01_-_The_Alchemyst

was caught between phases: young eyes in an old face, a girl’s head on a
woman’s body, a woman’s body with a child’s arms. Her ever-changing
dress had lost all color and was the same solid black as her skin.
Dee stood beside the Morrigan and they watched in silence. Bastet
rejoined them, and together the three observed Hekate and Yggdrasill’s last
moments.
The World Tree was now almost entirely blue, covered with a sheath of
ice. Frozen roots had burst through the ground, destroying the perfect
symmetry of the earth, cutting thick gouges in the soil. Huge holes had
appeared in the massive trunk, revealing the circular rooms within, which
were warped and stained with the blue ice.
Hekate’s transformations slowed. The changes were taking longer to
materialize because now the blue stain was slowly creeping up her body,
hardening her skin, turning it to ice crystals.
The Morrigan glanced at the blade in Dee’s hand, then quickly looked
away. “Even after all these years in our employ, Dr. Dee, you can still
surprise us,” she said quietly. “I was not aware that you possessed the Sword
of Ice.”
“I’m glad I brought it,” Dee said, not directly answering her. “It seems
Hekate’s powers were stronger than we suspected. At least my guess—that
her strength was connected to the tree—was correct.”
What remained of the Yggdrasill was now a solid block of ice. Hekate,
too, was completely covered beneath a frozen sheet, though behind the blue
crystals, her butter-colored eyes were bright and alive. The top of the tree
began to melt, dirty water running down the length of the bark, cutting deep
grooves into it.
“When I realized that she had the power to nullify your spells, I knew I
had to do something,” Dee said. “I saw how the cats and birds were
reverting to their natural shapes.”
“That was not Hekate’s doing,” Bastet growled suddenly, her accent
thick, her voice beastlike.