Intermission: 10,000 years ago Part 3

Masaru stretched out his hand, stroking Jamie's horse gently, willing it to stay calm. The shivering horse finally began to calm down while the leader seemed to be staring right at them.

No one was moving for a moment, shortly the leader kicked at his horse that was a part of the swarm which it consists of and jolted forward. The rest of the troop followed after their leader leaving them behind. They strode for about ten paces before at the same instant they all came apart again, separating into their million tiny pieces.

"Drink!" Finn nodded at Jamie, before giving Masaru a grateful glance. Although they might not necessary lose against these soldiers. But their ability to soldify into soldiers and disolve into millions of flies is a nuisance to deal with. And the casualities would be large on their side, hench they rarely face off against these kind of enemies unless they have no choice.

Jamie was shivering his fear, he wished that he did not follow his curiousity. Those creatures, were horrifying. "Where are they going?" he asked

"The enemy is gathering for the last fight, just like us. They are preparing for the end of the war." Finn said glancing in the direction the swarm of flies flew off to.

Scar nodded. "Will they attack tonight?"

"Who can say?" Finn said as he thought for a moment, when he notcied Jamie was done drinking he took the water bottle and attached it back onto his belt. "They believe they have already won. They will be too busy congratulating themselves. They'll wait for the morning light."

"If we don't hurry it'll be morning before we even get home." Scar pulled her horse up onto its feet.

"Let's move." She ordered

The others allowed their own horses to stand up, then they mounted and set off once again, moving in the direction that the swarm of flies had just taken. But by the time they reached the brow of the hill, there was no sign of them.

Looking down the Vale, Masaru saw buildings forming a small town, in a hexagonal shape, surrounded by walls with oddly shaped towers at the corners. Just from the apperance of the buildings, it was difficult to tell when this town had been built.

Most of the buildings were low-rise with no signs of any modern infrastructures at all. Everything seemed to have been constructed around an interlocking system of waterways with narrow footbridges leading from one side to another.

The City of Canals.

'It really reminds me of Venice somehow' Masaru thought while glancing at the surrounding, although this was not the floating city, it had too many footbridges and waterways making it almost appear as if the city was floating above waters. If it was not for the canals that were drained, with not a single drop of water.

The closer they come, the more Masaru noticed that this place had faced several attacks recently, it was almost completely destroyed. The surrounding walls were breached, with several locations where it had already collapsed. There were scorch marks suggesting a recent fire.

'So this is the cause that the sun is swallowed' Masaru thought while glancing at the skies, he was really curious why he could not see the sun at all and now he understood. It was just that, the amount of smoke appears to be unnatural.

They rode through the remains of an entrance shaped like a giant keyhole, the scale of the devastation was much more compared to the outside.

Broken doorways, shattered walls, burnt grass and trees that had been reduced to stumps.

The canals were full of rubble.

Most of the buildings had been made of red brick with roofs of terracotta tiles.

They followed a street between the remains of two matching pagodas and entered a wide empty area. Ahead of them stood a circular temple with white columns placed evenly around it, supporting a dome-shaped roof.

There were craters everywhere, suggesting that the whole place had been bombed from the air. Masaru who was glancing at the surroundings could more or less guess the amount of attacking methods the enemies had, and it felt no different from facing a modern military.

Scar lifted a hand, reining in her horse. Everyone following behind her all stopped right behind her, she turned to Jamie. "Don't do anything, don't say anything. Just play your part. It's important."

Masaru who heard this knew that this girl was suspicious of him and Jamie after the latter had been saying that he was not Sapling, naturally Masaru was not bothered as he knew this girl did not hold any ill intention towards them and would probably investigate their situation after this.

Soon, people had begun to appear from the surrounding houses, hidden pathways, moving slowly towards them. At first there were just a handful of them, more and more of them came forward, closing in from all sides.

They were all dressed in the same manner with long jackets, headdresses and leather belts, although some of the women wore wide-sleeved, embroidered gowns that came down to their feet. Many of them carried curving swords and round, pointed shields.

They were every age, some as young as eleven and twelve. Soon there were more than a hundred of them, filing into the square, nobody making any sound. None of them looked even slightly welcoming.

Masaru could see the trace of tiredness, some even given up hope. But as they drew closer, an extraordinary change came over them. Even Masaru was bewildered as how fast these people could recover from their depression, when he noticed their glancing intently at Jamie he seemed to have an idea what was going on.

