Nightrise (30 page)

The three armies that had come together under the symbol of the blue star were only just realizing that the battle was over and the Old Ones had gone. They were still stunned, unable to take in what had happened. A hole in the universe had opened. The Old Ones had been sucked into it. The people were finally on their own, undefeated, and the world was theirs once again. Slowly, they began to pick themselves up. Survivors found each other and embraced. Some people stood where they were and wept.

Some threw down their weapons and laughed out loud. And many — the dead and the dying — lay where they had fallen, scattered across the four corners of the field.

"Is it really over?" Scar asked. "Is this the end?"

"We've won the battle," Matt said. "And tonight we'll celebrate. But right now, there's a lot we have to do."

"There are many injured." Inti spoke for the first time. Although he used the same language as the others, he must have learned it only recently. He had a strange accent and had to search for the words.

Matt nodded. "You must go to them."

"I have been searching for you, Matteo. For many years. I am glad now to have found you at last." Inti nodded at Matt and at the others. Then he turned and walked away.

He was the first to break the circle.

"I shouldn't have doubted you, Matt," Scar said. 'You were right. It all worked out exactly the way you wanted."

"It wasn't my plan," Matt replied. "It was just the way it was meant to be."

Scar slid her sword back into its sheath. "I have to find Finn," she said. "He was hurt in the fighting and he's going to need looking after." She stood awkwardly, not wanting to leave but needing to find her friend. Then she hurried off.

Flint and Jamie found themselves face-to-face. "Sapling…" The other boy was looking at him with a mixture of emotions.

Jamie wasn't sure how to react himself. 'You're Flint…I suppose," he said. "I mean…of course you are."

He noticed that Flint was carrying a sword that was identical to Frost. He wasn't surprised. Everything about them was the same. 'You look like Scott," he said. 'You sound like him too."

"Who is Scott?"

"My brother."

Flint nodded. "And you look and sound like Sapling." Jamie tried to smile, but it was difficult. "Is anyone ever going to explain all this?" he asked.

Both boys turned to Matt.

"We can't talk now," he said. "I'm sorry…but we have to make a start. There are people who need our help."

"When?" Flint demanded.

"Tonight."

Jamie looked around him. Only now did he realize the scale of the battle he had just fought. It reminded him of what he had seen at Scathack Hill, only this was much worse. All over the field there were men and women with terrible injuries. They had begun to cry out in pain. Blood was everywhere.

"Inti has the power to heal," Matt said. "But there's too much for him to do on his own. People will want food and water. The doctors will need help with the stretchers. The questions can wait."

Flint nodded. He took one last look at Jamie as if trying to work him out, then turned away.

Very quickly, the army had divided itself into different groups. Those who had not been hurt, or who had been hurt only a little, were helping those who had been less fortunate, carrying them to the field hospitals, bringing them water, or just staying close by to comfort them. The dead were left where they had fallen. There was nothing that could be done for them; their one solace was that their suffering was over.

Jamie found work for himself, filling water bottles from a barrel that had been brought on a cart to the center of the field, carrying them to those men and women who were unable to move and who had yet to receive help. The first person he came upon couldn't have been more than eighteen or nineteen, and it was clear that he wasn't going to live much longer. His chest had been torn open and his face was white.

And yet, when he saw Jamie, he smiled. As Jamie trickled water between his lips, he held on to his arm and seemed completely at peace. It was as if he had wanted to meet Jamie all his life and, now that he had, he was prepared to die.

It was the same, time and time again. Jamie noticed Matt walking amongst the wounded, stopping to clasp a hand or to kneel down and help someone drink. Everyone in the field seemed to know who they were — which was strange because Jamie wasn't sure he knew himself. He went back to get more water, wishing that the day was over and they could all sit down and talk.

On the next journey, he found Scar and Finn.

By now, Jamie could tell almost at a glance who was going to live to talk about this day and who was not. He could see at once that Finn was dying. The big man was lying with his legs outstretched and his back against the stump of a tree. Scar was kneeling beside him and Inti was there too. Corian and Erin were also nearby, watching anxiously. Jamie was relieved to see that neither of the brothers had been hurt.

