Jake and Peter ran.

They rushed in a long hall, and their shoes slapped against the gray floor. Jake and his Watcher had left their lavish mansion in Seattle. They had left safety.

Life had left their new friend.

Maggie had saved Jake's life, but he had failed to save hers.

He and Peter ran, as if armed Freemans pursued them in the hall, something that might happen soon. Jake hadn't forgotten he had gone into enemy territory.

"We need to hide!" Peter said.

Freemans didn't follow him or Jake, but that didn't mean the pale warriors had left the building. They hunted the Soynite intruders.

A door stood in the hall's side.

Peter ran to it, and Jake followed. The Watcher opened the door, then he and Jake went through it. The man slammed it shut.

Jake bent over and placed his hands on his knees. Sweat from his palms met his pants. He breathed hard.

If the other Highs were with him, he would have a higher chance of surviving the attack on the Freeman base.

Freemans hadn't been able to hurt him the day he and the other Highs arrived on Earth.

They had separated.

Jake had spent time with each of the Highs, something he couldn't do now. He had fought and killed a Freeman outside, and now he hoped that dead enemy's fellow warriors wouldn't find him anytime soon. His co-rulers couldn't assist him. Neither could Maggie.

Jake hadn't known much about her. He never would.

"He killed her," he said.

"I know," Peter replied. He placed a hand on Jake's back. "Lock Tannis got another Soynite killed today. We gained another reason to kill him."

Peter moved his hand away from Jake's back, then the boy stood straight.

He and Peter stood in a hall. This one was long and gray, like the hall the pair had left. A black door stood at its end. A table hugged the wall, and a frame rested on it. Situated in the frame was a painting.

Jake ran his fingers through his blond hair, and he thought about his dead friend. Maggie had never been a High, but she had been an ally. Jake wouldn't get a chance to save her.

He could think about the other High children, but he couldn't talk to them. The boy couldn't help his co-leaders.

Maybe Freemans had killed those five child rulers.

Had a pale enemy murdered Don Ascend's baby ten years ago? Maybe her small skeleton rested on Earth.

Maybe the other Highs had died a long time ago and nobody had told Jake about it.

Dead Highs would need living replacements.

A Freeman had never stopped Jake's heart. His organs worked, and blood flowed in him. He hadn't died. He wasn't a skeleton.

"We're not going to become like Maggie," Jake said. He looked at the gun in his hand, then glanced at Peter's laser pistol. "We have our guns. That gives us a fighting chance."

"Maggie had a fighting chance," Peter said. "And she's dead. Don't mistake an optimistic belief for the truth, Jake."

Jake's weapon made it more possible he would walk out the Freeman base with his heart still beating. He had shot and killed a seven-foot-tall warrior outside the building, and other Soynites had killed Freemans before. He expected his weapon would help keep him alive.

Jake and Peter would have to shoot their guns. They would have to kill to make sure they survived. The Freemans had attacked and ruined planet Soy, and they could try killing Jake and Peter later.

They stayed in the hall, away from their adversaries, away from the dead Maggie, away from the powerful Theo Majestic.

It had been so long since Jake had last seen him. The boy's father, Jalen Majestic, was Theo's fifth cousin.

Jalen, like Lizzie Majestic, had died.

"The truth is that we should hope Lock Tannis isn't here," Peter said. He pressed a hand against the wall. "Me and you can kill Freemans, but I really doubt we'll kill Lock Tannis. Not anytime soon."

As a child, Jake had looked at a photograph in a textbook from planet Free. The picture had displayed Lock Tannis wielding a strife sword. Like the other Freemans, he had white-as-snow skin. He had the same Soynite-hating nature as his fighters.

Every Soynite had a natural weakness to strife. They had been born with it.

"Anyway, I didn't see any cameras before we made it to this hall," Peter said. "But the Freemans are going to find us. This is their base, after all. Before we leave, we need to get to the prison wing. There's bound to be one. We know what Freemans do to Soynites who end up at their mercy. That's why we have to get to the prison wing, then free any Soynite we find there. If I were locked inside a prison cell in this foul place, I would want someone to free me. And I don't know if we will make it out of this building still breathing, but I hope for it."

At the Watcher academy Peter had attended, he had learned how to fight. That combat training had been put to good use. Because there had been the possibility Freemans would attack Soy, Watchers had been taught how to kill.

Peter turned, then moved closer to the door. He pressed his ear against it.

"I don't hear any Freemans," he said.

Regardless, the pair would see Lock's people again. Jake didn't doubt it.

