"None taken." Gilgamesh nodded. "I may be ten thousand and more years old." Then his voice altered, suddenly sounding tired. "Or I may be just a confused old fool. Lots of people have called me that. Though they're all dead." He grinned, then twisted in the seat and tapped on the glass partition. "Where are we going, Pally?"
The Saracen Knight was a vague shape in the gloom. "Well, first we wanted to see you…"
Gilgamesh smiled happily.
"… and then I want to get these people off the island. I'm taking them to the Henge."
"The Henge?" the tramp asked, frowning. "Do I know it?"
"Stonehenge," Flamel said from the shadows. "You should; you helped build it."
Gilgamesh's bright blue eyes turned cloudy. He squinted toward the Alchemyst, peering into the gloom. "Did I? I don't remember."
"It was a long time ago," Flamel murmured. "I think you started raising the stones more than four thousand years ago."
"Oh no, it's older," Gilgamesh said suddenly, brightening. "I started working on that at least a thousand years earlier. And the site was ancient even then…" His voice trailed away and he looked at Sophie and then Josh. Then he turned back to Palamedes. "And why are we going there?"
"We're going to try and activate one of the ancient ley lines and get these people out of the country."
Gilgamesh nodded. "Ley lines. Yes, lots of ley lines in Salisbury. One of the reasons I raised the gates there. And why do we want to get them out of the country?"
"Because these children are the sun and the moon," Flamel said, "with auras of pure gold and silver. And they are being hunted by the Dark Elders, who this very night brought an Archon back onto the earth. Two days ago Nidhogg rampaged through Paris. You know what that means."
Something altered in the king's voice. It became cold and businesslike. "They've stopped being cautious. It means the end is coming. And soon."
"Coming again," Nicholas Flamel said. He leaned forward, and amber light washed across his face, turning it the color of old parchment; the shadows highlighted the wrinkles across his forehead and emphasized the bags under his eyes. "You could help stop it."
"Alchemyst!" Gilgamesh's eyes widened and he hissed in alarm. "Palamedes! What have you done?" he shouted, voice high and wild. "You have betrayed me!"
And suddenly, a long black-bladed knife appeared in the tramp's hand. It flashed in the light as Gilgamesh stabbed it toward Flamel's chest. ilthy and disheveled, his clothing ripped and stained, hair wild about his head, Dr. John Dee skulked down the empty streets, keeping to the shadows as police, fire trucks and ambulances raced past, sirens howling. A series of rattling explosions lit up the night sky behind him as gas canisters ignited. The cool June night air stank of burning rubber and hot oil, seared metal and melted glass.
When Flamel and the others had escaped in the car, Dee had raced over to the moat, dropped to his belly in the mud and pushed his left arm down into the oily sludge where Excalibur had sunk. It was deeper than he'd expected and it swallowed his arm almost up to his shoulder. The liquid was thick and still warm where it had burned, and noxious bubbles burst under his nose, making him nauseous and lightheaded. His eyes stung furiously. He felt around, searching frantically, but touched nothing. He could hear sirens in the distance; the flaming moat must have been seen all across North London, and no doubt there had been scores of calls to the emergency services. Digging the fingers of his right hand into the soft muddy earth, he held on tightly as he leaned farther out over the edge, the side of his face actually touching the liquid. Where was it? He wasn't leaving without the sword. Finally, his fingers closed over a smooth length of cold stone. It took a tremendous effort to lift Excaliber out of the thick liquid. It came free with a pop. Rolling onto his back, he cradled it against his chest. Even though he was exhausted, Dee charged his palm with his aura and rubbed yellow power across the stone, wiping away the filthy muck.
Clambering to his feet, he looked around. But there was no trace of the Horned God or the Wild Hunt. The last of the menagerie Shakespeare had created-the snakes, hedgehogs and newts-were slowly winking out of existence, like bursting bubbles, leaving sooty outlines in the air. The car yard was a ruin, with scores of tiny fires burning everywhere, and black smoke billowed out from beneath the metal hut. Fire burned within. Somewhere off to the right a wall of cars creaked ominously, then swayed and crashed to the ground in a huge detonation of metal. Metal and glass shards whined through the air.
