Michael Scott - The Alchemyst

Scatty scrambled to her feet and darted back to Flamel and Josh. Veryimpressive, I m sure, she muttered. I didn t know you could do that.

Flamel spun the staff like a baton. This focuses my power.

Scatty looked around. We seem to be trapped.

Hekate went this way, Nicholas said, turning to the right and pointing towhat looked like an impenetrable barrier of knotted roots. I saw her come running out of the chamber and walk straight through this. He stepped up tothe knotted wood and stretched out his arm. It disappeared right up to theelbow.

I ll go first, Scatty said. Josh noticed that although she had beenfighting the deadly combination of birds and cats, there was neither ascratch on her body nor a hair out of place. She wasn t even breathinghard though if she really was a vampire, then maybe she didn t need tobreathe at all, he thought. Scatty darted forward, and in the last momentbefore she reached the wall of roots, she dived straight into the opening,swords crossed over her chest.

Flamel and Josh looked at one another in the brief moment that followed and then Scatty s head poked through the solid-looking tangle of roots. All clear.

I ll take the rear, Flamel said, stepping back to allow Josh to go ahead ofhim. I ll deal with anything that follows us.

Josh nodded, unwilling to trust himself to talk to Flamel. He was stillfurious with the Alchemyst for endangering his sister s life, but he alsorecognized that Flamel was now fighting for them, placing himself in veryreal danger to protect them. Josh stepped up to the wall of twisted roots andpacked earth, closed his eyes and walked right through. There was an instantof damp chill and then he opened his eyes to see Scatty directly in front ofhim. He was standing in a low, narrow chamber created entirely from theYggdrasill s gnarled roots. Clumps of green moss leaked a dim green lightinto the chamber, and he could see that Scatty was standing at the bottom ofa set of narrow, irregular steps that led upward into the gloom. Scatty shead was tilted to one side, but before Josh could ask what she was hearing,Flamel stepped through the wall. He was smiling, and the top of his staffemitted traces of green gas. That should hold them for a while.

Let s go, Scatty called as soon as the Alchemyst appeared.

The stairway was so narrow that Josh was forced to move in a sidewayscrab-crawl, head ducked low, with Sophie held close to his body to preventher head and legs from cracking against the rough wooden walls. He testedevery step before he took it; he didn t want to risk falling and dropping hissister. He suddenly realized that these steps were cut into the space betweenthe inner and outer bark of the great tree, and couldn t help wondering if atree the size of Yggdrasill was riddled with secret passages, hidden rooms,forgotten chambers and lost stairways. It must be, he decided. Did Hekateeven know where they all were? And then, his mind racing, he wondered who hadcreated these steps. Somehow he could not imagine the goddess carving themout of the living wood herself.

As they climbed, they could smell the bitter stench of burning wood, and thesounds of battle came clearer. The cat shrieks became even more human, thebird screeches were completely terrifying, and they mingled with thebellowing roars of the boars and the hissing of the nathair. Now that thegroup was no longer underground, the heat and smoke intensified and theybegan to hear another sound a deep bass groaning rumble.

We need to hurry. Scatty s voice drifted back out of the gloom. We reallyneed to hurry now. And somehow the forced calm in the Warrior s voice frightened Josh more than if she had screamed. Careful now; we ve reached anopening. We re at the end of a thick root, about thirty yards away from themain body of the tree. We re well clear of the fighting, she added.

Josh rounded a corner and discovered Scatty standing bathed in shafts ofearly-morning sunshine that shone through a curtain of vines directly aheadof her. She turned to face him, sunlight turning her red hair golden andrunning along the blades of her short swords, and in that moment, Josh sawher as the ancient and terrifying Warrior she was. The sounds of battle wereall around them, but louder than all the other noises was the groaning rumblethat seemed to vibrate deep in the ground. What is that sound? he asked.

The cries of the Yggdrasill, Scatty answered grimly. Hekate s enemies have set light to the World Tree.

But why? He found the very idea horrifying this ancient living tree hadharmed no one. But the action gave him an insight into the contempt withwhich the Dark Elders held life.

Her powers are inextricably linked to it; her magic brought it to toweringlife, its life force keeps her strong. They believe that by destroying it,they will destroy her.

Flamel came panting up the steps to stand behind Josh. The Alchemyst s thinface was bright red and beaded with sweat. Getting old, he said with a wrysmile. He looked at Scatty. What s the plan?

Simple, she began, we get away from here as quickly as possible. Then she spun the sword in her left hand so that the blade was lying flat against thelength of her arm. She pointed with the hilt. Flamel and Josh stood close toher and peered out through the curtain of vines. On the opposite side of thefield, Dr. John Dee had appeared, moving cautiously through the undergrowth.The black-bladed short sword that he held in both hands glowed and flickeredwith a cold blue light.

Dee, Flamel said. Never in my life would I have imagined being delightedto see him. This is good news indeed.

Both Scatty and Josh looked at him in surprise.

Dee is human which means that he came here via human transportation, the Alchemyst explained.

A car Scatty nodded in agreement that he would probably have left justoutside the Shadowrealm.

Josh was about to ask how she knew he would have left it outside when he suddenly realized he knew the answer. Because he knew if he drove it in here, the battery would be drained.

Look, Scatty murmured.

They watched one of the huge, boarlike Torc Alltas emerge from the long grassbehind Dee. Although it was still in its beast shape, it rose on its hindlegs, until it reached nearly three times the height of the man.

It s going to kill him, Josh murmured.

Dee s sword flared bright blue, and then the small man threw himselfbackward, toward the Torc Allta, bringing the sword around in a short arc.The sudden movement seemed to surprise the creature, but it easily battedaside the blade and then it froze. Where the blade had touched it, a thinsheath of ice grew up the beast s arm, tiny crystals sparkling in theearly-morning sunshine. The ice coated the Torc Allta s chest and flowed downits massive legs and up his shoulders and head. Within a matter of heartbeatsthe creature was encased in a block of blue-veined ice. Dee picked himself upoff the ground, dusted off his coat and then, without warning, hammered onthe ice with the hilt of his sword. The block shattered into millions of tinkling pieces, each one containing a fragment of the Torc Allta.

One of the elemental swords, Scatty remarked grimly, Excalibur, the Swordof Ice. I thought it was lost ages past, thrown back into the lake whenArtorius died.

Looks like the doctor found it, Flamel murmured.

Josh discovered that he wasn t even surprised to hear that King Arthur hadbeen real, and he found himself wondering which other legendary figures hadreally existed.

They watched as Dee hurried back into the undergrowth, heading for the otherside of the huge tree house, where the sounds of battle were loudest. The smell of smoke was stronger now. Sharp and bitter, it curled and twistedaround the tree, carrying with it the reek of ancient places andlong-forgotten spices. Wood snapped and cracked, sap boiled and popped andthe deep bass thrumming was now strong enough to set the entire treevibrating.