01_-_The_Alchemyst

The Alchemyst knew that everyone had the possibility for magic within
them. Once it had been sparked into life, it tended to become increasingly
powerful of its own accord. Sometimes—very rarely—children suddenly
exhibited extraordinary powers, usually either telepathy or telekinesis or a
combination of both. Some children realized what was happening and
managed to control their growing powers, while others never fully
understood it. Left untrained and unchecked, magical energy radiated off the
children in waves, moving furniture around, knocking people to the ground,
gouging marks in walls and ceilings. This was often reported as poltergeist
activity. He knew that if Hekate Awakened the twins’ dormant magical
powers, then he could use what he had learned over six hundred years of
study to increase their skills. Not only would he give them the means of
protecting themselves, but he would also be able to begin preparing them for
whatever lay ahead.
Still crouching by the pool, he stared into the green-tinged water. Red
and white koi moved just below the surface, while deeper down, humanlike
faces peered up, eyes huge and blank, mouths filled with needle-pointed
teeth. He decided against dipping his fingers into the water.
It was commonly held in all the ancient magical books that there were
four elements of magic: Air and Water, Earth and Fire. But centuries of study
had revealed to Nicholas that there were, in fact, five elemental forces of
magic. The fifth force was the magic of Time, the greatest of all magics. The
Elders could control all the other elements, but the secret of the fifth was
contained only in the Codex…and that was one of the many reasons why Dee,
and the Dark Elders he sided with, wanted the Codex. With it in their
possession, they would be able to control time itself.
Along with Perenelle, Nicholas Flamel had spent most of his long life
studying the elemental forces. While Perry had trained herself in different
styles of magic, he had concentrated on the formulae and theorems from the
Codex. These formed the basis of the study of alchemy, which was a type of
science. Using the formulae, he had learned how to turn base metal into gold
and coal into diamonds, but there was very little magic involved. True, it
was a remarkably complex formula and required months of preparation, but
the process itself was almost ridiculously simple. One day he had been poor,