The Power of Five Oblivion

other.
    “All right,” he drawled. “I’ll admit that’s quite impressive.” Cain nodded slowly. “But it’s just a bottle. It’s just a magic trick. Could you do the same to the fortress? How about those walls? Could you blow them apart?”
    “No, sir. I’m not strong enough. That’s exactly the point I’m trying to make. I need Pedro, Jamie and Scott. Once they’re with me, I can do anything.”
    “And I’ve already told you. We can’t wait.”
    “You’re not changing your plans,” Scarlett said.
    “That’s right.” Cain drew a hand across his brow and for just a second Scarlett saw the strain he was under. “There may be something in what you’ve said,” he continued. “But I can’t be sure, and anyway, it’s too late. I’ve made my decision. I’ve given the command. And now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
    He marched out of the tent, followed by the other officers. Once again, Matt and the others were alone.
    “The man is an idiot,” Lohan snarled. His face was full of contempt.
    “No,” Matt said. “He’s scared – and he doesn’t want to show it. And he has no idea what he’s up against. Six months ago he wouldn’t have believed in any of this. Now he’s looking across the ice and seeing giant creatures and soldiers made out of flies. He’s only doing what he thinks best.”
    “So what do we do?” Richard asked. “Do we join the battle?”
    Matt glanced at the pages left on the table, the folded maps, the white board with its scribbled lines and arrows. For a moment his eyes were far away, as if he were searching through his memory for something that had been lost. Finally, he turned to Richard.
    “Yes,” he said. “We fight.”

FORTY-NINE
    The Super Hornets streaked low across the ice shelf in arrow formation, moving so fast that by the time they were seen they had already gone, flashing past with their payload delivered and already gaining altitude, climbing up into the clouds. They had fired Sidewinder and Harpoon missiles, which had been guided into their targets, hitting the fortress with pinpoint accuracy.
    The explosions were spectacular, huge plumes of orange and red leaping up directly out of the snow. The flames looked all the more intense as they were reflected against the brilliant white, and it seemed incredible that they could burn so long when they were only able to feed on stone and ice. Again and again the fortress was hit, the mountain shaking, the black rock disintegrating, sheets of ice cascading down. The barbican, with its huge gate, took the first strike and was blown into a thousand pieces, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. The west tower, hit three times, trembled and then collapsed. The wall itself was smashed in half in a dozen places, exploding the courtyard and the other buildings behind.
    Nearly two kilometres away, watching from the other side of Oblivion, Matt and Richard could feel the heat against their cheeks. It was extraordinary to be so cold and yet to feel warmth at the same time. Three of the four towers were wrapped in flames that seemed to be spreading over the stonework, as if searching hungrily for anything that would burn. The very ice seemed to be on fire.
    The planes returned a second time, wheeling out of the sky and slanting down for another attack, this time with their own twenty-two-millimetre nose-mounted Gatling guns firing thousands of rounds a minute. Lohan was watching from beside the commander’s tent. He hadn’t volunteered to take part in the fight and certainly he wasn’t going to run across the ice as part of any ragtag army. He had persuaded himself that it was his job to protect Scarlett, who was standing next to him. Besides, he was no foot soldier. Was he not an Incense Master, a commander in his own right?
    He watched the bombardment continue and tried to imagine what it must be like to be inside the fortress, trying to find somewhere to hide. It didn’t matter what they were – men or monsters – they would be deafened by the scream of the jet engines, shaken by the endless blasts, blinded by the spinning, whirling mass of debris. If they hadn’t managed to burrow deep down, they would have simply been ripped apart, and even those that survived the assault would never forget it. He wondered if there would be any need for a land attack. The Old Ones had relied on the tactics of medieval warfare, which might have worked for them ten thousand years ago, but now they were facing a