Anthony Horowitz - Nightrise

“Forget it.” Scar had lost her train of thought. She gazed into the fire as if she might find it there, then went on. “Anyway, that’s how I first met Matt. He came to me in a dream and he explained everything to me. There were five of us in different countries. He was here. I was where I was. You and Flint were on the other side of the world and Inti… I don’t know where he came from and neither does he. But the point was, we’d all been chosen. We all had these powers and if we could just find each other and come together, we’d have the strength to beat the Old Ones and give the world a new start.”

It hadn’t occurred to Jamie that he might still have his power, that it might have returned to him after the shock at Silent Creek. Could he use it now? Could he reach out to Scott? He decided not to try. In this world, Scott was someone called Flint. He didn’t want to reach him yet. He was afraid of what he might find.

“There were people fighting already,” Scar went on. “People like Finn and Erin and Corian and all the others. There were resistance groups. But they needed us. It’s funny, isn’t it, but it’s like Finn said. They were all adults but they needed five children if they were going to survive. And we needed each other. So we set out to find each other. And that’s how we got here.”

“You’re not making any sense!” Finn taunted her.

“I’m doing the best I can!” Scar snapped back.

She turned to Jamie. “Matt told me I had to escape from the mine, so I did. It was very close. I nearly got caught. But it’s a long story and I’m not going to tell it tonight. All you need to know is that I got away. And at the same time, the others were doing the same thing. Flint and Sapling in one kingdom. Inti in another. We were all leagues away from each other. We’d never met. We hadn’t even known that the others existed. But we used the dreams to speak with each other and Matt told us where to go and eventually four of us met close to a river not far from here, on the other side of the hills. Matt is waiting for us there now. Flint is with him.”

“Where’s the boy you call Inti?”

“He’s not there yet. He had the furthest to travel. But he should arrive with the break of day.”

“And then…?” Jamie asked the question but he already knew the answer. There was a queasy feeling in his stomach.

“There will be a battle. It’s been predicted for ages. If the five of us can reach one another, we will win. If we can’t, the world will come to an end.”

She reached out and Finn threw her a water bottle. In that single movement, Jamie saw how well the two of them knew each other. She hadn’t asked. He had known what she wanted. She hadn’t looked round. Yet she knew he would have it ready for her.

“How did you find me?” Jamie asked. “The fortress or whatever it was. You came there… and it was like you were expecting me.”

“We weren’t expecting you,” Scar replied.

“Then why were you there?”

She took a long drink, then used the back of her hand to wipe her mouth. When she continued talking, her 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.”