Jamie was paralysed. If Frost was still in his hand he couldn’t move it. He could feel the power of the Five now that they were finally together and, although he had never been stronger, at the same time he was overwhelmed. The power was intensifying and he was sure that it would break him apart. It was more than he could bear. He tried to look for Finn or any of the others but it was as if nothing existed outside the circle they had formed. He was aware only of four faces. Matt, Flint, Inti, Scar. They were all strangely alike, all fixed in silent concentration and he knew that they were feeling exactly the same as he was.
The King of the Old Ones was no longer there. It was as if he had been turned into smoke that was already drifting away. The Five were standing in a circle, their blades still touching, but with an empty space between them. And nothing could reach them. Although the fighting still continued all around, it was as if they were inside a crystal jar. Swords flashed but the blades broke in mid-air. Spears and arrows rained down on them but bounced off uselessly. The condor plunged towards them in a last, desperate attempt to reach them but its outstretched claws suddenly shattered and it was sent spinning away, a shapeless ball of feathers and blood.
Jamie wondered if he had been more badly hurt than he’d thought. Was he dying? All the sounds of the combat were very distant. There was a great rushing in his ears and a sense of something flowing through him. The Five were cocooned, completely safe, at the very centre of the battle but apart from it.
And now something even stranger was happening.
The five of them seemed to be moving, turning slowly as if on a merry-go-round. But it wasn’t they who were moving. It was the world that was moving around them. The field and the forest and the hill were spinning faster and faster until they no longer existed. They had become a blur, nothing more than a streak of colour that swirled around them with no beginning and no end.
There was an ear-shattering crack. Jamie looked up.
The sky had opened. A chasm had appeared, the very fabric of the day peeling back to reveal a universe filled with stars. At the same time, the wind was howling. It had formed a tornado that was tearing up clumps of grass and pieces of earth. First, dead bodies and then living ones were being pulled into it and carried away through the vortex. With every second that passed, the process was becoming stronger and faster. One after another, the servants of the Old Ones were being taken, spinning helplessly as they were carried up. Jamie watched them as they were pulled into the void and knew that he was partly responsible for what was happening. It was his power that was doing this. He and the other four.
The remaining fire riders had gone, ripped off their horses and blown away like rags. The fly-soldiers had disintegrated. The spider and the hummingbird – all the giant animals – were no more than specks, spiralling ever further upwards. Finally, the dark shadow which was all that remained of Chaos was sucked in, following them into oblivion. And then at last it was over. The tunnel closed up behind them. The wind died down. There was a distant rumble of thunder and the sky rolled back, closing off the darkness, healing its own, self-inflicted wound.
The Five stood in silence.
“Sapling…” It was Flint who had spoken. But Matt raised a hand, holding him back. Not yet.
Scar stepped forward. She was staring at something high above her, shielding her eyes. Jamie looked up and saw that at last the clouds had parted and the sun had been allowed to show its face.
“So that’s what it looks like,” Scar muttered. “I always wondered.” She turned to Matt. “What does it mean?” she asked.
“It means that it’s over,” Matt said. “We’ve won.”
BENEATH THE STARS
They stood looking at each other, the five Gatekeepers: Scar, Inti, Flint, Matt and Jamie. None of them spoke. Too much had happened too quickly. Jamie only knew what Scar had told him, a very small part of the history that had brought them all here today. But he understood that a journey had just ended, and one that had taken their entire lives.
All around them, everything was changing. And it was happening with incredible speed. The Old Ones had brought the planet to the edge of destruction, polluting the water and darkening the sky. But now that they had gone, the world was restoring itself. The rain had stopped as quickly as it had started and the ground was already dry. The clouds had parted as surely as if they had been curtains waiting to be pulled and the sky on the other side was a dazzling blue, the sun already spreading its warmth over the ground. And with the coming of the sun, true colour had returned. The forest, which had seemed black and grey, was now many shades of green. The pine trees were somehow less threatening, the grass softer and more natural.
The three armies that had come together under the symbol of the blue star were only just realizing that the battle was over and the Old Ones had gone. They were still stunned, unable to take in what had happened. A hole in the universe had opened. The Old Ones had been sucked into it. The people were finally on their own, undefeated, and the world was theirs once again. Slowly they began to pick themselves up. Survivors found each other and embraced. Some people stood where they were and wept. Some threw down their weapons and laughed out loud. And many – the dead and the dying – lay where they were, scattered across the four corners of the field.
“Is it really over?” Scar asked. “Is this the end?”
“We’ve won the battle,” Matt said. “And tonight we’ll celebrate. But right now, there’s a lot we have to do.”
“There are many injured.” Inti spoke for the first time. Although he used the same language as the others, he must have learned it only recently. He had a strange accent and had to search for the words.
Matt nodded. “You must go to them.”
“I have been searching for you, Matteo. For many years. I am glad to have found you at last.” Inti nodded at Matt and at the others. Then he turned and walked away.
He was the first to break the circle.
“I shouldn’t have doubted you, Matt,” Scar said. “You were right. It all worked out exactly the way you wanted.”
“It wasn’t my plan,” Matt replied. “It was just the way it was meant to be.”
Scar slid her sword back into its sheath. “I have to find Finn,” she said. “He was hurt in the fighting and he’s going to need looking after.” She stood awkwardly, not wanting to leave but needing to find her friend. Then she hurried off.
Flint and Jamie found themselves face to face. The other boy was looking at him with a mixture of emotions.
Jamie wasn’t sure how to react himself. “You’re Flint… I suppose,” he said. “I mean… of course you are.” He noticed that Flint was carrying a sword that was identical to Frost. He wasn’t surprised. Everything about them was the same. “You look like Scott,” he said. “You sound like him too.”
“Who is Scott?”
“My brother.”
Flint nodded. “And you look and sound like Sapling.”
Jamie tried to smile, but it was difficult. “Is anyone ever going to explain all this?” he asked.
Both boys turned to Matt.
“We can’t talk now,” he said. “I’m sorry… but we have to make a start. There are people who need our help.”
“When?” Flint demanded.
“Tonight.”
Jamie looked around him. Only now was he aware of the scale of the battle he had just fought. It reminded him of what he had seen at Scathack Hill, only this was much worse. All over the field there were men and women with terrible injuries. They had begun to cry out in pain. Blood was everywhere.