01_-_The_Alchemyst

they could be birds…except that he knew that birds rarely fly at night. Dee
knew immediately and without question that this was what he had been
brought up here to meet. He concentrated on the larger shape as it came
closer, trying to make sense of what he was seeing, but it was only when the
figure dropped onto the roof that he realized he was looking at an ashenfaced
woman dressed entirely in black, wearing a long cloak of crow’s
wings.
That night, Dr. John Dee first met the Morrigan. That night, he learned of
the Elder Race and how they had been forced from the world of men by the
magic in the Book of Abraham the Mage, a book that was currently in the
possession of Nicholas Flamel. That night, Dee learned that there were those
among the Elders who wanted to return to their rightful place as the rulers of
mankind. And that night, the Crow Goddess promised Dee that he would one
day control the entire world, he would be master of an empire that stretched
from pole to pole, from sunrise to sunset. All he had to do was to steal the
Book from Flamel and hand it over.
That night, Dr. John Dee became the champion of the Dark Elders.
It was a mission that had taken him across the world, and into the many
Shadowrealms that bordered it. He had fought ghosts and ghouls, creatures
that had no right to exist outside of nightmares, others that were left over
from a time predating the arrival of the humani. He had gone to battle at the
head of an army of monsters and had spent at least a decade wandering lost
in an icy Otherworld. Many times, he had been concerned for his safety, but
he had never been truly frightened…until this moment, sitting before the
entrance to a Bel Air estate in twenty-first-century Los Angeles. In those
early days he had not been fully aware of the powers of the creatures he
served, but nearly four and a half centuries in their service had taught him
many things…including the fact that death was probably the least of all the
punishments they could inflict on him.
The armed security guard stepped back and the high metal gates clicked
open, allowing Dee’s car to sweep in on the long white stone driveway
toward the sprawling marble mansion that was just visible through the trees.
Although night had fallen, no lights were showing in the house, and for a
moment Dee imagined that no one was at home. Then he remembered that the