most important thing I can do for this world.
Flamel'says the Elders the Dark Elders, he calls them would destroy the
world.
Dee shrugged. Believe me when I tell you that he s lying to you. The Elders
would be able to change this world for the better . Dee s fingers moved in
the water, the ripples languid and mesmerizing. Startled, Josh saw images
forming in the water, the pictures matching Dee s soothing words. In the
ancient past, the earth was a paradise. It had an incredibly advanced
technology, but the air was clean, the water pure, the seas unpolluted.
There was a rippling image of an island set under cloudless azure skies.
Endless fields of golden wheat marched into the distance. Trees were laden
with an assortment of exotic fruit.
Not only did the Elder Race shape this world, they even nudged a primitive
hominid on the road to evolution. But the Elders were driven out from this
paradise by the foolish superstition of the mad Abraham and the spells in the
Codex. The Elders did not die it takes a lot to kill one of the Elder
Race they simply waited. They knew that someday mankind would come to its
senses and call them back to save the earth.
Josh could not take his eyes off the sparkling water. Much of what Dee said
sounded plausible.
If we can bring them back, the Elders have the powers and the abilities to
reshape this world. They can make the deserts bloom .
An image formed in the water: huge windblown desert dunes turning green with
lush grass.
Another image appeared. Josh was looking at the earth from space, just like
Google Earth. A huge swirl of dense cloud had formed over the Gulf of Mexico,
heading toward Texas. They can control the weather, Dee said, and the storm
dissipated.
Dee s fingers moved and there appeared the unmistakable image of a hospital
ward with a long row of empty beds.
And they can cure disease. Remember, these beings were worshipped as gods
because of their powers. And these are the ones Flamel is trying to stop us
from bringing back to the world.
It took Josh an age to form the single-word question. Why? He couldn t work
out why Flamel would want to prevent such obvious advances.
Because he has masters, Elders like Hekate and the Witch of Endor, for
example, who want the world to dissolve into chaos and anarchy. When that
happens, they can come out of the shadows and declare themselves the rulers
of the earth. Dee shook his head sadly. It pains me to say this, but Flamel
does not care about you, nor does he care about your sister. He put her in
terrible danger today simply to roughly Awaken her powers. The Elders I work
with take three days to bring someone through the Awakening ceremony.
Three days, Josh mumbled. Flamel'said there was no one else in North
America who could Awaken me. He didn't want to believe Dee and yet
everything the man said sounded so
Another lie. My Elders could Awaken you. And they would do it properly and
safely. It is, after all, such a dangerous process.
Dee got up slowly and walked around to crouch beside Josh, bringing his eyes
level with the boy s face. Fog was beginning to thicken and swirl around the
fountain, shifting and eddying as he moved. Dee s voice was silky smooth, a
gentle monotone exactly in sync with the rippling water. What s your name?
Josh.
Josh, Dee echoed, where is Nicholas Flamel now?
Even in his drowsy state, an alarm bell very faint and very, very
distant went off in Josh s head. He couldn t trust Dee, he
Dee and yet so much of what he said had the ring of truth to it.
Where is he, Josh? Dee persisted.
Josh started to shake his head. Even though he believed Dee everything he
said made perfect sense he wanted to talk to Sophie first, he needed to get
her advice and opinion.
Tell me. Dee lifted Josh s limp hand and placed it in the pool. Ripples
spun out from it. They settled into the image of a small antiques shop filled
with glassware, directly across the road from Libbey Park. Grinning
triumphantly, Dee came to his feet and whirled around, staring across the
road as he activated his senses.
He located their auras immediately.
The green of Flamel, the gray of Scathach, Endor s brown and the girl s pure
silver. He had them and this time there would be no mistakes, no escape.
You sit here and enjoy the pretty pictures, Dee murmured, patting Josh on
the shoulder. The water bloomed with exotic, fractal-like patterns,
mesmerizing and hypnotic. I'll be back for you shortly. Then, without
moving a muscle, he called in his waiting army.
Abruptly, the fog thickened and darkened, stinking of rotten eggs and
something else: dust and dry earth, damp and mold.
And horror descended on Ojai.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
he pulled open the door of the small shop, grimacing in annoyance as the bell
jangled merrily.
The sun had dipped below the horizon while the Witch worked with Sophie, and
a chill fog had rolled down the valley. It swirled and rolled the length of
Ojai Avenue, curling and twisting through the trees, leaving everything it
touched beaded with moisture. Cars crept along, their headlights outlined in
huge halos of light barely able to penetrate the gloom. The street was
completely deserted; the people outside had all been dressed for summer
weather and had fled indoors away from the damp.
Scatty joined Flamel at the door. She carried a short sword in one hand, a
nunchaku in the other, dangling loosely on its chain. This is not good, not
good at all. She breathed deeply. Smell that?
Flamel nodded. Sulfur. The odor of Dee.
Scatty rattled the nunchaku. He s really starting to annoy me.
Somewhere in the distance there was a metallic bang as two cars collided. A
car alarm echoed forlornly behind them. And there was a scream, high-pitched
and terrifying, and then another and another.
