Hello, everyone! At the time this is being posted, we are in a new calendar year. So, Happy New Year to everyone!

This is going to the be the final chapter of Book 5's events. Again, this has been a shorter chapter to write due to my deviation from the original story's events. To all of you who are still reading the story, thanks for sticking through.

DISCLAIMER: The 'Amulet' series is created and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi, and published by 'Scholastic'. The author owns any original characters and custom elements included into the story.

Onward!

Light. Laughter. A steady heartbeat. All these things mixed to create a sense of motion and enjoyment. He was running, he realized, his body was in motion; he knew how to keep the motion going. To his left was a girl with a golden smile and a runner's body. She laughed with him, their shared joy bouncing between them both in a cycle of perpetual happiness.

They rounded a bend, continuing down a sidewalk he recognized as near his home. He felt comfortable with that fact; he was getting tired, he could use a break. Apparently, so could the girl, because as they reached a crosswalk they stopped at the sidewalk's curb to take a breath. She did not look at him as she panted, her eyes closed to block out sweat from getting inside them.

Something changed in the girl at that moment. He saw her smile fade, and then change into anger. Anger at him, it turned out, from how she slapped away his hand when he tried to touch her arm. He persisted, his mouth forming words that did not reach his ears. She resisted, moving to the curb's edge, reluctant to cross onto the sidewalk. She spoke rapidly but silently, in the midst of a conversation. He came forward, arms open wide to hold her close, and she pushed him away with tremendous force.

They fell backwards, separating from each other. She fell onto the street, while he fell the sidewalk. Lights shone on her body from the sudden arrival on an oncoming vehicle from further down the street. She was too far away for him to pull to safety. She looked too shocked for him to bear, but he could not shut his eyes. He saw when the light reflecting off her body, feeling the light hurt his eyes. His ears picked up the sounds of what happened next with alarming clarity.

A loud crunch. A shriek. Then, silence.

Caleb woke up shivering. Even under sheets and a warm blanket, he felt ice-cold. This chill sank into his bones, leaving his body sluggish and unwilling to move. But his senses were fully active, his skin prickling and his eyes darting between shadows in his bedroom. The silver raven sat on the windowsill, wings tucked against its sides and its red eyes not glowing brightly. There was no one else in the room, and he did not hear any strange noises in the apartment.

Caleb drew his lands up to his chest, sliding the bedcovers off his nightclothes in the process. His mind started to analyze the nightmare—it was a genuine nightmare, he knew that—to better figure it out. It was obvious that girl had died in those moments. She must have, with the full force of a speeding car hitting her head-on. The exact instance of death had been gracefully left vague, but the sounds were clear enough on their own.

The girl's face was something that he figured out after several moments of reflection. It was the captain of his track team. Someone he had been friends with, someone who stared wide-eyed at the world's unusual things. This nightmare revealed to Caleb that her being a "friend" may not be correct. If that was true, why had he forgotten about it until now?

Thinking about the captain made Caleb's nerves quickly switch between very hot and very cold. He shivered on the bed, breathing fast. He did not know why he felt this way. He had not had a nightmare for a long time. Why had it happened here? The stress of the war and taking care of the Hayes family on his own?

No, that's wrong. Caleb mentally corrected himself. I am not alone. I have Miskit, Cogsley, Leon, and the Hayes themselves. They can all help me. I should tell them about this.

"Ow!" Caleb yelped as a sharp pain suddenly came from his left arm. He looked that way. Standing on the bed was the silver raven, pecking the sleeve of his nightshirt and skin. Its eyes were glowing bright red; in the early-morning darkness, the raven looked sinister.

The raven pecked at Caleb's arm as he was looking at it, eliciting another yelp from him. "Don't do that!" he quietly told the bird. It responded by opening its beak and leaving it that way.

"Caleb Morris identified." Caleb's eyes widened when he heard a voice come from the raven's beak. "Playing transmitted message for Caleb Morris." It was the voice of the same "Corvid" member from before; they were speaking, once again, through the raven's body.

