01_-_The_Alchemyst

“I’ve never been more sure.”
They both knew what remained unsaid: neither wanted to be left behind
if anything happened during the Awakening.
Josh finally nodded. He then squeezed his sister’s hand and they both
turned to face the Alchemyst, Hekate and Scatty.
“We’re ready,” the twins said.
“The Morrigan is here,” Scatty informed them as they followed
Nicholas and Hekate through the huge door into the heart of the tree. She had
changed into black pants, a high-necked black T-shirt that left her arms bare
and thick-soled combat boots. She wore two short swords strapped to her
back, the hilts protruding slightly over her shoulders, and had daubed her
eyes and cheekbones with a black dye that gave her face a startlingly skulllike
appearance. “She’s brought Bastet with her. They’re already surging into
the Shadowrealm.”
“Hekate can hold them back, can’t she?” Sophie asked. She only had an
inkling of the goddess’s powers, but the thought that there was something
more powerful than her was terrifying.
Scatty shrugged. “I have no idea. They’ve arrived in force; they’ve
brought their armies with them.”
“Armies?” Josh echoed. “What kind of armies? More mud people?”
“No Golems this time. They have brought the birds of the air and the
cats of the earth with them.”
Sophie laughed shakily. “Birds and cats…what can they do?”
Scatty glanced at the girl, the whites of her eyes startling against the
black war paint. “You saw what the birds did to the car on the way here.”
Sophie nodded, suddenly feeling sick in the pit of her stomach. Images
of the filthy black crows battering the windshield and pecking holes in the
metal hood would haunt her to her dying day.