That was when Flint returned. Jamie had wondered what had become of his brother — for he couldn’t think of him any other way — but suddenly Flint appeared riding on a horse-drawn wagon which was piled high with sacks and barrels. He had taken six men with him and they had all returned with similar wagons. They tore through the middle of the field and stopped. Flint leapt to his feet.
“We’ve found food!” he called out. “The overlords had a camp on the other side of the valley and of course they kept all the best supplies for themselves. We have bread and wine and cheese and dried meat and fruit. So light a fire. Tonight we’re going to eat well.”
About three hundred men, women and children had come through the battle unhurt. Hearing Flint’s words, they broke into cheers. Jamie joined in. He knew that if Scott had been here, he would have found the food. That was how he had always been, scavenging for himself and Jamie whenever anything was needed. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed to him that Scott and Flint were one and the same — just as he and Sapling were more or less identical. It was impossible, of course. But then so was everything else.
The survivors must have been as weary as Jamie but somehow they found new strength. First they made a great bonfire out of scattered weapons, branches from the forest and their own catapult, which they dismantled and fed to the flames. They spread out cloths and carpets in front of the tents. Then they unloaded the wagons and distributed the supplies, making sure the injured weren’t forgotten. Soon what had been a field of death suddenly became the scene of a huge open-air banquet beneath a sky full of stars.
A makeshift table with five folding stools had been set up slightly to one side for himself and the other Gatekeepers. He went over to it. Matt was already standing there, deep in conversation with Inti, but the two of them stopped as Jamie approached. Matt poured Jamie a bowl of wine and passed it across. Inti held out a hand.
“It’s good to be with you,” he said.
Then Flint and Scar arrived. If Scar had been grieving for the loss of Finn, she didn’t show it. She seemed to be in a bad mood. She plumped herself down on one of the stools, poured herself some wine, drank it, then poured some more.
Flint had sat next to Jamie. “Have you seen the stars?” he asked.
Jamie looked up. The whole universe was ablaze. “It’s a beautiful night,” he said.
“I’ve never seen the stars. All my life there have only been clouds.” He craned his neck, gazing into the night. “People used to say that the sky could look like this. But I never believed them.”
Matt sat down. He looked exhausted. Scar poured him a bowl of wine. It occurred to Jamie that the Five were together again. But for how long?
He had lost count of the number of people who had approached him during the day as he made his rounds with the water bottles, but as the feast began, the five of them were left alone. It was as if it had been decided that they should be allowed to rest and — Jamie reflected — they certainly deserved it. They drank more wine and ate soft cheese and some sort of meat with chunks of tough, chewy bread. Jamie was surprised to find he was ravenous.
In another part of the field someone began a tune, playing on a pipe, and a moment later two others joined in with a drum and some sort of single-stringed instrument. The flames from the bonfire leapt up, sparks twisting in the air.
Scar glanced at Matt. “So what happens now?” she asked. “And before you say anything, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have argued with you about Scathack Hill and the rest of it. But how was I to know? You’re just a boy. Nobody even told me who put you in charge.”
“It’s too late to say very much tonight,” Matt replied. “And anyway, I don’t have all the answers — whatever you may think. But there is one thing you need to know right away. We’ve spent our whole lives searching for each other but very soon we will have to part.”
“I had a feeling you were going to say that.”
“The four of us have work to do. But Jamie isn’t from our world. He has to return where he came from.”
Jamie felt a jolt of sadness which he couldn’t explain. He didn’t belong here — he knew that. But nor did he want to leave.
There was a long silence, broken at last by Flint. “He’s not Sapling then,” he said simply.
“Sapling is dead,” Matt replied. “He died at Scathack Hill.”
“Then I killed him.”
“No.”
Flint slammed his fist down on the table, spilling his wine. “You told us to choose,” he cried, and from his voice, Jamie could tell that he was close to tears. “You said one of us had to go and I let him volunteer.”
“It was his choice.” Matt remained calm. “You don’t have to blame yourself.”
“But if he isn’t Sapling,” Scar said, “who is he?”
Matt turned to Jamie.
“I’ve told you all along,” Jamie said. “My name is Jamie Tyler. I live in Nevada, in America.”
“Where is America?” Inti asked.
Matt stood up. “We have so much to talk about,” he said. “Here we are, together at last. The Five. Today we did what we were born to do. We defeated the Old Ones and gave the world a new start. Flint, I promised you answers and you will have them. You too, Jamie. But right now I’m too tired. I’d like to spend the whole night with you, sitting at this table, but I can’t do it. I need to sleep.”
“I, too, am tired,” Inti muttered.
“We won’t be together for long,” Matt continued. “But it isn’t important. A year, an hour or even a minute … all that mattered was that we met. Because in that instant our work was done. That was the end of it. That was the only reason we ever existed. And if we never see each other again, we need have no regret.