"They're going to find us," Peter said. "Or we are going to find them. Either way, we'll have to be ready to kill Freemans."

A laser beam couldn't blast a hole into former High Theo. A sword couldn't slip into his flesh. He had earned his invincibility.

If Jake and Peter managed to find and recruit Theo, the odds would be in their favor.

If Jake died, one less High would be able to govern the Soynite people, Peter's people. Maggie had never kneeled for Jake.

"After what one of them did to Maggie, I'm definitely ready to kill some Freemans," he said. "She didn't deserve to die like that, and she didn't deserve to get killed outside of a Freeman base. She died in enemy territory. I'm glad I got rid of the Freeman who shot her, but she's still dead. She's never going to go back to Soy."

"We haven't lost our chance to go back there," Peter said. "It's too late for Maggie to ever see Soy again. We can't say the same for ourselves, though. I don't know if we will ever return to our home planet, but we might. We might go back to Soy. And we might kill every Freeman in this building. We probably will uncover some of their secrets, too. This is their place. We're here, and we can find some interesting things. Let's hope we don't get killed here."

Jake had hoped Maggie wouldn't get killed, but it had happened. She had shot and killed a Freeman. She had met a High. She had died.

"We won't," Jake said. "We aren't going to die here, Peter."

Peter glared. "Being born as a Freeman should be a crime. I wish Lock Tannis and his people never came into existence."

Lock had slain Vice Reaper, and that had bought his authority over the Freemans.

Jake hadn't earned royal power by murdering Theo Majestic, the former Supreme High. Theo had given the boy authority over Soy and its people.

"Freemans killed a lot of Soynites who were much younger than you," Peter said. "And they killed a lot of Soynites who were much older than you. We both saw how horrible the Freemans were when they were attacking Soy, and we saw how horrible they were today. Lock Tannis will hate us forever. Unless we kill him, his people will hate us forever. Only one of us can kill him, of course. There will never be two leaders of Free at the same time."

"If I become the next leader of the Freemans, I'll make sure they'll be good to you," Jake said.

Peter put a hand on the closed door. "You're a good Soynite, Jake."

Freemans had killed good Soynites, and one had been killed today.

"Maggie was good, too," Jake said. "But we can't change the past. I know that. She's always going to be dead."

"Yeah, she will," Peter said. "So many Soynites have lost the luxury of living. We haven't. May good luck be on our side, because we definitely need it. We also need to end this war."

Holy Majestic's reign had ended when he died. His death had birthed his son's reign.

Eleven years ago, six Highs had stopped being rulers. A leader's duty had become Jake's. He led a dead planet. He ruled a race that had almost gone extinct. The Soynite people had gained new rulers, but they had lost their homes on Soy.

"We have to end this war for Maggie," Peter said. "And we have to end it for your parents, your grandparents, and every other Soynite who was killed by Freemans. Lock's warriors destroyed Soy, but what happened was his fault, too. Just like it's the Freemans' fault. All those Soynites who died during the Invasion died because of Lock Tannis. They died because of the Freemans."

The man gestured to Jake.

"But you're here," Peter said. "I wish the other Highs were here, too. Six. There are six of you, and I assume most of our people think Theo Majestic and those other former Highs are still their rulers. But they're not. No, Theo made you and five other children into Highs. And one of them was a newborn baby. But Theo gave her authority over him. That's the truth, and we can't deny it."

Theo had given a baby authority over him, but she hadn't been granted more power than Jake. He assumed no current High had become the leader of his or her co-rulers.

"You don't have a crown, Jake, but you are a ruler," Peter said. "And you were still a ruler in that spaceship, back when you were living with the other Highs. You children didn't have crowns, or thrones, but all of you did have royal power. All of you still do. That hasn't changed."

Peter looked at the floor.

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"But you rule a dead planet," he said. "That's another truth, but it's a bitter one. You rule a race that is nearly extinct."

"Maggie died before she could kneel for me," Jake said. "Theo didn't kneel for me, either. He left. I don't have a crown or a throne."

Peter nodded.

"Regardless, you're a ruler," he said. "People can serve someone who doesn't have a crown or a throne. And people can serve someone who has both. Power is where people think it is."

Jake stepped closer to the table hugging the wall. The painting he had seen remained in a frame.

It showed a field, six Freemans, and six people who wore Soynite pendants. Three of the Soynites were boys, and the other three were girls. Red swords impaled the boys, and their eyes were shut. The Soynite girls in the painting were alive, but they kneeled as Freemans confronted them with their swords drawn.

