I am me. I am the source.

“Uh-huh. But what should I call you?”

There’s a short pause before the voice answers me. The dots of energy never stop flitting around in front of me.

I have been called many things. Once, I was Lorien. Now, I am Earth. Your friends called me the Entity.

So, this is what was hidden under the Sanctuary, what Setrákus Ra was after. Marina and the others must have talked to it before its hiding place got blown to hell. The Entity, though . . . that seems all formal, alien and cold. That’s not the feeling I’m getting now.

“I’m going to call you Legacy,” I decide.

As you wish, child.

Legacy seems so calm. It was only a few minutes ago that the Anubis was sucking it out of the ground through a big mechanical straw.

“Did my grandfather hurt you when he pulled you out of the Earth?” I ask.

He cannot hurt me, he can only change me. Once changed, I am no longer me, and so the pain is not mine to experience.

“Okay,” I reply, not following a bit of that. “Are you, like, trapped aboard the Anubis now?”

Only a small part of me, child. I exist in many places. Your grandfather has tried to harvest me before, but I am greater than he even knows. Come. I will show you.

Before I can even ask—go where?—a wave of Loric energy sweeps me away. I’m no longer floating along in the peaceful darkness. Instead, I’m inside Earth itself. It’s like one of those cross-sections where you can see the different layers of Earth’s crust—the tectonic plates, dinosaur bones, hot molten lava near the planet’s core. I can visualize it all. I feel tiny in comparison.

Running through every layer of the Earth, intertwined with the core itself, are glowing veins of Loralite. The energy is thin in some places, stronger in others, but there’s nowhere on the planet that isn’t close to its gentle glow.

“Whoa,” I say. “You really made yourself at home.”

Yes, Legacy replies. This is not all.

We rise up. Once again, the battlefield appears beneath me. My friends and Setrákus Ra are still moving like they’re stuck in molasses. Six is in the process of picking up a rock, hopefully to clobber my grandfather with.

In Six’s chest, right over her heart, there’s a glowing ember of Loric energy. Marina and Adam have it too. So do I, although my ember looks a little weaker than theirs, probably on account of the whole dying thing. Even Setrákus Ra has a spark of Lorien in him, although his looks partially molded over by some black substance. He’s corrupted himself in ways I don’t understand. The thought makes me glance up towards the Anubis. There, housed in the ship’s belly, is a throbbing glow of severed Loralite. It’s nothing compared to what I just saw underground, but still . . .

“What is he going to do with it?” I ask Legacy. “I mean, with you?”

I will show you. First, you need to gather the others. I have decided they should all see why they fight.

“What others?”

All of them. I will assist you.

Without warning, my mind begins to stretch. It’s like I’m using my telepathy, groping out for familiar minds, except my range is way extended. It actually doesn’t feel so great, like my brain is being pulled in all directions by some really strong magnets.

“What . . . what are you doing?”

I am augmenting your abilities, child. It may be a bit uncomfortable at first. I apologize.

“What am I supposed to do?”

Gather up the ones I have marked.

Crazily enough, I actually know what this means. When I reach out with my telepathy, I can actually sense all the Legacy-touched people out there. I aim for Marina’s sparkly blue core, snatch it up with my telepathic hand and reel her in. It’s just like how I was able to pull John into my visions except now it’s so much easier. I snap up Adam too, bringing them into the warmth of Legacy’s consciousness. Then, I hesitate.

“What about him?” I ask, gazing down upon my grandfather.

Even him. It must be all.

Feeling a little grossed out that I have to come into telepathic contact with that twisted brain and his spoiled Loric heart, I pull in Setrákus Ra. I try to absorb Six next, but her consciousness fights against mine. Distantly, I’m aware of her physical body yelling something.

“What’s she saying?” I ask Legacy.

She does not yet understand that I do not interfere, Legacy intones. All will see, or none. No advantage will be given.

I don’t know what Legacy means and I don’t have time to think about it because as soon as Six’s consciousness gives way to mine, we’re spreading out even farther.

The entire world unfolds before me. Hundreds of little Loralite embers dot the continents. These are the new Garde, the humans only recently given powers. Legacy wants them, too. I reach out with my mind, plucking them up one by one.

A boy in London who stares up at a Mogadorian warship, his hands clenching and unclenching as he tries to decide what to do. The gravel on the street hops and pops with his every motion, caught in his uncontrolled telekinesis.

A girl in Japan who just days ago was confined to a wheelchair. Now, she finds herself moving through her parents’ small apartment with speed she didn’t think possible.

A boy in a remote Nigerian village, where they haven’t even heard about the invasion yet. His mother and father burst into tears as he floats above them, emanating an angelic glow.

I snatch all their minds up. Wherever Legacy is taking us, they’re coming with.