As we get closer, Six reaches her hands out to us. Sarah has to let go of my arm to take hold of Six. I wish there was time for one last hug, just a quick moment to reassure her. With each of us holding one of Six’s hands, she turns us invisible. We walk on.
We’re deep in the woods, the highway far behind us, when I notice BK gliding in circles through the trees.
Down here, I call out to him.
I let go of Six’s hand so that BK can see us. He flutters down, transforming into a squirrel as soon as he hits the ground.
“BK says there’s a guy up ahead,” I tell them. “No sign of any trouble.”
“Good. Let’s move.”
I take Six’s hand and we pick up the pace, soon emerging from the woods and into the small town of Fouke. It really isn’t much more than just a pit stop. The road that connects to the highway exit continues on to the east. I see a few small houses in that direction and what I assume is the town proper. Where we are is pretty much the beginning of the town, right where travelers would pull off from the road. There’s a two-pump gas station next to us and a post office across the street. All the windows are dark, everything closed and locked up for the night.
And then, there’s the Monster Mart.
The billboards on the way into town really oversold it. The Monster Mart is really just a convenience store with Boggy Creek Monster T-shirts and hats on sale in the window. The main attraction is the twelve-foot wooden statue of the Boggy Creek Monster, a hairy beast that looks like it’s part man, part bear, and part gorilla. Even at this distance, I can see the statue is pretty much covered in bird poop.
“There!” whispers Sarah excitedly.
I see him too. There’s a boy up ahead, sitting cross-legged at the base of the statue. He looks bored as he unwraps a sandwich from some wax paper. A backpack rests next to him, but no sign of a Loric Chest that I can tell. I expected him to at least have that. It would’ve made it easy to identify him. Then again, it would’ve made it easier for the Mogadorians too.
I start forward, but Six stays planted, not letting go of my hand.
“What is it?” I whisper.
“I don’t know,” she replies quietly. “He’s just out here all alone? It all seems too easy. Like a trap.”
“Maybe,” I say, looking around again doubtfully. There are no signs of life except for us and the boy at the statue. If the Mogadorians are lying in wait, they’re doing a really good job hiding.
“Maybe he just got lucky,” Sarah whispers. “I mean, he has managed to stay hidden longer than the rest of you.”
“How do we know he is who he says he is?” Six continues.
“Only one way to find out,” I say.
I let go of Six’s hand and start across the street.
I don’t try to conceal my approach. He notices me almost as soon as I step away from Six and into the yellow glow of the streetlights. He drops his sandwich and hops quickly to his feet, reaching both hands into his pockets. For a moment I think he’s about to pull some kind of weapon on me and I feel my Lumen start to warm up in anticipation. Instead, he pulls two small balls from his pockets, one of them a rubber bouncy ball and the other a steel ball bearing. He rolls them deftly across his knuckles, watching anxiously as I approach. It’s like some kind of nervous tic.
I stop a few yards away from him.
“Hey.”
“Uh, hey,” he replies.
At this distance I can finally get a good look at our would-be Five. He’s about my age, shorter and stockier, not necessarily chubby but definitely built like a barrel. His hair is brown and short, a military buzz-cut style. He’s wearing one of those goofy Boggy Creek Monster T-shirts and a pair of baggy jeans.
“Are you waiting for me?” I ask, not wanting to just come out and ask if he’s Loric. He could be some weird country kid eating a sandwich at night all by himself, I guess.
“I don’t know,” he replies. “Let me see your leg.”
I hesitate for a moment, then reach down and lift up the leg of my pants. He breathes a sigh of relief as he looks over my scars. Then, he lifts up his jeans and shows me his matching set. Through some deft sleight of hand, the two balls disappear back into his pocket and then Five strides forward, his now-empty hand extended.
“I’m Five,” he says.
“Four,” I reply. “My friends call me John.”
“A human name,” he says. “Man, I’ve had too many of those to even remember.”
