The Alchemyst

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

J osh stepped out of the antiques shop, cheeks flaming red, the Witch s last

words ringing in his ears. You have to leave. What I teach is not for the

ears of a humani.

Looking around the room, at Flamel and Scatty and finally his twin sister,

Josh had suddenly realized that he was the last pure human in the room.

Obviously, in the Witch of Endor s eyes, Sophie was no longer entirely human.

No problem. I'll wait , he began, voice suddenly cracking. He coughed and

tried again. I'll wait in the park across the road. And then, without a

backward glance, he left the shop, the jangling of the bell mocking him as he

closed the door.

But it was a problem. A huge problem.

Sophie Newman watched her brother leave the shop, and even without her

Awakened senses, she knew he was upset and angry. She wanted to stop him, to

go after him, but Scatty was standing in front of her, eyes wide in warning,

finger raised to her lips, the tiniest shake of her head warning Sophie to

say nothing. Catching her shoulder, Scatty led her to stand in front of the

Witch of Endor. The old woman raised her hands and ran surprisingly gentle

fingers over the contours of Sophie s face. The girl s aura shivered and

fizzed with each gentle touch.

How old are you now? she asked.

Fifteen. Well, fifteen and a half. Sophie wasn't sure if the half year made

a difference.

Fifteen and a half, Dora said, shaking her head. I Can't remember back

that far. She dipped her chin, then tilted it toward Scatty. Can you

remember back to when you were fifteen?

Vividly, Scathach said grimly. wasn't that about the time I visited you in

Babylon and you tried to marry me off to King Nebuchadnezzar?

I m sure you re wrong, Dora said happily. I think that was later. Though

he would have made an excellent husband, she added. She looked up at Sophie

and the girl found herself reflected in the mirrors that were the Witch s

eyes. There are two things I must teach you. To protect yourself that is

simplicity itself. But instructing you in the magic of Air is a little

trickier. The last time I instructed a humani in Air magic, it took him sixty

years to master the basics, and even then he fell out of the sky on his first

flight.

Sixty years. Sophie swallowed. Did that mean she was destined to spend a

lifetime trying to control this power?

Gran, we haven t got that sort of time. I doubt we've even got sixty

minutes.

Dora glared into a mirror and her reflection looked out from the glass of an

empty picture frame. So why don't you do this, you re such an expert, eh?

Gran Scathach sighed.

don't Gran me in that tone of voice, Dora said warningly. I'll do this

my way.

We don't have time to do it the traditional way.

don't talk to me about tradition. What do the young know about tradition?

Trust me, when I m finished, Sophie will know all that I know about the

elemental Air magic. She turned back to Sophie. First things first: are

your parents alive?

Yes, she said, blinking in surprise, not sure where this was going.

Good. And you talk to your mother?

Yes, almost every day.

Dora glanced sideways at Scatty. You hear that? Almost every day. She took

one of Sophie s hands in hers and patted the back of it. Maybe you should be

teaching Scathach a thing or two. And have you a grandmother?

My Nana, yes, my father s mother. I usually call her on Fridays, she added,

realizing with a guilty start that today was Friday and that Nana Newman

would be expecting a call.

Every Friday, the Witch of Endor said significantly, and looked at Scatty

again, but the Warrior deliberately turned away and concentrated on an ornate

glass paperweight. She put it down when she saw that there was a tiny man in

a three-piece suit frozen inside the glass. He had a briefcase in one hand

and a sheaf of papers in the other. His eyes were still blinking.

This will not hurt, the Witch said.

Sophie doubted it could be any worse than what she d already gone through.

Her nose wrinkled at the odor of burnt wood, and she felt a cool breeze wash

over her hands. She looked down. A gossamer-thin white spiderweb was twisting

and spinning from the Witch of Endor s fingers and wrapping itself like a

bandage around each of Sophie s fingers. It curled across her palm,

completely covering it, then wrapped around her wrist and crept up her arm.

She realized then that the Witch had been distracting her with her questions.

Sophie looked into the Witch s mirrored eyes and found that she could not put

her questions into words. It was as if she had lost the ability to speak. She

was also surprised that instead of feeling frightened, from the moment the

Witch had taken her hand, a wave of peace and calm had washed through her

body. She glanced sideways at Scatty and Flamel. They were watching the

process, wide-eyed with shock and, in Scathach s case, with something like

horror on her face.

Gran are you sure about this? Scathach demanded.

Of course I m sure, the old woman snapped, a note of anger in her voice.

