Nicholas Flamel 1 - The Alchemyst sotinf-1

by Michael Scott

  reasons why it should take many years, she said dismissively. The humani

  barely use their senses. Yet you are proposing to Awaken these two to their

  full potential. I will not do it: the sensory overload could destroy them,

  drive them mad.

  But Flamel began.

  I will not do it. She turned back to the twins. What he is asking me to do

  could kill you if you are lucky, she said, and then turned and swept from

  the room, leaving little grassy footprints in her wake.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  T he twins were speechless for a moment. Then Josh began, What did she

  mean ?

  But Nicholas hurried past him, following Hekate out into the hallway. She s

  exaggerating, he called back over his shoulder. Trying to frighten you.

  Well, it worked, Josh muttered. He looked at Scathach, but she turned her

  back and walked into the garden. Hey, he called, hurrying after her, come

  back. I ve got questions. He felt a quick surge of anger; he was tired of

  being treated like a child. He and his sister deserved some answers.

  Josh, Sophie warned.

  But her brother darted past her and reached for Scathach s shoulder. His

  fingers never even touched her. Suddenly, he was caught, twisted, turned and

  then spun through the air. He hit the ground hard enough to drive the breath

  from his lungs, and he found himself staring down the length of Scathach s

  sword, the tip of which she held rock steady between his eyes. When she

  spoke, her voice was little more than a whisper. Last night you insulted a

  goddess of the Elder Race; today you've managed to irritate one of the Next

  Generation and it s not even dawn yet, she added. The Warrior Maid sheathed

  her sword and looked over at a stunned Sophie. She hadn't even seen Scathach

  move. Is he always like this? Scatty asked.

  Like what? Sophie asked.

  Foolish, ill-advised, reckless ? Shall I go on?

  No need. And yes, he s usually like this. Sometimes worse. When they were

  growing up, she used to tease Josh that he got all the doing genes, whereas

  she got the thinking genes. Her brother was both impulsive and reckless,

  but to be fair, she thought, he was also loyal and trustworthy.

  Scathach pulled Josh to his feet. If you continue at this rate, you ll not

  last long in this world.

  I just wanted to ask you a few questions.

  You re lucky. A couple of centuries ago, I probably would have killed you. I

  used to have a bit of a temper, she admitted, but I ve been working on my

  self-control.

  Josh rubbed the small of his back. If Scathach had smashed him down on the

  stones, he could really have been hurt, but he recognized that she d been

  careful to drop him onto the grass and moss. That felt like a judo throw,

  he said shakily, attempting to sound casual and change the subject.

  Something like that

  Where did you learn judo, anyway?

  I didn't learn judo. I created the distant ancestor of most of the martial

  arts that are studied today, the red-haired warrior said, bright green eyes

  flashing wickedly. In fact, it would do neither of you any harm if I were to

  show you a few simple moves.

  I think we can do better than simple, Josh said. We studied tae kwon do

  for two years when our parents were teaching in Chicago, and we did a year of

  karate in New York or was that Boston?

  You created judo? Sophie asked, keeping her voice carefully neutral.

  No, Kano Jigoro created modern judo, but he based his fighting system on

  jujitsu, which is related to aikido, which evolved around the fourteenth

  century. I believe I was in Japan around then. All martial arts have a common

  root. And That'sme, Scatty said modestly. Come, if you know a little tae

  kwon do and karate, That'suseful. Let me show you some basic moves while

  we re waiting for Nicholas.

  Where is he? Sophie asked, looking back over her shoulder at the house.

  What was going on in there? Is he asking Hekate to Awaken our magical

  potential?

  He is, Scatty affirmed.

  But Hekate'said that could kill us! Josh said in alarm. He was beginning to

  suspect that Flamel's agenda was about more than just protecting him and his

  sister. The Alchemyst was up to something.

  She was only guessing, Scatty said. She s always been a bit of a drama

  queen.

  Then Nicholas is sure we re in no danger? Josh said.

  No, he s not really sure. Scatty smiled. But believe me, you are in

  danger. The only difference is if Hekate Awakens you, then you ll be in grave

  danger.

  Nicholas Flamel followed Hekate through the house. The young woman s fingers

  trailed along the walls, leaving streaks of bright wood touched with leaves

  and flowers in her wake. I need your help, Hekate. I cannot do this alone,

  he called after her.

  The goddess ignored him. She turned down a long, straight corridor and darted

  ahead. Her feet left little puddles of green grass that grew even as Flamel

  hurried after her. By the time he was halfway down the corridor it was knee

  high, then waist high, and suddenly, the entire corridor was covered in the

  tall, razor-sharp grass. Its blades whispered softly together, sounds that

  might almost have been words.

  Nicholas Flamel allowed a little of his growing anger to seep into his aura.

