01_-_The_Alchemyst

Others, like the Dark Elders, want a return to the old ways, and work through
agents like Dee to make it happen.”
“And what about you?” Josh demanded. “Do you want to return to these
old ways?”
“I never thought they were that great,” she said, then added, “especially
for the humani.”
They found Nicholas Flamel sitting outside on a raised wooden deck set
into a branch of the tree. Growing horizontally from the tree trunk, the branch
was at least ten feet across, and sloped down to plunge into the earth close to
a crescent-shaped pool. Walking across the branch, Sophie glanced down
and was startled to see that beneath the green weeds that curled and twisted
in the pool, tiny almost-human faces peered upward, mouths and eyes open
wide. On the deck, five high-backed chairs were arranged around a circular
table, which was set with beautifully hand-carved wooden bowls and elegant
wooden cups and goblets. Warm, rough-cut bread and thick slices of hard
cheese were arranged on platters, and there were two huge bowls of fruit—
apples, oranges and enormous cherries—in the center of the table. The
Alchemyst was carefully slicing the skin off an emerald green apple with a
triangular sliver of black stone that looked like an arrowhead. Sophie noticed
that he had arranged the green skin into shapes that resembled letters.
Scatty slid into the seat beside the Alchemyst. “Is Hekate not joining
us?” she asked, picking up a piece of cut skin and chewing on it.
“I believe she is changing for dinner,” Flamel said, slicing off another
curl of skin to replace the piece Scatty was chewing. He looked over at
Sophie and Josh. “Sit, please. Our hostess will join us shortly and then we’ll
eat. You must be exhausted,” he added.
“I am tired,” Sophie admitted. She’d become aware of the exhaustion a
little earlier, and now she could barely keep her eyes open. She was also a
little frightened, realizing that the tiredness was caused by the magic of the
place feeding off her energy.