Jason, Mack and Dye charged into the emergency room with Corrine.

“Help!” They yelled as they rushed through the white hallways. “We need medical attention – now!” Mack carried her while Dye frantically tried to get the attention of someone.

One of the nurses came to aid them and called over to another nurse to get a stretcher. Mack placed Corrine’s body on the gurney and followed the nurses down the hall with Dye and Jason at her bedside. They put an oxygen mask on her face and inserted an IV in her arm. Before the two could go any further, they were stopped by the other nurses and were told to stay in the waiting area.

Fifteen minutes passed, and Dye couldn’t stop pacing around in circles as his nerves pulsed throughout his body, biting his fingers and rubbing his hair back to ease his tenseness. Jason sat in one of the chairs with his face held in his hands and his long hair hanging down past his hands. Mack sat patiently, still thinking about what happened.

“Hey!” Said Sam, running into the lobby. “What’s the word? Is she okay?”

“We don’t know,” replied Dye. “They took her in not too long ago. All we can do is sit and wait.”

They sat in the lobby and waited anxiously for the doctor to come out. Minutes went by and soon hours had flown by. People came and went but the boys remained, silent as ever. The sound of the television filled the room with the news still talking about Griflore’s attack months ago. The brothers were less interested in their victory and were more worried about the well-being of Corrine.

“So, is it true? Is she Corrine?” Asked Sam, pushing up his glasses.

Jason looked at Dye but it was Mack who looked up. The three younger siblings turned to him and he nodded subtly.

At last, a man in a white doctor’s coat came walking through the doors carrying a clipboard. The brothers stood up as he approached, the four of them looking worried.

“Were you the boys who brought a girl in earlier?” Asked the doctor.

“Yes,” replied the three boys simultaneously.

“Are you related to her?” Asked the doctor.

The brothers paused for a moment. Hit again by everything they had found out. Corrine was dead for sixteen years, at least that’s what they were told, but here she was. Very much alive, at least prior to today.

How could they tell their parents.

“She’s our sister.” Dye said hesitantly

“How is she?” asked Jason.

“Unfortunately, she fell into a coma while we were working on her,” said the doctor. The boys' hearts sank.

“Will she be okay?” Asked Jason.

“It's hard to tell at this point,” said the doctor.

“What do you mean?” Asked Sam, who caught an inflection in the doctor’s voice.

“Well, she’s a twenty-one-year-old woman with the body condition of a ninety-year-old. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he flipped through the papers on his clipboard, analyzing the girl’s data.

“What do you mean? What’s going to happen to her?” Dye asked hastily.

“Her body is slowly shutting itself down. Her breathing is slowing down, her heart rate has dramatically dropped, and her bones are deteriorating. At this rate, she’ll probably be dead in a few weeks.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” Dye asked with tears forming in his eyes.

“No. I'm afraid not,” said the doctor, “I’m sorry.”

The boys were silent for a brief moment.

“Can we see her?” Asked Dye.

“Visiting hours are over,” the doctor replied, “but since you’ve been waiting for a while I guess I can spare you five or ten minutes.”

The boys followed the doctor behind the closed doors. They were led to a lone room where the shades were drawn.

“She’s in here,” said the doctor, opening the door.

They stood at the threshold for a moment. The heart pulse machine beeping slowly, bringing even more anxiety to the boys. They finally gained control of their legs and were able to walk into the dark, depressing hospital room. The doctor left them, closing the door behind them.

There, in the bed was a body whose chest raised and lowered with each passing breath. As they approached the bed, the face of an unconscious girl peered over at them, her eyes were closed, and her mouth was drawn open with tubes sticking out. Her physical features were that of an aged woman. Her hair took on a gray, silver color and her face was shriveled like a raisin. Her bones were thin, and her skin was as white and wrinkled as the sheets. The heart monitor beeped.

“Griflore did this?” asked Sam.

Jason informed Sam of what had happened that day. He revealed to them everything about Grflore’s origins and also that he was a Ka who was possessing their supposedly dead sister. Sam didn’t want to believe it, but looking in the hospital bed it was evident that this was true.

“Yeah…” said Dye, with a croak to his voice.

“Any ideas what we do?” asked Jason.

The boys were silent. Griflore was now possessing Arayan and now the hiding place of the star had been compromised. It was only a matter of time now before he would make his final move, and then, an idea occurred to Dye.

“That’s it!” said Dye. The brothers looked up. “Guys, the star! We can use the star to bring Corrine back.”

Jason and Sam’s faces lit up. Mack was unsure as he didn’t know what Dye was talking about. Sam turned to Dye and then something occurred to him. “If Griflore is in Arayan now, he would have the star by now.”

“Then we take it back!” Dye said determinedly.

“That’s a little easier said than done little brother,” said Jason.

