Nicholas Flamel 1 - The Alchemyst sotinf-1

by Michael Scott

  Twins, she said finally.

  Sophie and Josh looked at each other. How did she know? Did Nicholas tell

  her?

  There was something about the way the woman kept moving her head that

  intrigued Josh. He tried to follow the direction of her gaze and then he

  realized why the old woman s head kept moving left and right: she was somehow

  seeing them through the mirrors. Automatically, he touched his sister s hand

  and nodded to the mirror. She glanced at it, back at the old woman, then back

  at the mirror, and then she nodded at her brother, silently agreeing with

  him.

  Dora stepped up to Scathach, her head turned to one side as she stared hard

  at a tall length of polished glass. you've lost weight. Are you eating

  properly?

  Gran, I ve looked like this for two and a half thousand years.

  So you re saying I m going blind now, eh? the old woman asked, then burst

  into surprisingly deep laughter. Give your old Gran a hug.

  Scathach carefully hugged the old woman and kissed her cheek. It s good to

  see you, Gran. You re looking well.

  I m looking old. Do I look old?

  Not a day over ten thousand. Scatty smiled.

  The Witch pinched Scathach s cheek. The last person who mocked me was a tax

  inspector. I turned him into a paperweight, she said. I still have it here

  somewhere.

  Flamel coughed discreetly. Madame Endor

  Call me Dora, the old woman snapped.

  Dora. Are you aware what happened in Hekate's Shadowrealm earlier today? He

  had never met the Witch before he knew her only by reputation but he knew she

  needed to be treated with the utmost caution. She was the legendary Elder who

  had left Danu Talis to live with and teach the humani centuries before the

  island sank beneath the waves. It was believed that she had created the first

  humani alphabet in ancient Sumeria.

  Get me a chair, Dora said to no one in particular. Sophie pulled up the

  chair she d been sitting on and Scatty eased her grandmother into it. The old

  woman leaned forward, both hands resting on the top of her white cane. I

  know what happened. I m sure every Elder on this continent felt her death.

  She saw their looks of shocked surprise. You didn't know? She turned her

  head sideways and stared into a mirror, directly facing Scatty. Hekate is

  dead and her Shadowrealm is no more. I understand an Elder, one of the Next

  Generation and an immortal human were responsible for her death. Hekate will

  need to be avenged. Not now, and maybe not soon: but she was family, and I

  owe her that. See to it. Scatty bowed.

  The Witch of Endor had delivered the death sentence calmly, and Flamel

  suddenly realized that this woman was even more dangerous than he had

  imagined.

  Dora turned her face in another direction and Flamel found himself looking at

  her reflection in an ornate silver-framed mirror. She tapped the glass. I

  saw what happened this morning a month ago.

  And you didn't warn Hekate! Scatty exclaimed.

  I watched one thread of a possible-future. One of many. In some of the

  others, Hekate killed Bastet and the Morrigan slew Dee. In another, Hekate

  killed you, Mr. Flamel, and was in turn killed by Scathach. All versions of

  the future. Today I discovered which came to pass. She looked around the

  room, turning her face from mirror to polished vase to picture-frame glass.

  So I know why you re here, I know what you want me to do. And I ve thought

  long and hard about my response. I ve had a month to think about it.

  What about us? Sophie asked. Were we in your threads?

  Yes, in some, the Witch said.

  What happened to us in the others? The question was out of Josh s mouth

  before he had time to think about it. He really didn't want to know the

  answer.

  Dee and his Golems or the rats and birds killed you in most of the threads.

  You crashed the car in others. You died with the Awakening or fell with the

  Shadowrealm.

  Josh swallowed hard. We only survived in one thread?

  Just one.

  That'snot good, is it? he whispered.

  No, the Witch of Endor stated flatly. Not good at all. There was a long

  pause while Dora looked sidelong into the polished surface of a silver pot.

  Then she spoke suddenly. First you should know that I cannot Awaken the boy.

  That must be left to others.

  Josh looked up quickly. There are others who could Awaken me?

  The Witch of Endor ignored him. The girl has one of the purest silver auras

  I ve encountered in many an age. She needs to be taught some spells of

  personal protection if she is to survive the rest of the Awakening process.

  The fact that she s still sane and whole these many hours later is testament

  to her strength of will. Her head tilted back and Sophie caught the old

  woman s face looking at her from a mirror suspended from the ceiling. This I

  will do.

  Thank you, Nicholas Flamel'said with a deep sigh. I know how difficult the

  last few hours have been for her.

  Josh found that he could not look at his sister. There was more to the

  Awakening. Did that mean she would have to suffer more pain? It was

  heartbreaking.

  Scathach knelt by her grandmother s chair and laid a hand on her arm. Gran,

  Dee and his masters are chasing the two missing pages from the Codex, she

  said. I would imagine that by now they know or at least suspect that Sophie

  and Josh are the twins mentioned in the Book of Abraham.

  Dora nodded. Dee knows.