Scar pulled herself up to her full height.

"Do you believe me now? We told you the truth. He's here. We found him." Scar cried out in excitement in order to boost the morale of the surrounding people.

"Sapling!" someone shouted. And at that, the entire crowd began to cheer like a group of fangirls high on stimulants cheering for their idol. Swords were raised and banners appeared as if out of nowhere, the blue five-pointed stars fluttering as they were waved above their heads.

All of the people were hurrying forward, wanting to be the first to reach him, the children at the front, the adults looking up at him with new hope alive in their eyes.

"Just how bad is the war" Masaru asked,

"Humanity is lost without these five children... And you" Vena said, glancing at Masaru intently.

"Why me?" Masaru asked as he already knew that Susan once told him that it was the five children who sealed the old ones, where did Solomon fit in all of this? He did not know.

"You will soon understand" Vena said vaguely not wanting to share what her previous master had arranged, since it was all part of the plan.

Jamie raised his hand, acknowledging the crowd, and the cheers grew louder, bouncing off the remaining walls so that it almost seemed as if the city had come alive once again, as if some of its old joy had returned to the streets.

Scar kicked her horse and they jolted slowly forward, the crowd parting like two seas separating, to let them pass. They dismounted at the circular temple and went in. The cheering crowd followed them as far as the columns but stopped here as if this was a line they were not allowed to cross.

>\/<

Later that night, they had lit a fire. There was plenty of wood to salvage in the ruined city and Finn, Erin and Corian had piled it up so that it looked almost like a funeral pyre.

The sky was dark enough to hide the smoke as it trickled out through a hole in the roof, there was nothing inside the temple. They were in a round space protected by brick walls that rose up about fifteen metres all around them.

Masaru had been inspecting his body for a while now and could come to a conclusion, that he was weak. Physically. If he had to classify himself as a profession played in a RPG game, then he would be a Summoner or Beast master. With the Divine Grimoire, he was a sorceror.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he glanced at Vena who told him that he had a special power other than Demon & Angel summoning. Yet, Masaru could not will the information of this power to appear in his mind as if it has been sealed from him. So he could only reluctantly give up his investigation of his powers for now while he glanced at the girl who had a solemn gaze.

"All I ever knew since the day I was born, is war" Scar said while glancing at the funeral pyre with a mournful gaze, she continued to tell Masaru and Jamie about it. The fact that this world was never so polluted, nor were there any monsters like the old ones walking on the earth.

"This is all I've ever known, so don't ask me for a history lesson. I never met my mother or my father. By the time I was born, most people never knew their parents. All I can remember is being carried around by different people." Scar closed her eyes for a moment trying to urge herself not to cry.

"Someone would take me with them and just when I was getting to know them and think that they were kind, they'd be killed and someone else would take their place. And everything was always ruined, like this city. I don't think I ever spent more than a few days in a house before it was broken to pieces or burned down." She raised her bowl in mockery of a toast.

"Welcome to the end of the world, Masaru... Jamie. Because that's where you are." Scar said while glancing at Masaru peculiarly, she no longer felt vigilant towards Masaru after he had proven to be their ally.

"You called me Jamie." Jamie said in surprise, before narrowing his eyes in confusion "But before you said I was Sapling. They called me Sapling."

"There is no point calling you Sapling. Because you're not him, even if you do look exactly like him and all those people think you are him." She gestured in the direction of the square. "I imagine you're confused."

"You could say that." Jamie nodded

"Well, so am I. I just hope Matt will explain it all eventually, although he can be very annoying at times and never gives you a straight answer to anything." Scar clicked her tongue in annoyance thinking of Matt.

"You mentioned Matt before, who is he?" Jamie asked,

"Matt's the one in charge. He's our leader. The first of the Five. He's the one who's supposed to understand what's going on." Scar explained

"You should start at the beginning," Finn called out. He had finished his food. He threw the bone into the fire. The flames devoured it as if they were as hungry as he had been. "You're a rotten storyteller."

"There was no beginning for me," Scar retorted before turning her gaze towards the fire. "Or if there was, I don't remember it. Matt's the only one who knows the whole truth and he never tells us anything."

"Start with the Five!" Finn insisted.

"All right. All right. But don't interrupt me, Finn. You only make it more difficult." Scar retorted.

"Adults taking second place to children! That's what I really call the end of the world." He shook his head with a smile before falling silent.

Scar turned to Jamie. "I've only been alive for about fifteen years. And this war has continued for more than fifty. So that's why I say that, for me, there's never been a beginning."

