Michael Scott - The Alchemyst

The third Golem, the largest of the creatures, stopped. Its black stone eyesmoved dully over the remains of its two companions, and then it turned andpunched a huge fist directly into the wall, first to the right, then to theleft. A whole section of the wall on the left-hand side gave way, revealingthe space beyond. The Golem stepped into the dojo and looked around, blackeyes still and unmoving.

The rats meanwhile raced toward the open door at the end of the corridor.Most of them survived the scything blades.

In the speeding limousine, Dr. John Dee released his control of the rats, andnow concentrated his attention on the surviving Golem. Controlling theartificial creature was much easier. Golems were mindless beings, created ofmud mixed with stones or gravel to give their flesh consistency, and broughtto life by a simple spell written on a square of parchment and pressed intotheir mouths. Sorcerers had been building Golems of all shapes and sizes forthousands of years: they were the source of every zombie and walking-deadstory ever created. Dee himself had told the story of the greatest of all theGolems, the Red Golem of Prague, to Mary Shelley one cold winter s eveningwhen she, Lord Byron, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and the mysterious Dr.Polidori were visiting his castle in Switzerland in 1816. Less than sixmonths later, Mary created the story of The Modern Prometheus, the book that became more commonly known as Frankenstein. The monster in her book was justlike a Golem: created of spare parts and brought to life by magical science.Golems were impervious to most weapons, though a sudden fall or blow couldshatter their mud skin, especially if it was dry and hardening. In a dampclimate, their skins rarely dried out and could absorb incredible punishment,but this warm climate made them brittle which was why they had fallen soeasily to the concealed blades. Some sorcerers used glass or mirrors fortheir eyes, but Dee preferred highly polished black stones. They enabled himto see with almost razor-sharp clarity, albeit in monochrome.

Dee caused the Golem to tilt his head upward. Directly above him, on a narrowbalcony overlooking the dojo, were the pale and terrified faces of the teens.Dee smiled and the Golem s lips mimicked the movement. He d deal with Flamelfirst; then he d take care of the witnesses.

Suddenly, Nicholas Flamel s head appeared, followed, a moment later, by thedistinctive spiky hair of the Warrior Maid, Scathach.

Dee s smile faded and he could feel his heart sink. Why did it have to beScathach? He d had no idea that the red-haired warrior was in this city, oreven on this continent, for that matter. Last he d heard of her, she wassinging in an all-girl band in Berlin.

Through the Golem s eyes, Dee watched both Flamel and Scathach leap over therailing and float down to stand directly in front of the mud man. Scathachspoke directly to Dee but this particular Golem had no ears and couldn thear, so he had no idea what she had just said. A threat probably, a promisecertainly.

Flamel drifted away, moving toward the door, which was now dark and heavingwith rats, leaving Scatty to face him and the Golem alone.

Maybe she wasn t as good as she d once been, he thought desperately, maybetime had dulled her powers.

We should help, Josh said.

And do what? Sophie asked, without a trace of sarcasm. They were bothstanding on the balcony, looking down into the dojo. They had watchedopenmouthed as Flamel and Scatty leaped over the edge and drifted far tooslowly to the ground. The red-haired girl faced the huge Golem, while Flamelhurried to the door where the rats were gathering. The vermin seemedreluctant to enter the room.

Without warning, the Golem swung a huge fist, then followed it up with amassive kick.

Josh opened his mouth to shout a warning, but he didn t get a chance to sayanything before Scatty moved. One moment she was standing directly in frontof the creature, then she was throwing herself forward, moving under theblows, closing right in on it. Her hand moved, blurringly fast, and shedelivered a flat open-handed blow to the point of the Golem s jaw. There wasa liquid squelch, and then its jaw unhinged and its mouth gaped open. In theblackness of its maw, the twins could clearly see a yellow rectangle ofpaper.

The creature struck out wildly and Scatty danced back out of range. It lashedout a kick, which missed and struck the polished floorboards, shattering themto splinters.

We ve got to help! Sophie said.

How? Josh shouted, but his twin had run into the kitchen, desperatelylooking for a weapon. She emerged a moment later carrying a small microwaveoven. Sophie, Josh murmured, what are you going to do with?

Sophie heaved the microwave over the edge of the railing. It struck the Golemfull in the chest and stuck, globules of mud spattering everywhere. The Golemstopped, confused and disorientated. Scatty took advantage of itsdisorientation and moved in again, feet and hands striking blows from allangles, further confusing the creature. Another blow from the Golem cameclose enough to ruffle Scatty s spiky red hair, but she caught its arm and used it as leverage to spin the creature to the floor. Floorboards crackedand snapped as it hit them. Then her hand shot out and almost delicatelyplucked the paper square from the Golem s mouth.

Instantly, the Golem returned to its muddy origins, splashing foul, stinkingwater and dirt across the once-pristine dojo floor. The microwave rattled tothe ground.

I guess no one s cooking anything in that, Josh murmured.

Scatty waved the square of paper at the twins. Every magical creature iskept animated by a spell that is either in or on its body. All you have to dois remove it to break the spell. Remember that.

Josh glanced quickly at his sister. He knew she was thinking the same thinghe was: if they ever came up against a Golem again, there was no way theywere getting close enough to stick their hands in its mouth.

Nicholas Flamel approached the rats warily. Underestimating them would bedeadly indeed, but while he had no difficulty fighting and destroying magicalcreatures, which were never properly alive in the first place, he wasreluctant to destroy living creatures. Even if they were rats. Perry wouldhave no such compunction, he knew, but he had been an alchemyst for far toolong: he was dedicated to preserving life, not destroying it. The rats wereunder Dee s control. The poor creatures were probably terrified though thatwould not stop them from eating him.

Flamel crouched on the floor, turned his right hand palm up and curled thefingers inward. He blew gently into his hand, and a tiny ball of green mistimmediately formed. Then he suddenly turned his hand and plunged it straightinto the polished floorboards, his fingers actually penetrating the wood. Thetiny ball of green energy splashed across the room like a stain. Then theAlchemyst closed his eyes and his aura flared around his body. Concentrating,he directed his auric energy to flow through his fingers into the floor.

The wood started to glow.

Still watching from the landing, the twins were unsure what Flamel was doing.They could see the faint green glow around his body, rising off his fleshlike mist, but they couldn t work out why the furry mass of rats gathered inthe doorway had not burst into the room.

Maybe there s some sort of spell keeping them from coming in, Sophie said,knowing instinctively that her twin was thinking the same thing.

Scatty heard her. She was systematically shredding the yellow square of papershe d taken from the Golem s mouth to tiny pieces. It s just a simplewarding spell, she called up, designed to keep bugs and vermin off thefloor. I used to come in here every morning and find bug droppings and mothsall over the place; it took ages to sweep it clean. The warding spell iskeeping the rats at bay but all it takes is one to break through and the