dangling in the air. You leave a trail. He huffed a breath at the green
smoke and it curled away and disappeared.
Are you saying we smell? Josh demanded.
Flamel nodded. You smell of wild magic. You caught a whiff of it earlier
today when Hekate touched you both. What did you smell then?
Oranges, Josh said.
Vanilla ice cream, Sophie replied.
And earlier still, when Dee and I fought: what did you smell then?
Mint and rotten eggs, Josh said immediately.
Every magician has his or her own distinctive odor; rather like a magical
fingerprint. You must learn to heed your senses. Humans use but a tiny
percentage of theirs. They barely look, they rarely listen, they never smell,
and they think that they can only experience feelings through their skin. But
they talk, oh, do they talk. That makes up for the lack of use of their other
senses. When you return to your own world, you will be able to recognize
people who have some taint of magical energy. He cut out a neat cube of
apple and popped it into his mouth. You may notice a peculiar scent, you
might even taste it or see it as a shimmer around their bodies.
How long will the feeling last? Sophie asked, curious. She reached out and
took a cherry. It was the size of a small tomato. Will it fade?
Flamel'shook his head. It will never fade. On the contrary, it will get
stronger. You have to realize that nothing will ever be the same for either
of you from this day forth.
Josh bit into an apple with a satisfying crunch. Juice ran onto his chin.
You make that sound like a bad thing, he said with a grin, wiping his mouth
with his sleeve.
Flamel was about to respond, but glanced up and suddenly came to his feet.
Scathach also rose smoothly, silently. Sophie immediately stood, but Josh
remained sitting until Sophie caught his shoulder and pulled him up. Then she
turned to look at the Goddess with Three Faces.
But this wasn't Hekate.
The woman she had seen earlier had been tall and elegant, middle-aged maybe,
her hair cut in a tight white helmet close to her head, her black skin smooth
and unwrinkled. This woman was older, much, much older. The resemblance to
Hekate was there, and Sophie guessed that this was her mother or grandmother.
Although she was still tall, she stooped forward, picking her way around the
branch, leaning into an ornately carved black stick that was at least as tall
as Sophie. Her face was a mass of fine wrinkles, her eyes deeply sunken in
her head, glittering with a peculiar yellow cast. She was completely bald,
and Sophie could see where her skull was tattooed in an intricate curling
pattern. Although she was wearing a dress similar to the one Hekate had worn
earlier, the metallic-looking fabric ran black and red with her every
movement.
Sophie blinked, squeezed her eyes shut and then blinked again. She could see
the merest hint of an aura around the woman, almost as if she were exuding a
fine white mist. When she moved, she left tendrils of this mist behind her.
Without acknowledging anyone s presence, the old woman settled into the seat
directly facing Nicholas Flamel. Only when she was seated did Flamel and
Scathach sit. Sophie and Josh sat down also, glancing from Nicholas to the
old woman, wondering who she was and what was going on.
The woman raised a wooden goblet from the table, but didn't drink. There was
movement in the trunk of the tree behind her, and four tall, muscular young
men appeared, carrying trays piled high with food, which they set down in the
center of the table before backing away silently. The men looked so alike
that they had to be related, but it was their faces that drew the twins
attention: there was something
skulls. Foreheads sloped down to a ridge over their eyes, their noses were
short and splayed, their cheekbones pronounced, and their chins receded
sharply. The hint of yellow teeth was visible behind thin lips. The men were
bare-chested and barefoot, wearing only leather kilts, onto which rectangular
plates of metal had been sewn. And their chests, legs and heads were covered
with coarse red hair.
Sophie suddenly realized that she was staring, and deliberately turned away.
The men looked like some breed of primitive hominid, but she knew the
differences between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon, and her father had plaster
skulls of
men were none of those. And then she noticed that their eyes were blue:
bright blue, and incredibly intelligent-looking.
They re Torc Allta, she said, and then froze in surprise when everyone
turned to look at her. She hadn't realized she had spoken aloud.
Josh, who d been staring suspiciously at what might have been a chunk of fish
he d forked out of a big bowl of stew, glanced at the backs of the four young
men. I knew that, he said casually.
Sophie kicked him under the table. You did not, she muttered. You were too
busy checking out the food.
I m hungry, he said, then leaned across to his twin. It was the red hair
and piggy noses that gave it away, he murmured. I thought you d realized
that.
It would be a mistake to let them hear you say that, Nicholas Flamel
interrupted quietly. It would also be a mistake to judge by appearances or
to comment on what you see. In this time, in this place, different standards,
different criteria apply. Here words can kill literally.
Or get you killed, Scathach added. She had piled her plate high with an
assortment of vegetables, only some of which were familiar to the twins. She
nodded in the direction of the tree. But you are right: they are Torc Allta
in their humani form. Probably the finest warriors of any time, she said.
They will accompany you when you leave here, the old woman said suddenly,
her voice surprisingly strong coming from such a frail-looking body.
Flamel bowed. We will be honored by their presence.
don't be, the old woman snapped. They ll not accompany you solely for your
protection: they re to ensure that you really do leave my realm. She spread
her long-fingered hands on the table, and Sophie noticed that her fingernails
were each painted a different color. Strangely, the pattern was identical to
the one she d noticed on Hekate's nails earlier. You cannot stay here, the
woman announced abruptly. You must go.
The twins glanced at each other; why was she being so rude?
Scathach opened her mouth to speak, but Flamel reached over and squeezed her
arm. That was always our intention, he said smoothly. The late-afternoon
sunlight slanting through the trees dappled his face, turning his pale eyes
