Nicholas Flamel 1 - The Alchemyst sotinf-1 Read online

  pointed nose; sharply defined chin; lips so thin they were almost

  nonexistent. Her pupils were the color of butter. She was wearing a long,

  simple gown made of a shimmering material that moved gently in a wind that

  didn't seem to touch anything around her. As it shifted, rainbow colors ran

  down its length, like oil on water. She wore no jewelry, though Sophie

  noticed that each of her short blunt fingernails was painted a different

  color.

  doesn't look a day over ten thousand years old, Scatty muttered.

  Be nice, Flamel reminded her.

  Who is it? Sophie asked again, staring hard at the woman. Although she

  looked human, there was something different, something otherworldly about

  her. It showed in the way she stood absolutely still and in the arrogant tilt

  of her head.

  This, Nicholas Flamel'said, a note of genuine awe in his voice, is the

  Elder known as Hekate. He pronounced the name slowly, HEH-ca-tay.

  The Goddess with Three Faces, Scatty added bitterly.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  S tay in the car, Nicholas Flamel directed, opening the door and stepping

  outside onto the short-cropped grass.

  Scatty folded her arms over her chest and glared out through the cracked

  windshield. Fine by me.

  Flamel ignored her jibe and slammed the door before she could say anything

  else. Taking a deep breath, he attempted to compose himself as he stepped

  toward the tall, elegant woman surrounded by the tall leafless trunks of

  sequoia trees.

  The undergrowth rustled and one of the enormous Torc Allta appeared directly

  in front of the Alchemyst, its massive head level with his chest. Flamel

  stopped and bowed to the creature, greeting it in a language that had not

  been designed for human tongues. Abruptly, the boars were everywhere, ten of

  them, eyes bright and intelligent, the coarse red hair on their backs and

  shoulders bristling in the late-afternoon light, long strings of ropey saliva

  dribbling from their ornately carved tusks.

  Flamel took care to bow to each one in turn. I did not think there were any

  of the Torc Allta clan left in the Americas, he said to no one in

  particular, dropping back into English.

  Hekate'smiled, the merest movement of her lips. Ah, Nicholas, you of all

  people should know that when we are gone, when the Elder Race is no more,

  when even the humani have gone from this earth, then the Allta clans will

  reclaim it for themselves. Remember, this world belonged to the Were clans

  first. Hekate'spoke in a deep, almost masculine voice, touched with an

  accent that had all the hissing sibilants of Greece and the liquid consonants

  of Persia.

  Nicholas bowed again. I understand that the clans are strong in Europe the

  Torc Madra particularly, and I hear that there are Torc Tiogar in India

  again, and two new clans of Torc Leon in Africa. All thanks to you.

  Hekate'smiled, her teeth tiny and straight in her mouth. The clans still

  worship me as a goddess. I do what I can for them. The unseen, unfelt wind

  touched her robe, swirling it around her body, so that it ran with green and

  gold threads. But I doubt you have come all this way to talk to me about my

  children.

  I have not. Flamel glanced back at the battered and scarred SUV. Josh and

  Sophie were staring intently at him, eyes wide in wonder, while Scathach s

  face was just visible in the backseat. She had her eyes closed and was

  pretending to be asleep. Flamel knew the Warrior had no need of sleep. I

  want to thank you for the Ghost Wind you sent us.

  Now it was Hekate's turn to bow. Her right hand moved and opened, revealing a

  tiny cell phone cupped in her palm. Such useful devices. I can remember a

  time when we entrusted our messages to the winds or trained birds. Seems like

  only yesterday, she added. I am glad the ruse was successful.

  Unfortunately, you have probably revealed your ultimate destination to the

  Morrigan and Dee. They will know who sent the Ghost Wind, and I am sure they

  are aware that I have an enclave here.

  I know that. And I apologize for drawing them down on you.

  Hekate'shrugged, a slight movement of her shoulders that sent a rainbow of

  light down her robe. Dee fears me. He will bluster and posture, threaten me,

  possibly even try a few minor spells and incantations, but he will not move

  against me. Not alone not even with the Morrigan s assistance. He would need

  at least two or more of the Dark Elders to stand against me and even then he

  would not be assured of success.

  But he is arrogant. And now he has the Codex.

  But not all of it, you said on the phone.

  No, not all of it. Nicholas Flamel drew the two pages from under his

  T-shirt and went to hand them to Hekate. But the woman abruptly backed away,

  throwing up her hand to shield her eyes, a sound like hissing steam bubbling

  from her lips. In an instant the boars were around Flamel, crowding him,

  mouths open, tusks huge and deadly against his skin.

  Sophie drew breath to scream and Josh shouted and then Scathach was out of

  the SUV, an arrow notched to her bow, leveled at Hekate. Call them off, she

  shouted.

  The Torc Allta didn't even glance in her direction.

  Hekate deliberately turned her back on Flamel and folded her arms, then she

  glanced over her shoulder at Scathach, who immediately pulled the bowstring

  taut. You think that can harm me? the goddess laughed.