  Closing his right hand into a fist, he suddenly splayed his fingers and the

  air was touched with the rich, tart odor of mint. The grass directly ahead of

  him flattened as if it had been hit with a strong wind, and the Alchemyst was

  just in time to see the young woman step into a room set slightly apart from

  the rest of the house. If he had delayed a moment longer, he would have

  walked right past the opening.

  Enough of these games, Flamel'snapped, stepping into the room.

  Hekate'spun to face him. She had aged in the few moments she had spent

  running down the corridor. She now looked about fifteen. Her face was set in

  an ugly mask and her yellow eyes were bitter. How dare you speak to me that

  way! She raised her hands threateningly. You know what I can do to you.

  You would not dare, Flamel'said with a calm that he did not feel.

  And why not? Hekate asked, surprised. She was not used to being

  contradicted.

  Because I am the Guardian of the Book.

  The book you lost

  I am also the Guardian who appears in the prophecies in the Book, Flamel

  snapped. The next-to-last Guardian, he added. The twins also appear in the

  book. You say you knew Abraham you know then how accurate his prophecies and

  foretellings were.

  He was often wrong, Hekate muttered.

  As Guardian, I am asking you to do something I believe to be essential to

  the survival of not only the Elder Race, but humani, too: I want you to

  Awaken the twins magical potential.

  It could kill them, the goddess stated flatly. She didn't really care if

  the humani cattle lived or died.

  That is a possibility, Flamel admitted, feeling something icy settle in the

  pit of his stomach, but if you do not help us, then their deaths are a

  certainty.

  Hekate turned and walked to the window. Across the sloping lawn, Scathac
h was

  demonstrating a series of punches for the twins. They were smoothly mimicking

  her moves. Flamel went to join Hekate by the window.

  What a world we live in, he commented, sighing, when everything possibly

  even the continuance of the human race lies on the shoulders of those

  teenagers.

  You know why the humani triumphed and the Elder Race was ultimately

  banished? Hekate asked suddenly.

  Because of iron, wasn't it?

  Yes, because of iron. We survived the Fall of Danu Talis, we survived the

  Flood, and the Age of Ice. And then, about three thousand years ago, a single

  metalworker, who had been crafting in bronze, began to experiment in the new

  metal. He was just one man and yet he managed to wipe out an entire race of

  people and a way of life. Great change always comes down to the actions of a

  single person. Hekate fell silent, watching the twins punch and kick next to

  Scathach. Silver and gold. The rarest of all auras, she muttered, and for a

  single heartbeat, the auras bloomed around the twins. If I do this and it

  kills them, will you be able to live with it on your conscience?

  I am old now, so old, Nicholas said very softly. Do you know how many

  friends I ve buried over the centuries?

  And did you feel their loss? There was a note of genuine curiosity in

  Hekate's voice.

  Every one.

  Do you still?

  Yes. Every day.

  The goddess reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. Then you are

  still human, Nicholas Flamel. The day you stop caring is the day you become

  like Dee and his kind. She turned back to the garden and looked at the

  twins. They were both trying, and failing, to land blows on Scathach, who was

  ducking and weaving, though not moving from the one spot. From the distance

  they looked like three ordinary teenagers practicing a new dance, but Hekate

  knew that there was nothing ordinary about any of them.

  I'll do it, she said eventually, I'll Awaken their powers. The rest is up

  to you. You will have to train them.

  Flamel bowed his head so she would not see the tears in his eyes. If the

  twins survived the Awakening, then there was a chance, albeit a slim one,

  that he would get to see Perenelle again. Tell me, he began, then coughed

  to clear his throat. The man who discovered how to process iron that

  blacksmith three thousand years ago. What happened to him?

  I killed him, Hekate'said, her yellow eyes wide and innocent. His actions

  destroyed us. What else could I do? But it was too late. The secret of iron

  had been introduced into the world.

  Flamel looked at the twins, watched Josh haul his sister to her feet, watched

  her hook a leg behind his and drop him to the ground. Their laughter hung

  bright and clear in the predawn air. He prayed that they were not too late

  this time.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  T he cats of San Francisco left the city in the dead of night.

  Singly and in pairs, feral and scarred street cats, plump, smooth-coated

  house cats, all shapes, every size, purebred and mixed, long-haired and

  short-haired, they moved through the shadows in a silent feline wave. They

  surged across the bridges, boiled through alleys, raced through the tunnels

  beneath the streets, leapt across roofs.

  All heading north.

  They darted past shocked and terrified late-night revelers, skirted rats and

  mice without stopping to feed, ignored birds nests. And although they moved

  in complete silence, their passage was marked by an extraordinary sound.

  That night the city of San Francisco echoed with the primeval howls of a

  hundred thousand dogs.

  Dr. John Dee was unhappy.

  And just a little bit frightened. It was all very well to talk about

  attacking Hekate in her own Shadowrealm, but it was another thing entirely to

  sit at the entrance to her invisible kingdom and watch the cats and birds

  arrive, called by their respective mistresses, Bastet and the Morrigan. What

  could those small creatures do against the ancient magic of Hekate of the

  Elder Race?

