The Power of Five Oblivion

cripple him. A payment for his services.
    But Scott still had his power.
    He opened his mouth to say the command that would root Jonas to the spot or send him running into the Antarctic waste. But before he could find the words, Jonas kicked him, the toecap of his boot driving into the side of his head. He had aimed very carefully and Scott was thrown back onto the snow. White light exploded behind his eyes. He was barely conscious, aware only of the dreadful pain sapping all his strength.
    “Were you about to say something?” Jonas crooned. “Or maybe you were about to think it.” He lashed out a second time, hitting Scott in exactly the same place. Scott’s head jerked back. He tasted blood.
    Jonas laughed and walked forward. “I think that puts us on equal terms,” he said. “But I’m just going to make absolutely sure.” This time he used the hilt of the sword, slamming it down like a club. Scott howled. He wondered if his skull had been fractured.
    “The Old Ones don’t care about you any more. They’ve told me to finish this right here, right now.” Jonas drew back his hood so that there was nothing between the two of them, so that Scott could see how much hatred there was in his face. “I wish I could spend more time with you, Scott. I’d love to pay you back for what you did to me. But we don’t want you getting your head together, do we? Better get it over with…”
    Scott tried to collect his thoughts, to draw on his power and direct it against his tormentor. But it was hopeless. He was in too much pain. The whole world was spinning around him.
    Jonas straightened up, then brought the sword shooting down, the point aiming for Scott’s stomach. It was all Scott could do to roll over, saving himself by inches. The sword plunged into the snow beside him. He tried to grab hold of it but his vision was blurred and his hand missed. Jonas plucked it free, preparing himself for the next attack. He was in no hurry. Scott was unarmed. He had nowhere to go. His power had been neutralized. Jonas clasped the sword in both hands, enjoying the feel of it. The next time he wouldn’t miss.
    “The Old Ones wanted Matt Freeman,” he said. “They were never interested in you. You’re nothing. A traitor. You don’t deserve to live. Goodbye, Scott.”
    Jonas brought the point of the sword plunging down towards Scott’s chest.
    It never reached him.
    Halfway down, Jonas stopped, a look of surprise on his face. He lowered the sword as if he had already forgotten it. Then he pitched forward and lay still.
    There was a knife jutting out between his shoulders.
    “Scott!”
    Scarlett ran forward with Lohan close behind. Scott had no idea how they had got here. It didn’t occur to him that they had followed exactly the same path that he had taken the night before and that it had brought them into the fortress, behind the walls. Lohan had a second blade and was looking around, waiting for a guard to come. But the snow had formed a curtain around them. They were invisible. Scarlett had seen to that.
    “Scott!” she cried a second time. Everything was forgotten … the betrayal, Matt’s capture. All she cared about was the boy lying in the snow with terrible bruises around his head and blood seeping from the wound across his shoulders and along his right arm. She knelt beside him, trying to work out how badly hurt he was, if he could stand, if she could get him out of here.
    “I’m sorry…” Scott muttered.
    “Do you know where Matt is?” Lohan asked. “Have you seen him?”
    “No. I don’t know.” Tears were trickling down the side of Scott’s face, freezing before they could reach his chin. He was suddenly seeing what a terrible mess he had made of everything, how hopelessly he had played his hand. “I’m sorry,” he said again.
    “Scott, it doesn’t matter. Not now.”
    “No. You don’t understand.” Scott took a deep breath.
    He wasn’t apologizing for what he had done but for what he was about to do.
    “Stay still,” he commanded.
    Both Scarlett and Lohan felt him enter their minds. They had no protection. They had been completely unprepared. As he had lain in the snow, Scott had recovered enough to regain his power and had used it against them: one of the Five turning against another. For a dreadful moment, Scarlett wondered what he was going to do. Surely he wasn’t going to betray them as he had Matt?
    Slowly, he got to his feet. He was covered in snow. At least the extreme