Michael Scott - The Alchemyst

Gran, Scatty began.

Don t Gran me, Dora said, dropping into English again. You could have written any language would have done. You could have phoned.

You don t have a phone.

And what s wrong with e-mail? Or a fax?

Gran, have you got a computer or a fax machine?

Dora stopped. No. What would I need one of them for?

Dora s hand moved and suddenly her white stick extended to its full lengthwith a snap. She tapped against the glass of a simple square mirror. Have you got one of these?

Yes, Gran, Scatty said miserably. Her pale cheeks were flushed red withembarrassment.

So you couldn t find the time to look in a mirror and talk to me. You re sobusy these days? I ve got to hear it from your brother. And when was the lasttime you spoke to your mother!

Scathach turned to the twins. This is my grandmother, the legendary Witch ofEndor. Gran, this is Sophie and Josh. And you ve met Nicholas Flamel.

Yes, such a nice man. She kept turning her head, her nostrils flaring.Twins, she said finally.

Sophie and Josh looked at each other. How did she know? Did Nicholas tellher?

There was something about the way the woman kept moving her head thatintrigued Josh. He tried to follow the direction of her gaze and then herealized why the old woman s head kept moving left and right: she was somehowseeing them through the mirrors. Automatically, he touched his sister s handand nodded to the mirror. She glanced at it, back at the old woman, then backat the mirror, and then she nodded at her brother, silently agreeing withhim.

Dora stepped up to Scathach, her head turned to one side as she stared hardat a tall length of polished glass. You ve lost weight. Are you eatingproperly?

Gran, I ve looked like this for two and a half thousand years.

So you re saying I m going blind now, eh? the old woman asked, then burstinto surprisingly deep laughter. Give your old Gran a hug.

Scathach carefully hugged the old woman and kissed her cheek. It s good tosee you, Gran. You re looking well.

I m looking old. Do I look old?

Not a day over ten thousand. Scatty smiled.

The Witch pinched Scathach s cheek. The last person who mocked me was a taxinspector. I turned him into a paperweight, she said. I still have it here somewhere.

Flamel coughed discreetly. Madame Endor

Call me Dora, the old woman snapped.

Dora. Are you aware what happened in Hekate s Shadowrealm earlier today? He had never met the Witch before he knew her only by reputation but he knew sheneeded to be treated with the utmost caution. She was the legendary Elder whohad left Danu Talis to live with and teach the humani centuries before the island sank beneath the waves. It was believed that she had created the first humani alphabet in ancient Sumeria.

Get me a chair, Dora said to no one in particular. Sophie pulled up thechair she d been sitting on and Scatty eased her grandmother into it. The oldwoman leaned forward, both hands resting on the top of her white cane. I know what happened. I m sure every Elder on this continent felt her death.She saw their looks of shocked surprise. You didn t know? She turned her head sideways and stared into a mirror, directly facing Scatty. Hekate is dead and her Shadowrealm is no more. I understand an Elder, one of the NextGeneration and an immortal human were responsible for her death. Hekate willneed to be avenged. Not now, and maybe not soon: but she was family, and Iowe her that. See to it. Scatty bowed.

The Witch of Endor had delivered the death sentence calmly, and Flamelsuddenly realized that this woman was even more dangerous than he hadimagined.

Dora turned her face in another direction and Flamel found himself looking ather reflection in an ornate silver-framed mirror. She tapped the glass. I saw what happened this morning a month ago.

And you didn t warn Hekate! Scatty exclaimed.

I watched one thread of a possible-future. One of many. In some of theothers, Hekate killed Bastet and the Morrigan slew Dee. In another, Hekatekilled you, Mr. Flamel, and was in turn killed by Scathach. All versions ofthe future. Today I discovered which came to pass. She looked around the room, turning her face from mirror to polished vase to picture-frame glass.

So I know why you re here, I know what you want me to do. And I ve thoughtlong and hard about my response. I ve had a month to think about it.

What about us? Sophie asked. Were we in your threads?

Yes, in some, the Witch said.

What happened to us in the others? The question was out of Josh s mouthbefore he had time to think about it. He really didn t want to know the answer.

Dee and his Golems or the rats and birds killed you in most of the threads.You crashed the car in others. You died with the Awakening or fell with theShadowrealm.

Josh swallowed hard. We only survived in one thread?

Just one.

That s not good, is it? he whispered.

No, the Witch of Endor stated flatly. Not good at all. There was a longpause while Dora looked sidelong into the polished surface of a silver pot.Then she spoke suddenly. First you should know that I cannot Awaken the boy.That must be left to others.

Josh looked up quickly. There are others who could Awaken me?

The Witch of Endor ignored him. The girl has one of the purest silver aurasI ve encountered in many an age. She needs to be taught some spells ofpersonal protection if she is to survive the rest of the Awakening process.The fact that she s still sane and whole these many hours later is testamentto her strength of will. Her head tilted back and Sophie caught the oldwoman s face looking at her from a mirror suspended from the ceiling. This I will do.

Thank you, Nicholas Flamel said with a deep sigh. I know how difficult the last few hours have been for her.

Josh found that he could not look at his sister. There was more to the Awakening. Did that mean she would have to suffer more pain? It washeartbreaking.

Scathach knelt by her grandmother s chair and laid a hand on her arm. Gran,Dee and his masters are chasing the two missing pages from the Codex, she said. I would imagine that by now they know or at least suspect that Sophieand Josh are the twins mentioned in the Book of Abraham.

Dora nodded. Dee knows.

Scathach stole a glance at Flamel. Then he knows that not only does he haveto retrieve the pages, but he has to either capture or kill the twins.

He knows that, too, Dora confirmed.

And if Dee succeeds, then this world ends? Scathach said, turning thesimple sentence into a question.

The world has ended before, the Witch answered, smiling. I m sure it will end many times before the sun turns black.

You know that Dee intends to bring back the Dark Elders?

I know.

The Codex says that the Dark Elders can only be stopped by Silver and Gold,Scatty continued.

The Codex also says, if my memory serves me true, that apples are poisonousand frogs can turn into princes. You don t want to believe everything youread in that Codex, the witch snapped.

Flamel had read the piece in the Codex about apples. He thought it waspossibly referring to apple seeds, which were indeed poisonous if you ateseveral pounds of them. He hadn t come across the section about frogs andprinces, though he d read the Book hundreds of times. There were countlessquestions he wanted to ask the Witch, but that wasn t the reason they werethere. Dora, will you teach Sophie the principles of Air magic? She needs tolearn enough to at least be able to protect herself from attack.

Dora shrugged and smiled. Do I have a choice?

Flamel had not been expecting that answer. Of course you have a choice.

The Witch of Endor shook her head. Not this time. She reached up and tookoff her dark glasses. Scatty didn t move, and only the muscle twitching inFlamel s jaw betrayed his surprise. The twins, however, backed away inhorror, their faces registering their shock. The Witch of Endor had no eyes.There were just hollow empty sockets where eyes should have been, and nestledin the sockets were perfect ovals of reflective glass. Those mirrors turneddirectly to the twins. I gave up my eyes for the Sight, the ability to seethe patterns of time time past, present and possible-future. There are manypatterns, many versions of possible-future, though not so many as peoplethink. In the past few years, the patterns have been coming together, weavingever closer. Now there are only a few possible futures. Most of them areterrifying, she added grimly. And they are all linked to you two. Her hand moved unswervingly to point to Sophie and Josh. So what choice do I have? This is my world too. I was here before the humani, I gave them fire andlanguage. I ll not abandon them now. I ll train the girl, teach her how toprotect herself and instill in her how to control the magic of Air.