“What choice do we have?” Dye protested. “That’s literally our only play right now to stop him and bring her back. Mack, what do you think?”

Mack was still disturbed about what happened. He rested against the wall with his arms folded, brooding like an ominous figure in the dark. When he heard his name he looked up.

“I–I don’t know,” he said.

“You saw what happe—”

“You guys have been fighting this thing this whole time?” he looked at his brothers inconceivably.

“Yeah, since the night on the train,” Sam said nonchalantly.

“You’ve been fighting an ancient demon that is able to jump from body to body and suck the life force from people?”

“Well when you put it like th—” Jason started.

“Don’t!” Mack snapped. “Don’t make a joke about this. I’m being serious.” Sam and Dye exchanged looks of confusion. “How? You guys are just kids. Dye you’re barely in high school.”

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“Because, if we don’t stop him, who will?” Dye’s face was serious. “We are the Xenton, and we have to stop him!”

Mack exhaled hard. “I can’t do this. I’m going home!” he left the room, closing the door behind him.

“Mack!”

“Dye, let him go,” said Sam.

“But, we’re going to need his help,”

Jason shook his head. “Mack is creeped out. Leave him alone. He needs time to get his head straight.” Dye apprehensively agreed. “So what’s the next play?” Jason continued.

“I think Dye was onto something about the star,” Sam was in his calculating mode again, “But there’s no doubt that Griflore has already gotten it.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Dye looked at Sam.

The brothers quickly left the room and ran down the hallway, passing the front desk where one of the receptionists yelled “No running!” The boys continued with Sam in the lead. They made it through the sliding doors when Sam burst into the air and wings sprouted from his back. White, golden armor covered his entire body. Dye jumped onto Sam’s back while Jason stayed behind.

“I’ll head home,” said Jason, “maybe the news will have some info we can use.”

“Sounds good,” said Sam.

“We’ll meet you back at home,” Dye said.

They left the hospital. Sam and Dye took off into the night sky.

“Remember Sam, exercise conTROOOOOOOOOOOL—-” Sam blasted off through the clouds. Dye held on for dear life as Sam picked up his speed, Dye’s eyes watering against the cold winds.

“How am I supposed to find the Sky Sanctuary?” Yelled Sam. “It’s cloaked, remember?”

“YOU’RE A SKY XENTON! TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS!” Dye shouted over the whirling winds.

Sam pressed on forwards, flying high up above the city, up through the clouds and across the moon. They continued to gain altitude and at Sam’s speed they covered a great distance in just a short amount of time. Sam’s armor started to glow, and within moments it shot a beam of light into the clouds. The clouds dissipated, and there in front of them was the Sky Sanctuary.

“This isn’t good,” said Dye.

The sanctuary was completely in ruin. A light cloud of dust orbited the once beautiful temple. The two brothers flew into the sanctuary and landed. The crystal floors were cracked with a gigantic hole in the center of the sacred palace. Two statues were lying broken across the floor.

“Griflore really did a number on this place,” said Sam, “and it looks like he got what he wanted.”

The two brothers observed the gigantic hole in the floor and saw a metal case next to it that had been broken into.

“No doubt this is where Arayan was keeping the star,” said Sam.

“So what do we do?” Asked Dye.

“We head back now,” Sam replied, picking up his brother and soaring out of the sanctuary.

“Well?” said Jason, meeting them as they arrived back home.

“We were too late,” said Sam, “the star is gone.”

“Where’s Mack?” Asked Dye.

“Upstairs. Why?” asked Jason.

“We’re going to need his help.”

“Dye, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Sam.

“Why not?

“He’s freaked out. He’s not going to want to hear us out. You need to leave him alone for now.” Jason said

Dye rolled his eyes. “Fine! So now what? Griflore has the star and now it’s only a matter of time.”

“Yeah, about that…” Jason pointed to the TV. There was a breakdown of the weather and right there, on the screen was the date of the next full moon.

“The full moon is next week,” said Sam. “That’s when he’s going to make his move.”

“So we need to find him before that happens,” said Dye.

“How?” Sam protested. “The only guy who can track his energy has been taken over by him.”

“I’m starting to think that was a calculated move on Griflore’s part.” pondered Sam.

“So…what? We wait?”

“No, we plan. We try to anticipate where he’s going to be.” Sam replied, still pondering.

“And how do we do that?’

Sam walked over the couch and muted the TV. His face was lost in thought. He pulled out his phone and brought up a picture of their city. Jason and Dye looked over his shoulder.

“Okay, this is Beach Shores,” he began. “I reckon that Grilfore is going to be in the highest point in the city.”

“The sky-scrapper,” said Dye.

“Correct,”

“Secondly, I believe that he’s going to wait until midnight. That is when the moon will be at its highest. Whatever he’s planning to shift with the star, he’ll want the moon to be at its highest.”