The message was briefer than the previous one: "The All-Father calls you, Caleb Morris. Extraction will be in one solar hour. Be ready when the gate opens. The messenger will guide you."

The raven's beak closed after that. It then turned its head to one side, looking at Caleb with one glowing eye. It seemed to ask him, "What are you going to do now?" despite not speaking in any human language. Caleb could not give an answer, he had too much to think about from that message.

What got Caleb's attention most of all was that "The All-Father" was calling him. That meant Silas Charnon, and Silas was dead. Was this his ghost? Did the Corvid have the power to resurrect the dead, or hold some kind of ceremony to speak with them? Or was it all just a trick of words, and the Corvid as a group did not have that kind of power?

Caleb slid his legs down the bed, and then off the side of the bed as he stood up. He had less than sixty minutes to prepare for… something. He did not think this message was made up: the Corvid had not been joking around in Kanalis, why would they now?

Caleb felt the urge to get several things so he could feel "ready". Supplies, clothing, something to keep in touch with Cielis or his "siblings". Food and water were especially important, since he did not know how long he would be gone. He didn't have a container to carry those things in, either. He started forming a list in his head as he did a few stretches, loosening up his muscles for what was promising to be a very busy day.

Midway through putting his day clothes on, Caleb realized he had forgotten something else. He had people here who could help him. He did not have to do this on his own, like with his summer job on Earth. He had preferred to complete things alone before, but his heart beat faster as he realized this was something he could not complete alone. Luckily, he knew people who could help him… unless they were asleep.

No, I can't let them rest. If they are asleep, I will knock on their doors until they wake up. I am not going to turn away their help without asking for it.

The Sun had already risen when Caleb reached Karen's apartment. One thing he had with him was the Corvid's feather, their apparent mark of membership. He kept that in a pocket of the collared shirt he chose to wear. Unforunately, collared shirts did not match very well with running long distances.

Discarding the image of rushing to an older woman's house in the early morning, Caleb rapped on the door with his knuckles. "Karen!" he hissed. "Are you there? Karen! It's Caleb! I need your help!" He then jumped as he felt several sharp points digging into his right shoulder. He looked to his right to see the Corvid's raven standing there, having just landed from in flight. The "messenger" appeared to want in on the action.

Karen's door opened after Caleb gave a few more knocks following a period of silence. Karen looked disheveled, like she had just woken up. Caleb winced, which got Karen to wake up some more. "Caleb? What's wrong?" Her voice sounded heavy, further adding to the image of her just awakening from a deep sleep.

"The Corvid just contacted me through their raven." He gestured to the bird on his shoulder at that. "They sent a message. They're opening a gate to, uh, somewhere else. And they want me to go with them. Oh, a-and I'm leaving in l-less than an hour from now."

Karen blinked, and then shifted in posture and tone with startling speed. "I… All right. Hang on." She rubbed her eyes with her fingers, her brain processing this as fast as it could. "Is anyone else supposed to go with you?" she asked.

"I don't think so." Caleb didn't think he could get Leon, Miskit, or anyone else from Cielis ready in time. This was happening at a very bad point in the day, in his opinion!

"Hm." Karen looked at the raven with a new light in her eyes. "Fine, fine." She turned to Caleb, noting he was carrying nothing with him. "We have some packing to do. Come inside and we'll get started."

Caleb made sure to thank Karen several times as he followed her inside her apartment. Together, they pulled out an empty backpack Karen had in a closet—she claimed the apartment's previous owner had kept it, and Caleb did not wish to argue—and began hunting for things to fill it with.

Neither Caleb nor Karen had a clock to keep track of the remaining minutes. Luckily, the Corvid's raven warned them that time was running out when it started pecking the apartment's closed front door. Its pecking got more insistent until its metal beak imitated the speed and sound of a woodpecker on tree bark. By that point, Caleb and Karen had managed to get the backpack filled with clothes, a spare water canteen, a spare comb and toothbrush from the apartment's previous owner, and a few wrapped pieces of Alledian toast Karen made in a rush.

