somewhere.
Flamel coughed discreetly. Madame Endor
Call me Dora, the old woman snapped.
Dora. Are you aware what happened in Hekate's Shadowrealm earlier today? He
had never met the Witch before he knew her only by reputation but he knew she
needed to be treated with the utmost caution. She was the legendary Elder who
had left Danu Talis to live with and teach the humani centuries before the
island sank beneath the waves. It was believed that she had created the first
humani alphabet in ancient Sumeria.
Get me a chair, Dora said to no one in particular. Sophie pulled up the
chair she d been sitting on and Scatty eased her grandmother into it. The old
woman leaned forward, both hands resting on the top of her white cane. I
know what happened. I m sure every Elder on this continent felt her death.
She saw their looks of shocked surprise. You didn't know? She turned her
head sideways and stared into a mirror, directly facing Scatty. Hekate is
dead and her Shadowrealm is no more. I understand an Elder, one of the Next
Generation and an immortal human were responsible for her death. Hekate will
need to be avenged. Not now, and maybe not soon: but she was family, and I
owe her that. See to it. Scatty bowed.
The Witch of Endor had delivered the death sentence calmly, and Flamel
suddenly realized that this woman was even more dangerous than he had
imagined.
Dora turned her face in another direction and Flamel found himself looking at
her reflection in an ornate silver-framed mirror. She tapped the glass. I
saw what happened this morning a month ago.
And you didn't warn Hekate! Scatty exclaimed.
I watched one thread of a possible-future. One of many. In some of the
others, Hekate killed Bastet and the Morrigan slew Dee. In another, Hekate
killed you, Mr. Flamel, and was in turn killed by Scathach. All versions of
the future. Today I discovered which came to pass. She looked around the
room, turning her face from mirror to polished vase to picture-frame glass.
So I know why you re here, I know what you want me to do. And I ve thought
long and hard about my response. I ve had a month to think about it.
What about us? Sophie asked. Were we in your threads?
Yes, in some, the Witch said.
What happened to us in the others? The question was out of Josh s mouth
before he had time to think about it. He
answer.
Dee and his Golems or the rats and birds killed you in most of the threads.
You crashed the car in others. You died with the Awakening or fell with the
Shadowrealm.
Josh swallowed hard. We only survived in one thread?
Just one.
That'snot good, is it? he whispered.
No, the Witch of Endor stated flatly. Not good at all. There was a long
pause while Dora looked sidelong into the polished surface of a silver pot.
Then she spoke suddenly. First you should know that I cannot Awaken the boy.
That must be left to others.
Josh looked up quickly. There are others who could Awaken me?
The Witch of Endor ignored him. The girl has one of the purest silver auras
I ve encountered in many an age. She needs to be taught some spells of
personal protection if she is to survive the rest of the Awakening process.
The fact that she s still sane and whole these many hours later is testament
to her strength of will. Her head tilted back and Sophie caught the old
woman s face looking at her from a mirror suspended from the ceiling. This I
will do.
Thank you, Nicholas Flamel'said with a deep sigh. I know how difficult the
last few hours have been for her.
Josh found that he could not look at his sister. There was
Awakening. Did that mean she would have to suffer more pain? It was
heartbreaking.
Scathach knelt by her grandmother s chair and laid a hand on her arm. Gran,
Dee and his masters are chasing the two missing pages from the Codex, she
said. I would imagine that by now they know or at least suspect that Sophie
and Josh are the twins mentioned in the Book of Abraham.
Dora nodded. Dee knows.
Scathach stole a glance at Flamel. Then he knows that not only does he have
to retrieve the pages, but he has to either capture or kill the twins.
He knows that, too, Dora confirmed.
And if Dee succeeds, then this world ends? Scathach said, turning the
simple sentence into a question.
The world has ended before, the Witch answered, smiling. I m sure it will
end many times before the sun turns black.
You know that Dee intends to bring back the Dark Elders?
I know.
The Codex says that the Dark Elders can only be stopped by Silver and Gold,
Scatty continued.
The Codex also says, if my memory serves me true, that apples are poisonous
and frogs Can'turn into princes. You don't want to believe everything you
read in that Codex, the witch snapped.
Flamel had read the piece in the Codex about apples. He thought it was
possibly referring to apple seeds, which were indeed poisonous if you ate
several pounds of them. He hadn't come across the section about frogs and
princes, though he d read the Book hundreds of times. There were countless
questions he wanted to ask the Witch, but that wasn't the reason they were
there. Dora, will you teach Sophie the principles of Air magic? She needs to
learn enough to at least be able to protect herself from attack.
Dora shrugged and smiled. Do I have a choice?
Flamel had not been expecting that answer. Of course you have a choice.
The Witch of Endor shook her head. Not this time. She reached up and took
off her dark glasses. Scatty didn't move, and only the muscle twitching in
Flamel's jaw betrayed his surprise. The twins, however, backed away in
horror, their faces registering their shock. The Witch of Endor had no eyes.
There were just hollow empty sockets where eyes should have been, and nestled
in the sockets were perfect ovals of reflective glass. Those mirrors turned
directly to the twins. I gave up my eyes for the Sight, the ability to see
the patterns of time time past, present and possible-future. There are many
patterns, many versions of possible-future, though not so many as people
think. In the past few years, the patterns have been coming together, weaving