“Okay, but what makes you think he will even be here in the city?” Asked Jason.

“That’s thirdly, because of Dye’s dream.”

“Huh?” Dye scratched his head.

“What you saw in your dream happened here in the city. It wasn’t in some far off place, which leads me to believe that the epicenter of it all is right here in Beach Shores.”

“Yeah, but you’re just assuming. That whole dream could be metaphorical.” Jason said, being unsure of Sam’s theory.

“I know, but that's all we have to go on right now, we have to assume that’s where he’ll be.”

“Okay, let’s say you’re right, how do you explain the monsters in my dream?” Dye was also skeptical about his brother’s assumptions. It felt more like a coincidence to him rather than a statistical fact.

Sam went into thinking.

“Remember what Griflore said about the Prince? He would have to be in life-threatening danger in order for him to awaken, right?”

“Right,” said Jason and Dye.

“So here’s what I’m thinking. Logically speaking, he won’t call for the gates to the void to be opened. He explicitly said that the Seventh Ka was the only thing powerful enough to tear it open. Would he use the star to find the host of the Prince? That’s highly unlikely I’m afraid.” Sam had begun his deep dive into his mental process. He was full on having a conversation with himself. “No, because the prince is well hidden deep down inside of someone. I can only assume the star doesn’t have the ability to find whoever it is.”

“So….” said Jason.

“Based on Dye’s dream, he’s going to create something in order to flush out the Prince.”

“The monsters in my dream, putting whoever it is in life threatening danger.”

“Exactly! And when that energy is awakened in whoever it is, Griflore will find them.”

Dye trailed off. “So how do we get the star away from him?”

“Yeah, he’s gonna be waiting for us,” said Jason.

“Well, that’s the risky part. We’re going to have to wait until after he begins.”

“What? Why?” Said Dye with bewilderment.

“Because once the star starts to respond, the only way it can be undone is if we destroy it.”

“But Sammy, we need the star to bring Corrine back,” asked Dye.

“I know, but even without his armor, Griflore is still a powerful Ka. Do you think we can hold him off long enough for the star to do its thing?

Dye contemplated, “We can try.”

“Right, but keep in mind, if he gets the star to work in his favor, the only way to undo it is to destroy it. So be sure you’re on your A-game.”

Sam looked at the screen. “The full moon will be here before you know it”

School was still closed the remainder of that week, giving Dye, Jason and Sam the opportunity to plan out what was supposedly their final battle with Griflore. Mack had distanced himself from his brothers and that bothered Dye greatly. He knew they would need his help in defeating Griflore and obtaining the star, but he was told by his brothers to leave him alone.

Mack wasn’t at all familiar with any of this. Even though he possessed a Ka for himself, and exhibited increased strength as a result of it, he still was not able to comprehend the reality of it all. It was like he was on the outside looking in.

The lights in the sky.

Plowing through his football team's offensive line.

Seeing the sky Sanctuary.

And now, seeing Griflore for the first time, within the body of his sister, was overwhelming.

He didn’t have armor. Didn’t have any clue how to even begin to learn how to use his powers. It was already too late as from what he overheard from his brothers, Grifore was going to make it hard for them to win.

“Hey,” he approached them. Sam, Jason and Dye were sitting at the kitchen table. Sam was going over a plan that seemed complicated but if executed right could actually work. All three of them looked up at him.

“Hey man, you good?” asked Jason.

Mack huffed, “No, I’m not! What you guys are talking about – it’s insane!”

“Yeah, tell us about it,” Sam replied ironically. “It’s been insane ever since we saw those lights.”

“How are you guys just so okay with this?” Mack said with ire.

“Because we don’t have a choice,” Dye chimed in.

Mack looked at him. “This isn’t your fight. Dye you’re just a kid. You shouldn’t have to be worrying about this.”

Dye got up from the table. “Newsflash! That doesn’t matter. This is happening and believe it or not we’re the only ones who can stop him.”

Mack looked at his little brother.

He had changed.

Dye was no longer just some kid. He was now someone who was selfless and knew his responsibilities with these powers. Mack looked at Sam and Jason and they didn’t say a word. Mack was beginning to see Dye for what he was.

A hero.

Having Arayan take his spirit away was wrong. He knew that now.

Staring upon his little brother looking back at him with nothing but determination to save his city.

To save people.

And, quite possibly, to save Corrine, was admirable.

“Are you going to help us?” Mack looked back at his brothers silently. Sam and Jason looked at him and were hoping he would say yes.

“I–I don’t know,” he replied. “I don’t have armor. I barely know how to use my strength. I’d just get in the way.”

“We can probably use that to our advantage,” Sam adjusted his glasses. “I have an idea.”