The Power of Five Oblivion

ready for whatever else he had to face.
    Scarlett saw him and was shocked by the change in his appearance. She had only seen him once, briefly in Hong Kong, and she was unsure if that had been a few weeks or ten years ago. He was so much thinner, hollow-eyed and pale. But then he recognized her and smiled, and suddenly she knew that he had survived and he was here and that everything was going to be all right.
    “Pedro!” she exclaimed.
    “Scarlett!” Pedro looked around him, unable to take everything in. Something had happened to the sky. There were flames stretching as far as he could see, an ocean of them reflecting in the real ocean below. He was in some kind of fortress, in the snow. A great mountain rose up behind him. To one side there was a figure hanging from a scaffold. He had thought that Naples was a terrible place but this was much, much worse.
    And then he saw the broken body of Scott, with Lohan standing helplessly beside him. At once, everything that had happened in the past weeks was forgotten. It didn’t matter what Scott had done. He was one of the Five and he was hurt. Pedro went over to him, stretched out his hands and prepared to do what he had always done, to bring the power of healing.
    Meanwhile, Scarlett was standing in front of the cave, the broken chain resting on either side of her. Two more people had emerged. One of them was a girl she had never seen before, round-faced and pretty with freckles over her nose, and fair hair. She was cradling one hand in the other and she looked shocked. The other was a boy. Even if he hadn’t been identical to Scott, she would have known him instantly. It was Jamie.
    Finally, there were four of them here together. But where was Matt? And what had happened to Richard Cole?
    Jamie had escaped unhurt from St Meredith’s. He didn’t know if he had been right to bring Holly with him, but everything had happened so quickly and he had decided it was the only way to save her. He couldn’t have left her behind. Like Pedro before him, he felt the extreme cold almost like a hammer blow. He took in the fortress walls, the towers, the mountain and the sky. So the whole world was on fire! He saw Lohan looking up at him, read the pain in his eyes and finally realized that the figure lying stretched out on the snow in front of him was his brother, Scott, and he had arrived too late.
    Forgetting everything else, Jamie ran over to him, dropping onto his knees. Pedro was already with him but one glance told him that there was nothing that even a healer could do.
    “Scott!” Jamie swept his brother into his arms. “I’m here, Scott!” he shouted, and for the first time since this whole thing had begun, he felt a sense of overwhelming grief that came with the knowledge that whatever had happened, it was his fault, that he should never have left Scott on his own. “I’m sorry,” he continued. “I shouldn’t have left you behind. I should have stayed with you. We were always together, you and me. You always looked after me. Please tell me you’re not angry with me, Scott. I was only doing what I thought was best …”
    Scott’s eyes flickered open. He smiled.
    “Jamie…” he said.
    “What happened here, Scott? What have they done to you?”
    “It’s been bad. But it’s OK now. I’m glad you’re here.”
    “Scott…”
    “Tell Matt…”
    Scott’s eyes closed. Jamie waited for him to say more but no more words came. He glanced at Pedro, who was staring at him with shock in his eyes. Both of them knew.
    Scott had died.
    Scarlett saw what had happened and all the strength drained out of her. Scott had sacrificed himself. But his death meant that the Five could never come together. The Old Ones had won.
    The ground began to shake.
    All of them – Jamie, Pedro, Scarlett, Lohan and Holly – felt the sudden, intense lurching, the sense that the world was tearing itself apart beneath their feet. The clouds seemed to be burning more brightly than ever and the walls were vibrating, huge cracks appearing, rock and ice beginning to tumble down. There was a rumble of what sounded like thunder, only deeper and a thousand times louder. Lohan looked up and felt pure terror as the entire mountain began to break open. The noise was deafening, pounding at his ears and eyes. Huge boulders rolled down, smashing into the ground below. A wind had sprung up, sending snow and dust whipping into his face, blinding him.
    At the same time, the forces of the Old Ones