The Power of Five Oblivion

destination.
    “Antarctica!” Sitting in the grey light of the jungle, cramped and mosquito-bitten after a bad night’s sleep, Lohan hadn’t believed what he had just heard.
    “The Old Ones are there,” Matt said. “In a place called Oblivion. They’re waiting for us to arrive.”
    “If they’re waiting for you, then that’s the last place you should go.”
    “No. They have Scott. That’s how they know we’ll come. Their armies are already there.” Matt looked into the distance, at the sun struggling to force its way through the grey clouds. “We’re not the only ones, Lohan. All over the world, people are heading south. There are still a few planes flying. They have ships …”
    “How do they know about Oblivion?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe they’ve heard about it … like a rumour, spreading from country to country. Maybe they’ve dreamt about it. But it’s already begun. And I have to be there to help them…”
    That had been three days ago. Since then, the jeep had run out of petrol and Matt and Lohan had been forced to continue on foot. They hadn’t even come across another vehicle they could steal. Matt knew that Lohan would kill anyone who got in his way, simply taking what he needed without any thought. The two of them were unlikely partners and although he had never said as much, Matt found himself badly missing Richard Cole. Lohan might be better equipped for survival but his very ruthlessness made him cold and untrustworthy. When Matt had been taken prisoner in the drug compound, part of him had even wondered if Lohan would stick to their agreement and come to his rescue. He wouldn’t have put it past the Triad leader to abandon him and make off with the money.
    In fact, Lohan had considered doing exactly that.
    Lohan was twenty-four years old and for much of his life he had been involved in organized crime. He had carried and sold drugs. He had sold weapons – to other criminals and to terrorists. He had been involved in gambling, blackmail and vice. In the course of his career, he had killed eleven men, finally rising to become Incense Master with the rank of 438 in the White Lotus Society in Hong Kong.
    He was not ashamed of anything he had done. After all, he had never applied for the job. He had been born into it. His father had been the Master of the Mountain, the undisputed leader of the Triad, and Lohan had been groomed to take his place one day. Part of the lesson was to obey every instruction, to have no scruples, to be loyal only to the Triad and to himself.
    It had come as a shock to him to find himself babysitting a fifteen-year-old English schoolgirl. Of course, he had always known about Scarlett Adams. She had been taken from the Pancaran Kasih Orphanage in Jakarta when she was a baby and sent secretly to England. For some reason, the White Lotus Society had sworn to protect her and they had been watching her ever since. Lohan had once asked his father why they should waste time and resources on a single girl, thousands of miles away. It was one of the few times the Master of the Mountain had ever turned his anger on his son.
    “Ask no questions. Never question my commands. The life of this girl matters more to me than your own. She is more important than any of us.”
    And then the Old Ones had come to Hong Kong and Lohan had understood. It was, at first, impossible to believe. It was as if the city had been invaded by aliens, creatures from outer space. They killed everyone who stood in their way – first hundreds, then thousands – and nobody noticed! The bodies were piling up in the harbour and nobody cared. The Old Ones infiltrated the government. They controlled the police. They turned the entire city into a giant trap – simply so that Scarlett Adams would fall into their hands.
    Lohan had managed to grab Scarlett, even though she was surrounded by her enemies, and had tried to smuggle her out of the city on a cruise ship. The plan had only failed at the last moment when they had been betrayed – one of the few failures he had known in his life. The two of them had only met again at the Tai Shan Temple in the last few moments as Hong Kong had been destroyed.
    And now this.
    Despite everything, Lohan had been sorry to find himself separated from Scarlett. He had grown to like her. After all, she was an English schoolgirl, brought up in comfort in a quiet London suburb. She knew nothing about real life. She had never been in danger. And yet she had