The Magician

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

T he Comte de Saint-Germain strolled downstairs from his studio, tiny

noise-canceling earphones pushed into his ears, eyes fixed on the screen of

the MP3 player in his hands. He was trying to create a new playlist: his top

ten favorite sound tracks. Gladiator, naturally The Rock Star Wars, the first

one only El Cid, of course The Crow, maybe

He stopped at the bottom step and automatically straightened a picture that

was hanging crooked on the wall. He took another step and realized that a

framed gold disc was also slightly askew. Looking down the corridor, he

suddenly noticed that all the pictures were at odd angles. Frowning, he

pulled out his earphones

And heard Josh call Scatty s name

And heard the clatter of metal

And realized that the air stank of vanilla and lavender

Saint-Germain raced down the stairs to the next floor. He found the Alchemyst

slumped, exhausted, in the door to his room, and slowed, but Nicholas waved

him on. Quickly, he whispered. Saint-Germain darted past him and continued

down the corridor and on to the stairs .

The hallway was in ruins.

The remnants of the hall door hung off its hinges. All that remained of the

antique crystal chandelier was a single buzzing lightbulb. Wallpaper hung in

huge curling strips, revealing the cracked plaster beneath. Banisters were

chopped through, tiles scored and chipped.

And there was a solid lump of ice sitting squarely in the center of the hall.

Saint-Germain approached it cautiously and ran his fingers down the smooth

surface. It was so cold his flesh stuck to it. He could make out two

white-clad figures entwined within the block, faces frozen in ugly snarls;

their startling blue eyes followed him.

Wood snapped in the kitchen and he turned and darted toward it, gloves of

solid blue-white flame growing on his hands.

And if Saint-Germain thought that the damage to the hallway was bad, nothing

prepared him for the devastation in the kitchen.

The entire side of the house was missing.

Sophie and Joan stood in the midst of the ruin. His wife was holding the

shaking girl tightly, supporting her. Joan was wearing shiny blue-green satin

pajamas and was still holding her sword in a metal gauntlet. She turned to

look over her shoulder as her husband stepped into the room. You missed the

fun, she said in French.

I heard nothing, he apologized, in the same language. Tell me.

It was all over in minutes. Sophie and I heard a disturbance at the back of

the house. We ran downstairs just as two women smashed their way in through

the hall door. They were Disir, they said they had come for Scathach. One

attacked me, the other turned her attention to Sophie. Even though she was

speaking an obscure variant of the French language, she dropped her voice to

a whisper. Francis this girl. She is extraordinary. She combined the magics:

she used Fire and Air to defeat the Disir. Then she wrapped them in fog and

froze it to a lump of ice.

Saint-Germain shook his head. It is physically impossible to use more than

one magic at a time , he said, but his voice trailed away to a whisper. The

evidence of Sophie s powers sat in the center of the hallway. There was a

legend that the most powerful Elders were able to use all the elemental

magics simultaneously. According to the most ancient myths, this was the

reason one of the reasons that Danu Talis sank.

Josh is gone. Sophie suddenly shook herself free of Joan s grip and spun

around to face the count. Then she looked over his shoulder to where an

ashen-faced Flamel stood leaning in the doorway. Something s taken Josh,

she said, desperately frightened now. And Scatty s gone after him.

The Alchemyst shuffled into the center of the room, wrapped his hands around

his body as if he was freezing and looked around. Then he bent to scoop up

the Shadow s matching short swords from where they lay amongst the rubble.

When he turned to look back at the others, they were all startled to see that

his eyes were bright with tears. I am sorry, he said, so terribly,

terribly sorry. I have brought this terror and destruction to your home. It

is unforgivable.

We can rebuild, Saint-Germain said airily. This will give us the excuse we

needed to remodel.

Nicholas, Joan said very seriously, what happened here?

The Alchemyst dragged up the only unbroken chair in the room and slumped into

it. He hunched forward, elbows on his knees, looking at the Shadow s gleaming

swords, turning them over and over in his hands. Those are Disir in the

block of ice. Valkyries. Scathach s sworn enemies, though she s never told me

why. I know they have pursued her down through the centuries and have always

allied themselves with her enemies.

They did this? Saint-Germain looked around the ruined kitchen.

No. But they obviously brought something with them that did.

What s happened to Josh? Sophie demanded. She shouldn't have left him alone

in the kitchen, she should have waited with him. She would have defeated

whatever had attacked the back of the house.

Nicholas held up Scathach s weapon. I think you should be asking what s

happened to the Warrior. In the centuries I ve known her, she s never let her

swords out of her grasp. I fear she s been taken .

Swords swords Sophie pulled away from Joan and began desperately searching

through the rubble. When I went to bed, Josh had just come back from sword

practice with Scatty and Joan. He had the stone sword you gave him. She

summoned a wind to raise a chunk of heavy masonry and toss it aside,

revealing the floor beneath. Where was the sword? She felt a flicker of hope.

If he d been captured, then surely the sword would be on the floor? She

straightened and looked around the room. Clarent isn't here.

