Michael Scott - The Sorceress

"Mistake," Josh whispered.

The ground liquefied around the Archon's hands.

"We just need a little more water," Sophie whispered.

Josh actually felt the water surging through the hard-baked earth, experienced its power as it pushed its way upward, driven by incredible pressure from below, slicing through mud, pulverizing the soil, pushing rocks and tree roots ahead of it.

The Archon howled and bellowed as it sank to its chest in mud, its huge bulk driving it deeper into the ground. The creature's hands battered the sticky earth, sending it spraying everywhere. It grabbed for purchase, but found nothing but mud. A bubble popped behind it, a stone emerging to the surface of the mire, and another and then a third. And suddenly, sticky brown-black mud spewed upward, raining down to coat the creature in filth, battering it with scraps of tree roots and chunks of stone. A circular depression opened up around Cernunnos and the Archon was swallowed, mud flowing over its head, until only the very tips of its antlers showed.

Sophie jerked her hand away from her brother's and splayed her silver metal fingers. An intense blast of white-hot fire blazed over the swampy circle, the searing heat baking the ground iron-hard in an instant.

"We did it," Josh laughed. "We did it! I could feel the power flowing through me. The Magic of Water," he said in wonder.

"Josh, get out there. Help them," Sophie commanded, all the color draining from her face as her aura depleted.

"What about you?"

"Do it," she snapped, eyes winking silver.

"You're not the boss of me." He grinned.

"Oh yes I am." She smiled and reached up to squeeze his fingers. "Remember, I'm older."

Smiling, Josh turned and raced out into the field, Clarent whistling before him, cleaving a path toward Palamedes. Part of him wanted to help the Alchemyst, but an instinct deep down told him it made more sense to rescue the knight first; two warriors were better than one.

Gilgamesh's grip tightened on Sophie's fingers. "You must go now," he said in a hoarse whisper. "Get away from here."

"I'm not leaving you. You're injured."

"You will never leave me," the king said, "you will live forever in my memory." He suddenly grabbed the arrow protruding from his chest, pulled it out and flung it away. "And this, hah, it will slow me down for a bit, but it will take more than this to kill me. You go, go now. Your aura, the Alchemyst's and the Magician's will have called every evil thing in this county. And probably the authorities, too." His eyes flickered toward the green and yellow light blazing from the immortals' weapons. "I'm sure that light can be seen from miles away." The king squeezed Sophie's hand. "Know this: if we meet again, I may not remember you." He pulled the thick sheaf of mismatched pages from under his shirt, extracted the topmost sheet and pressed it into her hand. "And if I do not, then give me this. It will remind me of the girl who shed a tear for the lost king. Go now. Get to the leygate."

"But I don't know where it is," Sophie said.

"The Alchemyst does…" He turned to look at Flamel, and Sophie followed his gaze. At that moment Flamel's aura winked out as he crumpled to the ground. Dee shouted in triumph and drew the crackling yellow whip back over his head. rom the corner of his eye, Josh saw the Alchemyst's aura die and turned to watch him fall.

And he knew he was too far away to get to him in time.

He spun around and Clarent sliced a mangy one-eyed wolf to dust, and then, pivoting on his heel as if he were throwing a discus, he flung the sword at Dee. The blade sounded like a cat as it screamed through the air, the stone glowing red-black. The Magician saw it at the last moment. The whip in his hand became a glowing circular shield and Clarent hit its center in an explosion of black and yellow sparks that hammered the Magician to the ground. His aura crackled, then died. And he didn't get up.

A child-faced wolf leapt at Josh, its jaws gaping, and he hissed in pain as its claws raked his arm. Abruptly, the wolf exploded to dust. Sophie shook black soot off the metal shamshir blade Gilgamesh had given her. "Get the car, we've got to get out of here."

Josh hesitated, torn between retrieving Clarent and getting to the car. Wings flapped overhead and a six-foot-tall rat-like creature dropped out of the night sky, claws extended toward Sophie. Its hiss of triumph became a gurgle as the iron blade drove upward, turning it to gritty sand. "Now, Josh!" Sophie demanded, spitting dirt from her mouth.

Her twin turned and ran for the car. The night had come alive with a cacophony of sounds: howling, yipping and barking. Hooves clattered on the hard earth. The noises were getting louder, closer.

Palamedes had left the key in the car's ignition. Josh slid into the driver's seat, took a deep breath and turned it. The car started on his first try. Gripping the wheel tightly, he floored the accelerator. Two wolves disappeared under the wheels in puffs of dust. Another leapt onto the hood, but he jerked the steering wheel and it slid off, leaving long claw marks across the metal. He ran down a coal black wolf that was creeping up on Sophie and hit the brakes. "You called for a cab?"

But Sophie didn't climb in. "Get Palamedes," she snapped. Running alongside the car, she slashed and cut her way through the wolves of the Wild Hunt with the metal blade until they reached the Saracen Knight, who was standing ankle-deep in black dust.

"Get in, get in!" Josh shouted.

Palamedes wrenched open the door, pushed Sophie in first, then threw himself into the back of the cab. Josh took off with a wheel-spinning lurch. He pulled up to Nicholas, who was lying unmoving on the ground. Sophie leaned out of the back of the cab, caught him by his shoulders and tried to haul him into the car, but he was too heavy. Palamedes reached out and even in his exhausted and weakened state dragged the Alchemyst in with one hand.

Sophie slapped the glass partition with the palm of her hand. "Go, Josh, go!"

"I've got to get Clarent."

"Look behind you!" she screamed.

In the rearview mirror, Josh could see that the field was full of monsters. They looked like they were part of the Wild Hunt, but these wolves were black, with brutish, almost apelike faces, and were twice the size of the gray wolves. Running alongside them were huge coal-colored cats with blazing red eyes.

"What are they?" Josh shouted.

"Aspects of the Wild Hunt from all across the country," Palamedes said tiredly.

Josh glanced at the long grass where he knew Clarent was lying and made a decision. It would take only a moment to get to it… but doing so would endanger everyone. Even as he floored the accelerator, he recognized that the old Josh Newman would have put his own needs above others and gone for the sword. He had changed. Maybe it had to do with the magic he'd learned, but he doubted it. The experiences of the past few days had taught him what was important.

Sophie leaned out the window, gathering strength she didn't know she possessed, and pressed her thumb against the circle on her wrist. An arrow-straight line of raging vanilla-scented fire blazed into six-foot flames, bringing the charging creatures to a halt.

"What do I do?" Josh shouted. "Where do I go?" A wooden gate appeared in the headlights. Josh held on, hunched his shoulders and drove straight through it, shattering it into splinters. A length of timber snapped back and punched a hole through the windshield.

Palamedes grabbed the Alchemyst and none too gently shook his head. Flamel's eyes cracked open and his lips moved, but no sound came out. "Where are we going?" the knight demanded.

"Stonehenge," Flamel mumbled.

"Yes, yes, I know that. Where, specifically?"

"The heart of the Henge," the Alchemyst whispered, head lolling. Sophie saw that there were long tears in his clothing where Dee's whip had sliced at him. The skin beneath was blistered and raw. Focusing the remnants of her aura into the tip of her index finger, Sophie drew it along one of the nastier cuts, sealing and healing it.