Inti had been leaning forward with his hands resting on Finn's shoulders, but as Jamie approached he straightened up and glanced at Scar, signaling that there was nothing more he could do. Jamie could see why. Whatever Inti's power, he had arrived too late. Finn had taken a terrible blow to the shoulder and lost too much blood. He was very close to the end.

Finn saw Jamie and managed to bend the fingers of one hand, gesturing at him to come closer. Jamie held out a water bottle but Finn shook his head. He no longer had the strength to swallow. Nor did he need to prolong what little life he had left.

"Sapling!" he said.

As Scar turned around and noticed him for the first time, Jamie saw that there were tears in her eyes.

'You did well." Finn coughed and a few specks of blood flecked his lips. "I knew you would. Didn't I tell you?"

Jamie nodded but couldn't speak.

"Finn…" Scar began.

Finn took her hands in his. 'You're not to cry, Scar," he whispered. "I've told you before. It's not fitting."

"How will I manage without you?" Scar exclaimed.

"Don't be foolish. You have your friends. The Five…" Finn patted her hand. It was all the movement he could manage. "But we had adventures together, you and I. People will remember them and talk of them one day, perhaps."

"Oh, Finn…" Scar couldn't hold back the tears anymore.

"You're going to be on your own now. But you don't need me anymore. I'm not sure you ever did." Finn reached up and gently stroked her hair one last time. "We won," he said. "That's all that matters." Finn looked adoringly at her. Then his head fell back and Jamie knew that he would never speak again.

He couldn't bear to see any more. He snatched up the water bottle and hurried away.

The day wore on, the sun set, and at last all the activity began to wind down. The physicians had done what they could. The wounded were resting. And those who had been chosen to die had done so quietly and without complaint. Jamie was almost overwhelmed with tiredness. Part of it was the exhaustion of the fight and the long hours spent working once the battle was over. But he recognized that it was something more. It was a reaction to what he had been through — so much happening so quickly, so many deaths. He was emotionally as well as physically worn out.

That was when Flint returned. Jamie had wondered what had become of his brother — for he couldn't think of him any other way — but suddenly Flint appeared riding on a horse-drawn wagon that was piled high with sacks and barrels. He had taken six men with him and they had all returned with similar wagons. They tore through the middle of the field and stopped. Flint leaped to his feet.

"We've found food!" he called out. "The overlords had a camp on the other side of the valley, and of course they kept all the best supplies for themselves. We have bread and wine and cheese and dried meat and fruit. So light a fire. Tonight we're going to eat well."

About three hundred men, women, and children had come through the battle unhurt. Hearing Flint's words, they broke into cheers. Jamie joined in. He knew that if Scott had been here, he would have found the food. That was how he had always been, scavenging for himself and Jamie whenever anything was needed. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed to him that Scott and Flint were one and the same —just as he and Sapling were more or less identical. It was impossible, of course. But then, so was everything else.

The survivors must have been as weary as Jamie but somehow they found new strength. First they made a great bonfire out of scattered weapons, branches from the forest, and their own catapult, which they dismantled and fed to the flames. They spread out cloths and carpets in front of the tents. Then they unloaded the wagons and distributed the supplies, making sure the injured weren't forgotten. Soon what had been a field of death suddenly became the scene of a huge, open-air banquet beneath a sky that was full of stars.

A makeshift table with five folding stools had been set up slightly to one side for himself and the other Gatekeepers. He went over to it. Matt was already standing there, deep in conversation with Inti, but the two of them stopped as Jamie approached. Matt poured Jamie a bowl of wine and passed it across. Inti held out a hand.

"It's good to be with you," he said.

Then Flint and Scar arrived. If Scar had been grieving for the loss of Finn, she didn't show it. She seemed to be in a bad mood. She plumped herself down on one of the stools, poured herself some wine, drank it, then poured some more.

Flint had sat next to Jamie. "Have you seen the stars?" he asked.