  The arrow was dipped in the blood of a Titan, Scathach said quietly, her

  voice carrying on the still air. One of your parents, if I remember

  correctly? And one of the few ways left to slay you, I do believe.

  The twins watched as the Elder s eyes turned cold and became, for a split

  second, gold mirrors, reflecting the scene before her. Put the pages away,

  Hekate commanded the Alchemyst.

  Flamel immediately tucked the two pages back under his T-shirt. The older

  woman muttered a word and the Torc Allta stepped back from the Alchemyst and

  trotted into the undergrowth, where they immediately disappeared, though

  everyone knew they were still there. Hekate then turned to face Flamel again.

  They would not have harmed you without a command from me.

  I m sure, Nicholas said shakily. He glanced down at his jeans and boots.

  They were covered with dribbles and strings of white Torc Allta saliva, which

  he was sure was going to leave a stain.

  Do not produce the Codex or any portion of it in my presence nor in the

  presence of any being of the Elder Race. We have an aversion to it, she

  said, choosing the word carefully.

  It doesn't affect me, Scathach said, loosening her bow.

  You are not one of the First Generation of the Elder Race, Hekate reminded

  her. Like the Morrigan, you are of the Next Generation. But I was there when

  Abraham the Mage set down the first words of power in the Book. I saw him

  trap the Magic of First Working, the oldest magic, in its sheets.

  I apologize, Flamel'said quickly. I did not know.

  There is no reason you should have known. Hekate'smiled, but there was

  nothing humorous in it. That eldritch magic is so strong that most of my

  people cannot even bear
to look upon the letters. Those who came after the

  original Elder Race, though still of our blood and here she gestured toward

  Scathach can look upon the Codex, though even they cannot touch it. The ape

  descendents the humani can. It was Abraham s ultimate joke. He married one of

  the first humani, and I believe he wanted to ensure that only his children

  could handle the book.

  We re the ape descendents, Josh said, his voice unconsciously dropping to

  little more than a whisper.

  The humani the human race, Sophie said, then fell silent as Flamel

  continued talking.

  Is that why the Book was given into my keeping?

  You are not the first of the humani to to care for the Codex, Hekate'said

  carefully. It should never have been created in the first place, she

  snapped, threads of red and green running like live wires on her robe. I

  advocated that every single page should be separated from the others and

  dropped into the nearest volcano, and Abraham along with it.

  Why wasn't it destroyed? Nicholas asked.

  Because Abraham had the gift of Sight. He could actually see the curling

  strands of time, and he prophesied that there would come a day when the Codex

  and all the knowledge it contained would be needed.

  Scatty stepped away from the SUV and approached Flamel. She was still holding

  the bow loosely by her side, and she noted how Hekate's butter-colored eyes

  watched her closely.

  The Book of the Mage was always assigned a guardian, Scathach explained to

  Flamel. Some, history recalls as the greatest heroes of myth, while others

  were less well known, like yourself, and a few remained completely

  anonymous.

  And if I a human was chosen to caretake this precious Codex, because your

  people cannot even look upon it, much less touch it, then it is obvious that

  another human must have been chosen to find it, Flamel'said. Dee.

  Hekate nodded. A dangerous enemy, Dr. John Dee.

  Flamel nodded. He could feel the cool, dry pages against his skin beneath his

  T-shirt. Although he had possessed the Codex for more than half a millennium,

  he knew he had barely even begun to scratch the surface of its secrets. He

  still had no real idea just how old it was. He kept pushing the date of its

  creation back further and further. When the Book first came to him in the

  fourteenth century, he believed it to be five hundred years old. Later, when

  he started to do his research, he thought it might be eight hundred years

  old, then a thousand years, then two thousand years old. A century ago, in

  light of the new discoveries coming out of the tombs of Egypt, he had

  reassessed the age of the Book at five thousand years. And now, here was

  Hekate, who was ten thousand and more years old, saying she had been around

  when the mysterious Abraham the Mage had composed the Book. But if the Elder

  Race the gods of mythology and legend could neither handle nor look upon the

  book, then what was Abraham, its creator? Was he of the Elder Race, a humani

  or something else, one of the many other mythical races that walked the earth

  in those first days?

  Why are you here? Hekate asked. I knew the Codex had been taken as soon as

  it left your presence, but I cannot help you recover it.

  I have come to you for another reason, Flamel continued, stepping away from

  the car and lowering his voice, forcing Hekate to lean close to listen to

  him. When Dee attacked me, stole the Book and snatched Perry, two humani

  came to our aid. A young man and his sister. He paused and then added,

  Twins.

  Twins? she said, her voice as flat and expressionless as her face.

  Twins. Look at them: tell me what you see.

  Hekate's eyes flickered toward the car. A boy and a girl, dressed in the

  T-shirts and denim that are the shabby uniform of this age. That is all I

  see.

  Look closer, Flamel'said. And remember the prophecy, he added.

  I know the prophecy. Do not presume to teach me my own history! Hekate's

  eyes flared and, for an instant, changed color, becoming dark and ugly.

