SEVENTY-ONE
NEED ME TO help?” Sophie asked Tam as he carried Linh toward the bridge.
“I’ve got her.” But every time he lost his balance, Linh’s concentration would falter and the wave would swell higher.
“Hang on, Linh,” Sophie told her. “You can do this.”
“I can,” Linh said, gritting her teeth so hard they looked ready to crack. “There will be no flood until we’re ready.”
The ogres roared to a frenzy when Sophie’s group reached the bridge. A few even crept to the first fiery arch, hovering near the crater Dex had made, eager to spill the first blood.
“Let’s try to stay in groups through this,” Fitz said. “No one should be alone.”
Keefe hooked his arm through Sophie’s, and Biana took his arm. Fitz stayed with Tam and Linh, helping hold Linh steady as she clung to the edge of the bridge and kept her eyes fixed on the wave. Dex, Calla, and Alvar made a small circle, the two boys each holding Calla with one hand and the silver chest with their other.
“Don’t take any risks to save that thing,” Sophie told them, pointing to the chest. “It’s not worth it.”
“Why not?” Alvar asked.
“Brace yourselves!” Tam shouted before Sophie could answer. “Linh needs to let the water go.”
“Do it!” Sophie said, clinging to the stone railing.
With an anguished cry Linh lowered her hands and called the wave toward them. The ogres who’d crawled out onto the bridge scrambled back, but Sophie and her friends stayed locked in place, staring down the oncoming flood.
“It needs to hit us from behind,” Dex shouted. “Otherwise we’ll be crushed against the canyon.
“Working on it!” Linh said, screaming as she twisted her arms and curved the massive swell as much as she could.
For one surreal moment, Sophie and her friends stood, slack-jawed, clinging to anything they could grab hold of. Then the tidal wave crashed over them.
The bridge cracked on impact, splitting into two parts, showering them with green sparks as the flaming arches toppled. Dex’s group was forced to split, and he dragged Calla with him to share the piece of bridge holding Tam, Linh, and Fitz. Alvar jumped with the silver chest onto the piece of rubble that Sophie, Keefe, and Biana clung to, right as it broke free and took off down the river.
Their debris dipped and ducked and thrashed through the white-capped water, rushing so fast the world smeared to a blur.
“So, um, not to freak you out more than you already are,” Keefe shouted, catching Sophie’s arm and dragging her back before a smaller wave could wash her overboard. “But . . . what happens when we go KABOOM?”
He pointed ahead, where the gigantic iron gates were growing larger by the second. Linh had seemed sure the force of the water and debris would break the gates open—but that didn’t explain how they would survive the crash.
“Time for the famous Sophie Foster to come up with another brilliant plan and save us, right?” Alvar asked.
But Sophie was out of ideas. Even with all four of their minds combined, their telekinesis strength would never be enough to shove the gate open before they got there. And with the rushing wind and the panic pumping through their veins, Sophie didn’t see how they’d ever be able to levitate safely away.
Linh says to jump into the river, Fitz transmitted from his raft. She can cushion you in the water.
Sophie could think of many things wrong with that plan, but she wasn’t in a position to argue. “Linh says we have to jump!” she shouted, pulling the others to the edge of their rubble and leaping into the flood.
The water was freezing, but it had a strange burn too, like lemon juice in a cut, and the stinging pain made Sophie forget any of the tricks she’d learned in Exillium to hold her breath. The currents knocked the last of the air from her chest, and as the bubbles slipped toward the surface, Sophie followed, kicking her legs frantically, her lungs screaming, her vision dimming until her head broke through the water and she sucked in a grateful breath.
Keefe surfaced beside her and she clung to him. He held on tight and reminded her they had to get underwater for Linh’s protection. Sophie had just enough time to fill her lungs with air before Keefe dove, pulling her under with him.
She forced herself to swim, ignoring the pain as bits of rubble pummeled them from all sides. She tried to remember that she owned the new record at Exillium for holding her breath—she just needed to slow her body down, slow her lungs down, slow her heart down.