"I wasn't even born in this country to begin with, I was from far away, on the other side of the world, and when I was about nine years old, the village where I was living in was burned down. All the old people were killed. The children were sent to the mines." Scar began to tell her story.

"We were digging for precious stones. There were thousands of us working deep underground. They used the children to burrow into the smaller tunnels. It was terrifying. There were cave-ins. We were always wondering when we were going to be buried alive." Scar shivered while remembering her past, even now she could still sense the helplessness.

"Who made you do it? Who were you working for?" Jamie asked,

"We were working for the ruling classes. The overlords and the advisors. And behind them, of course, the Old Ones." Scar said with a trace of anger lingered in her voice, even now she regret not having the power to kill off those traitors.

"Who are they? The old ones"

"They're the enemy, Matt says that they are the first and the greatest evil, that they were born the day the world began. They want to destroy us. That's the only reason they exist. But they want to do it slowly, one step at a time. You see, they feed on human misery. It's what nourishes them. In the end, they'll kill all of us, but they'll make it last as long as they can." Scar explained while glancing at Masaru.

"And no one knows where they come from" Masaru said while glancing at the skies, "It's pretty much the same information I managed to deduce from my world and the short amount of time I have been here"

"I thought as much" Scar said while keeping her eyes firmly on Masaru. "Do you know what is currently going on with you and Jamie... And Sapling?"

"I have a urkling but I think it would be best to get the answer from Matt" Masaru said with a wry smile,

"Tsk... You are just like Matt" Scar said with a complaining voice, but she did not continue to pester Masaru as she noticed that whatever he knew, it was not something she wanted to know.

"Anyway... Where was I? Oh yeah... I suppose it must have been about a year ago, I don't know because time doesn't really mean very much any more. When you're a slave, being beaten and forced to work in the darkness, every day is the same. Anyway, about a year ago I found out that I was different. I was told that I was one of the Five." Scar continued her story,

"Matt told you?" Jamie asked,

Scar nodded. "Yes. Well, he came to me in a dream. Or maybe I went to him. It's very difficult to explain. But you say you've had dreams too. You must know what I'm talking about."

"I think so. There's a sea with black water. And the stars are shining but it's not exactly night" Jamie spoke slowly as if trying to recall the scenes, hearing this Masaru kept silent, listening attentively.

"There's an island." Scar added,

"Yes." Jamie was excited. She knew what he was talking about.

"Anyway, that's how I first met Matt. He came to me in a dream and he explained everything to me. There were five of us in different countries. He was here. I was where I was. You and Flint were on the other side of the world and Inti. I don't know where he came from and neither does he." Scar shook her head,

"But the point was, we'd all been chosen. We all had these powers and if we could just find each other and come together, we'd have the strength to beat the Old Ones and give the world a new start."

"There were people fighting already, people like Finn and Erin and Corian and all the others. There were resistance groups. But they needed us. It's funny, isn't it, but it's like Finn said. They were all adults but they needed five children if they were going to survive. And we needed each other. So we set out to find each other. And that's how we got here." Scar said with a wry smile,

"You're not making any sense!" Finn taunted her.

"I'm doing the best I can!" Scar retorted back.

She turned to Jamie. "Matt told me I had to escape from the mine, so I did. It was very close. I nearly got caught. But it's a long story and I'm not going to tell it tonight. All you need to know is that I got away.

"And at the same time, the others were doing the same thing. Flint and Sapling in one kingdom. Inti in another. We were all leagues away from each other. We'd never met. We hadn't even known that the others existed.

"But we used the dreams to speak with each other and Matt told us where to go and eventually four of us met close to a river not far from here, on the other side of the hills. Matt is waiting for us there now. Flint is with him."

"Where's the boy you call Inti?" Jamie asked wondering why she never said of where the boy called Inti was.

"He's not there yet. He had the furthest to travel. But he should arrive with the break of day." Scar answered.

"And then… ?" Jamie asked the question but he already knew the answer.

"We will be in a battle" Masaru answered in her place, he could already expect the plan Matt came up with. And if what his conjecture is correct, he could understand the entire process of what Matt planned and executed to set up the surprise.

The reason why the Old Ones were so certain of their victory.

"It's been predicted for ages. If the five of us can reach one another, we will win. If we can't, the world will come to an end." Scar said while glancing at Masaru who picked up the whole situation the fastest.