And even though the Witch of Endor was speaking to Scathach, Sophie could

hear her voice in her head, talking to her, whispering ancient secrets,

murmuring archaic spells, divulging a lifetime of knowledge in the space of

heartbeats and breaths.

This is not a spiderweb, Dora explained to a stunned and silent Flamel,

noticing that he was leaning forward, staring intently at the webs spinning

around Sophie s arms. It is concentrated air mixed with my own aura. All my

knowledge, my experience, even my lore is gathered in this web of air. Once

it touches Sophie s skin, she will begin to absorb that knowledge.

Sophie breathed deeply, drawing the wood-scented air deep into her lungs.

Images flashed impossibly fast in her head, times and places long past,

cyclopean walls of stone, ships of solid gold, dinosaurs and dragons, a city

carved into a mountain of ice and faces hundreds, thousands of faces, from

every race of mankind, from every time period, human and half human,

werebeast and monster. She was seeing everyone the Witch of Endor had ever

seen.

The Egyptians got it wrong, Dora continued, her hands now moving too fast

for Flamel to see. They wrapped the dead, she continued. They did not

realize I wrapped the living. There was a time when I put a little of myself

into my followers and sent them out into the world to teach in my name.

Obviously someone saw this process in the ancient past and tried to copy it.

Sophie suddenly saw a dozen people wrapped up like her, and a younger-looking

Dora moving among them, dressed in a costume from ancient Babylon. Somehow

Sophie understood that these were the priests and priestesses in the cult

that worshipped the Witch. Dora was passing on a little of her knowledge to

them so that they could go out into the world and teach others.

The white weblike air now flowed down Sophie s legs, binding them together.

Unconsciously, she brought her hands up across her chest, right hand on her

left shoulder, left hand on her right shoulder. The Witch nodded approvingly.

Sophie closed her eyes and saw clouds. Without knowing how, she knew their

names: cirrus, cirrocumulus, altostratus and stratocumulus, nimbostratus and

cumulus. All different, each type with unique characteristics and qualities.

She suddenly understood how to use them, how to shape and wield and move

them.

Images flickered.

Flashed.

She saw a tiny woman under a clear blue sky raise a hand and make a cloud

grow directly overhead. Rain irrigated a parched field.

Flashed again.

A tall bearded man standing on the edge of a huge sea raised his hands and a

howling wind parting the waters.

And flashed again.

A young woman brought a raging storm to a shuddering stop with a single

gesture, freezing it in place, then ran into a flimsy wooden house and

grabbed a child. A heartbeat later and the storm ate the house.

Sophie watched the images and learned from them.

The Witch of Endor touched Sophie s cheek and the girl opened her eyes. The

whites were dotted with silver sparkles. There are those who will tell you

that the magic of Fire or Water or even Earth is the most powerful magic of

all. They are wrong. The magic of Air surpasses all others. Air can

extinguish fire. It can churn water to mist and can rip up the earth. But air

can also bring fire to life, it can push a boat across still water, can shape

the land. Air can clean a wound, can pluck a splinter from a fingertip. Air

can kill.

The last of the white cobwebbed air closed across Sophie s face, completely

encasing her, wrapping her like a mummy.

This is a terrifying gift I have given you. Within you now is a lifetime a

very long lifetime of experience. I hope some will be of use to you in the

dire days ahead.

Sophie stood before the Witch of Endor completely encased in the white

bandagelike air. This was not like the Awakening. This was a gentler, subtler

process. She discovered that she knew things incredible things. She had

memories of impossible times and extraordinary places. But mixed with these

memories and emotions were her own thoughts. Already she was beginning to

find it hard to tell them apart.

Then the smoke began to curl and hiss and steam.

Dora suddenly turned to look for Scatty. Come and give me a hug, child. I

will not see you again.

Gran?

Dora wrapped her arms around Scathach s shoulders and put her mouth close to

her ear.

Her voice dropped to little more than a whisper. I have given this girl a

rare and terrible power. Make sure this power is used for good.

Scathach nodded, not entirely sure what the old woman was suggesting.

And call your mother. She worries about you.

I will, Gran.

The mummylike cocoon suddenly dissolved into steam and mist as Sophie s aura

flared brilliant silver. She stretched out her arms, fingers splayed wide,

and the merest whisper of a wind rattled through the shop.

Careful. If you break anything, you pay for it, the Witch warned.

Then, suddenly, Scathach, Dora and Sophie turned to look out into the

darkening afternoon. An instant later Nicholas Flamel'smelled the

unmistakable rotten-egg odor of sulfur. Dee!

Josh! Sophie s eyes snapped open. Josh is out there!