Anything!
A mummified arm shot out of the fog and cracked her across the shoulder. It
was like being hit by a wet towel.
Fear, revulsion and anger lent her strength. Right at that moment, however,
she couldn t remember anything the Witch had taught her, but then her
instincts or maybe the Witch s imparted knowledge took over. She deliberately
allowed her anger to surge into her aura. Abruptly, the air was filled with
the richness of creamy vanilla as Sophie s aura blazed pure silver. Bringing
the palm of her right hand up to her face, she blew into her cupped fingers,
then tossed the captured breath into the middle of the dead. A six-foot-tall
whirlwind, a miniature twister, appeared, growing up out of the ground. It
sucked the dead nearest to it into its core, grinding and shattering the
bones, then spitting out the splintered remains. Sophie threw a second and
then a third ball of air. The three twisters danced and moved among the
skeletons and mummies, cutting a swath of destruction through them. She found
she could direct the twisters by simply looking in a particular direction,
and they would obediently drift that way.
Suddenly, Dee s voice echoed out of the fog. Do you like my army, Nicholas?
The fog flattened the sound, making it impossible to locate. The last time I
was in Ojai oh, over a hundred years ago I discovered a marvelous little
graveyard just below the Three Sisters Peaks. The town it was built alongside
is long gone, but the graves and their contents remain.
Flamel was fighting frantically as fists punched, fingernails scratched, feet
kicked. There was no real strength to the skeletons blows or the mummies
slaps, but what they lacked in force they made up for in numbers. There were
simply too many of them. There was a bruise beginning to darken beneath his
eye and a long scratch on the back of his hand. Scatty moved around Sophie,
defending her while she controlled the whirlwinds.
I don't know how long that graveyard was in use. A couple of hundred years,
certainly. I ve no idea how many corpses it holds. Hundreds, maybe even
thousands. And, Nicholas, I ve called them all.
Where is he? Flamel'said through gritted teeth. He s got to be close very
close to be able to control this number of corpses. I need to know where he
is to do anything.
Sophie felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her, and suddenly, one of the
twisters wobbled and then vanished. The two that remained were weaving from
side to side as Sophie s physical strength ebbed. Another died, and the one
that remained was rapidly losing power. This exhaustion was the price of
performing magic, she realized. But she needed to keep going for just a
little longer; she had to find her brother.
we've got to get out of here. Scathach caught Sophie and held her upright.
The skeletal dead surged forward, and Scatty beat them back with neat,
precise movements of her sword.
Josh, Sophie whispered tiredly. Where s Josh? we've got to find Josh.
The fog robbed Dee s voice of much of its emotion, but the glee in his tone
was evident when he said, And do you know what else I discovered? These
mountains have been luring creatures other than humans for the past
millennia. The land here is littered with bones. Hundreds of bones. And
remember, Nicholas, I am, first and foremost, a necromancer.
The bear that loomed up out of the gray fogbank was at least eight feet tall.
And even though patches of fur remained on its skeleton, it was clear that it
had died a long time before. The snow-white bones only emphasized its huge
daggerlike claws.
Behind the bear, the skeleton of a saber-toothed tiger appeared. And then a
cougar, and another bear smaller this time, and not quite as decomposed.
A word from me stops them, Dee s voice boomed. I want the pages of the
Codex.
No, Flamel'said grimly. Where is he? Where is he hiding?
Where s my brother? Sophie called desperately, and then screamed as a dead
hand wrapped itself in her hair. Scathach chopped it off at the wrist, but it
still hung tangled in her hair like a bizarre hair clip. What have you done
with my brother?
You brother is considering his options. Yours is not the only side in this
battle. And now, since I have the boy, all I need are the pages.
Never.
The bear and the tiger charged through the crowd of bodies, brushing them
aside, trampling them in their eagerness to get to the trio. The
saber-toothed tiger reached them first. Its gleaming skeletal head was
massive, and the two downward-jutting teeth were at least eight inches long.
Flamel placed himself between Sophie and the creature.
Hand over the pages, Nicholas, or I will loose these undead beasts on the
town.
Nicholas frantically hunted through his memory for a spell that would stop
the creature. He bitterly regretted now not studying more magic. He snapped
his fingers and a tiny bubble of light popped onto the ground in front of the
tiger.
Is that all you can manage, Nicholas? My, you re weakening.
The bubble burst and spread across the ground in a cool emerald stain.
He s close enough to see us, Nicholas said. All I need is one glimpse of
him.
The skeletal tiger s massive right front paw stepped into the green light.
And stuck. It attempted to lift its leg, but thick strands of sticky green
threads connected it to the road. And now its left paw stepped into the light
and stuck.
Not quite so weak, eh, Dee? Flamel'shouted.
But the press of bodies behind the saber-toothed tiger kept pushing it
forward. Suddenly, its bony legs snapped off, sending the huge beast lunging
forward. Flamel managed to throw up his arms before the monster collapsed on
top of him, jaw gaping, teeth wide and savage.
Good-bye, Nicholas Flamel, Dee called. I'll just take the pages from your
body.
No, Sophie whispered. No, it was not going to end like this. She had been
Awakened, and the Witch of Endor had imbued her with all her knowledge. There
had to be something she could do. Sophie opened her mouth and screamed, her
aura blazing with silver incandescence.