An explosion blasted through the water, but as the storm of shrapnel hurtled toward them, it split down the center, half of it drifting over their heads, the other half below their feet. Sophie had no idea how Linh could control so many things at once, but she sent silent thanks for protecting them as they washed through the blast zone to safety.
“WE’RE ALIVE!” Keefe shouted when they surfaced again in the middle of the raging flood. “And so are Alvar and Biana! I can see them a few feet behind us.”
“What about the others?” Sophie asked, kicking away debris before it smashed them.
“I can’t see that far, but the gate’s open now, so they should have a smooth ride. Plus, they’ve got Linh. She’ll keep their raft steady.”
“True,” Sophie said. “You probably should’ve grouped up with them.”
“Nah, I like my group better.” He pulled her closer, just in time to miss a jagged rock.
The river rushed at a breakneck speed, waves tossing them back and forth, knocking them into flotsam. They clung to each other until the currents washed them into a bed of broken reeds.
Sophie waded out of the shallows, collapsing on the grassy ground and gulping as much air as she could.
“I think we made it,” Keefe said, crumpling beside her.
Sophie stared at the sky—a red sunset so bold it felt almost violent. Still, she preferred it to the sour green light of Ravagog.
“Any sign of the others?” she whispered.
“I saw their chunk of bridge wash ashore a while back,” Keefe said. “So I’m betting they’re on foot now.”
Sophie knew they should get up and search, but her body felt like it had been molded from mashed potatoes. The best she could do was lean her head on Keefe’s shoulder, trying to stay warm in the chilly evening wind.
“Awwww, you guys look so cute!” Alvar said, stumbling toward them a few minutes later. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt cuddle time,” he added as Sophie scrambled away.
Sophie was sure her cheeks were redder than the sky, especially when she realized Biana was there too. She pulled her soggy hair forward to cover her face. “It’s cold here.”
“It is,” Biana agreed.
Sophie couldn’t tell if the strain in Biana’s voice was exhaustion or something else. She decided to change the subject. “Where are we?”
“Near Wildwood,” Alvar said. “Which is good. I was hoping that’s where we’d end up.”
“Really?” Sophie asked. “Why?”
Alvar lifted the silver chest, which he’d managed to carry through all that chaos. “Seemed like a good place to bring this!”
His smile was so bright, Sophie couldn’t look at him as she told him the truth. “That’s not the cure. That’s how the ogres were planning to get the plague into the Lost Cities. They wanted us to steal it and bring it there. Then when we opened it—poof! The plague would be our fault.”
Alvar tested the lock on the chest. “Are you sure?”
“I saw the whole plan in King Dimitar’s mind. He’s also plotting to get rid of the Neverseen once he’s done using them.”
“He thinks he’s using them?” Alvar asked.
“He’s using everyone,” Sophie said. “Letting us tear our world apart so he can crush the pieces to bits.” Sophie shook her head. “We’ll have to destroy that chest. And I don’t know how I’m supposed to tell Calla there’s no cure.”
“I already know,” Calla said behind them. Sophie scrambled
to her feet to find Calla, Tam, Linh, Dex, and Fitz, shuffling closer. It should’ve been a moment of celebration—they’d invaded Ravagog and lived to fight another day! But the devastating realities cast a shadow far gloomier than any Tam could create.
“You know the cure is fake?” Sophie whispered.
Calla nodded, her eyes focused on what remained of the Wildwood Colony in the distance. “The Panakes told me. I finally understand their song. The cure lies in their blossoms, not their bark. But hope is not lost. I’ll explain how later. Right now we should get somewhere safer. I’m sure the ogres will come after us.”
“Yeah,” Keefe said. “You guys realize we just destroyed Ravagog, right? What do you think that means? Like . . . did we just start a war?”
“We didn’t start anything,” Fitz said. “This whole thing was a trap the ogres set.”
“Somehow I don’t think King Dimitar is going to care about that,” Keefe mumbled. He glanced at Sophie. “And I’m guessing you didn’t learn anything about my mom?”