  Scathach stole a glance at Flamel. Then he knows that not only does he have

  to retrieve the pages, but he has to either capture or kill the twins.

  He knows that, too, Dora confirmed.

  And if Dee succeeds, then this world ends? Scathach said, turning the

  simple sentence into a question.

  The world has ended before, the Witch answered, smiling. I m sure it will

  end many times before the sun turns black.

  You know that Dee intends to bring back the Dark Elders?

  I know.

  The Codex says that the Dark Elders can only be stopped by Silver and Gold,

  Scatty continued.

  The Codex also says, if my memory serves me true, that apples are poisonous

  and frogs Can'turn into princes. You don't want to believe everything you

  read in that Codex, the witch snapped.

  Flamel had read the piece in the Codex about apples. He thought it was

  possibly referring to apple seeds, which were indeed poisonous if you ate

  several pounds of them. He hadn't come across the section about frogs and

  princes, though he d read the Book hundreds of times. There were countless

  questions he wanted to ask the Witch, but that wasn't the reason they were

  there. Dora, will you teach Sophie the principles of Air magic? She needs to

  learn enough to at least be able to protect herself from attack.

  Dora shrugged and smiled. Do I have a choice?

  Flamel had not been expecting that answer. Of course you have a choice.

  The Witch of Endor shook her head. Not this time. She reached up and took

  off her dark glasses. Scatty didn't move, and only the muscle twitching in

  Flamel's jaw betrayed his surprise. The twins, however, backed away in

/>   horror, their faces registering their shock. The Witch of Endor had no eyes.

  There were just hollow empty sockets where eyes should have been, and nestled

  in the sockets were perfect ovals of reflective glass. Those mirrors turned

  directly to the twins. I gave up my eyes for the Sight, the ability to see

  the patterns of time time past, present and possible-future. There are many

  patterns, many versions of possible-future, though not so many as people

  think. In the past few years, the patterns have been coming together, weaving

  ever closer. Now there are only a few possible futures. Most of them are

  terrifying, she added grimly. And they are all linked to you two. Her hand

  moved unswervingly to point to Sophie and Josh. So what choice do I have?

  This is my world too. I was here before the humani, I gave them fire and

  language. I'll not abandon'them now. I'll train the girl, teach her how to

  protect herself and instill in her how to control the magic of Air.

  Thank you, Sophie said carefully into the long silence that followed.

  Do not thank me. This is not a gift. What I give you is a curse!

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  J osh stepped out of the antiques shop, cheeks flaming red, the Witch s last

  words ringing in his ears. You have to leave. What I teach is not for the

  ears of a humani.

  Looking around the room, at Flamel and Scatty and finally his twin sister,

  Josh had suddenly realized that he was the last pure human in the room.

  Obviously, in the Witch of Endor s eyes, Sophie was no longer entirely human.

  No problem. I'll wait , he began, voice suddenly cracking. He coughed and

  tried again. I'll wait in the park across the road. And then, without a

  backward glance, he left the shop, the jangling of the bell mocking him as he

  closed the door.

  But it was a problem. A huge problem.

  Sophie Newman watched her brother leave the shop, and even without her

  Awakened senses, she knew he was upset and angry. She wanted to stop him, to

  go after him, but Scatty was standing in front of her, eyes wide in warning,

  finger raised to her lips, the tiniest shake of her head warning Sophie to

  say nothing. Catching her shoulder, Scatty led her to stand in front of the

  Witch of Endor. The old woman raised her hands and ran surprisingly gentle

  fingers over the contours of Sophie s face. The girl s aura shivered and

  fizzed with each gentle touch.

  How old are you now? she asked.

  Fifteen. Well, fifteen and a half. Sophie wasn't sure if the half year made

  a difference.

  Fifteen and a half, Dora said, shaking her head. I Can't remember back

  that far. She dipped her chin, then tilted it toward Scatty. Can you

  remember back to when you were fifteen?

  Vividly, Scathach said grimly. wasn't that about the time I visited you in

  Babylon and you tried to marry me off to King Nebuchadnezzar?

  I m sure you re wrong, Dora said happily. I think that was later. Though

  he would have made an excellent husband, she added. She looked up at Sophie

  and the girl found herself reflected in the mirrors that were the Witch s

  eyes. There are two things I must teach you. To protect yourself that is

  simplicity itself. But instructing you in the magic of Air is a little

  trickier. The last time I instructed a humani in Air magic, it took him sixty

  years to master the basics, and even then he fell out of the sky on his first

  flight.

  Sixty years. Sophie swallowed. Did that mean she was destined to spend a

  lifetime trying to control this power?

  Gran, we haven t got that sort of time. I doubt we've even got sixty

  minutes.

  Dora glared into a mirror and her reflection looked out from the glass of an

  empty picture frame. So why don't you do this, you re such an expert, eh?

  Gran Scathach sighed.

  don't Gran me in that tone of voice, Dora said warningly. I'll do this

  my way.

  We don't have time to do it the traditional way.

  don't talk to me about tradition. What do the young know about tradition?