Three dead boys.

Three living girls.

Jake frowned. He said, "I wonder who's the disgusting Freeman who painted this."

Peter went closer to the painting. He examined it, then grimaced, as if he had tasted something foul.

"Hopefully, the Freeman who painted this is the same one you killed earlier," he said. He put a hand on Jake's back. "It's just a painting. It's a painting that a Freeman made. It's meaningless."

"Yeah," Jake said. "It's just a painting."

Peter moved closer to the door.

"That painting has three dead Soynites in it," he said. "Let's hope three of our people won't get killed here. It's bad enough that one of us got shot and killed outside. Not every Soynite gets to die in peace. Maggie proved that."

Jake sighed. "I really wish she hadn't."

"Me too."

Peter pressed his ear against the door.

"I still don't hear any Freemans," he said. "But that doesn't mean they aren't here. Those enemies of ours are in this building, and I'm very sure they will find us. Eventually. It's a good thing they aren't Bloodhounds. But they are horrible people, and we have to deal with them."

The Watcher had fought and killed Freemans. He could do it again.

"We're safe," Peter said. He took a deep breath. "For now, at least. We aren't going to be safe forever, though. This is a Freeman place, and the Freemans are definitely here."

Jake and Peter stood in a hall Lock Tannis's people had constructed. The Freemans hadn't invited the High and his Watcher to the building, but the pale warriors had driven Jake and Peter from their homeworld. Now Soynites and their enemies spent time on a planet they hadn't been born on.

Not enough Soynites lived on Earth, and too many Freemans populated it.

When the Highs landed on Earth, Jake had been five years old. Wind in a desert had brushed his skin. Highs and Watchers had spoken. Hugs had been given.

Freemans hadn't seen the spaceship land on Earth, but they had devastated the planet it had come from. Red lasers had riddled Soynites a long time ago. A Freeman had used one to wound Jake, the same foe who had killed Maggie.

She couldn't help Peter, but Jake could. The boy and his Watcher could kill Freemans later, people who deserved to be as dead as Maggie.

"We're definitely here, too," Jake said. He rubbed his laser pistol. "We'll have to shoot Freemans later, but at least we're still alive. But the Freemans don't have to be. We still have our guns. Plus, we still have a healing glass. If we get hurt, we'll use it to heal ourselves. I wish we could've used it on Maggie. If one of us healed her, she would be with us. Right now. A Freeman killed my parents. Other Freemans killed other good Soynites, and the Freeman I shot killed Maggie. So many people deserved better than what they got."

Jake glared at the painting.

"The Freemans have done some bad things," he said. "They've done some terrible things, and I'm never going to forget any of it. I'll never forget what they did to my parents. I'll never forget what they did to our planet. And I'll never forget what they did to Maggie."

"Maggie's death was that Freeman's fault," Peter said. "It was Lock's fault, too. He got a lot of great people killed during Soy's invasion."

"I know," Jake said. "He has to die. I'll meet him one of these days, and I'll make him regret what he made his warriors do to our people. What they did to us wasn't right. I wasn't in the wrong when I shot and killed the one who attacked us outside. I did what I needed to do, and I'll do it again when I meet Lock. It's my responsibility to get rid of him. It's the other Highs' responsibility, too. We're the leaders of the Soynites, and we have to solve their problems. One of those problems is Lock."

Peter crossed his muscular arms.

"He's a dangerous problem, Jake," he said. "We don't have enough people to help us kill him, and we don't have Saves, either. Lock has powers. We don't, though. Lock has an army of Freemans, and all his warriors will gladly do what he wants them to do. We don't have an army. We don't even know if your fellow Highs are still alive. Believe me, I really hope those kids aren't dead. But if we find their corpses, I won't be surprised. Soynites can die. Even Highs."

A red laser had blasted through Maggie's head. She had fallen.

Soynites could die.

Highs could die, but Jake had never seen a dead one. He had been a wounded one when he bled outside the Freeman base. Soynites could get hurt, and their hearts could stop. Freemans had injured many of Jake's people on Soy. Lock's fighters had slaughtered Soynites. A Freeman had killed the boy's father and mother, but the High hadn't met the same fate. He lived.

"I'm not a dead High," Jake said. He pressed a hand against his chest. His heart beat inside it. "And the other ones are alive, too. My co-rulers aren't dead. I refuse to believe that they are. I really need to see them again. Even though I didn't like one of them, I still need them. We need them. You said that we don't have an army, but that's going to change one of these days. Six people isn't a lot, but it is the number of Highs. And Soy needs them to fight for it. It needs me. I don't want to disappoint Theo Majestic, and I'm not going to. I'll do what he wants me to do. The other Highs will do the same. We'll revive Soy."

