ash. I can see the dark figures of Crayton and Hector, both with guns blazing. The Mogadorians fall back as a hundred krauls enter the lake and swim towards Olivia. The creatures leap out of the water and attack. Many claw their way up Olivia’s back and rip at the base of her neck. The lake water is soon streaked with blood.
“No!” Ella screams.
She tries running back, but I grab hold of her arm.
“We can’t go back,” I say.
“Olivia!”
“That’s suicide, Ella. There’re too many.”
Olivia roars in pain. She whips her head at her sides and back, trying to crush or bite the black krauls that have blanketed her. Crayton aims his gun at the beasts, but he lowers his weapon when he realizes he would most likely shoot Olivia in the process. He and Hector instead fire on the army of Mogadorians lining up and preparing for a new attack.
Olivia wavers left and right, howls at the mountains, and backs herself up into the middle of the lake and slowly sinks in a wave of red. The krauls detach and swim towards the Mogadorians.
“No!” I hear Crayton yell above the chaos. I watch him try to enter the lake but Hector pulls him back onto the shore.
“Duck!” Ella screams, pulli
ng me down by the arm. A whoosh of air passes over us. A giant black hoof smashes the ground next to me, and I look up to see a horned monster. Its head is as large as Hector’s truck, and when the giant roars, my hair flaps in my face.
“Come on!” I yell. We race towards the trees.
“Split up,” Ella says. I nod and dart left, towards an ancient beech tree with gnarled limbs. I set the Chest down and instinctively lift my hands and then pull them apart. To my surprise the beech trunk opens, creating a hollow space that looks just big enough for two people and a Chest to fit.
I look over my shoulder to see the creature chasing Ella through a dense line of trees. I toss the Chest in the open trunk, and with telekinesis I pick up two trees and send them like missiles at the creature’s back. They splinter against its dark skin with a loud crash, knocking it to its knees. I run and grab Ella’s shaking hand, pulling her in the other direction. The beech tree with my Chest comes into view.
“The tree, Ella! Get inside!” I yell. She sits atop the Chest and tries to make herself as compact as she can, shrinking down to a younger age.
“That’s a piken, Marina! Get in!” she pleads; and before she can say another word, I close the trunk up around her, leaving just enough room so she can see.
“I’m sorry,” I say through the small crevice, hoping the giant didn’t see where I’ve stashed the Chest and hidden my friend.
I turn and run trying to lead the piken away, but it soon catches up and knocks me from behind. The force of the hit is shocking, and I fall down a steep slope until my arm finds a boulder to hook around. I look over my shoulder to see that I’m less than a meter from a rocky cliff.
The piken appears at the top of the slope. There it shuffles sideways until it’s positioned directly above me. It roars so loudly my mind blanks. I hear Ella scream my name in the distance, but I can’t breathe, let alone yell back.
It marches down the slope. I raise one of my hands and uproot a small spindly tree near me and launch it at the giant’s chest. It impales its chest, and it’s enough for the piken to lose its footing; and it falls sideways, shrieking and barreling right at me. I close my eyes and prepare for the impact; but instead of smashing me under its weight and knocking me over the cliff, its body hits the boulder I’m holding on to and then bounces over me. I whip my head over my shoulder to see the piken fall down the rocky cliff.
I’m finally able to concentrate enough to float myself up the slope. I hurry back towards the beech tree-to Ella and my Chest-and I hear the cannon’s blast a split second before I’m shot. The pain is double anything I’ve felt before, and all I can see is red and flashes of white. I roll around uncontrollably, writhing in agony.
“Marina!” I hear Ella scream.
I roll onto my back and stare at the sky. Blood drips out of my mouth and nose. I can taste it. I can smell it. A few birds circle overhead. As I wait to die, I watch as the sky is taken over by a colossal group of dark, heavy clouds. The clouds crash and roll on top of each other, pulsing as if they’re breathing. I think I’m hallucinating, seeing visions before I die, when a massive drop of water hits me on the right cheek. I blink as another hits me above my eyes, and then a bolt of lightning splits the sky in two.
A huge Mogadorian in gold-and-black armor stands over me smiling. He presses a cannon against my temple and spits on the ground; but before he pulls the trigger, he looks up at the looming storm. I quickly place my hands on the gaping wound in my abdomen, feeling the icy familiarity surge under my skin. Then the oncoming rain washes over me as the clouds become a solid wall of darkness.
Chapter Thirty-One
BY THE LOOK ON SAM’S FACE I CAN TELL HE’S just about lost all faith in getting out of here alive. My own shoulders sag as I stare into the massive white eyes of the beast that’s rising to its feet in front of us. It takes its time, stretching its muscular neck, veins as thick as Roman columns protruding on both sides. The dark skin on its face is dry and cracked like the stone jutting above its head. With its long arms, it has the look of an alien gorilla.
By the time the giant has pushed itself into a full standing position, fifty feet tall, the handle of my dagger has melted itself around my right hand.
“Flank it!” I yell. Sam runs left and I dart right.