Dee turned and raced onto the street. He was unsurprised to find that Bastet and the car they'd arrived in had disappeared.
He'd been abandoned. More than that, he was truly on his own.
Dee was bitterly aware that he had failed his Dark Elder masters. And they had been very clear about what would happen to him. He had no doubt that Bastet had reported his failure. His lips twisted in an ugly smile. One of these days he was going to have to do something about that cat-headed creature. But not now, not yet. He had failed, but all was not lost, not unless his master withdrew the gift of immortality, and before his master could make him human again, he would have to touch him, lay both hands on him. That meant either his master would come out of the Shadowrealms or someone-or something-would be sent to capture Dee and drag him back to stand trial.
But that wasn't going to happen immediately. The Elders understood time differently than the humani; it would take a day, maybe two, to organize for his capture. And a lot could happen in that time.
Even in his darkest hour, Dr. John Dee had never admitted defeat, and he had always ultimately triumphed. If he could capture the twins and find the missing pages, then he was confident he would be able to redeem himself.
London was still his city. His company, Enoch Enterprises, had offices on Canary Wharf. He had a home here-more than one, in fact-and he had resources he could call upon: servants, slaves, allies and mercenaries.
Stupidity always angered Dee; especially his own stupidity. He had been overawed by the presence of Bastet and the appearance of the Archon and the Wild Hunt; he had not taken the proper precautions. On previous occasions the Flamels had escaped by a combination of luck, circumstances or their own skills and powers. But Dee had never considered himself to blame. This time it was different. This was entirely his own fault. He had underestimated the twins.
Blue and white lights washed over boarded-up houses, and the Magician ducked down behind a wall as a trio of police cars screamed past.
He knew the girl had been trained in at least two of the magics-Air and Fire-and she'd demonstrated extraordinary skill and courage when she'd faced down the Archon. But if the girl was dangerous, then the boy… well, the boy was doubly so. He was an enigma. Newly Awakened, untrained in any of the elemental magics, he handled Clarent as if he'd been born to it, and fought with a skill that was far beyond him. And that should have been impossible.
The Magician shook his head. He knew the ultimate secret of the four Swords of Power; he knew what they did to normal humani. The swords were insidious and deadly, almost vampiric in nature. They whispered of victories to come, hinted at secrets beyond imagining and made promises of ultimate power. All the humani had to do was to keep using the weapon… and all the while, the sword was drinking the humani's memories, consuming their every emotion before it finally gorged upon their aura. At that stage the humani forgot to eat and drink. The strongest survived for a month; most didn't last ten days. Magicians like him spent decades of preparation before they even touched the cold stone weapons; it took months of fasting and practice before they learned the art of forging their auras into protective gloves. Even then, the swords were so powerful that many a magician and sorcerer had succumbed to them.
So how was the boy able to handle Clarent?
And how had he known that Dee intended to kill the Archon?
The Magician cut through a narrow trash-filled alley and slunk down a deserted street. He pressed his hand to his side, where he could feel Excalibur's warmth beneath h
is filthy coat. All four swords were very similar, though each was unique in ways he could not even begin to understand. Excalibur was the best known of all the swords, and while it was not the most powerful, it had attributes the other swords lacked. Ducking into another deserted alley, John Dee pulled the sword from beneath his coat and set it on the ground at his feet. His little fingernail glowed yellow, and the smell of brimstone was lost amid the stinking refuse as he touched the blade with his finger and whispered, "Clarent."
The stone sword trembled and vibrated and then slowly turned, the blade pointing south. Excalibur always pointed toward its twin. Dee snatched up the weapon and hurried on.
