Michael Scott - The Alchemyst

The crow pecked again and another hole appeared. Then there was a thump,followed by a second and a third, and three more crows landed on the roof ofthe car. The metal roof pinged as the birds began to peck at it.

I hate crows. Scathach sighed. She rooted through her bag and pulled out aset of nunchaku two twelve-inch lengths of ornately carved wood linked byfour and a half inches of chain. She tapped the sticks in the palm of herhand. Pity we haven t got a sunroof, she said. I could get out there andgive them a little taste of this.

Flamel pointed to where a long shaft of sunlight was coming through a pinholein the roof. We may soon have. Besides, he added, these are not normal crows. The three on the roof and the one on the hood are Dire-Crows, theMorrigan s special pets.

The huge bird on the hood tapped the windshield again, and this time, itsbeak actually penetrated the glass.

I m not sure what I can do, Scathach began, and then Sophie leaned overand hit the windshield wiper switch. The heavy blades activated and simplyswept the bird off the hood in a flurry of feathers and a shrill croak ofsurprise. The red-haired warrior grinned. Well, there is that, of course.

Now the rest of the birds had reached the SUV. They settled on the vehicle ina great blanket. First dozens, then hundreds gathered on the roof, the hood,the doors, clutching every available opening. If one fell off or lost its grip, dozens more fought for its place. The noise inside the car wasincredible as thousands of birds pecked and tapped at the metal, the glass,the doors. They tore into the rubber molding around the windows, ripped intothe spare tire on the back of the SUV, tearing it to shreds. There were somany on the hood, pressed up against the windshield, that Josh couldn t seewhere he was going. He took his foot off the accelerator and the carimmediately started to slow.

Drive! Flamel shouted. If you stop, we are truly lost.

But I can t see!

Flamel leaned through the seats and stretched out his right hand. Sophiesuddenly saw the small circular tattoo on the underside of his wrist. A crossran through the circle, the arms of the cross extending over the edges of thecircle. For a single instant it glowed and then the Alchemyst snapped hisfingers. A tiny ball of hissing, sizzling flame appeared on his fingertips.

Close your eyes, he commanded. Without waiting to see if they obeyed, heflicked it toward the glass.

Even through their closed lids, the twins could see the searing light thatlit up the interior of the car.

Now drive, Nicholas Flamel commanded.

When the twins opened their eyes, most of the crows were gone from the hood,and those few that remained looked dazed and shocked.

That s not going to hold them for long, Scatty said. She looked up as arazor-sharp beak punched a hole straight through the metal roof. She snappedout the nunchaku. She held one stick in her hand, while the other, attachedto the short chain, shot out with explosive force and cracked against thebeak embedded in the roof. There was a startled shriek and the beak slightlybent disappeared.

Sophie turned her head to peer in her side mirror. It was dangling off thecar, barely held on by a shred of metal and some wire. She could see morebirds thousands of them flying in to replace those that had been swept away,and she knew then that they were not going to make it. There were simply toomany of them.

Listen, Nicholas Flamel said suddenly.

I don t hear anything, Josh said grimly.

Sophie was just about to agree with him when she heard the sound. And shesuddenly felt the hairs on her arms prickle and rise. Low and lonely, thenoise hovered just at the edge of her hearing. It was like a breeze, onemoment sounding soft and gentle, the next louder, almost angry. A peculiarodor wafted into the car.

What is that smell? Josh asked.

Smells like spicy oranges, Sophie said, breathing deeply.

Pomegranates, Nicholas Flamel said.

And then the wind came.

It howled across the bay, warm and exotic, smelling of cardamom androsewater, lime and tarragon, and then it raced along the length of theGolden Gate Bridge, plucking the birds off the struts, lifting them off thecars, pulling them out of the air. Finally the pomegranate-scented windreached the SUV. One moment the car was surrounded by birds; the next, theywere gone, and the car was filled with the scents of the desert, of dry airand warm sand.

Sophie hit a button and the scarred and pitted window jerked down. She cranedher neck out the SUV, breathing in the richly scented air. The huge flock ofbirds was being pulled high into the sky, borne aloft on the breeze. When oneescaped one of the big Dire-Crows, Sophie thought it was quickly caught by atendril of the warm breeze and pushed back into the rest of the flock. Fromunderneath, the mass of birds looked like a dirty cloud and then the clouddispersed as the birds scattered, leaving the sky blue and clear again.

Sophie looked back along the length of the bridge. The Golden Gate wascompletely impassable; cars were pointed in every direction, and there hadbeen dozens of minor accidents, which blocked the lanes and of course,effectively prevented anyone from following them, she realized. Every vehiclewas spattered and splotched with white bird droppings. She looked at herbrother and saw with a shock that there was a tiny smear of blood on hisbottom lip. She pulled a tissue from her pocket. You re cut! she said urgently, licking the edge of the tissue and dabbing at her twin s face.

Josh pushed her hand away. Stop. That s disgusting. He touched his lip withhis little finger. I must have bit it. I didn t even feel it. He took the tissue from his sister s hand and rubbed his chin. It s nothing. Then he smiled quickly. Did you see the mess the birds left back there? Sophienodded. He made a disgusted face. Now, that is going to smell!

Sophie leaned back against the seat, relieved that her brother was fine. Whenshe d seen the blood she d been truly frightened. A thought struck her andshe turned around to look at Flamel. Did you call up the wind?

He smiled and shook his head. No, I ve no control over the elements. Thatskill rests solely with the Elders and a very few rare humans.

Sophie looked at Scatty, but the Warrior shook her head. Beyond my verylimited abilities.

But you did summon the wind? Sophie persisted.

Flamel handed Sophie back her phone. I just phoned in a request, he said,and smiled.

Turn here, Nicholas Flamel instructed.

Josh eased his foot off the accelerator and turned the battered and scarred SUV down a long narrow track that was barely wide enough to accommodate thecar. They had spent the last thirty minutes driving north out of SanFrancisco, listening to the increasingly hysterical radio reports as asuccession of experts gave their opinions about the bird attack on thebridge. Global warming was the most commonly cited theory: the sun sradiation interfering with the birds natural navigation system.

Flamel directed them north, toward Mill Valley and Mount Tamalpais, but theyquickly left the highway and stuck to narrow two-lane roads. Traffic thinnedout until there were long stretches where they were the only car in sight.Finally, on a narrow road that curved and turned with sickening complexity,he had Josh slow almost to a crawl. He rolled down his window and peered outinto a thick forest that came right up to the edge of the road. They hadactually driven past the unmarked path before Flamel spotted it. Stop. Goback. Turn here.

Josh looked at his sister as he eased the car onto the rough, unpaved andrutted track. Her hands were folded in her lap, but he could see that herknuckles were white with tension. Her nails, which had been neat and perfectonly a few hours previously, were now rough and chewed, a sure sign of herstress. He reached over and squeezed her hand; she squeezed tightly inreturn. As with so much of the communication between them, there was no needfor words. With their parents away so much, Sophie and Josh had learned froma very early age that they could only really depend on themselves. Movingfrom school to school, neighborhood to neighborhood, they often found itdifficult to make and keep friends, but they knew that whatever happened,they would always have each other.