01_-_The_Alchemyst

He felt, rather than saw, the birds move in the trees: half a million—
maybe more—heads turned to the west. He followed their gaze, looking
toward the darkest spot in the sky. At first, he could see nothing, but then a
shape appeared high in the heavens, noticeable only because it blotted out the
stars. The Morrigan was coming.
Dee knew that at the heart of every legend there is a grain of truth.
Looking up into the night sky, watching the pale-faced creature appear out of
the west, her feathered cloak spread behind her like enormous wings, Dee
believed he knew where the legends of the Nosferatu vampires originated.
Over the course of his long life, he had met vampires—real ones—and none
of them were as terrifying as the Crow Goddess.
The Morrigan settled to the ground directly in front of the Hummer, cats
scattering at the last moment as she folded her cloak and landed. In the
gloom, only the white oval of her face was visible; her eyes were as black as
night, looking like holes burned in paper.
Then the cats growled, a low rumbling that trembled through the very
air, and Bastet stepped out of the shadows. The Cat Goddess was wearing
the white cotton robes of an Egyptian princess and holding a spear that was
as tall as she was. She strode through the sea of cats, which parted before her
and closed in behind. Towering over the Morrigan, she bowed deeply to the
Crow Goddess. “Niece, is it time?” she purred.
“It is,” the Morrigan replied, returning the bow. Shrugging back her
cloak, she revealed a longbow strapped across her shoulders. She unslung
the bow and notched an arrow from the quiver at her hip.
Then, turning as one, the two Dark Elders raced toward the seemingly
impenetrable hedge and leapt through.
The cats and birds flowed after them.
“Now it begins,” Senuhet said gleefully, gathering his weapons—two
curved Egyptian bronze swords—and climbing out of the car.
Or ends, Dee thought, but he kept his fears to himself.