Peter looked at the door.

"The Freemans in this place don't want anyone to revive Soy," he said. "No Freeman does."

"That's their problem," Jake said. "Not mine. I don't want to do what the Freemans want me to do. They want what Lock wants. I don't."

For their leader, armed warriors had reduced the Soynite population. Jake hadn't seen Lock in person, but he had made the boy wish his parents hadn't died during Soy's invasion.

"None of us wanted the Freemans to destroy our planet," Peter said. "We wanted to live there. Forever. But Lock Tannis made sure that we didn't get what we wanted. Our families are gone, but Lock isn't. He's alive. The people we loved aren't. If I could, I would go to Free and kill Lock. But I can't do that. Neither can you. Lock is powerful, and we don't even have a way to get to Free. We also don't have enough allies."

A Freeman had shot Jake's latest ally to death. She had been killed, and maybe the boy and his Watcher had become the last living Soynites.

Jake's ancestor Hase had been born before all the other Soynites had. He had come from the Soy Maker, not a womb.

The Soy Maker had created five other Soynites. Hase had led them. Long before Jake's birth, one person had ruled over Soy and its people. Now Jake ruled that planet's kingdom. So did five others.

"Lock has so many more allies than us," Peter said. "So many. We have guns, but there are just too many Freemans. I doubt we'll kill them all. We won't have to do that, actually. Because the Freemans will side with whoever kills their leader. They will serve the person who will kill Lock. I don't know who that person is, but I hope it's you. I hope you stop him, Jake. Someone has to do it. It would be a good thing if you become the next ruler of the Freemans. Lock doesn't deserve to lead them. He doesn't even deserve to be alive."

The attack that had claimed many innocent lives had been the Freemans' work. Lock Tannis led them. He had ruled Free and its residents for too long.

Jake put a hand on the table. He said, "It's too bad that Vice Reaper didn't kill him when they fought."

"If Vice had survived that fight, maybe he would have attacked Soy," Peter said. "But the past is gone, and we can't change what happened. Nobody can. We will never know what would've happened if Vice survived his duel with Lock. He fought Vice, and that ended up being his last fight. He died. That's why the Freemans serve Lock. That's why they follow his orders. He killed their previous leader. Sadly, no one has ever killed him."

Vice Reaper's slayer had won the Red Throne, but he hadn't lost his life.

The Freemans called him Great Leader. But he had planned Soy's invasion, and his military had almost destroyed the Soynite race.

Lock Tannis would never be great.

"Someone will," Jake said.

Would the Freemans' next leader be a Soynite, or a Freeman?

"If I don't kill Lock, a different Soynite will," Jake said. "Only one person is more powerful than him, and that's Theo Majestic. He can kill Lock. And he can do so much more, too."

"He can," Peter said. He leaned against the door. "Do you think he's still alive?"

"Yeah."

"You shouldn't believe something just because you want to believe it, Jake. Theo might be dead."

Theo had ended his reign. Had someone ended his life?

"I would love to see him again, but we can't deny the possibility that he might be dead," Peter said. "Freemans can get killed, yes, but us Soynites can meet the same fate. Theo isn't immune to death. Strife is real. And Vamp is real, too. Theo can be killed. Maybe he already was."

Jake hadn't seen anyone kill his distant cousin. He hadn't laid his gaze on the man's corpse.

"I don't think so," Jake replied.

"You hope he's alive," Peter said. "So do I. Theo is a good man, and he's the greatest Soynite. He's powerful too. But Freemans have killed powerful Soynites before, and they can do it again. I want to see Theo alive and well. I really do. But we don't always get what we want, and we want Theo to be alive. Still, let's hope he isn't. Because we really need him, and we don't need Lock Tannis. The Freemans love him. We don't."

The only living Freeman who had been alive when Vice Reaper died was Lock, his slayer. Free's leader possessed a red throne, a red crown, and immortality. Jake had no throne, and no crown, but he ruled a planet. Like Lock.

"Lock Tannis got our loved ones killed," Peter said. "He didn't personally kill our families, but he's the reason why we can't see them. We couldn't protect them. At least we can avenge them."

Jake might die trying to kill Lock Tannis, but that Freeman would destroy the Soynite race if he could. It had become the High's duty to assassinate Free's leader.

"The price of winning this war is high," Jake said. "And it's a price I'm willing to pay."