With the raven knocking away at the door, the two humans figured now was the time to move. Caleb slung the backpack over his shoulders, tugging at the straps around his front side to balance the weight. The backpack did not feel very heavy, but he did not want the bag to slide off at an unexpected moment. He kept pace with Karen when she opened the door, both of them following the raven as it darted out into the adjacent streets.

The raven led them on a short journey through some of Cielis's roads, moving fast enough to be almost too far for the humans to track. The journey ended at the Garden of the Stonekeepers, the raven landing by a statue of a petrified Stonekeeper and watching them rush up after it. Caleb did not feel winded, but Karen had to rest with her hands on her knees while taking long breaths.

Caleb looked around and did not see anything indicating the Corvid's presence. "How much time do we have left now?" he asked the raven. The bird clacked its beak, not giving any other answer.

Caleb rolled his eyes. "Now you shut up?" he grumbled. The raven still did not say anything, but it did fluff its metallic wings for a second. The bird then looked to the left and right, its head turning as if on a swivel and its eye glowing at the same intensity throughout.

As Caleb adjusted the backpack on his shoulders, Karen managed to stand upright again. She gave a smile to Caleb, who smiled back in encouragement. "Are you coming with me?" he asked her, trying to keep the question casual. It was not an easy question to ask.

Karen shook her head. "No, I'll just see you off. This is your adventure, just like Emily and Navin have theirs."

Caleb did not feel any more hopeful with Karen not coming along. He did not want to do this alone. Despite pretty much all his time in Alledia until the past few months having been an adventure, this was the first time he was really going out on his own for an extended period. His time with the Resistance in Kanalis, one could say, had been a test run. This was the practical exam.

If Caleb failed with the Corvid, he would likely not return home. He might not even survive.

Caleb's arms felt cold, so he rubbed them with his hands. He then rubbed his hands against his wrists; the phantom bites of the Arachnopod sent momentary pain to his brain. The memory of how he had acted in those moments was scary to remember, but it also gave him a sliver of courage. If he had stood against a monster, he could probably survive meet with the Corvid.

Even so, Caleb felt the urge to get a backup plan set with Karen. "Karen, I…" he started, and then he had to clear his throat. His nervous stutter came through as he then said, "If I don't… don't c-c-come back—"

"If." Karen cut him off with that single word and a close copy of the same expression Miranda Morris had given Caleb when he had felt glum. "I don't think that will be true." She put a hand on Caleb's shoulder and squeezed that part of him. "Just stand tall, like in your track meets. Be brave like the man you are growing up to be."

Caleb looked away from Karen, smiling despite his outer embarrassment. She sounds just like my mother with encouragement. It was a good similarity to the high schooler; some things did not change between worlds.

The raven let out a warbling caw, instantly getting Caleb and Karen's attention. Startled, both humans were left frozen and staring as the raven flew back to Caleb's side. The air by the statue the raven had been adjacent to was torn open over several seconds. A long line appeared, and then that line became a winking tear. Gusts of wind began racing through the garden.

The tear became shining yellow and white, the gusts grew louder and stronger, and finally the tear filled out like an opening hole to stand as tall as the nearby statues and their pedestals.

Both Karen and Caleb muttered the words, "A portal…" to themselves, but their words were far too quiet for the other to hear. Caleb could remember something like this beneath the basement of Charnon House, a gateway spitting out snow and containing a descending stairwell. This portal, in comparison, had no path to walk on beyond its shimmering entrance. There was no clue to where it led, or what going into it would entail. And it was flashing vibrantly, making the garden's air whoosh in strange ways.

Reality did not seem to accept this portal. Its sides started to shrink, collapsing in on themselves, as Caleb and Karen watched and did not go towards it. It would not stay open forever.

Karen was the first to break her eyes away from the portal. She slapped Caleb's shoulder to get his attention. "Go on!" she yelled when he turned to look at her. Below them both, the raven managed to get itself airborne and flew towards the portal. It shot through the gateway without slowing down; a small flash of white marked its departure.

Caleb swallowed. Time to go.