We shake hands. His grip is like a vise, he’s so excited. For a moment, I’m worried he won’t let go. I clear my throat and try to discreetly tug my hand away.
“Sorry,” he says, dropping my hand awkwardly. “I’m just psyched. I’ve waited so long for this. I wasn’t sure anyone would see my message. It’s not easy making a crop circle, you know? I didn’t want to do it again.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t such a good idea,” I say. I start looking around again, still worried that Mogadorians are going to appear at any moment. Crickets chirp nearby and beyond that I hear the sound of engines from the highway. Nothing to get nervous about, but I still can’t shake the feeling of being exposed.
“Not a good idea?” Five says excitedly. “But you found me! It worked. Did I do something wrong?”
Five seems so eager to please, like he’s just waiting for me to congratulate him on his crop-burning stunt. It’s as if he never considered it could attract unwanted attention, which strikes me as naïve. Maybe I’m judging him too harshly, but he seems soft to me. Sheltered. Or maybe I’ve spent too much time around hard cases like Six and Nine.
“Don’t worry about it,” I tell him, “it’s fine. We should get going.”
“Oh,” he mutters, his face falling. He looks away from me, scanning the area. “Is it just you? I hoped maybe you’d gotten together with some of the others.”
On cue, Six and Sarah materialize at my side. Five stumbles backwards, nearly tripping over his backpack.
Six steps forward. “I’m Six,” she says, blunt as ever. “John is too nice to tell you that your crop-circle stunt probably could’ve gotten you killed. It was stupid. You’re lucky we got here first.”
Five frowns, looking from Six to me. “Wow. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I just—I didn’t know what else to do.”
“It’s okay,” I say, nodding at his pack. “Grab your stuff. We can talk it out on the road.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re bringing you back to the others,” I say. “We’re all together now. It’s time to start the fight.”
“You’re all together?”
I nod. “You’re the last one.”
“Wow,” Five says, looking almost embarrassed. “Sorry I’m late to the party.”
“Come on,” I say, waving again at his pack. “We really need to move.”
Five leans down and grabs his backpack, and then looks at Sarah, who’s been standing by silently. “What number are you?”
She shakes her head. “I’m just Sarah,” she says, smiling.
“A human ally,” breathes Five, shaking his head. “Guys, my mind is officially blown.”
Six shoots me a look of bewilderment. I’ve got the same feeling. Maybe we’ve been through too many fights and close calls, but it seems like Five is way too casual. We should already be on the move, away from this place, and he just wants to stand here and chat.
“Look,” Six snaps, “we can’t just stand around gabbing. They could be co—”
Six is cut off by the sudden roar of a noise overhead. It’s a sound made by no earthly machinery. We all look up just as the silver Mogadorian ship throws on its floodlights, momentarily blinding us. Five, shielding his eyes, turns to look at me.
“Is that your ship?” he asks.
“Mogadorians!” I shout at him. Already, dark shapes are descending from the ship, the first wave of Mogadorian warriors on their way to attack.
“Oh,” says Five, blinking confusedly at the s
hip. “So that’s what they look like.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“GET THE XITHARIS STONE OUT!” I SHOUT TO Six. “If we all go invisible now, we can get away before they’re on us.” She begins fumbling through her bag and pulls it out, but it’s too late.
Before she can do anything, the air around us crackles as the first wave of Mogadorians let loose with blaster fire.
My bracelet expands just in time to deflect a pair of shots that would’ve hit me right in the chest.
Instead, the fire hits the ground close enough to Six to send her toppling backwards. As she’s falling, she tosses Five the Xitharis Stone, but he just stares at it, clearly unsure of what it is. There’s no time to school him. Beyond the first group of Mogs, I can see more of them zipping down on ropes from the belly of their ship. We’re going to be outnumbered in a bad way soon.
Sarah has already dived behind a nearby parked car. On her side in the dirt, she squeezes off shots with her pistol. I watch the first two kick up dirt at the feet of the nearest Mogadorian, and then the third nails him right in the sternum. The Mog disintegrates and Sarah takes aim on another.