Scar stood up next to him and refilled all five bowls. “Whatever you think about fate and destiny and all the rest of it, I want to celebrate,” she said. “I want to remember this moment for the rest of my life. You, me, Inti, Flint and Jamie. We did it together. We are the Five. Let’s drink to that.”
They raised their bowls.
“The Five,” Scar said.
“The Five,” they all chorused. They touched the bowls together, metal against metal, then drank silently.
Matt smiled. “Goodnight,” he said. “We’ll talk again when the sun is up.”
He walked away.
“I go too.” Inti yawned. “Forgive me. This feast may go on all the night … but I cannot. I travelled far today. I must sleep.”
Jamie watched as he walked off a few paces behind Matt. They stopped at the first line of tents and spoke a few words before they parted company, each of them going their own way.
Scar finished her wine. “Matt never tells us anything,” she said with a sigh. “And when he does, we don’t understand it. But we’ve won the battle … and the war. So I suppose I’ll go along with whatever he says.” She held out a hand. “Good night, Jamie. I’m going off to find Erin and Corian. We’re going to have a drink to the memory of Finn. And then we’re going to keep drinking until we forget that he’s gone. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She and Jamie clasped hands. At the same time, she leant forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Then she too left the table.
He and Flint were alone.
“I’m sorry,” Jamie muttered. He didn’t know what else to say.
“Don’t be.” Flint sounded worn out. “I’m glad you were here. I’m glad you were sent in Sapling’s place.”
“Me too.” Jamie thought for a moment. He was so tired that he had to struggle to find the right words. “Let me tell you about Scott,” he said. “He’s smarter than me. He’s looked after me all my life. But a week ago, these people came after him. He was kidnapped. I managed to get away. I can see now that it must be something to do with the Old Ones. That must be why they were looking for us. I don’t know where Scott is right now. He may have been killed. I don’t know. I’ve been trying to find him.”
“Could he be h
ere?”
“No. I don’t even know where here is. But you heard what Matt said. This world hasn’t got anything to do with Scott or me. I suppose I will have to go back home…”
Flint got unsteadily to his feet. All around them, the feast was still continuing. Inti had been right. It would go on until sunrise.
“I’m going to sleep,” Flint said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Flint.”
“Goodnight, Jamie.”
Jamie watched his twin walk away and disappear into one of the tents, knowing in his heart that this was more than goodnight and that the two of them would never see each other again.
THE RIVER
Jamie was woken from a deep sleep by someone shaking him. He opened his eyes and saw Matt, fully dressed, leaning over him. Dawn still hadn’t quite broken. He could see the half-light through the gap in the tent.
“I’m sorry,” Matt said. “But I have to wake you.”
“Why? What is it?” Jamie was still groggy. He’d slept as if he were dead. There had been no dreams.
“We have to talk.”
Jamie had slept in his clothes. He was beginning to get used to it. He’d been given a blanket and a sack full of straw as a pillow. Now he peeled himself away from them, picked up his sword and followed Matt out of the tent. It was going to be a beautiful day. There was a ripple of pink in a sky that was already soft shades of blue and grey, without a cloud in sight. The feast had finally ended. People had fallen asleep where they sat. There were sleeping bodies everywhere, a strange echo of the battle that had taken place the day before.
There was no sign of Flint, Scar or Inti. Matt was wearing a loose-fitting shirt over woollen trousers and leather boots. He had left his sword behind but Jamie was holding Frost. Why had he brought it? There was no enemy, no need to be afraid any more.
“Should I leave this?” he asked.
“No,” Matt said. “Bring the sword with you.”
“Where are we going?” Jamie asked.
“It’s not far.”
They made their way through the tents, following the line of the hill where Jamie and Scar had waited before beginning their attack. They were walking towards the edge of the field, the same direction as Inti had come from. As they left the tents behind them, Jamie heard the sound of rushing water and was surprised to come upon a wide river, rushing across the field in a deep gully. The water was an icy blue and looked fresh and clean. The world was regenerating itself — and it was all happening at an incredible speed.
The two of them found a flat rock and sat down, close to the water’s edge.
“There are things I need to tell you before you go,” Matt said.
“Am I going back where I came from?” Jamie asked.
“Yes.”
“Then tell me about Nightrise. Tell me about Scott. What have they done with him?”
“I don’t know, Jamie. I’m sorry. That’s your world, not mine. But there are ways I can help you. I only wish I knew where to begin…”
Matt drew a deep breath. Then he spoke again.
“As I’m sure you realize by now, you’ve travelled from one world to another. But what you have to understand is, it’s the same world. This is the past. You live in the future. Two civilizations separated by ten thousand years.
“I can’t tell you very much about our world. It was very beautiful once, a long time ago. I think we were peaceful. By and large, people just got on with their lives without hurting anyone else.
“But then something bad happened. The Old Ones. I don’t know where they came from or how they got here, but as soon as they arrived everything changed. They had only one aim and that was to break us down. Somehow they turned humanity against itself and after that, things got worse and worse. It was obvious that they weren’t going to stop until there was nothing left. But it had to be as slow as possible. That’s the whole point, Jamie. That’s their nature. They feed on misery. It’s the whole reason for their existence.