  Humani? Impossible. Striding past Flamel, she peered into the interior of

  the car, looking first at Sophie, and then at Josh.

  The twins noticed simultaneously that the pupils of her eyes were long and

  narrow, like a cat s, and that behind the thin line of her lips, her teeth

  were pointed, like tiny needles.

  Silver and gold, Hekate whispered abruptly, glancing at the Alchemyst, her

  accent thickening, small pointed tongue darting at her thin lips. She turned

  back to the twins. Step out of the vehicle.

  They looked at Flamel, and when he nodded, both climbed out. Sophie went

  around the car to stand next to her brother.

  Hekate reached out first toward Sophie, who hesitated momentarily before she

  stretched out her hand. The goddess took Sophie s left palm in her right hand

  and turned it over, then she reached for Josh s hand. He placed his hand in

  hers without hesitation, trying to act nonchalant, as if stretching out to

  touch a ten-thousand-year-old goddess were something he did every day. He

  thought her skin felt surprisingly rough and coarse.

  Hekate'spoke a single word in a language that predated the arrival of the

  earliest human civilization.

  Oranges, Josh whispered, suddenly smelling and then tasting the fruit.

  No, it s ice cream, Sophie said, freshly churned vanilla ice cream. She

  turned to look at her brother and discovered that he was staring at her in

  wonder.

  A silver glow had appeared around Sophie. Like a thin second skin, it hovered

  just above the surface of her flesh, winking in and out of existence. When

  she blinked, her eyes turned to flat reflective mirrors.

  The glow that covered Josh was a warm golden hue. It was concentrated mainly

  around his head and hands, throbbing and pulsing in sync with his heartbeat.

  The irises of his eyes were like golden coins.

  But although the twins could see the glow that hovered around each other and

  their own bodies, they felt no different. There were only the smells in the

  air oranges and vanilla ice cream.

  Without a word, Hekate pulled away from the twins, and immediately the glow

  faded. Striding back to Flamel, she caught him by the arm and moved him

  farther down the path, out of earshot of the twins and Scatty.

  Do you have any idea what that was all about? Sophie asked the Warrior.

  There was a distinct tremble in her voice, and she could still taste vanilla

  ice cream in her mouth and smell it on the air.

  The goddess was checking your auras, Scathach said.

  That was the golden glow around Josh? Sophie asked, looking at her brother.

  Yours was silver, Josh said immediately.

  Scathach picked up a flat pebble and tossed it into the bushes. It hit

  something solid, which immediately lumbered away through the undergrowth.

  Most auras are a mixture of colors. Very, very, very few people have pure

  colors.

  Like ours? Sophie asked.

  Like yours, Scatty said glumly. Last person I knew to have a pure silver

  aura was the woman you know as Joan of Arc.

  What about the gold aura? Josh said.

  Even ra
rer, Scatty said. The last person I can recall having that color

  was She frowned, remembering. The boy king, Tutankhamen.

  Was that why he was buried with so much gold?

  One of the reasons, Scathach agreed.

  don't tell me you knew King Tut, Josh teased.

  Never met him, Scathach said, though I did train dear Joan and fought by

  her side at Orl ans. I told her not to go to Paris, she added very softly,

  pain in her eyes.

  My aura is rarer than yours, Josh deliberately teased his sister to break

  the somber mood. He looked at the Warrior Maid. But what exactly does it

  mean to have pure-colored auras?

  When Scathach turned to look at him, her face was expressionless. It means

  you have extraordinary powers. All of the great magicians and sorcerers of

  the past, the heroic leaders, the inspired artists, have had pure-color or

  single-color auras.

  The twins looked at one another, suddenly uncertain. This was just a little

  too weird, and there was something in Scathach s lack of expression that was

  frightening. Sophie s eyes suddenly widened in shock. I just realized that

  both of those people, Joan of Arc and Tutankhamen, died young.

  Very young, Josh said, sobering, recalling his history. They both died

  when they were nineteen.

  Yes, they did, didn't they? Scathach agreed, turning away to look at

  Nicholas Flamel and the Goddess with Three Faces.

  Humani, Hekate'snarled. Humani with silver and gold auras. She sounded

  both puzzled and angry.

  It has happened before, Flamel'said mildly.

  You think I don't know that?

  They were standing at the edge of a bubbling brook that cut through the trees

  and fed into an octagonal pond dappled with white water lilies. Huge red and

  albino koi moved through the perfectly clear water.

  I ve never come across the two auras together, and never in twins. They

  possess enormous untapped power, Flamel'said urgently. Do I have to remind

  you of the Codex? The two that are one and the one that is all the very

  first prophecy Abraham speaks of.

  I know the prophecy, Hekate'snapped, her dress now shot through with red

  and black veins. I was there when the old fool made it.

  Flamel was about to ask a question, but kept his mouth shut.

  He was never wrong either, Hekate muttered. He knew that Danu Talis would

  sink beneath the waves and that our world would end.