Plot summary

This follows the story of John Smith, a 15-year-old alien from the planet Lorien, and Henri, his guardian Cpan, as they run from the Mogadorians, another alien ra e that is hunting John and eight other teenage Lori s residing on the planet !arth" These nine teens are mem#ers of the $arde, a group of Lori people gifted with spe ial powers alled %Lega ies"% Cpans, who are also Lori , do not a &uire lega ies and most often #e ome prote tors and mentors for young mem#ers of the $arde" The teenagers are prote ted #y a spell or harm that only allows them to #e 'illed in numeri order" The first three ha(e #een 'illed, and John is )um#er *our" The #oo' opens with the death of )um#er Three" )um#er *our is introdu ed under the alias +aniel Jones as he lea(es *lorida" *our has three ir ular s ars whi h #egin on his right outer leg, ,ust a#o(e his an'le, and mo(e upward along his outer alf" !a h signifies the deaths of )um#ers -ne, Two, and Three, and #urn with #lue fire when they appear" These s ars are present on all the Lorien teenagers, and with ea h death, another s ar appears" Henri, *our.s Cpan /guardian0, tells him they are going to 1aradise, -hio" Henri produ es a new identity for *our, gi(ing him the name %John Smith"% Tired of running, John says that he wants to #egin to ma'e a life for himself" Henri reminds him why they run, and the on(ersation ends" John #egins to attend the lo al high s hool where he meets the #eautiful Sarah Hart, a ,unior" He also meets her e2-#oyfriend Mar' James, who immediately #egins to pi ' on John" John stands up to him, the first time he has e(er stood up to any#ody" +uring astronomy lass, John.s hands #egin to hurt and glow" 3hen John is #a ' at his house, he reali4es that his first lega y has arri(ed" 5fter the Mogadorians. de(astating atta ' on Lorien, the )ine are the only sur(i(ing Lori s with lega ies - and ea h of the )ine is gifted with a different set of lega ies /though they all ha(e tele'ineti powers0" Henri tells John that his first lega y is Lumen, the a#ility to produ e light from his hands, a ompanied #y a de(eloping resistan e to fire" Henri uses an o#long mil'y white stone to help John spread his resistan e to fire and heat throughout his #ody" +uring this pro ess John sees a (ision of his last moments on Lorien when the Mogadorians atta 'ed, while Henri narrates" Henri and John ha(e a spe ial Lori hest that an only #e opened #y #oth of them together" /Howe(er, if Henri dies, John will #e a#le to open it #y himself"0 6sing artifa ts from the hest Henri shows John a model of the gala2ies where he an see how Lorien loo'ed #efore the Mogadorians destroyed it and how it loo's now, desolate and #arren" The hest also ontains a healing stone that heals all wounds infli ted on the #ody, #ut with onditions7 the healing pro ess is twi e as painful as the in,ury itself, and the wound must ha(e #een infli ted with intent to harm" The stone must #e used soon after the in,ury o urs" 5lso in the hest are se(eral small pe##le-li'e ro 's, Lorien salt, that an #e pla ed under the tongue for a #urst of strength and relief from pain" The effe ts of the salt are rapidly diminished #y the use of lega ies" 3ith the arri(al of John.s lega ies, Henri #egins to train him" John e(entually learns to turn his lights on and off at will" John also ma'es his first real friend, Sam $oode, who #elie(es in aliens" He also grows loser to Sarah" 5t a town Halloween party John, Sarah, Sam, and Sarah.s friend !mily are am#ushed #y Mar' and some of his foot#all teammates" John, who is already tired of Mar'.s onstant #ullying, is enraged when they run off into the woods with Sarah" John hases the #oys and finally onfronts Mar' and his friends, easily defeating all of them and freeing Sarah" Sam witnesses mu h of the ordeal and #e omes wary of John, a(oiding him for some time" 3hen John goes to Sam.s house to tal' to him, he threatens John with a gun #ut John on(in es him he.s not an alien so he lea(es with a maga4ine on alien onspira ies" John is in(ited to a dinner at Sarah.s house" Henri has gone to 5thens, -hio #e ause he dis o(ers an alien onspira y maga4ine and goes to find out how they had gained information on mogadorians and hasn.t alled John yet li'e he promised" So John alls Sam for help" Sams dri(es John to 5thens, where they find Henri am#ushed and aptured inside the pu#lisher.s house" John.s tele'inesis lega y appears, and he uses it to sa(e #oth Henri and Sam and es ape the house as se(eral Mogadorian s outs arri(e" Henri tells Sam their whole story, and after seeing John use his tele'inesis Sam a epts them for who they are" John.s training intensifies until he is a#le to perform omple2 tele'ineti feats with his lothes lit on fire" 5t a party at Mar'.s house, a fire starts, trapping Sarah on the se ond floor" John rushes in and sa(es her, re(ealing who and what he really is to her in the pro ess" She still onfesses her lo(e for him, and John says he lo(es her too" He then pro eeds to tells her e(erything a#out himself" 5t s hool the ne2t day, John fears that he will ha(e to lea(e, as people had seen him ,ump out of the window and reported it" *ortunately, the paper has no referen e to his in(ol(ement in the fire" 5ll seems to #e going well when a fa2 arri(es for John at the s hool saying %5re you )um#er *our8% John leaps through a window and rushes home to