"How did you find the two of us? The fortress or whatever it was. We already left there, yet you came straight for us. And it was like you were expecting me." Jamie asked,

"We weren't expecting you," Scar replied.

"Then why were you there?" Jamie asked once more.

"It's because of what happened two days ago" She said, without being interrupted she continued "I've already explained to you. We had to meet, the five of us, to win. And we were so close, but there was a problem.

"The Old Ones knew that Inti was coming and they positioned their entire army between him and us. They were searching for him everywhere. You saw the fly-soldiers today. Well, there were hundreds more like them as well as shape-changers and fire riders. Inti was pinned down. He had to hide. He didn't dare move any nearer."

"How did Matt know?" Jamie asked feeling quite awe towards Matt who acted as if he could see the future.

"Matt always knows! And two nights ago he called a meeting between the four of us. He said there was only one way to help Inti and that was to send out a small force to a place called Scathack Hill. There was a fortress there and he said that we'd find something that would help us in the fight against the Old Ones." Scar spoke while trying hard to control her rage,

"Of course, Finn offered to go. There isn't a single soldier who wouldn't gladly volunteer to do anything Matt wants. But he said it had to be one of us. One of the Five." She paused.

"And the one who ultimately chosen to go was Sapling?" Masaru asked to which Scar nodded, there were tears in her eyes.

"From the looks of it, he had always been right" Masaru said while sighing, "No wonder you said that you argued with Matt."

"The problem was what he insisted on. He wouldn't let me go. It had to be either Sapling or Flint. He took them into his tent and spoke to them, and an hour later, Sapling came out, got onto his horse and rode off. A hundred men went with him." She closed her eyes for a brief moment before carrying on,

"He didn't say anything to me, but I saw his face and I'll never forget his look. It was as if he knew what was going to happen. And none of the soldiers asked any questions. He ordered and they followed."

"And that's the place where you found us?" Masaru asked,

"Yes, apparently Matt said that someone he contacted will reinforce Sapling. I just did not expect it to be one of the Generals of the old Ones army. Solomon, the traitor" Scar spoke while glancing at Masaru with a complicated gaze.

"And there was nothing important at the fortress?" Masaru asked,

"Hnn..." Scar nodded.

"I see" Masaru sighed while glancing towards the skies through the broken roof.

"So you believe that it's over? That the five would never meet?" Masaru asked.

Scar fell silent. She'd had enough. This was the reason why she was frustrated, she felt that Sapling died for nothing. And that they had already lost the war.

"Finish the story," Finn murmured. He reached out and touched her gently on the arm. "The two of them needs to know. The next part matters too."

Scar nodded slowly. "I never wanted to see Matt again, I thought he'd betrayed us. I thought he'd brought us all this way for nothing. To be honest, I hated him. I hated him almost as much as the Old Ones. But then, last night, he came to me. And what he said to me, I wanted to scream at him. But you don't scream at Matt.

"When you meet him, you'll understand. He told me to take part of the army and ride to the ruined city where we are now, but after that I was to go on alone to Scathack Hill, just with Finn, Erin and Corian with a troop of arcers. He said it was still important to bring back what I found there and, even though he knew I was angry about what had happened to Sapling, I'd understand why he'd died." Scar frowned.

"At first I didn't believe him. I hated him and I didn't even want to listen. But Finn persuaded me and so we set off. We left everyone here and went on alone. And when we got to Scathack Hill, we found you. That's why I cried when I saw you. I thought you were Sapling." Scar said before turning silent.

"Maybe he is," Finn growled.

"Are you?" Scar turned to Jamie.

"It's best you wait for tomorrow" Masaru said all of the sudden interrupting their talks, before turning his gaze towards Scar. "Matt will answer your question, as from your explanation I can tell he is serious of winning this war... So have faith in him"

She was silent, what Masaru was correct but she could not entirely accept it. Thus She got up and walked off into the dark.

Masaru who glanced at the girl smiled wryly, he turned his gaze towards Finn "You know don't you?"

"Not much, but I can understand what Matt tried to do" Finn said while turning his gaze towards the fire, "He sacrificed Sapling, for a reason"

"That island" Masaru said while turning to Jamie, "What is that about?"

"I prefer to call it Dreamland, its a strange place where I saw the other three of the five children and my brother. Although the locations we are in the dream is different, for some reason we can see each other" Jamie explained, while closing his eyes. "I just never expected that it was a special kind of place where we can communicate with one another"