  Trust me, when I m finished, Sophie will know all that I know about the

  elemental Air magic. She turned back to Sophie. First things first: are

  your parents alive?

  Yes, she said, blinking in surprise, not sure where this was going.

  Good. And you talk to your mother?

  Yes, almost every day.

  Dora glanced sideways at Scatty. You hear that? Almost every day. She took

  one of Sophie s hands in hers and patted the back of it. Maybe you should be

  teaching Scathach a thing or two. And have you a grandmother?

  My Nana, yes, my father s mother. I usually call her on Fridays, she added,

  realizing with a guilty start that today was Friday and that Nana Newman

  would be expecting a call.

  Every Friday, the Witch of Endor said significantly, and looked at Scatty

  again, but the Warrior deliberately turned away and concentrated on an ornate

  glass paperweight. She put it down when she saw that there was a tiny man in

  a three-piece suit frozen inside the glass. He had a briefcase in one hand

  and a sheaf of papers in the other. His eyes were still blinking.

  This will not hurt, the Witch said.

  Sophie doubted it could be any worse than what she d already gone through.

  Her nose wrinkled at the odor of burnt wood, and she felt a cool breeze wash

  over her hands. She looked down. A gossamer-thin white spiderweb was twisting

  and spinning from the Witch of Endor s fingers and wrapping itself like a

  bandage around each of Sophie s fingers. It curled across her palm,

  completely covering it, then wrapped around her wrist and crept up her arm.

  She realized then that the Witch had been distracting her with her questions.

  Sophie looked into the Witch s mirrored eyes and found that she could not put

  her questions into words. It was as if she had lost the ability to speak. She

  was also surprised that instead of feeling frightened, from the moment the

  Witch had taken her hand, a wave of peace and calm had washed through her

  body. She glanced sideways at Scatty and Flamel. They were watching the

  process, wide-eyed with shock and, in Scathach s case, with something like

  horror on her face.

  Gran are you sure about this? Scathach demanded.

  Of course I m sure, the old woman snapped, a note of anger in her voice.

  And even though the Witch of Endor was speaking to Scathach, Sophie could

  hear her voice in her head, talking to her, whispering ancient secrets,

  murmuring archaic spells, divulging a lifetime of knowledge in the space of

  heartbeats and breaths.

  This is not a spiderweb, Dora explained to a stunned and silent Flamel,

  noticing that he was leaning forward, staring intently at the webs spinning

  around Sophie s arms. It is concentrated air mixed with my own aura. All my

  knowledge, my experience, even my lore is gathered in this web of air. Once

  it touches Sophie s skin, she will begin to absorb that knowledge.

  Sophie breathed deeply, drawing the wood-scented air deep into her lungs.

  Images flashed impossibly fast in her head, times and places long past,

  cyclopean walls of stone, ships of solid gold, dinosaurs and dragons, a city

  carved i
nto a mountain of ice and faces hundreds, thousands of faces, from

  every race of mankind, from every time period, human and half human,

  werebeast and monster. She was seeing everyone the Witch of Endor had ever

  seen.

  The Egyptians got it wrong, Dora continued, her hands now moving too fast

  for Flamel to see. They wrapped the dead, she continued. They did not

  realize I wrapped the living. There was a time when I put a little of myself

  into my followers and sent them out into the world to teach in my name.

  Obviously someone saw this process in the ancient past and tried to copy it.

  Sophie suddenly saw a dozen people wrapped up like her, and a younger-looking

  Dora moving among them, dressed in a costume from ancient Babylon. Somehow

  Sophie understood that these were the priests and priestesses in the cult

  that worshipped the Witch. Dora was passing on a little of her knowledge to

  them so that they could go out into the world and teach others.

  The white weblike air now flowed down Sophie s legs, binding them together.

  Unconsciously, she brought her hands up across her chest, right hand on her

  left shoulder, left hand on her right shoulder. The Witch nodded approvingly.

  Sophie closed her eyes and saw clouds. Without knowing how, she knew their

  names: cirrus, cirrocumulus, altostratus and stratocumulus, nimbostratus and

  cumulus. All different, each type with unique characteristics and qualities.

  She suddenly understood how to use them, how to shape and wield and move

  them.

  Images flickered.

  Flashed.

  She saw a tiny woman under a clear blue sky raise a hand and make a cloud

  grow directly overhead. Rain irrigated a parched field.

  Flashed again.

  A tall bearded man standing on the edge of a huge sea raised his hands and a

  howling wind parting the waters.

  And flashed again.

  A young woman brought a raging storm to a shuddering stop with a single

  gesture, freezing it in place, then ran into a flimsy wooden house and

  grabbed a child. A heartbeat later and the storm ate the house.

  Sophie watched the images and learned from them.

  The Witch of Endor touched Sophie s cheek and the girl opened her eyes. The

  whites were dotted with silver sparkles. There are those who will tell you

  that the magic of Fire or Water or even Earth is the most powerful magic of

  all. They are wrong. The magic of Air surpasses all others. Air can