Michael Scott - The Alchemyst

The shape loomed closer.

Flamel raised his hand, Sophie gathered the winds and Scathach lifted her notched sword. Josh stepped out of the night. I ve wrecked the car, he said.

Sophie screamed with delight. She ran to her brother, and then her scream turned to one of horror. The skeletal bear had risen from the ground behind him, paws poised to strike.

Scathach moved, hitting Josh hard, shoving him out of the way, and sent him tumbling into a mess of bones. The Warrior s swords parried the bear s sweeping blow, sparks blinking in the fog. She struck out again, and a bear claw as long as her hand tumbled through the air.

One by one the skeletal animals were climbing to their feet. Two huge wolves, one little more than bones, the other merely shriveled flesh, loomed out of the fog.

This way. Here! This way. The Witch s voice sounded flatly across the street, and a rectangle of light from an open door lit up the night. With Scatty supporting Flamel and Josh half carrying his twin, they raced across the street toward the shop. The Witch of Endor was standing in the doorway, looking blindly into the night, an old-fashioned oil lantern held high.

We ve got to get you out of here. She pulled the door closed and pushed the bolts home. That won t hold them long, she muttered.

You said you said you have no powers left, Sophie muttered.

I don t. Dora flashed a quick grin, revealing perfect white teeth. But this place has. She led them through the shop and into a tiny back room. Do you know what makes Ojai so special? she asked.

Something thumped against the door and all the glassware in the shop rattled and tinkled.

It is built on an intersection of ley lines.

Josh opened his mouth and was actually forming the word ley when his sister spoke. Lines of energy that crisscross the globe, Sophie whispered in his ear.

How do you know that?

I don t know; I guess the Witch taught me. Many of the most famous buildings and ancient sites across the world are built where the ley lines meet.

Exactly, Dora said, sounding pleased. Couldn t have put it better myself. The little storeroom was bare except for a long rectangle propped up against

the wall, covered in yellowed back issues of the Ojai Valley Times.

More blows shook the shop window, the sound of bone against glass settingthem on edge.

Dora swept the papers to the ground to reveal a mirror. It stood seven feettall, four feet wide, the glass dirty, speckled and warped, the images itshowed slightly distorted and blurred. And do you know what drew me to Ojaiin the first place? she asked. Seven great ley lines meet here. They form aleygate.

Here? Flamel whispered. He knew about ley lines and had heard about theleygates used by the ancients to travel across the world in an instant. Hehadn t thought any still existed.

Dora tapped the ground with her foot. Right here. And do you know how youuse a leygate?

Flamel shook his head.

Dora reached for Sophie. Give me your hand, child. The Witch took Sophie shand and put it on the glass. You use a mirror.

The mirror immediately came to blazing life, the glass flaring silver andthen clearing. When they looked into the glass, it no longer showed theirreflections, but rather the image of a bare, cellarlike room.

Where? Flamel asked.

Paris, Dora said.

France. He smiled. Home. And without hesitation, he stepped right throughthe glass. Now they could see him within the mirror. He turned and waved themthrough.

I hate leygates, Scatty muttered. Make me nauseous. She hopped throughthe gate, and rolled to her feet beside Flamel. When she turned back to facethe twins, she did look as if she was about to throw up.

The skeletal bear lumbered straight through the shop door, ripping it off itshinges. The wolves and the cougars followed. Glassware tumbled, mirrorscracked, ornaments shattered as the beasts lumbered about.

A bruised and cut Dee raced into the shop, pushing the skeletal beasts aside.A cougar snapped at him and he smacked it on the snout. If it had had eyes,it would have blinked in surprise.

Trapped, he called gleefully. Trapped and nowhere to go!

But when he stepped into the storeroom, he knew they had escaped him oncemore. It took him a single heartbeat to take in the tall mirror, the twofigures in the glass staring out, the old woman standing next to the girl,pressing her hand to its surface. The boy stood alone, holding on to the frame. Dee instantly knew what it was. A leygate, he whispered in awe.Mirrors always acted as the gates. Somewhere at the other end of the ley linewas another mirror linking them.

The old woman caught the girl and shoved her through the mirror. Sophietumbled to the ground at Flamel s feet, then crouched to turn and look back.Her mouth moved, but there was no sound. Josh.

Josh, Dee commanded, staring at the boy, stay where you are.

The boy turned to the glass. Already the image in the mirror had blurred.

I ve told you the truth about Flamel, Dee said urgently. All he had to dowas to keep the boy distracted for another moment or two and the mirror wouldlose its power. Stay with me. I can Awaken you. Make you powerful. You canhelp change the world, Josh. Change it for the better!

I don t know. The offer was tempting, so tempting. But he knew if he sidedwith Dee, he would lose his sister altogether. Or would he? If Dee Awakenedhim, then they would be alike again. Maybe this was a way he could reconnectwith his twin.

Look, Dee said triumphantly, pointing to the fading image in the glass,

they ve left you, deserted you again, because you are not one of them.You re no longer important.

The mirror flared silver and Sophie stepped back through the glass. Josh? Hurry, she said urgently, not looking at Dee.

I, he began. You came back for me.

Of course I did! You re my brother. I ll never abandon you. Then, catchinghis hand, wrapping her fingers around his, she pulled him into the glass.

And Dora pushed the mirror, sending it shattering to the floor. Whoops. She turned to face Dee and pulled off her dark glasses to reveal the mirrors ofher eyes. You should go now. You ve got about three seconds.

Dee didn t quite make it out of the shop before it exploded.

The latest in a long line of horror movies from Enoch Studios caused trafficmayhem and more than a little confusion in downtown Ojai yesterday. Thespecial effects were a bit too realistic for some locals, and emergencyservices were inundated with calls from people who claimed that the dead werewalking the streets.

John Dee, chairman of Enoch Films, a division of Enoch Enterprises,apologized profusely for the confusion, blaming it on a power outage and anunseasonable fog that swept in as they were about to shoot a scene from theirnew movie. It certainly made the extras look extra-scary, his spokespersonsaid. In a related incident, a drunk driver smashed through the historicLibbey Park fountain and into the recently restored pergola. Dee has promisedto restore the fountain and pergola to their former glory.

Ojai Valley News

A gas explosion destroyed the shop of longtime Ojai resident Dora Witcherlylate last night. An electrical fault ignited solvents used by the owner toclean, polish and restore her antiques. Miss Witcherly was in the shop s backroom when the explosion occurred and was unharmed and apparently unconcernedby her brush with death. When you ve lived as long as I have, nothing muchsurprises you. She has promised to reopen the shop in time for the holidays.

Ojai Online

D eep beneath Alcatraz, Perenelle Flamel lay on a narrow cot, her face turnedtoward the back wall of her cell. Behind her, in the corridor outside, shecould hear the sphinx click-clacking up and down the cold stone floors, andthe air was heavy with the musky odors of snake and lion. Perenelle shivered.The cell was freezing, and green-tinged water was dripping down the wallinches from her face.