01_-_The_Alchemyst

Toltec and the Celt, existed. They weren’t different gods, however; they were
simply the same Elders called by different names.
The Elder Race divided into two groups: those who worked with the
humani and those who regarded them as little better than slaves—and, in
some cases, food. The Elders warred against one another in battles that took
centuries to complete. Occasionally humani would fight on one side, and
their exploits were recalled in great legends like those of Gilgamesh and
Cuchulain, Atlas and Hippolytus, Beowulf and Ilya of Murom.
Finally, when it became clear that these wars might destroy the planet,
the mysterious Abraham, using a powerful collection of spells, forced all of
the Elder Race—even those who supported the humani—to retreat from the
earth. Most were like Hekate and went willingly, settling into a
Shadowrealm of their own creation, and afterward had little or no contact
with the humani. Others, like the Morrigan, though she was greatly weakened,
continued to venture out into the humani world and worked to restore the old
ways. Others still, like Scathach, lived anonymously among humankind.
Flamel eventually came to understand that the Codex, which contained the
spells that had driven the Elder Race from this world and into their
Shadowrealms, also contained the spells that would allow them to return.
And if the Dark Elders returned, then the civilization of the twenty-first
century would be wiped away in a matter of hours as the godlike creatures
warred among themselves. It had happened before; mythology and history
recorded the event as the Flood.
Now Dee had the Book. All he needed were the two pages Flamel
could feel pressed against his flesh. And Nicholas Flamel knew that Dee and
the Morrigan would stop at nothing to get those pages.
Flamel hung his head and wished he knew what to do. He wished
Perenelle were with him; she would surely have a plan.
A bubble burst on the surface of the water. “The lady asks me to tell
you…” Another bubble popped and burst. “…that she is unharmed.”
Flamel scrambled back from the pool’s edge. Tendrils of mist were
rising from the surface of the water, tiny bubbles popping and snapping. A