The Power of Five Oblivion (76 page)

The Librarian was waiting for them when they arrived and he wasn’t alone. There was a woman with him. Scar – the first Scar, the one who had lived ten thousand years ago – had once said she had met a strange woman in the dream world, but none of the other Gatekeepers had seen her before. And here’s the strange thing. There was only one woman but she looked different to each and every one of them. To Pedro, she was Peruvian, small and olive-skinned. To Scarlett, she was Indonesian. Flint and Jamie saw her as Native American. And Matt saw her in a pink jacket and a white linen dress, on her way to a wedding – just as she had been long ago. His mother. A mother to all of them. That was what she was and it was as if the Five had become one.

You’re wondering how I know all this.

It’s very simple. I dreamt it.

I have often visited the dreamworld. I have seen Matt, Jamie, Flint, Pedro and Scarlett and spoken to each of them. It’s a little different for me because in the morning, when I wake up, I can’t remember everything they’ve said, but enough of it is there for me to scribble down notes in a book and that is what I’ve written here. Richard has also been there, although less often, but he tells me that one day he will go there and he won’t return. I have a feeling that the same thing will happen to me.

But that’s still a long way away and in the meantime I have plenty of work to do, the garden to see to, the dinner to be made.

Sometimes, in the evening, Richard strolls round to my house or I go to his and we sneak out a bottle of wine, which we make ourselves from the elderberries that just won’t stop growing. We like it when there’s just the two of us and the sun is beginning to set and we can smell fresh hay in the air. I open the bottle and pour two glasses and we sit down opposite each other, by the fire.

“To the Five,” I say.

“To the Five,” he replies.

We clink glasses and we really are as happy as we can be.

GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING, AND DISCOVER WHERE IT ALL STARTED…

Raven’s Gate
He always knew he was different.
First there were the dreams.
Then the deaths began.

Evil Star
It began with Raven’s Gate.
But it’s not over yet.
Once again the enemy is stirring.

Nightrise
Darkness covers the earth.
The Old Ones have returned.
The battle must begin.

Necropolis
An ancient evil is unleashed.
Five have the power to defeat it.
But one of them has been taken.

The first four volumes in the bestselling
supernatural series by Anthony Horowitz

THE POWER OF FIVE
www.powerof5.co.uk

THE ALEX RIDER SERIES

Alex Rider – you’re never too young to die…

High in the Alps, death waits for Alex Rider…

Sharks. Assassins. Nuclear bombs. Alex Rider’s in deep water.

Alex Rider has 90 minutes to save the world.

Once stung, twice as deadly. Alex Rider wants revenge.

He’s back – and this time there are no limits.

Alex Rider bites back…

Alex Rider – in the jaws of death…

One bullet.
One life.
The end starts here.

Become an Alex Rider Insider…