The Magician

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

D r. John Dee leaned across the backseat of the police car. Turn here, he

said to Josh. He saw the expression on the young man s face and added,

Please.

Josh hit the brakes and the car slid and screeched, the front tire now

completely torn away and the wheel running on the metal rim, kicking up

sparks.

Now here. Dee pointed to a narrow alleyway lined on both sides with rows of

plastic trash cans. Watching him in the rearview mirror, Josh could see that

he kept twisting in the seat to look behind him.

Is she following? Machiavelli asked.

I can't see her, Dee said crisply, but I think we need to get off the

streets.

Josh struggled to control the car. We won't get much farther in this, he

began, and then hit the first trash can, which toppled into a second and then

a third, scattering rubbish across the alley. He turned the steering wheel

sharply to avoid running over one of the fallen bins and the engine began to

bang alarmingly. The car wobbled and then suddenly stopped, smoke billowing

from the hood. Out, Josh said quickly. I think we re on fire. He

scrambled out of the car, Machiavelli and Dee exiting on the other side. Then

they turned and ran down the alley, away from the car. They had taken perhaps

half a dozen steps when there was a dull thump and the car burst into flames.

Thick black smoke began spiraling upward into the sky.

Wonderful, Dee said bitterly. So now the Disir definitely knows where we

are. And she s not going to be happy.

Well, not with you, that s for sure, Machiavelli said with a wry smile.

Me? Dee looked surprised.

I m not the one who set fire to her, Machiavelli reminded him.

It was like listening to children. Enough, already! Josh rounded on the two

men. Who was that that woman?

That, Machiavelli said with a grim smile, was a Valkyrie.

A Valkyrie?

Sometimes called a Disir.

A Disir? Josh found that he wasn't even surprised by the response. He

didn't care what the woman was called; all he cared about was that she d

tried to slice him in two with a sword. Maybe this was a dream, he thought

suddenly, and everything that had happened from the moment Dee and the Golems

had stepped into the bookshop was nothing more than a nightmare. And then he

moved his right arm and his bruised shoulder protested. He winced in pain.

The skin on his burned face felt tight and stiff, and when he licked his dry,

cracked lips, he realized that this was no dream. He was wide awake this was

a living nightmare.

Josh stepped back from the two men. He looked up and down the narrow alley.

There were tall houses on one side, and what looked like a hotel was on the

other. The walls were daubed with layers of cursive and ornate graffiti, some

of which had even been sprayed onto the trash cans. Standing on his toes, he

tried to see the skyline, looking for the Eiffel Tower or Sacre -Coeur,

something to give him an idea where he was. I ve got to get back, he said,

edging farther from the two disheveled men. According to Flamel, they were

the enemy especially Dee. And yet Dee had just saved him from the Disir.

Dee turned to look at him, gray eyes twinkling kindly. Why, Josh, where are

you going?

Back to my sister.

And Flamel and Saint-Germain too? Tell me; what are they going to do for

you?

Josh took another step backward. He had seen Dee throw spears of fire on two

occasions in the bookshop and at the Disir and he was unsure how far the

Magician could actually toss them. Not far, he figured. Another step or two

and he would turn and run down the alleyway. He could stop the first person

he met and ask directions to the Eiffel Tower. He thought the French for

where is? was o est? or maybe it was qui est? Or did that mean who

is? He shook his head slightly, regretting not having paid attention in

French class. don't try and stop me, he began, turning away.

What did it feel like? Dee asked suddenly.

Josh slowly turned to look at the Magician. He knew instantly what he was

talking about. He found that his fingers had automatically curled, as if he

were holding the hilt of a sword.

What was it like holding Clarent, feeling that raw power running through

you? What was it like knowing the thoughts and emotions of the creature you d

just stabbed? Dee reached under his tattered suit coat and pulled out

Clarent's twin: Excalibur. It is an awe-inspiring feeling, is it not? He

turned the blade in his hand, a blue-black trickle of energy shivering across

the stone sword. I know you must have experienced Nidhogg s

thoughts emotions memories?

Josh nodded. They were still fresh startlingly vivid in his head. The

thoughts, the sights, were so alien, so bizarre, that he knew he d never have

been able to imagine them himself.

For an instant you knew what it was to be godlike: to see worlds beyond

imagination, to experience alien emotions. You saw the past, the very distant

past you might even have seen Nidhogg s Shadowrealm.

Josh nodded slowly, wondering how Dee knew.

The Magician took a step closer to the boy. For an instant, Josh, the merest

instant, it was like being Awakened though nowhere near as intense, he added

quickly. And you do want to have your powers Awakened?

Josh nodded. He felt breathless, his heart hammering in his chest. Dee was

right; in those moments he d held Clarent, he d felt alive, truly alive. But

it can t be done, he said quickly.

Dee laughed. Oh yes, it can. It can be done here, today, he finished

triumphantly.

But Flamel said , Josh began, and then stopped, realizing what he d just

said. If he could be Awakened

Flamel says many things. I doubt even he knows what is the truth anymore.

Do you? Josh snapped.

Always. Dee jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Machiavelli. The Italian

is no friend of mine, he said quietly, staring directly into Josh s troubled

eyes. So ask him the question: ask him if your powers could be Awakened this

very morning.

Josh turned to regard Niccol Machiavelli. The tall white-haired man looked

vaguely troubled, but he nodded in agreement. The English Magician is

correct: your powers could be Awakened today. I imagine we could probably

find someone to do it within the hour.

Smiling triumphantly, Dee turned back to Josh. It s your choice. So, give me

your answer do you want to go back to Flamel and his vague promises, or do

you want to have your powers Awakened?

Even as he was turning to follow the black threads of dark energy that

drifted off Excalibur s stone blade, Josh knew the answer. He remembered the

feelings, the emotions, the power, that had coursed through his body when

he d held Clarent. And Dee had said those feelings were nowhere near as

intense as being Awakened.

I need an answer, Dee said.

Josh Newman took a deep breath. What do I have to do?