The Power of Five Oblivion

vegetables. It was all packed in the ice. And we’ve got chocolate biscuits for dessert.”
    “I’m starving,” Pedro said. He had already drunk two mugs of soup and was lying back with his head on a pile of cushions, his feet stretched out towards the fire.
    “Where’s Richard?” Holly asked.
    “He’ll be here in a minute,” Scarlett said. “He’s talking with Matt.”
    Richard and Matt were about twenty metres away, on the other side of what had been the commander’s tent. They could see the edge where the ice shelf dropped away and the sea beyond it. The water was surprisingly calm and the sun so low in the sky that it almost touched.
    Richard was gazing at the boy who stood in front of him. He was the same age as Matt. He looked just like Matt, particularly now that he had set aside his sword and put on modern clothes to protect himself from the cold. He even sounded like him. But the events in the fortress were still fresh in Richard’s mind and he knew that whoever this was, it wasn’t his friend and companion, and that in truth the two of them had only just met for the first time.
    “So what happens now?” Richard asked.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well – for a start – how do we get off this ice shelf? I know Lohan can fly, but I wouldn’t have thought any of these planes are up to much.”
    “One of the ships is coming back, Richard. It peeled off from the rest of the fleet and it’ll be here in about an hour. It’ll take you where you want to go.”
    “The captain’s happy to come back here?”
    “I didn’t give him any choice.”
    So Matt had used his power. He made one of the ships turn around and there wouldn’t have been anything that the captain or crew could do to prevent it. Once again, Richard examined him. He had already seen how much the Matt he knew had changed – he had almost said as much when they were re-united on the ice. The Matt Freeman of Yorkshire and Lesser Malling had become older, wiser, more confident. But this Matt was something else again. He didn’t speak very much. He gave the impression of being deep in thought all the time. But Richard felt he only had to say the word and the sea would part, the sky would open … or whatever else he had in mind.
    “Who are you?” he asked.
    “You know who I am.”
    “No. I don’t.”
    “I’m Matt.”
    “I killed Matt.” Richard’s voice broke as he said the words and he had to fight back the tears prickling his eyes. He was seeing Matt once again as the knife pierced his heart. He was remembering what they had done to his friend before he had got there.
    “You did exactly what you had to do, Richard,” Matt said in a voice that was honest and yet somehow soothing. “Why do you think the Incas gave you the knife all that time ago? Didn’t they warn you?”
    “They couldn’t possibly have known.” Matt said nothing so he went on. “Did you know?”
    “There was only one way to win this battle and that was the way it happened,” Matt replied. “Chaos was too interested in revenge. Once he had his enemy in his hands, everything else was forgotten. He didn’t care if Scott or the others lived or died.” He paused. “There was no other way to beat him and although it was horrible and painful, it’s over now and the world can begin again. Isn’t that what matters?”
    “What will you do?” Richard asked. “Will you go back to your own time?”
    “No. I’m not needed there any more.”
    “Then what…?”
    “Let’s join the others. But you should be glad, Richard.” Matt reached out and briefly touched Richard’s arm. “You were Matt’s greatest friend. My greatest friend. It’s only thanks to you that we’re here now.”
    They walked back towards the bonfire, where the others were waiting. Richard tried to force a smile onto his face. Scarlett looked happy enough, digging into a plate of hot stew with Pedro beside her. Jamie was with Flint – twin brothers, even if they had been born ten thousand years apart. Lohan and Holly were both looking pleased with themselves as they served the meal. It was a bizarre sight in a way, the cold-blooded boss of a Chinese criminal organization working hand-in-hand with a fifteen-year-old girl from an English village. Suddenly Richard found that he was actually smiling for real. Why not? They had won, hadn’t they?
    They spent the next hour together – eating, drinking, talking. They all had stories to tell from different parts of the world.