Jamie looked up. The whole universe was ablaze. "It's a beautiful night," he said.

"I've never seen the stars. All my life, there have only been clouds." Flint craned his neck, gazing into the night. "People used to say that the sky could look like this. But I never believed them."

Matt sat down. He looked exhausted. Scar poured him a bowl of wine. It occurred to Jamie that the Five were together again. But for how long?

He had lost count of the number of people who had approached him during the day as he made his rounds with the water bottles, but as the feast began, the five of them were left alone. It was as if it had been decided that they should be allowed to rest and, Jamie reflected, they certainly deserved it. They drank more wine and ate soft cheese and some sort of meat with chunks of tough, chewy bread. Jamie was surprised to find he was ravenous. But then, he had barely eaten anything for two days.

In another part of the field, someone began a tune, playing on a pipe, and a moment later two others joined in with a drum and some sort of single-stringed instrument. The flames from the bonfire leaped up, sparks twisting in the air.

Scar glanced at Matt. "So what happens now?" she asked. "And before you say anything, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have argued with you about Scathack Hill and the rest of it. But how was I to know? You're just a boy. Nobody even told me who put you in charge."

"It's too late to say very much tonight," Matt replied. "And anyway, I don't have all the answers —

whatever you may think. But there is one thing you need to know right away. We've spent our whole lives searching for one another, but very soon we will have to part."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that."

"The four of us have work to do. But Jamie isn't from our world. He has to return where he came from."

Jamie felt a jolt of sadness which he couldn't explain. He didn't belong here — he knew that. But nor did he want to leave.

There was a long silence, broken at last by Flint. "He's not Sapling, then," he said, simply.

"Sapling is dead," Matt replied. "He died at Scat-hack Hill."

"Then I killed him."

"No."

Flint slammed his fist down on the table, spilling his wine. 'You told us to choose," he cried, and from his voice, Jamie could tell that he was close to tears. ''You said one of us had to go, and I let him volunteer."

"It was his choice." Matt remained calm. ''You don't have to blame yourself."

"But if he isn't Sapling," Scar said, "who is he?"

Matt turned to Jamie.

"I've told you all along," Jamie said. "My name is Jamie Tyler. I live in Nevada, in America."

"Where is America?" Inti asked.

Matt stood up. "We have so much to talk about," he said. "Here we are, together at last. The Five. Today we did what we were born to do. We defeated the Old Ones and gave the world a new start. Flint, I promised you answers and you will have them. You too, Jamie. But right now I'm too tired. I'd like to spend the whole night with you, sitting at this table, but I can't do it. I need to sleep."

"I too am tired," Inti muttered.

"We won't be together for long," Matt continued. "But it isn't important. A year, an hour, or even a minute…all that matters is that we met. Because in that instant our work was done. That was the end of it. That was the only reason we ever existed. And if we never see each other again, we need have no regret."

Scar stood up next to him and refilled all five bowls. "Whatever you think about fate and destiny and all the rest of it, I want to celebrate," she said. "I want to remember this moment for the rest of my life.

You, me, Inti, Flint, and Jamie. We did it together. We are the Five. Let's drink to that."

They raised their bowls.

"The Five," Scar said.

"The Five," they all chorused. They touched the bowls together, metal against metal, then drank silently.

Matt smiled. "Good night," he said. "We'll talk again when the sun is up."

He walked away.

"I go too." Inti yawned. "Forgive me. This feast may go on all the night…but I cannot. I traveled far today. I must sleep."

Jamie watched as Inti walked off a few paces behind Matt. They stopped at the first line of tents and spoke a few words before they parted company, each of them going his own way.

Scar finished her wine. "Matt never tells us anything," she said with a sigh. "And when he does, we don't understand it. But we've won the battle…and the war. So I suppose I'll go along with whatever he says."

She held out a hand. "Good night, Jamie. I'm going off to find Erin and Corian. We're going to have a drink to the memory of Finn. And then we're going to keep drinking until we forget that he's gone. I'll see you in the morning."