“I tried,” she whispered. “But his mind was too fixated on the drakostomes.”
“That has always been the ogres’ problem,” a frighteningly familiar voice said. “They always fail to see the bigger picture.”
Sophie and her friends scrambled together as they turned to find Brant and Fintan walking toward them, each holding spheres of Everblaze.
SEVENTY-TWO
I’M GUESSING THIS is the part where you demand to know how we found you,” Fintan said as Brant moved to block their path from behind. The Everblaze flamed brighter with their slightest movement, making it clear that pain would follow any attempt at escape.
“You keep forgetting that this was our plan from the beginning,” Fintan added. “Well—not the flood. You managed to surprise us with that one. And you stopped us from infecting Brackendale and Merrowmarsh. But the rest has gone like clockwork.”
Biana stepped in front of Calla, shielding her from the fire. “How could you do this to the gnomes? After everything they’ve done for the Lost Cities?”
“To expose the Council’s lies,” Brant said. “Now everyone knows how much they hide, and how little protection they truly give their people.”
“Which accomplishes what?” Sophie asked. “All you’ve done is make people afraid.”
“Indeed, Miss Foster,” Fintan agreed. “And fear is the world’s greatest motivator. Look at the power your group harnessed today as a result of your terror.” His eyes roved to Keefe as he added, “That was your mother’s mistake. She surrendered to her fear, and it cost her everything.”
“Including her life?” Sophie asked.
“Interesting that the question does not come from her son,” Fintan noted.
“That’s because I don’t care about her!” Keefe said.
Fintan smiled. “I suppose it wouldn’t matter, then, if I told you she’s currently locked in an ogre prison? And that your role in today’s invasion surely earned her a death sentence?”
“You’re lying,” Keefe said, his voice cracking.
“Not this time,” Brant told him. “We’re the ones who sealed her in her cell.”
“I suppose there’s a chance we could barter her freedom,” Fintan said. “But we’d need proper motivation.”
Brant said something else after that, but Sophie couldn’t listen. When he spoke, all she could see were his new scars. She’d thought his handsome features had been ruined before. Now they were gone.
One of his ears.
Parts of his lips and chin.
Most of his jet-black hair.
His face was more scar tissue than face. And that didn’t include the mottled, veiny stump at the end of his right wrist where his hand used to be.
“Why, Miss Foster, you don’t look happy to see me,” he said, adding more flames to his fireball. “Didn’t you swear you would find me again? I’ve been looking so forward to thanking you for my makeover. You too,” he told Dex. “I have excellent things planned for you both.”
“Forget it!” Tam shouted as a wave crashed over Brant, and Linh yelled, “RUN!”
They’d barely made it a step before a wall of fire erupted in their path.
“That’s quite enough of that,” Fintan said, curling the fire into a circle, closing them inside a cage of Everblaze.
“You can stop wasting your energy on water tricks,” Brant told Linh. “You’ve complicated things enough already. Luckily, we’ve had eyes on you this whole time.”
“What does that mean?” Sophie asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Alvar said. “What do you want from us?”
The two Pyrokinetics shook their heads.
“I told you, Mr. Vacker,” Fintan said. “The charade is over. I spent weeks in Exile. I let my mind be broken. I let them declare me dead. I’m not going to hide anymore. It’s time you make your choice. Stand with us, or turn against us.”
“What?” Keefe said as the walls of Everblaze flared brighter, painting everything in its eerie yellow glow.
Biana and Fitz stepped away from their brother.
“What does he mean?” Fitz asked.
“I mean that your brother is one of our longest standing members. Youngest to ever enlist—though he made a lot of mistakes back then. One especially big one.”
Fintan’s eyes flicked to Sophie, and his meaning sank in.
Dex held her steady as she wheeled on Alvar. “You were the Boy Who Disappeared?!”
The words seemed to shatter whatever remained of Alvar’s facade. He smoothed his hair and shed his soggy cloak as he said, “Yes.”