  Dee sat in a huge black Hummer alongside Senuhet, the man who acted as

  Bastet s servant. Neither of them had spoken during the short flight in Dee s

  private jet from L.A. to San Francisco earlier, though there were a thousand

  questions Dee wanted to ask the older man. Over the years he had come to

  recognize that the servants of the Dark Elders like himself did not like to

  be questioned.

  They had reached the entrance to Hekate's Shadowrealm close to two o clock,

  and were in time to see the first of the Morrigan s creatures arriving. The

  birds swooped in from the north and east in long, dark flocks, the only sound

  the snapping of their wings, and settled in the trees in Mill Valley,

  gathering so thickly that some of the branches cracked beneath the strain.

  Over the next few hours, the cats arrived.

  They poured out of the darkness in a never-ending stream of fur, and then

  stopped all facing the hidden opening to the Shadowrealm. Dee looked out his

  car window: he couldn t see the ground. It was covered, as far as he could

  see in every direction, with cats.

  Finally, just as the eastern horizon began to pale with salmon-colored light,

  Senuhet lifted a small black statue from a bag he wore around his neck and

  placed it on the dashboard. It was a beautifully carved Egyptian cat no

  bigger than his little finger. It is time, he said softly.

  The eyes of the black statue glowed red.

  She is coming, Senuhet said.

  Why didn't we attack earlier, when Hekate'slept? Dee asked. Despite several

  hundred years of study about the Dark Elders, he realized that, in truth, he

  knew very little. But that gave him some comfort, because he realized that

  they knew equally little about humans.

  Senuhet waved his hand, gesturing to the gathered birds and cats. We needed

  our allies, he said shortly.

  Dee nodded. He guessed that Bastet was even now moving through the various

  Shadowrealms that bordered the human world. The Elder Race s aversion to iron

  meant that certain modern conveniences like cars and planes were off limits

  to them. His thin lips curled in a humorless smile; that was why they needed

  people like him and Senuhet to act as their agents.

  He felt, rather than saw, the birds move in the trees: half a million maybe

  more heads turned to the west. He followed their gaze, looking toward the

  darkest spot in the sky. At first, he could see nothing, but then a shape

  appeared high in the heavens, noticeable only because it blotted out the

  stars. The Morrigan was coming.

  Dee knew that at the heart of every legend there is a grain of truth. Looking

  up into the night sky, watching the pale-faced creature appear out of the

  west, her feathered cloak spread behind her like enormous wings, Dee believed

  he knew where the legends of the Nosferatu vampires originated. Over the

  course of his long life, he had met vampires real ones and none of them were

  as terrifying as the Crow Goddess.

  The Morrigan settled to the ground directly in front of the Hummer, cats

  scattering at the last mom
ent as she folded her cloak and landed. In the

  gloom, only the white oval of her face was visible; her eyes were as black as

  night, looking like holes burned in paper.

  Then the cats growled, a low rumbling that trembled through the very air, and

  Bastet stepped out of the shadows. The Cat Goddess was wearing the white

  cotton robes of an Egyptian princess and holding a spear that was as tall as

  she was. She strode through the sea of cats, which parted before her and

  closed in behind. Towering over the Morrigan, she bowed deeply to the Crow

  Goddess. Niece, is it time? she purred.

  It is, the Morrigan replied, returning the bow. Shrugging back her cloak,

  she revealed a longbow strapped across her shoulders. She unslung the bow and

  notched an arrow from the quiver at her hip.

  Then, turning as one, the two Dark Elders raced toward the seemingly

  impenetrable hedge and leapt through.

  The cats and birds flowed after them.

  Now it begins, Senuhet said gleefully, gathering his weapons two curved

  Egyptian bronze swords and climbing out of the car.

  Or ends, Dee thought, but he kept his fears to himself.

  FRIDAY,

  1st June

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  J osh stood at the edge of the ancient forest with his sister and watched a

  trio of tiny winged creatures that looked astonishingly like dragons whirl

  and dance through the first shafts of dawn sunlight. Josh glanced at her,

  then looked quickly away. I don't want you to do this, he said quickly.

  Sophie laid her hand on her brother s arm. Why not? she said. She moved in

  front of her twin, forcing him to look at her. Over his left shoulder, in

  front of the entrance to the incredible Yggdrasill, she could see Flamel,

  Scatty and Hekate watching them. All around, thousands of Torc Allta, both in

  their human and wereboar forms, were scurrying about, preparing for battle.

  The boars wore plates of leather armor across their haunches and backs, and

  the human Torc Allta were carrying bronze spears and swords. Huge flocks of

  nathair swooped across the skies and the bushes, and tall grasses were alive

  with unseen crawling, slithering, scuttling creatures. Guards were taking up

  positions all around the Yggdrasill, clambering out onto the huge branches,

  standing guard with bows and spears in every window.