Six went invisible as soon as she hit the dirt. I’m not sure where she is now but storm clouds are suddenly roiling overhead on what moments ago was a calm and clear night. She’s definitely getting ready to strike.
Five is next to me, rooted in place, still staring at the rock in his hand. My shield is taking a lot of blaster fire now. Five would probably have already been gunned down if he wasn’t right next to me.
“What are you doing?” I scream at him, roughly grabbing his arm. “We have to move!”
Five’s eyes are wide and unresponsive. He lets me pull him backwards. I toss him to the ground behind the statue of the Boggy Creek Monster. The wooden statue quickly explodes into a thousand charred pieces, but the concrete base holds off the rest of the blaster fire for now. I let my Lumen ignite on my unshielded hand, building up a sizable fireball. Five watches me, staring in shock at the swirling flames. I ignore him for the moment and lean out from cover, launching the fireball at the nearest group of Mogs. It engulfs three of them, turning them to ash instantly. The rest scatter.
I hear raindrops starting to fall, although none are hitting me. In fact, the rain seems localized over by the Mogadorian ship. Thunder rumbles. Whatever Six’s play is, I trust her.
“Are you all right?” I shout over to Sarah. The car she’s hiding behind is only a few yards away, but it feels like the length of an entire battlefield.
“I’m fine!” she yells back. “You?”
“I’m good, but I think Five is shell shocked or something!”
I notice three Mogadorians cutting across the street, trying to flank Sarah. Before they can, I reach out with my telekinesis and yank their blasters out of their hands. Seeing them, Sarah shoots the closest one right between the eyes. Before the rest can draw their swords, a lithe shape lunges at them from the shadows.
Bernie Kosar in the form of a panther, his black fur nearly indistinguishable from the night, tears out the throat of a Mog he’s pinned down, then slashes the other across the face. That group decimated, BK slinks around the side of the car, staying close to Sarah.
Keep her safe, I direct the thought at BK.
The Mogs that I scattered before are already regrouping, or maybe it’s just another group descended from the ship. I sling two more fireballs in their direction. That should keep them busy for a moment.
I grab Five and shake him until he looks at me. The shoulder of his shirt is singed from where my hand was still too hot from the Lumen. He flinches, staring at me with wide eyes.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” I yell.
“I’m—I’m sorry,” he stammers. “I’ve never seen a Mogadorian before.”
I look at him in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?!”
“No! Albert, my Cêpan, he told me about them. We trained for—for fighting. I’ve just never actually done it.”
“Great,” growls Six, suddenly materializing next to us. “We’ve got a total rookie.”
“I—I can help,” Five mumbles. “I was just caught off guard.”
I’m not feeling too convinced, and although we fought the first wave of Mogadorians off, I can still see their shapes moving through the darkness nearby.
“Is it over?” shouts Sarah from her position. “Because I’m almost out of bullets!”
“There are more coming,” I yell back to Sarah, and then look at Six. “Can you take down their ship?”
Six concentrates for a moment. Lightning shears through the night sky, right into the side of the Mogadorian ship. It rocks back and forth, and I can see some Mog soldiers lose their grip on their ropes and plummet fifty feet to the ground. She’s cooked up one serious storm and is just waiting to unleash its full fury.
“They might’ve flown in here,” Six says, “but they sure as shit won’t be flying out.”
I look down at Five. His shaky hands have retrieved those two balls from his pockets once again. Not exactly confidence inspiring.
I glance over at Sarah and see her taking aim and hitting a Mogadorian that was trying to creep up on us. Not long ago, this is the kind of fight we would’ve run from, happy to just escape with our lives. Now, though, I feel like it’s a fight we can actually win.
I lock eyes with Six. “Let’s send Setrákus Ra a message. If he wants to get one of ours, he’s going to need to send more than one ship.”