“You’ve already seen a small part of what they’ve done here. Scathack Hill and the City of Canals. They tore apart anything that was beautiful or useful — homes and temples, gardens and terraces, villages and towns. Anyone who stood in their way was either killed or made into slaves. And even that wasn’t enough for them. You have no idea how powerful they were. They managed to change the atmosphere on the entire planet. They cut down our forests and killed all the animals that had once lived there. They poisoned the rivers and even clogged up the seas and by the end it was almost impossible to find water to drink. They melted the ice fields in the north and took away the barriers that had been put around the earth to protect us. They couldn’t destroy the sun or the stars but they covered them in cloud so that nobody would see them again.
“All of this began before I was born and continued while I was still very young. The reason why Scar and I and the others don’t know any different is that for us the world was always like this. I’m fourteen years old … I think. I’m probably the same age as you. In fact, it’s quite likely that all five of us were born at exactly the same moment. None of us ever knew our parents. And we were all special. We had powers…”
Jamie nodded. He had seen Matt sweeping the enemy aside just by waving his hand. He and Flint had been able to read each other’s minds. Inti was a healer. And what of Scar? If she had a power, she hadn’t displayed it. Jamie wanted to ask about her but Matt had already gone on.
“We were sent into the world to lead the fight against the Old Ones. But we soon realized that we wouldn’t be strong enough: not each of us on our own. It’s what I said last night. The whole point was, we had to come together. We had to find each other, and then … well, you saw for yourself. All we had to do was meet.
“But that wasn’t as easy as you might think. For a start, we were in different lands. And life was already horrible and dangerous when we were born. Scar was forced to work in the mines. Inti started telling me yesterday how his people hid him in the mountains. Because that was the other thing. The Old Ones knew about us and they were looking for us from the start. They tried to kill me many times. I spent a year as their prisoner.
“We found each other through our dreams and this is where it gets a bit complicated, Jamie. I’ve talked about the two worlds — the past and the future — but there’s a sort of third world which is a bit like a tunnel between the two. It has a great sea and an island…”
“I’ve been there!” Jamie exclaimed.
“Yes. It exists in your time and in mine.”
“I saw you in a boat made of straw. I think Inti was with you.”
“And I saw you.”
“Tell me about the dream world.”
“There’s a wilderness with a woman who lives there on her own. And there’s also a library. One day, maybe, you’ll find it. But I’m not going to tell you about that now. What you need to know is that the dream world has been created for the five of us. We can meet there and talk to each other — and it doesn’t even matter if we don’t speak the same language. It seems frightening sometimes when we travel there. But the dreams help us. Never forget that.
“And now I’m going to try to explain how you got here and why you can’t stay. This is the most difficult part of all and I’ll probably make a mess of it — but I’ll do my best.”
Matt paused for breath. There was nobody else around. The water was rushing past, sparkling in the early morning light.
“I’ve talked about the past and the future,” he began. “And when we think of time, we usually think of a straight line. A week is just seven days in a row. A century is a long line of years — one hundred of them. Your life also seems to only go one way. You’re born, you grow up, you get old and then you die.
“But suppose time wasn’t like that. Suppose time was actually circular. Think what that would mean.”
“There would be no beginning,” Jamie said. “And no end.”
“Well … the end and the
beginning would be the same.” Matt raised a hand. “It would be a bit like a clock. Most clocks are circular and when you get to midnight you’ve reached the end of one day but you’ve also come to the start of the next. In other words, just for a fraction of a second, the beginning and the end of the day both exist at the same time.
“The same is true about us. The beginning and the end. They’ve sort of met in the middle and that is exactly where we were born.”
He shook his head and sighed, annoyed with himself. “This isn’t going right,” he said. “Let me start again.”
He thought for a moment, then continued.
“Yesterday, four boys and a girl finished a long war against the Old Ones.”
“That was us.”
“Yes. We beat them and managed to send them into another dimension. And that’s where we are now. If you like, you could say that we’re at twelve o’clock and a new day is about to begin. We’ve trapped the Old Ones on the other side of a gate and right now it seems there’s no way that they’ll ever be able to return.”
“So what will happen next?”
“The world will change. There’s not very much of humanity left, Jamie. It came very close to total annihilation. There are a few thousand people scattered across the planet, but what happened here — the battle and the five of us — will soon be almost completely forgotten. And as the years go by, the world will change. The ice hasn’t finished melting in the north and new continents are forming. We are entering a dark period: a time — if you like — for civilization to catch its breath. But then, slowly, the wheel of time will turn and new cities will rise, new cultures will flourish. It will all begin again.
“And then, one day, you and your brother will be born. Ten thousand years from now! Your world will look very different from ours and although a few names and places may echo faintly across the centuries, very few people will know what they really signified. The Old Ones. The Five. The building of the first gate.
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