The Magician had spent centuries collecting the Swords of Power. He had three of the four, and he'd just come frustratingly close to adding Clarent to his collection. Neither Elders nor Next Generation were immune to the lure of the Swords. It was said that Mars Ultor had worn both Excalibur and Clarent in matched scabbards across his back. He had been the champion of the humani before he'd carried the twin blades; afterward he became a monster. And if the two swords had corrupted the Elder, then what chance had an untrained humani boy? Every time the boy held it, every time he touched the hilt, it drew him deeper under its control. And so long as he carried it, Dee would always be able to find him. iccolo Machiavelli sat back in his chair and focused on the largest of the high-definition LCD screens on the wall before him. He was watching the English satellite news service Sky News. The two a.m. headlines showed an aerial shot of a fire raging through an industrial area. The line of text crawling across the bottom of the screen announced that the fire was in a car yard in North London. Machiavelli had seen enough castle fortifications in his time to recognize the design, even though this one was made of cars rather than slabs of stone. The black outline of a moat was still clearly visible, gray smoke curling from it.
Machiavelli grinned as he reached for the remote control and brought up the volume. That particular location sounded familiar. On a separate screen he activated his encrypted database of Elders, Next Generation and immortals and typed in the location in North London. Two names immediately popped up: Palamedes, the Saracen Knight, and the Bard, William Shakespeare.
Machiavelli scanned both files: Shakespeare had been Dee's apprentice for years, until he'd suddenly turned against the Magician. He was immortal, though how he'd become so was a mystery, since he was associated with no known Elder. Palamedes was an enigma. A warrior-prince of Babylon, he'd fought with Arthur and had been there at the end, when the king had been killed. Again, there was no record of who had made him immortal, and traditionally the Saracen Knight had remained neutral in the wars between the Elders and the Dark Elders.
Machiavelli had never met either immortal, though he had known about them for generations and had longed to meet the Bard. Machiavelli had always wondered how and when and where Shakespeare and Palamedes had originally met. According to his files, their first recorded meeting was in London in the nineteenth century, but Machiavelli suspected they'd known one another a long time before that; there was some evidence to suggest that the Bard had originally written the part of Othello for Palamedes early in the seventeenth century. Shakespeare had turned up in London sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century as a ragpicker, a dealer in secondhand clothing. At least sixty barefoot urchins worked for him, sleeping in the attic of his warehouse on the docks, then going out during the day to scour the city for cast-off clothing and rags. There was a police report on file that the warehouse was suspected of storing stolen goods, and it had been raided at least twice. The Saracen Knight had been in London at the same time, earning his living as an actor in theaters in the West End. He specialized in monologues from Shakespeare's plays.
Machiavelli examined a grainy photograph of the man identified as William Shakespeare. Taken with a telephoto lens, it showed a rather ordinary-looking man dressed in stained blue overalls, bending over the engine of a car, a scattering of tools and car parts by his feet. Two dogs were visible in the background, and the photography had given both dogs red eyes. The second photograph was higher resolution. It showed a huge dark-skinned man leaning against the side of a gleaming London taxi, drinking tea from a white paper cup. The wheel of the London Eye was just visible in the background.
A male reporter's voice filled the room. "… raging for the past two hours in this car yard. At this time, no bodies have been removed from the scene, and officers do not expect to find any. Officials have expressed concern because of the huge amount of combustible material in the area, and firemen are using breathing apparatuses to enter the yard. There is a fear that if the stacked tires start to burn, they will release noxious gases. There is some consolation, however, that in this run-down part of London, most of the houses are abandoned and derelict…"
Machiavelli hit the Mute button. Leaning back in his leather chair, he ran his hands over his close-cropped white hair, hearing it rasp in the silence. So, had Dee killed the Alchemyst and captured the twins?
The reporter appeared on-screen holding a handful of what looked like flint arrowheads, and Machiavelli almost fell off the chair in his haste to turn on the sound.
"… and bizarrely found hundreds of what look like flint arrowheads." The camera panned around and showed broken arrows and spears scattered all over the ground. Machiavelli recognized the stubby lengths of crossbow bolts.