“Hell yeah,” answers Six, and raises both her hands to the sky.
The dark clouds around the Mogadorian ship begin to roil and swirl. Three bolts of lightning slice through the tumultuous sky, striking the side of the ship in rapid succession. I can see pieces of the metal hull breaking loose and careening to the ground below.
Probably realizing that they’re in trouble, the Mogs try to gain some altitude and get away from the localized storm. The Mogs already on the ground redouble their efforts to get to us, blaster fire sizzling through the air. I inch closer to Six so that my shield will deflect any stray shots that come her way. Sarah stays hunkered down behind the car, firing blindly over the hood.
“You need to hurry up!” I shout at Six through gritted teeth.
“Almost there,” she snaps, her face tight with concentration.
Hailstones the size of fists buffet the ship, causing it to shake erratically. Just when it seems like it might be able to pull upwards, Six twists her hands over her head. The clouds suddenly coalesce—I can feel the force of the winds from back here—a tornado gathering right beneath the ship. The ship lurches and then tips sideways, its pilots losing control.
The ship plummets to the ground, landing with a thunderous crash in the woods by the highway. Seconds later, a tower of flame shoots into the night sky, followed by a thunderous explosion. Then, everything is quiet. The storm overhead clears and the night is peaceful once again.
“Wow,” murmurs Five.
“Nice work,” I tell Six.
Her eyes have already moved to her next targets. We might have taken down their ship, but there are still plenty of Mogadorians approaching. A couple dozen, at least. Blasters and swords at the ready.
“Let’s finish them off,” Six says, turning invisible.
I’m eager to jump into the fight. First, I look down at Number Five. He’s peeking at the incoming Mogadorians uncertainly.
“It’s okay if you’re not ready for this,” I tell him. “Hang back.”
Five nods mutely. I step out from behind what’s left of the Boggy Creek Monster statue. Immediately, there’s a Mogadorian leveling his blaster at me. Before he can shoot, something hits him in the back of the knees from behind. The sword he carries strapped across his shoulders is unsheathed by invisible hands and plunged through his spine. He disintegrates and, briefly, through the cloud of ash, I can make out Six’s silhouette.
I run to where Sarah is still crouched behind a parked car. The side that faced th
e Mogadorians is melted in spots but Sarah appears unharmed. As soon as I slide to the ground beside her, Bernie Kosar sprouts wings and takes off, hurling himself at a pair of Mogs. The remaining Mogadorians look almost confused. Their ship destroyed, half their number already killed—I doubt they were expecting a fight like this. Good, let them be the scared ones for once.
“You okay?” I ask Sarah.
“Yeah,” she replies breathlessly. She holds up her gun. “I’m out.”
I reach out with my telekinesis and reel in one of the discarded Mogadorian blasters. Sarah plucks it out of the air.
“Cover me,” I tell her. “We’re finishing this.”
I stride out from behind the car, practically daring the Mogadorians to come at me. A pair hunkered down in front of the gas station fire at me. My shield deploys immediately, absorbing their shots. I think about hurling a fireball at them, but I don’t want to blow up the gas station. We’ve already damaged poor Fouke, Arkansas, enough.
I use my telekinesis to grab their blasters, smashing them to the ground. Then, I raise my hand to the Mogs and motion for them to come on. They grin, their tiny teeth gleaming in the moonlight, and unsheathe their swords. They sprint towards me.
As soon as they’re a safe distance from the gas station, I launch a fireball that engulfs them both. Idiots.
Another group of Mogs has regrouped enough to make a focused assault. They charge me all at once, trying to surround me. Before they can close in, I feel something rubbery wrap itself tightly around my waist and I’m yanked backwards, away from the incoming Mogs. Startled, I look down. An arm is coiled around me. A really long, stretched-out arm.
As soon as I’m clear, Sarah starts lighting up the group of Mogs with blaster fire.
The Fall of Five (I Am Number Four) Page 9
