ever closer. Now there are only a few possible futures. Most of them are
terrifying, she added grimly. And they are all linked to you two. Her hand
moved unswervingly to point to Sophie and Josh. So what choice do I have?
This is my world too. I was here before the humani, I gave them fire and
language. I'll not abandon'them now. I'll train the girl, teach her how to
protect herself and instill in her how to control the magic of Air.
Thank you, Sophie said carefully into the long silence that followed.
Do not thank me. This is not a gift. What I give you is a curse!
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
words ringing in his ears. You have to leave. What I teach is not for the
ears of a humani.
Looking around the room, at Flamel and Scatty and finally his twin sister,
Josh had suddenly realized that he was the last pure human in the room.
Obviously, in the Witch of Endor s eyes, Sophie was no longer entirely human.
No problem. I'll wait , he began, voice suddenly cracking. He coughed and
tried again. I'll wait in the park across the road. And then, without a
backward glance, he left the shop, the jangling of the bell mocking him as he
closed the door.
But it was a problem. A huge problem.
Sophie Newman watched her brother leave the shop, and even without her
Awakened senses, she knew he was upset and angry. She wanted to stop him, to
go after him, but Scatty was standing in front of her, eyes wide in warning,
finger raised to her lips, the tiniest shake of her head warning Sophie to
say nothing. Catching her shoulder, Scatty led her to stand in front of the
Witch of Endor. The old woman raised her hands and ran surprisingly gentle
fingers over the contours of Sophie s face. The girl s aura shivered and
fizzed with each gentle touch.
How old are you now? she asked.
Fifteen. Well, fifteen and a half. Sophie wasn't sure if the half year made
a difference.
Fifteen and a half, Dora said, shaking her head. I Can't remember back
that far. She dipped her chin, then tilted it toward Scatty. Can you
remember back to when you were fifteen?
Vividly, Scathach said grimly. wasn't that about the time I visited you in
Babylon and you tried to marry me off to King Nebuchadnezzar?
I m sure you re wrong, Dora said happily. I think that was later. Though
he would have made an excellent husband, she added. She looked up at Sophie
and the girl found herself reflected in the mirrors that were the Witch s
eyes. There are two things I must teach you. To protect yourself that is
simplicity itself. But instructing you in the magic of Air is a little
trickier. The last time I instructed a humani in Air magic, it took him sixty
years to master the basics, and even then he fell out of the sky on his first
flight.
Sixty years. Sophie swallowed. Did that mean she was destined to spend a
lifetime trying to control this power?
Gran, we haven t got that sort of time. I doubt we've even got sixty
minutes.
Dora glared into a mirror and her reflection looked out from the glass of an
empty picture frame. So why don't you do this, you re such an expert, eh?
don't Gran me in that tone of voice, Dora said warningly. I'll do this
my way.
We don't have time to do it the traditional way.
don't talk to me about tradition. What do the young know about tradition?
Trust me, when I m finished, Sophie will know all that I know about the
elemental Air magic. She turned back to Sophie. First things first: are
your parents alive?
Yes, she said, blinking in surprise, not sure where this was going.
Good. And you talk to your mother?
Yes, almost every day.
Dora glanced sideways at Scatty. You hear that? Almost every day. She took
one of Sophie s hands in hers and patted the back of it. Maybe you should be
teaching Scathach a thing or two. And have you a grandmother?
My Nana, yes, my father s mother. I usually call her on Fridays, she added,
realizing with a guilty start that today was Friday and that Nana Newman
would be expecting a call.
Every Friday, the Witch of Endor said significantly, and looked at Scatty
again, but the Warrior deliberately turned away and concentrated on an ornate
glass paperweight. She put it down when she saw that there was a tiny man in
a three-piece suit frozen inside the glass. He had a briefcase in one hand
and a sheaf of papers in the other. His eyes were still blinking.
This will not hurt, the Witch said.
Sophie doubted it could be any worse than what she d already gone through.
Her nose wrinkled at the odor of burnt wood, and she felt a cool breeze wash
over her hands. She looked down. A gossamer-thin white spiderweb was twisting
and spinning from the Witch of Endor s fingers and wrapping itself like a
bandage around each of Sophie s fingers. It curled across her palm,
completely covering it, then wrapped around her wrist and crept up her arm.
She realized then that the Witch had been distracting her with her questions.
Sophie looked into the Witch s mirrored eyes and found that she could not put
her questions into words. It was as if she had lost the ability to speak. She
was also surprised that instead of feeling frightened, from the moment the
Witch had taken her hand, a wave of peace and calm had washed through her
body. She glanced sideways at Scatty and Flamel. They were watching the
process, wide-eyed with shock and, in Scathach s case, with something like
horror on her face.
Gran are you sure about this? Scathach demanded.
Of course I m sure, the old woman snapped, a note of anger in her voice.
And even though the Witch of Endor was speaking to Scathach, Sophie could
hear her voice in her head, talking to her, whispering ancient secrets,
murmuring archaic spells, divulging a lifetime of knowledge in the space of
heartbeats and breaths.
This is not a spiderweb, Dora explained to a stunned and silent Flamel,
