01_-_The_Alchemyst

smoothly polished stone path. Dee smiled; surely it would not be long now.
How much longer could Hekate stand against the two Elders, aunt and niece?
But the goddess showed no sign of weakening.
And then she struck back.
Although the air, now stinking from the burning tree, was still, Dee
watched as an invisible, unfelt breeze whipped the Morrigan’s cloak about
her shoulders and buffeted the huge Bastet, making her tilt her head and lean
forward into the wind. The patterns on Hekate’s metallic dress whirled with
blinding rapidity, the colors blurred and distorted.
With growing alarm, he saw a dark shadow flowing across the
withering grass and then watched as a swarm of tiny black flies settled on
Bastet’s fur, crawling into her ears and up her nose. The Cat Goddess howled
and staggered back, rubbing furiously at her face. She fell to the ground,
rolling over and over in the long grass, attempting to free herself from the
insects. More and more kept coming, and they were joined by fire ants and
recluse spiders, which crawled out of the grass and swarmed over her body.
Crouched on all fours, she threw back her head and screamed in agony, then
turned and ran across the field, rolling and crawling in the grass, splashing
through a little pool, trying to clean the insects from her body. She was more
than halfway across the field before the thick, swirling cloud left her. She
rubbed furiously at her face and arms, leaving long scratches on her skin,
before climbing to her feet and striding back toward the Yggdrasill. And then
the swarm of flies, thicker now, re-formed in the air before her.
In that moment, Dee considered that perhaps—just perhaps—Hekate
could win. Splitting Bastet and the Morrigan had been a master stroke;
ensuring that Bastet could not get back was simply genius.
Realizing that she could not return to the Yggdrasill, Bastet hissed her
rage, then turned and raced over to where Flamel, Scatty and the twins were
trying to defend themselves. Dee saw her leap an incredible distance and
bring the Alchemyst to the ground. That gave him some satisfaction, at least,
and he allowed himself a slight smile, which quickly faded—he was still
trapped on this side of the field. How was he going to get past Hekate?