Rage-fire burned in Sophie’s stomach, searing hotter than the Everblaze. “How could you?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” he said.
“Try me,” Fitz told him.
“You really wouldn’t understand,” Alvar snapped. “You’re the Golden Son. I had to find people who appreciated my talents.”
“More like overestimated them,” Brant muttered. “You had her right in front of you, and you walked away. Scratched her off the list.”
“You want to compare mistakes?” Alvar snapped. “Ruy let both of them get away a few weeks back. And let’s not forget the worst kidnapping in the history of kidnappings.”
“NO!” Keefe shouted as Fitz and Biana backed away from their brother.
“You were there?” Dex asked, shaking so hard Tam and Linh had to keep him steady.
“Of course he was,” Fintan said. “He helped plan it.”
Sophie reached for Fitz, relieved when he didn’t pull away. She had no idea how the Vackers were going to survive another family tragedy.
“How could you?” Biana asked.
Alvar’s expression softened when he looked at his sister. “You’ll understand, someday, when you see the Vacker legacy for what it is.”
“In the meantime,” Fintan said, “you’re all coming with us. The seven of you have proven very useful. Especially you two,” he told Tam and Linh. “Who’d have thought I’d find so much value in a pair of twins?”
And with that final insult, Sophie decided it was time for Plan C.
She transmitted a warning to her friends and reached for her Black Swan pendant. Fury and disgust fueled her as she held the glass in the fading sunlight.
A beam of white fire sparked to life, igniting the silver chest at Alvar’s feet.
“That,” Fintan said calmly, “was a very dumb move.”
But the flames wouldn’t stamp out, and they ignored every command the Pyrokinetics shouted.
“If that’s how you want to play,” Brant said, ordering the wall of flames to tighten.
Sophie launched another beam of her own fire, and it parted the wall of Everblaze.
“Time to go!” she screamed, dragging her friends through the gap. Flames nipped at her skin, but she barely felt them.
“Is there a cliff nearby?” she asked Tam and Linh as they ran.
“No need,” Calla said.
She belted out a song that made one of the withered trees bend down and tangle its branches around their feet. A quick THWANG! snapped the tree back, whipping them into the sky. They clung to each other as they soared higher and higher.
As soon as they started to drop, Sophie split a crack in the sky.
The last thing she saw was Alvar’s pained expression as they slipped into the void and teleported away.
SEVENTY-THREE
GRADY AND EDALINE weren’t outside when the traumatized group appeared in Havenfield’s pastures. But as soon as Sophie called for help, they came rushing out of the glittering crystal mansion.
Within minutes Elwin had arrived to treat any burns, cuts, scrapes, and bruises they’d picked up during their various escapes. But nothing could ease the shock that had settled over everyone.
No one wanted to answer the questions Grady and Edaline kept repeating. Even Sophie could only cling to her parents and let her silent tears soak their tunics. But when Alden arrived, looking equal parts worried and relieved, Sophie knew it was time to speak.
She held tight to Grady’s and Edaline’s hands as she gave a brief summary of the havoc they’d caused in Ravagog. The adults’ eyes seemed to widen with each dangerous detail. Their fear turned to fury when she moved on to the further chaos with the Neverseen, and Sophie pulled Grady closer so he wouldn’t try to go after Brant. Alden hailed the Council and asked them to send someone to extinguish the Everblaze and start cleaning up the toxins that would’ve leaked into the valley from the ogres’ tainted river. Then he hailed Mr. Forkle-As-Sir-Astin and told him the Collective should gather at Havenfield.
Sophie decided to wait until everyone had arrived before revealing the devastating truth about the gnomish cure. But Alden deserved to receive the news about Alvar in the privacy of close friends.
“There’s something else I have to tell you,” she mumbled. “But first, I need you to promise that your mind is strong enough to handle it.”
Alden glanced at Fitz and Biana before he nodded.
“Wait,” Elwin said, handing Alden a vial filled with clear liquid. “This will take the edge off reality, if you need it.”
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