Michael Scott - The Alchemyst

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

Flamel nodded. He could feel the cool, dry pages against his skin beneath hisT-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. Hestill had no real idea just how old it was. He kept pushing the date of itscreation 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, whenhe started to do his research, he thought it might be eight hundred yearsold, then a thousand years, then two thousand years old. A century ago, inlight of the new discoveries coming out of the tombs of Egypt, he hadreassessed the age of the Book at five thousand years. And now, here wasHekate, who was ten thousand and more years old, saying she had been aroundwhen the mysterious Abraham the Mage had composed the Book. But if the ElderRace the gods of mythology and legend could neither handle nor look upon thebook, then what was Abraham, its creator? Was he of the Elder Race, a humanior something else, one of the many other mythical races that walked the earth

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 fromthe car and lowering his voice, forcing Hekate to lean close to listen tohim. When Dee attacked me, stole the Book and snatched Perry, two humanicame 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 theT-shirts and denim that are the shabby uniform of this age. That is all Isee.

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

The twins noticed simultaneously that the pupils of her eyes were long andnarrow, like a cat s, and that behind the thin line of her lips, her teethwere pointed, like tiny needles.

Silver and gold, Hekate whispered abruptly, glancing at the Alchemyst, heraccent thickening, small pointed tongue darting at her thin lips. She turnedback to the twins. Step out of the vehicle.

They looked at Flamel, and when he nodded, both climbed out. Sophie wentaround the car to stand next to her brother.

Hekate reached out first toward Sophie, who hesitated momentarily before shestretched out her hand. The goddess took Sophie s left palm in her right handand turned it over, then she reached for Josh s hand. He placed his hand inhers without hesitation, trying to act nonchalant, as if stretching out totouch a ten-thousand-year-old goddess were something he did every day. Hethought her skin felt surprisingly rough and coarse.

Hekate spoke a single word in a language that predated the arrival of theearliest 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 inwonder.

A silver glow had appeared around Sophie. Like a thin second skin, it hoveredjust above the surface of her flesh, winking in and out of existence. Whenshe blinked, her eyes turned to flat reflective mirrors.

The glow that covered Josh was a warm golden hue. It was concentrated mainlyaround his head and hands, throbbing and pulsing in sync with his heartbeat.

But although the twins could see the glow that hovered around each other andtheir own bodies, they felt no different. There were only the smells in theair oranges and vanilla ice cream.

Without a word, Hekate pulled away from the twins, and immediately the glowfaded. Striding back to Flamel, she caught him by the arm and moved himfarther 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 vanillaice 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 hitsomething solid, which immediately lumbered away through the undergrowth.

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

Like ours? Sophie asked.

Like yours, Scatty said glumly. Last person I knew to have a pure silveraura was the woman you know as Joan of Arc.

What about the gold aura? Josh said.

Even rarer, Scatty said. The last person I can recall having that colorwas 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 byher 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 breakthe somber mood. He looked at the Warrior Maid. But what exactly does itmean 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 ofthe past, the heroic leaders, the inspired artists, have had pure-color orsingle-color auras.

The twins looked at one another, suddenly uncertain. This was just a littletoo weird, and there was something in Scathach s lack of expression that wasfrightening. Sophie s eyes suddenly widened in shock. I just realized thatboth of those people, Joan of Arc and Tutankhamen, died young.

Very young, Josh said, sobering, recalling his history. They both diedwhen they were nineteen.

Yes, they did, didn t they? Scathach agreed, turning away to look atNicholas 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 treesand fed into an octagonal pond dappled with white water lilies. Huge red andalbino koi moved through the perfectly clear water.

I ve never come across the two auras together, and never in twins. Theypossess 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 veryfirst prophecy Abraham speaks of.

I know the prophecy, Hekate snapped, her dress now shot through with redand 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.

He also predicted it would come again, Flamel reminded her. When the two that are one and the one that is all have arrived, when the sun and moon areunited.

Hekate tilted her head and her slit-pupiled eyes flickered toward Josh andSophie. Gold and silver, sun and moon. She turned back to Flamel. Do youbelieve them to be the basis of the prophecy?

Yes, he said simply, I do. I have to.

Why?

Because with the Codex now gone, Dee can begin to bring back the DarkElders. If the twins are those mentioned in the prophecy, then, with propertraining, I might be able to use them to prevent that and to help me rescuePerry.