"I'm willing to do the same," Peter said. "You're not alone, Jake. You have me. I'll keep helping you, and I'll do whatever needs to be done."

"I know you will."

Peter put a hand on the door.

"Freemans aren't in the hall outside of this one, but they know we're in the building," he said. He shook his head. "It's a shame it's just the two of us now. I didn't want Maggie to get killed. Casualties happen, and they bring pain, too. We need to avoid becoming like Maggie. We can't avenge her if we get killed too."

Jake stood in a long and gray hall, not dead. He could try giving Lock Tannis what he needed. Freemans deserved to die, yet not every pale enemy had died.

"Well, it's a good thing that we're not dead," Jake said.

Maggie Up. One dead Soynite. If a Freeman hadn't shot her in the head, she might have gone into the building with Jake and Peter.

Nobody could hurt Maggie. Nothing could hurt her. But Jake would rather see her stand in the hall. She deserved to be as alive as he was, but she had died. She had lost her life on a planet she hadn't been born on.

"And it's a bad thing that Freemans are still alive out there," Peter said. "We can't let them kill us, and we can't let them capture us. We're going to have to face them. And we're going to have to kill them. The Freeman who killed Maggie shot you in the arm, and he would've loved to kill you. I'm sure he was happy he had hurt a Soynite. The Freemans in this building are just like he was. They want to hurt us, and they want to kill us. The Freemans are just as brutal as they were eleven years ago. Their hatred of us hasn't gone away. It's still there. It's in them."

A Freeman had opened fire, and a rushing laser beam had wounded Jake. His arm had bled. Maggie had gotten worse than a bleeding arm. She had taken a laser to the head, and she had dropped.

Freemans had slain Soynites over a decade ago, and a Freeman had killed one today.

Jake's new friend had become a dead one.

"The Freemans fight for Lock Tannis," Peter said. "They fight for a powerful Freeman who hates us. They support Lock. And if they could, they would bring about a second invasion of Soy. Maybe Freemans are there right now, looking for Soynites to kill. Or capture. They turned our planet into a wasteland, and they're probably on it. The Freemans are on Earth. They might be on Soy, too. Our home planet might not be a safe place to go to."

Maybe armed Freemans hunted Soynites on Soy, like they had done eleven years ago. Jake and Peter hadn't been on that planet in a long time.

Lock's warriors searched for them inside a Freeman base on Earth.

"Soy is dead and barren," Peter said. "Maybe that's why some of our people might think it's a safe place to go to. Because it's a ruined place that doesn't even have food on it. It's an undesirable planet."

"And you think Freemans might be there," Jake said.

"Yeah, I do."

Jake looked at a Freeman in the painting. Real ones occupied the place he had gone into. Armed ones.

The High looked at the door. "Either way, we do know that Freemans are here. They're in this building. They're also looking for us."

"And they're not going to stop," Peter said. "We have guns, and we'll have to use them. We already know that the Freemans will use theirs. When they see us again, and they will see us again, they will try to kill us. We can't let that happen. They might even try to capture us. We can't let that happen, either. No matter what happens, we have to survive to see tomorrow. And we have to avoid being captured. I don't want to spend the rest of my life being a prisoner of the Freemans."

A Freeman hadn't shoved Jake into a prison cell with strife in its walls. He hadn't lost his freedom. Other Soynites might have lost theirs, but he hadn't. The Freemans might try changing that.

Jake held a laser gun. He had his weapon, and he could use it to turn Lock's people into smoke. He had already done that before. He hadn't prevented Maggie from dying, but he had killed the Freeman who had shot her to death. One day he might get rid of Lock Tannis.

"You're not going to," Jake said. He faced a wall. "I'm not going to, either. We don't have any Saves, but we do have our guns. The Freemans want to stop us. But we're going to stop them. I really believe that. We won't get locked up inside a prison cell."

"We need Soynites," Peter said. "We're going to make our way to the prison wing. That's still the plan. I just wish we knew where it was. We need to free some of our people. If we do that, they're going to help us survive our attack on this awful place."

"And we'll be able to become friends with them."

"Correct," Peter replied. "A Freeman killed our new friend. We need to do our best to make sure that doesn't happen to any Soynites we find here."

"Okay," Jake said. He turned to the black door at the hall's end, then pointed. "Should we go see what that door leads to?"

Peter nodded. "I don't see why not."

The High and his Watcher would have to rescue any Soynites who might be imprisoned inside the Freeman base.

Jake would risk his life to do it.