scents of vanilla ice cream and oranges. I m afraid that when you helped
Perenelle and me, you placed yourselves in the most dreadful danger. If
Hekate Awakens your magical potential, I will teach you some protective
spells, and there are others I will take you to, specialists in the five
ancient forms of magic. I m hoping they will complete your training.
We re going to be trained as magicians? Sophie asked. She guessed she
should be more excited, but she kept remembering Scatty s words, that once
Hekate Awakened their powers, they would be in
As magicians and sorcerers, as necromancers, warlocks and even enchanters.
Flamel'smiled. He glanced over his shoulder, then turned back to the twins.
Now go inside and do whatever she tells you. I know you are afraid, but try
not to be. Let me tell you, there is no shame in fear. He smiled, his lips
curling upward, but the smile never reached his troubled eyes. When you come
out of that room, you will be different people.
I don't want to be a different person, Sophie whispered. She wanted
everything to be just as it had been a couple of hours earlier, when
everything was ordinary and boring. Right now, she would give anything to go
back to a boring world.
Flamel'stepped back from the doorway and ushered the twins inside. From the
moment you laid eyes on Dee, you started to change. And once begun, change
cannot be reversed.
It was dark inside the chamber, whose walls were composed entirely of knotted
and twisted roots. Sophie could feel her brother s hand in hers and she
squeezed his fingers slightly. His hand tightened in return.
As the twins moved deep into the hollow, which was obviously larger than it
had first seemed, their eyes gradually adjusted to the gloom and the room
took on a greenish glow. Thick, furry moss covered the twisted roots and
radiated a watery jade green light, making it appear as if everything were
underwater. The air was heavy with moisture, and drops of liquid gathered on
their hair and skin like tiny beads of sweat. Although it wasn't cold, they
both shivered.
You should consider yourselves honored. Hekate's voice came from the green
gloom directly ahead of them. I have not Awakened a humani for many
generations.
Who , Josh began, and then his voice cracked. He gave a dry cough and tried
again. Who was the last human you Awakened? He was determined not to let
his fear show.
It was some time ago in the twelfth century, as you humani measure time a
man from the land of the Scots. I do not remember his name.
Both Sophie and Josh instinctively knew that Hekate was lying.
What happened to him? Sophie asked.
He died. There was a peculiar high-pitched giggle. He was killed by a
hailstone.
Must have been some hailstone, Josh whispered.
Oh, it was, Hekate murmured. And in that moment, they both knew that she
had something to do with the mysterious man s death. To Josh the goddess
suddenly seemed like a vindictive child.
So what happens now? Josh asked. Do we stand or sit or lie down?
You do nothing, Hekate'snapped, and this is not something to be done
lightly. For thousands of generations, you humani have deliberately distanced
yourselves from what you laughingly call magic. But magic is really only the
utilization of the entire spectrum of the senses. The humani have cut
themselves off from their senses. Now they see only in a tiny portion of the
visible spectrum, hear only the loudest of sounds, their sense of smell is
shockingly poor and they can only distinguish the sweetest and sourest of
tastes.
The twins were aware that Hekate was moving about them now. They couldn t
hear her move, but were able to track her by the sound of her voice. When she
spoke from behind them, they both jumped.
Once, mankind needed all those senses simply to survive. There was a long
pause, and when she spoke again, she was so close that her breath ruffled
Sophie s hair. Then the world changed. Danu Talis sank beneath the waves,
the Age of the Lizards passed, the Time of Ice came, and the humani
grew
indolent and arrogant. They found they did not need all their senses, and
gradually, they lost them.
You re saying we lost the powers of magic because we grew lazy, Josh said.
Sophie suppressed a groan; one of these days her brother was going to get
them into real trouble.
But when Hekate replied, her voice was surprisingly soft, almost gentle.
What you call magic is nothing more than an act of the imagination fired by
the senses, then given shape by the power of your aura. The more powerful the
aura, the greater the magic. You two have extraordinary potential within you.
The Alchemyst is correct: you could be the greatest magicians the world has
ever known. But here s the problem, Hekate continued, and now the room grew
a little lighter, and they could see the shape of the woman standing in the
center of the room, directly beneath a tangle of roots that looked exactly
like a clutching hand reaching down from the roof. The humani have learned
to live without their senses. The brain filters so much data from your
consciousness that you live in a type of fog. What I can do is Awaken your
dormant powers, but the danger the very real danger is that it will overload
your senses. She stopped, then asked, Are you prepared to take that risk?
I am, Sophie said immediately, before her brother could protest. She was
afraid that if he made a quip, the goddess would do something to him.
Something ugly and lethal.
The goddess turned to look at Josh.
He sought out his sister in the gloom. The green light lent her face a sickly
cast. The Awakening was going to be dangerous, possibly even deadly, but he
could not allow Sophie to go through it on her own. I m ready, he said
defiantly.
Then we will begin.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