Its first move is towards Sam, who immediately turns and runs along the circular edge of the moat. The beast lumbers after him, and that’s when I sprint towards it and slide my dagger right and left, cutting small chunks from its calves. It rears its head and smashes its nose against the ceiling, and then swings a hand down at me, one of its fingers connecting with my back leg. I’m sent spinning into the wall, where I land on my left shoulder, dislocating it.
“John!” Sam yells.
The giant swings for me again, but I’m able to jump out of the path of its fist; the giant may be powerful, but it’s slow. Still, the cave we’re in is not large enough to run very far so, slow or not, it still has the advantage.
I don’t see Sam anywhere as I stagger from boulder to boulder. The giant has a hard time following me; and once I figure I have enough time, I slowly raise my left arm above my head and rotate my hand so my palm is on the back of my head. The pain shoots from my neck to my heels; and before I give in to it, I keep reaching and feel my dislocated shoulder pop back into place. A sense of relief comes over me, but it’s short-lived as I look up to see the giant’s palm right above my head.
I raise my dagger and its blade punctures the beast’s palm, but it’s not enough to stop it from wrapping its fingers around me. It picks me up, and the strength of its squeeze causes the dagger to fall to the ground. I hear its diamond blade clang; and as I’m turned upside down, I search for it so I can use my telekinesis to retrieve it.
“Sam! Where are you?”
I’m disoriented as the beast turns me right side up again, and it holds me a few feet above its nose. Then I see Sam emerge from a fissure in the wall. He runs and picks up my blade, and a second later the giant squeals in shock and pain. It squeezes me hard, and I push back against its fingers as much as I can. As it stumbles backwards, I’m able to free my shoulders, arms, and hands. I turn on the lights of my palms and shine my Lumen directly into its eyes. It’s instantly blinded and backs into a wall, and that’s when I’m able to pull the rest of my body free and jump.
Sam tosses me my dagger and I charge at the beast, plunging the blade into the skin between every toe. The giant howls. It bends over, and when it does I shine my Lumen again into its eyes. It loses its balance, and I make a boulder behind it dislodge and slam into its lower back. The beast pitches forward, its long arms straight out to break its fall. Its massive hands land in the moat of steaming green liquid-and the sound of its searing flesh comes a second later. I watch as the beast crashes into the base of the electrical force field and the thick stone pedestals holding the Chests. The crash disrupts the force field and sends the pedestals flying across the room, breaking against the stone. The beast lies unmoving.
“Tell me you planned that,” Sam says, following me towards the Chests.
“I wish I could,” I say.
I open my Chest to find everything inside, including the coffee can of Henri’s ashes and the volatile crystal that’s wrapped in the towel. “Looks good,” I say. Sam picks up the other Chest.
“What happens when we go through that door?” Sam says, nodding to the small wooden door we came in through.
We killed the beast and we have the Chests, but we can’t turn ourselves invisible and just stroll by a hundred Mogs. I open my Chest and handle different crystals and objects, but again I have no idea what most of them do, and the ones I do know how to use can’t exactly get me through a mountain of aliens. Looking around the room, I’m losing hope. But it’s after studying the giant’s melting skin and disintegrating bones that I get an idea.
With my dagger back in my jeans pocket, I slowly approach the moat of bubbling green liquid. I take a deep breath and carefully dip a finge
r in it. Just as I’d hoped, it’s scalding hot but merely tickles my skin like fire. It’s like green lava.
“Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“When I say open the door, I want you to open it and get out of the way immediately.”
“What are you going to do?” he asks.
Visions of Henri running the Loric crystal over me as I lie on the coffee table, my hands in open flames, run through my mind, and I dunk my hand into the moat and pick up a dripping scoop of the green lava. I close my eyes and concentrate, and when I open them the liquid is hovering over my hand in a perfect flaming ball.
“This, I guess,” I say.
“Wicked.”
Sam runs over to the wooden door, and I nod to show him I’m ready.
He rips the door open and dives to his right. A cluster of heavily armed Mogs are running our way; but when they catch sight of the fiery green ball coming their way, they try to turn around. As the ball is about to splash on the chest of the first Mog, I use my mind to spread it out like a fiery blanket. Several Mogs are hit, and after a moment of burning torture, they turn to ash.
I wing ball after ball of green lava at more Mogs, knocking them down. Sam collects a pile of their guns, and once there’s a lull in the advancement, I grab two more balls of green liquid and run out the door. Sam follows me with a long black gun under each arm.
The number of Mogs running down the dark tunnel is staggering; and with the flashing lights and piercing sirens, it’s a sensory overload. Sam pulls both triggers and mows down row after row of Mogs, but they keep coming. When he’s out of bullets, Sam grabs two more guns.
“I could use some help here!” Sam yells, mowing down another line of Mogs.
“I’m thinking, I’m thinking!” The mucus-covered walls of the tunnel don’t appear to lend themselves to spreading a decent fire, and I don’t have enough of the green lava in my hands to do enough damage. To my left are the silver gas tanks and silos with their heavy pipes, spouts and aluminum ducts. Next to the tallest of the silos I eye the control panel with electrical wires pouring out. I can hear the screams and roars of the beasts in the barred chambers farther down the hall, and wonder how hungry they are.
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