01_-_The_Alchemyst

The smell of burning wood was stronger, and tendrils of gray smoke
begun to curl into the chamber.
“We’ve got to go. We can talk about this later,” Flamel said firmly.
“You better believe we will,” Josh promised.
“I’ll help you carry her,” the Alchemyst offered.
“I can do it myself,” Josh said, and gathered his sister into his arms. He
wasn’t going to trust Sophie to anyone else. He was surprised by how light
she felt, and he was suddenly thankful for all those painful months of football
practice that had made him stronger than he looked.
The Alchemyst picked up the short staff he’d left propped against the
wall and spun it in the air before him. The tip glowed green and it left the
faintest of smoking emerald trails in the air. “Ready?” Flamel asked.
Josh, his sister held tightly against his chest, nodded.
“Whatever happens, whatever you see, don’t stop, don’t turn back. Just
about everything outside this doorway will not hesitate to kill you.”
Josh followed Flamel through the door…and immediately stopped,
frozen in shock. Scatty was standing in the center of the narrow corridor, her
two short swords a blur before her. Behind the swords, crowding the
corridor, were some of the most terrifying creatures he had ever seen. He’d
been expecting monsters; what he had not been expecting were creatures
even more terrifying. Creatures that were neither beast nor human, but
something caught in between. Humans with the heads of cats snarled and
slashed at Scatty, their claws striking sparks off her swords. Others with the
bodies of men but with the huge peaked skulls of ravens jabbed at her,
attempting to gouge and stab her.
“Scatty—down!” Flamel shouted. Without waiting to see if she even
heard him, he stretched out his arm and leveled the short staff. His aura
flared green and the air was suddenly bitter with the odor of mint. An
emerald-colored globe of spinning light gathered at the tip of the staff and
then shot forward with an audible pop. Scatty barely managed to duck before
the ball sizzled through the air and shattered against the ceiling almost
directly over her head. It left a bright mark, like a stain, which started to