01_-_The_Alchemyst

earlier. They were living and working virtually in the shadow of the great
Cathedral of Notre Dame. Dee was in Paris on a secret mission for the
Queen, but the moment he saw the slender dark-haired man and his greeneyed
wife working together in the high-ceiling wards of the hospital, he knew
who they were. Dee was one of the few people in the world who had a copy
of Flamel’s masterwork, The Summary of Philosophy, which included an
engraving of the famous Alchemyst opposite the title page. When Dee had
introduced himself to the doctor and his wife, calling them by their true
names, neither had denied it. Of course, they also knew of the famous Dr.
John Dee by reputation. Although Perenelle had had some reservations,
Nicholas had been delighted with the opportunity to take on the English
magician as a new apprentice. Dee had immediately left England and spent
the next four years training with Nicholas and Perenelle in Paris.
And it was in Paris, in the year 1575, that he had first learned of the
existence of the Elder Race.
He had been studying late at night in his tiny attic room in Flamel’s
house when a creature out of a nightmare had slithered down the chimney,
scattering coal and wood as it crawled out onto the scorched mat. The
creature was a gargoyle, one of the ancient breed of ghouls that infested the
sewers and graveyards of most European cities. Similar to the crude shapes
carved in stone that decorated the cathedral almost directly opposite the
house, this was a living creature of veined, marble-like flesh and cinder
black eyes. Speaking in an archaic form of Greek, the gargoyle invited him to
a meeting on the roof of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Recognizing that this
invitation was not one he could refuse, Dee followed the creature into the
night. Loping along, sometimes on two legs, often on four, the gargoyle led
him through increasingly narrow alleys, then down into the sewers, and
eventually into a secret passageway that took him deep within the great
cathedral’s walls. He followed the gargoyle up the thousand and one steps
carved into the interior of the wall that finally led onto the roof of the Gothic
cathedral.
“Wait,” it had commanded, and then said no more. Its mission
accomplished, the gargoyle ignored Dee and settled down on the parapet,
hunched forward, wings folded over its shoulders, tail curled tightly against