Nightrise

cut that off too. Then they built a fire and burned 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.
    SIXTEEN
    Frost
    Jamie woke slowly the next morning, and before he had even opened his eyes, he had 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 to him? Jamie tried again, trying to visualize 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 nearby, sharpening his sword between two stones. There was no sign of Scar or Finn,
    So what had happened? How had he gotten 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 humankind 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