Saint-Germain walked to the hole where the back door had been. The garden was

a ruin. A chunk of stone had been ripped out of the fountain and the bowl

cracked in half. It took him a moment to recognize the U-shaped hunk of metal

that had been his back gate. Only then did it sink in that the entire back

wall was missing. The nine-foot-tall wall was now little more than a stump.

There were powdered and crushed bricks scattered all across the garden,

almost as if the wall had been pushed down from outside.

Something big very big has been in the garden, he said to no one in

particular.

Flamel looked up. Can you smell anything? he asked.

Saint-Germain breathed deeply. Snake, he said firmly. But that s not

Machiavelli s odor. He stepped out into the garden and drew in a deep

lungful of cool air. It s stronger out here. Then he coughed. This stench

is fouler, much fouler , he called. This is the stink of something very,

very old .

Drawn by the wailing car alarms, Saint-Germain crossed the garden, clambered

over the broken wall and looked up and down the alley. House and car alarms

were ringing, mainly to his left, and there were lights on in the houses at

that end of the street. In the mouth of the narrow alleyway, he could see the

crushed remains of a black car.

Whatever it was attacked this house, he said, darting back into the

kitchen. There s a two-hundred-thousand-euro car at the end of the street

that s only fit for the scrap yard.

Nidhogg, Flamel whispered in horror. He nodded; it made sense now. The

Disir brought Nidhogg, he said. Then he frowned. But even Machiavelli

wouldn't bring something like that into a major city. He s too cautious.

Nidhogg? Joan and Sophie asked simultaneously, looking at one another.

Think of it as a cross between a dinosaur and a snake, Flamel explained.

But probably older than this planet. I think it s got Scathach and Josh went

after it.

Sophie shook her head firmly. He wouldn't do that he couldn't he s terrified

of snakes.

Then where is he? Flamel asked. Where is Clarent? It s the only

explanation: he s taken the sword and gone in search of the Shadow.

But I heard him calling to her for help .

You heard him call her name. He might have been calling out to her.

Saint-Germain nodded. It makes sense. The Disir only wanted Scathach.

Nidhogg grabbed her and ran. Josh must have followed.

Maybe it grabbed him and she followed, Sophie suggested. That s the sort

of thing she d do.

It had no interest in Josh. It would have just eaten him. No, he went of his

own accord.

That shows great courage, Joan said.

But Josh isn't brave , Sophie began. Yet even as she was saying it, she

knew it wasn't entirely true. He d always stood up for her in school and

protected her. But why would he go after Scatty? She knew he didn't even like

her.

People change, Joan said. No one stays the same.

The noise was louder now, a mingled cacophony of police, ambulance and fire

sirens drawing closer. Nicholas, Sophie, you've got to go, Saint-Germain

said urgently. I think we re about to have police, lots and lots of police

with far too many questions. And we have no answers. If they find you

here without papers or passports I m afraid they ll hold you for

questioning. He tugged out a leather wallet attached to his belt on a long

chain. Here s some cash.

I cannot , the Alchemyst began.

Take it, Saint-Germain insisted. don't use your credit cards; Machiavelli

can track your movements, he continued. I don't know how long the police

will be here. If I m free, I ll meet you tonight at six at the glass pyramid

outside the Louvre. If I m not there at six, I ll try and get there at

midnight, or failing that, at six tomorrow morning.

Thank you, old friend. Nicholas turned to Sophie. Grab your clothes, and

Josh s too, and whatever else you need; we ll not be coming back here.

I ll help you, Joan said, hurrying out of the room with Sophie.

The Alchemyst and his former apprentice stood in the ruins of the kitchen,

listening to the two women run upstairs.

What are you going to do with the block of ice in the hall? Nicholas asked.

We ve got a big chest freezer in the cellar. I ll shove it in there until

the police leave. What about the Disir, are they dead, do you think?

The Disir are practically impossible to kill. Just make sure that ice

doesn t melt anytime soon.

I ll drive it to the Seine one evening and drop it in the river. With luck

it won t thaw till Rouen.

What are you going to tell the police Nicholas waved a hand at the

devastation about all this?

Gas explosion? Saint-Germain suggested.

Lame, Flamel said with a smile, remembering what the twins had said when

he d made the same suggestion.

Lame?

Very lame.

Then I think I just came home and found it like this, he said, and it s

close enough to the truth. I ve no idea how it happened. He suddenly grinned

mischievously. I could sell the story and pictures to one of the tabloids.

Mysterious Forces Destroy Rock Star s House.

Everyone would think it was a publicity stunt.

Yes, they would, wouldn't they? And you know what: I just happen to have a

new album out. It ll be great advertising.

The kitchen door opened and Sophie and Joan walked into the room. They had

both changed into jeans and sweatshirts and were wearing matching backpacks.

I m going with them, Joan said before Saint-Germain could ask the question

that had started to form on his lips. They ll need a guide and a bodyguard.

Would it be worth my while arguing with you? the count asked.

No.

Didn't think so. He hugged his wife. Please be careful, be very careful.

If Machiavelli or Dee is prepared to bring the Disir and Nidhogg into the

city, then they are desperate. And desperate men do stupid things.

Yes, Flamel said simply. Yes, they do. And stupid men make mistakes.