01_-_The_Alchemyst

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Josh awoke, his sister’s scream ringing in his ears.
It took him several seconds before he realized where he was: sitting on
the edge of the fountain in Libbey Park, while all around him thick, foulsmelling
banks of fog shifted and twisted and crawled with half-glimpsed
skeletons and mummified bodies clothed in rags.
Sophie!
He had to get to his sister. To his right, in the middle of the gray-black
fog, green light sparkled and silver flared, briefly illuminating the mist from
within, casting monstrous shadows. Sophie was there; Flamel and Scathach,
too, fighting these monsters. He should be with them.
He came shakily to his feet and discovered Dr. John Dee standing
directly in front of him.
Dee was outlined in a sickly yellow aura. It sparked and spat and hissed
like burning fat and gave off the rancid odor of rotten eggs. The man had his
back to him. He was leaning both forearms against the low stone wall next to
the drinking fountain Josh had used earlier. Dee was staring intently at the
events taking place in the street, concentrating so hard he was shaking with
the effort of controlling the seemingly endless line of skeletons and
mummified humans shuffling past. Now that he was on his feet, Josh noticed
that there were other creatures in the fog too. He could see the remains of
bears and tigers, mountain cats and wolves.
He heard Flamel shout and Sophie scream, and his first thought was to
rush at Dee. But he doubted he’d even get close. What could he do against
this powerful magician? He wasn’t like his twin: he had no powers.
But that didn’t mean he was useless.