01_-_The_Alchemyst

“Yes, because of iron. We survived the Fall of Danu Talis, we survived
the Flood, and the Age of Ice. And then, about three thousand years ago, a
single metalworker, who had been crafting in bronze, began to experiment in
the new metal. He was just one man—and yet he managed to wipe out an
entire race of people and a way of life. Great change always comes down to
the actions of a single person.” Hekate fell silent, watching the twins punch
and kick next to Scathach. “Silver and gold. The rarest of all auras,” she
muttered, and for a single heartbeat, the auras bloomed around the twins. “If I
do this and it kills them, will you be able to live with it on your conscience?”
“I am old now, so old,” Nicholas said very softly. “Do you know how
many friends I’ve buried over the centuries?”
“And did you feel their loss?” There was a note of genuine curiosity in
Hekate’s voice.
“Every one.”
“Do you still?”
“Yes. Every day.”
The goddess reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Then
you are still human, Nicholas Flamel. The day you stop caring is the day you
become like Dee and his kind.” She turned back to the garden and looked at
the twins. They were both trying, and failing, to land blows on Scathach, who
was ducking and weaving, though not moving from the one spot. From the
distance they looked like three ordinary teenagers practicing a new dance,
but Hekate knew that there was nothing ordinary about any of them.
“I’ll do it,” she said eventually, “I’ll Awaken their powers. The rest is
up to you. You will have to train them.”
Flamel bowed his head so she would not see the tears in his eyes. If the
twins survived the Awakening, then there was a chance, albeit a slim one,
that he would get to see Perenelle again. “Tell me,” he began, then coughed
to clear his throat. “The man who discovered how to process iron—that
blacksmith three thousand years ago. What happened to him?”
“I killed him,” Hekate said, her yellow eyes wide and innocent. “His
actions destroyed us. What else could I do? But it was too late. The secret of