With one last wave to Karen, Caleb shouldered his backpack and ran towards the closing portal. It had already shrank to the point where he had to lean his upper body down quite a bit to get inside. The portal's energies ran over his skin like sandpaper, but he pushed through the odd sensations and fully entered whatever lay ahead.

After a few moments of disorientation, Caleb realized he had fallen on his rear end and was sliding instead of running. His bag was still around his shoulder, but it felt like dead weight. His eyes tried to pick up anything recognizable around him. All he could tell was that he was inside a yellow and white tunnel, with little space around him to move and reorient himself. It felt like a slide on an amusement park, something designed to rocket a person forward at great speeds and leave little room for them to get hurt along the way. The tunnel's thin walls were sometimes broken open, revealing patches of a kaleidoscopic landscape beyond.

Caleb gritted his teeth as his body suddenly bent to the side. The tunnel's path changed several times in this manner in a short span of time. As he felt his stomach start to protest being tossed about, Caleb tried to find the raven ahead of him. He could not see it, but he figured it was up there and finding its own way through all of this.

The tunnel did not have sound, but he felt his lungs draw in and expel air. He also felt the rough texture of the path beneath him, that sandpaper remaining the longer he went down this path. A few more sharp turns led to the sudden appearance of another portal. Caleb had enough time to shut his eyes before he fell through it. Like the entry hole, this portal did not block Caleb's passage through it.

"Release… me…"

Caleb did not pick up where those words came from, but he clearly heard them. It sounded like a woman's voice, but deeper than any woman he knew. As he tried to figure this out, he stumbled out of the portal.

Suddenly, Caleb was on his feet again. He blinked out white spots from his eyes to find a darker space around him. It was also a big space, the ceiling sporting stalactites alongside metal braces that held those natural structures up. He felt cold air on his skin; as he finally slowed to a stop, his body acting on muscle memory, he spotted walls of stone all around him that curved up to the ceiling.

A cave. Caleb was in a cave. A big cave, with machines and wires stretching everywhere. He turned back to where he had come from and saw a gateway dwarfing him several times over. That passageway began shimmering out of existence with a few pulses of light. Around the gateway was a circular object made of curved metal and more wires, obviously made to keep the portal stable. More sounds came from around the cave as the gateway vanished. Caleb recognized some of them: machines powering down, the shuffling of feet against solid ground.

"Greetings through the All-Father, Caleb Morris."

A thick female voice got Caleb's attention by saying his name along with an extended greeting, causing him to spin back to look in front of him. A raven-woman stood in front of him, wearing a sleeveless vest over broad shoulders and cargo shorts over thick, muscled legs. Beneath her clothes was a layer of thick feathers. Considering the location and situation, Caleb figured this was another member of the "Corvid" group. On her left shoulder, perched like it had always been there, was the metal raven Caleb had trusted to get here.

The woman bobbed her head towards Caleb. "Welcome to our headquarters," she told him with her beak opening and closing rapidly. She then she offered a feathered hand and said: "I am Revna, which means "Raven" in the All-Father's home tongue."

Caleb shook the offered hand, not trusting his mouth to say intelligent things in the presence of someone so different from himself. His eyes drifted towards other raven-people now emerging from the darker spaces of the cave, apparently operating machines connected to the gateway and now moving to a new task. They all looked very similar to each other, the only big differentiation between them being the color of their feathers; the range appeared to be between pitch-black and a grayish black like coal.

Revna withdrew her hand as a few other raven-people ran by them, carrying multiple sacks of something between themselves. "Please follow me and stay close," Revna told Caleb. "The Honored Brothers, Huginn and Munnin, wish to see you immediately."

Caleb silently followed Revna as her bare feet walked along the cave floor with no sign of pain, heading towards a circular door connected to a pathway that sloped upwards out of sight. All he could think, and mutter quietly to himself, as he saw the activity of tens or more of people was, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Alright, that's all for now. As I said, this concludes the events of "A5". As for when "A6" will begin, I cannot say at this time. I know there are a LOT of details I need to sculp out before I consider posting any part of what will come next.

As usual, any feedback and constructive criticism you give is appreciated.

Draconos is taking off!