Well, if Dee had captured the twins, it hadn't been without a fight.
Machiavelli's cell phone buzzed, startling him. Pulling it out of his inner pocket, he stared at the screen, immediately recognizing the overlong number and impossible area code. He took a deep breath before answering. "Yes?"
"Dee has failed." Machiavelli's Elder's voice was little more than a thready whisper. He spoke in Late Egyptian, the language used in the New Kingdom over three thousand years ago.
Machiavelli responded in the formal Italian of his youth. "I'm watching the news. I see there's a fire in London; I know that location is associated with two neutral immortals. I assume there is some connection to the two events."
"Flamel and the twins were there. They escaped."
"It looks like the location was defended; the television report is showing evidence of a fight-arrows, spears and crossbow bolts. Perhaps we should have given the English Magician more resources," Machiavelli suggested carefully.
"Bastet was there."
Machiavelli kept his face impassive; he despised the cat-headed goddess but knew she was close to his Elder master.
"And Cernunnos was tasked with helping the Magician."
Machiavelli came slowly to his feet. "The Archon?" he asked, struggling to keep the shock out of his voice.
"And the Archon brought the Wild Hunt. I did not authorize this; none of us did. We do not want the Archons back in this world."
"Who did?"
"The others," the voice said shortly. "Dee's masters and their supporters. This could work to our advantage; now that the Magician has failed, they must order his destruction."
Machiavelli placed the phone on the table and hit the Speaker button. Straightening his suit jacket, he folded his arms across his chest and looked at the wall of television and computer screens. Most of the news channels had started to show video of the fire in North London. "Dee is no fool, he must know that he is in danger."
"He does."
Machiavelli placed himself in Dee's position, wondering what he would do if the roles were reversed. "He knows he has to capture the twins and those pages," he said decisively. "It is the only way to get back into his Elders' good graces. He will be desperate. And desperate men do stupid things."
The reporter was talking to an excitable bearded man, who was holding up one of the spearheads and waving it around.
"What do you want me to do?" Machiavelli asked.
"Is there any way you can help us locate Flamel and the twins in England before Dee does?"
"I do not see how…," Machiavelli began.
"Wh
y is Flamel in London? Why risk bringing the twins into the heart of Dee's empire? We know he is trying to train the twins. So, who-amongst the Elders, Next Generation or immortals-could he be planning on meeting?"
"It could be anyone." Machiavelli blinked in surprise. Not taking his eyes off the TV screens, he continued, "I am head of the French secret service. How would I know who is even in London?" He was pleased that his voice remained neutral and calm.
"Surely the information is in your database?" the voice on the phone asked, and the Italian was sure he could hear the smile in the comment.
"My database?" he asked carefully.
"Yes, your secret database."
Machiavelli sighed. "Obviously not that secret. How many know about it?" he wondered aloud.
"The Magician knows," the voice said, "and he told his masters… and I… well, let us say I discovered it from them."
Machiavelli kept his face carefully neutral, just in case his master could actually see him. He had always known about the different factions within the Dark Elders. He wasn't surprised. The Dark Elders had once been rulers, and where there were rulers, there were always others waiting, plotting, planning to take over. This was the type of politics Machiavelli understood and excelled in.
The Italian sat down and rested his fingers on the keyboard. "What do you want to know?" he asked with a sigh.
"London belongs to the Magician. But Flamel has the two that are one, and both have been Awakened. The girl knows Air and Fire, the boy knows nothing. Who, in London, has mastery of any of the elemental magics and, more importantly, would be sympathetic enough to Flamel and his cause to train the twins?"
"Surely you have other means of discovering this?" Machiavelli asked, fingers moving over the wafer-thin keyboard.
"Of course."
Machiavelli understood. His Elder did not want the others to know he was looking for the information. A screen of names, some with attached photographs, appeared: Elders in London with control over one or more of the elemental magics. "There are twelve Elders in London," he said, "and they are all loyal to us."
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