voice was low.
“It’s because of what happened two days ago,” she said.
“Tell me!”
“It was Matt.” She paused. “I’ve already explained to you. We had to meet, the five of us, to win. And we were so close… but there was a problem. The Old Ones knew that Inti was coming and they positioned their entire army between him and us. They were searching for him everywhere. You saw the fly-soldiers today. Well, there were hundreds more like them as well as shape-changers and fire riders. Inti was pinned down. He had to hide. He didn’t dare move any nearer.”
“How did Matt know?”
“Matt always knows! And two nights ago he called a meeting between the four of us. He said there was only one way to help Inti and that was to send out a small force to a place called Scathack Hill. There was a fortress there and he said that we’d find something that would help us in the fight against the Old Ones. Of course, Finn offered to go. There isn’t a single soldier who wouldn’t gladly volunteer to do anything Matt wants. But he said it had to be one of us. One of the Five.”
Scar paused a second time and when she began speaking again, Jamie was astonished to see that there were tears in her eyes.
“We believed him,” she said. “Why shouldn’t we? He had always been right before. But even so, it seemed crazy – when finally there were four of us there – to separate once again. But he insisted. He wouldn’t let me go. It had to be either Sapling or Flint. He took them into his tent and spoke to them, and an hour later, Sapling came out, got onto his horse and rode off. A hundred men went with him. He didn’t say anything to me, but I saw his face and I’ll never forget his look. It was as if he knew what was going to happen. And none of the soldiers asked any questions. He ordered and they followed.”
Her voice cracked.
“You know what happened next,” she said. “Scathack Hill was where we found you. The Old Ones must have known about the expedition because they sent a huge force in pursuit. You saw the result. The moment Sapling arrived, they surrounded him and closed in. The battle lasted almost an entire day. Sapling was incredibly brave. But he was hopelessly outnumbered with nowhere to go. His soldiers died all around him… all but two of them. The Old Ones let them live, not out of mercy, but so they could come back and tell the rest of us. Sapling was left almost to the end. He was badly wounded, but he kept fighting and the last time they saw him he was leading a charge, trying to break out, to get back to us.
“They cut him down. He took three arrows in his chest but he still kept fighting. But then the enemy soldiers closed in and hacked him to pieces, laughing as they did it. Even when he was dead they wouldn’t leave him alone. Some of them cut off fingers for souvenirs. He had long black hair and they cut that off too. Then they built a fire and burnt the rest and sent just two men back to tell us what had happened.”
“So it was all over.” Jamie whispered the words.
“That’s what we thought. Inti was still surrounded – but even if he did manage to reach us, it wouldn’t matter. There never would be five of us. He was too late.”
“But what was at Scathack Hill?” Jamie asked. “What was so important in the first place?”
“There was nothing there.” Scar’s voice was cold. “The two men told us that. Matt had been wrong from the start. The fortress was empty and abandoned. Sapling had died for nothing.”
Scar fell silent. She’d had enough.
“Finish the story,” Finn murmured. He reached out and touched her gently on the arm. “The boy needs to know. The next part matters too.”
Scar nodded slowly.
“I never wanted to see Matt again,” she said. “I thought he’d betrayed us. I thought he’d brought us all this way for nothing. To be honest, I hated him. I hated him almost as much as the Old Ones. But then, last night, he came to me – and what he said to me… I wanted to scream at him. But you don’t scream at Matt. When you meet him, you’ll understand.
“He told me to take part of the army and ride to the ruined city where we are now – but after that I was to go on alone to Scathack Hill, just with Finn, Erin and Corian. He said it was still important to bring back what I found there and, even though he knew I was angry about what had happened to Sapling, I’d understand why he’d died.” Scar frowned. “At first I didn’t believe him. I hated him and I didn’t even want to listen. But Finn persuaded me and so we set off. We left everyone here and went on alone. And when we got to Scathack Hill, we found you. That’s why I cried when I saw you. I thought you were Sapling.”
“Maybe he is,” Finn growled.
“Are you?” Scar turned to Jamie. She was almost pleading with him. “Because we need you to be. Tomorrow we fight the Old Ones for the last time. They’re waiting for us, less than half a league from where we’re sitting now. We need you to be one of us.”
Jamie tried to collect his thoughts.
“I’m Jamie,” he said. Suddenly, he was tired. “I’m sorry,” he went on. “I wish I could be the person you want me to be, but I don’t think I am.”
“Then it’s over,” Scar replied. “Sapling is dead and the Old Ones have won.”
She got up and walked off into the dark.
FROST
Jamie woke slowly the next morning and, before he had even opened his eyes, he sent out his thoughts, searching for his brother. It was instinctive, something he did automatically. He knew there would be no reply.
Scott. Where are you…?
But this time it was different.
Here!
The single word came back, very faint, from somewhere far away. Jamie sat bolt upright, fully awake in an instant. That was when he saw where he was. He was lying on the temple floor, dressed in the clothes he had worn the day before and wrapped in the same blanket that he had used as a saddle. One side of his body was numb and there was a crick in his neck. In fact most of his bones were aching; he was surprised he’d managed to sleep at all. He groaned quietly and raised himself up on an elbow. Erin was on the other side of the temple, relighting the fire, stirring the embers with his metal hand.
Had it been Scott who had replied? Jamie tried again, visualizing his brother.
Scott, are you there…?
But this time there was silence and Jamie wondered if he hadn’t simply imagined his brother’s voice while he was still half asleep. Scott wasn’t here. As far as these people were concerned, Scott didn’t even exist. Jamie looked around. Nobody had noticed that he had woken up. Erin was lifting a pot of water onto the flames. Corian was sitting near by, sharpening his sword between two stones. There was no sign of Scar or Finn.
So what had happened? How had he got here? Still lying on the hard ground, Jamie went back over everything that had happened, trying to make sense of it. All he knew for certain was that he had arrived at the end of a long war between mankind and creatures who called themselves the Old Ones. And the hopes of all humanity rested on five teenagers. Matt was their leader. Then there was Scar and a boy called Inti, who was near but who had yet to arrive. And finally two brothers
… twins. Flint and Sapling.
That was the most difficult part. As far as everyone was concerned, Jamie was Sapling. And that meant he was expected to fight in the battle that was going to begin just a few hours from now. The thought of it made him tremble. He didn’t know anything about swords or arrows. And now here he was in the middle of a war of his own and he was hopelessly out of his depth.
And yet…
That wasn’t quite true. Only the day before he had snatched up a sword from a dead soldier and fought hand-to-hand with a creature twice his size. He had known exactly what to do – and he had won. Admittedly Scar had arrived in time to finish off the man-scorpion, but only after Jamie had cut off its tail and stabbed it almost to