find Mar', who has reali4ed the truth" He argues with Henri a#out why he did what he did, saying he wanted a normal life" He then franti ally returns to the s hool to find Sarah when he reali4es that the Mogadorians are on their way" John finds Sarah, #ut they en ounter a Mogadorian s out, one of se(eral who ha(e losed in on the s hool" John 'ills it, #ut their es ape route is #lo 'ed #y two more Mogadorians until Henri and Mar' arri(e and 'ill the s outs" The four are then ,oined #y a girl a#out John.s age and John.s dog, 9ernie :osar" The girl identifies herself as )um#er Si2" John reali4es that sin e he and Si2 ha(e met, the harm prote ting them from #eing 'illed out of order has now #ro'en" Si2 replies that the war has #egun and that they must fight" 3hile the fi(e ompanions ma'e their way out of the s hool, John tells Mar' and Sarah to go #a ' and hide, as it isn.t their fight" They do, and in the #attle that ensues John onfronts his first soldier, whom he 'ills" John is wounded se(erely and is res ued #y Henri as well as Sam, who reali4ed what was happening and has ome to help" John dis o(ers his third lega y, the a#ility to ommuni ate with animals and also finds out that #ernie 'osar is an himaera, and on(in es one of the Mogadorians. #easts to turn on its masters" ;n the haos Henri is hit #y a Mogadorian.s energy #last and dies in John.s arms" 9efore he passes away, he says, %Coming here, to 1aradise, it wasn.t #y han e"%

Waking up in a hotel room, John tells Sarah that he has to leave. Sarah accepts this and tells him she will wait for him. John replies in a similar fashion, saying his heart will always belong to her. Afterward, Henri's body is cremated. Sam agrees to go with John and Si as they prepare to leave in search of the other four !oric children. "he novel ends with John telling Sarah he loves her and will come back and then he's leaving with Si , Sam and #ernie $osar. % Summary& "here were nine. "hree are dead. ' Am (umber )our. (ine teenagers and their guardians are hiding on *arth + protected by a charm that means they can only be killed in numeric order, three are already dead. John Smith is (umber )our. And his mortal enemies, the ,ogadorian, are hunting him down "he only way to keep off radar is to keep moving, never staying in one place for long. )inally in the firing line, all he can do is adopt the guise of a student and pray his unusual gifts - his legacies home. /lanet !orien - stay hidden long enough for him to settle into this new community. #ut others seem to sense his otherness and when small0town life sucks him into its intrigues, it1s only a matter of time before his true nature is revealed. And that means there1s no space for love, friendship or a future if it means protecting not only himself, but the other five + 2 *leven years ago, an evil race of aliens called ,ogadorians came to the beautiful, peaceful planet of !orien with blood and greed on their minds. "hey destroyed every inhabitant to gain access to the planet1s natural resources. #ut some people escaped. (ine children called 3arde and nine guardians called 4epan came to *arth, hoping to develop their special powers called !egacies and stay out of harm1s way. #ut the ,ogadorians are after them. "hey want to kill the 3arde before their !egacies develop. #ut they must kill them in order. "hree are dead. (ow they1re after (umber )our. (ew (ame, (ew /lace His newest alias is John Smith as he and his 4epan, Henri, move to /aradise, 5hio, a small town they plan to call home until their lives are once again under threat. 4onstantly moving has made it impossible for John to make friends. 6ntil now. At the local high school, he meets Sam, a nerdy boy who is e tremely into conspiracy theories, particularly aliens. and Sarah, the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. He and Sarah form an undeniable connection, and both reali7e they1re falling in love. (o ,ore 8unning 9eep down he knows that eventually the ,ogadorians will draw near, and he and Henri will have to pack up and skip town. #ut his new relationships make the thought of leaving impossible. And now that his !egacies are starting to develop, it1s becoming harder to keep his true identity a secret.