01_-_The_Alchemyst

again. Then she took a moment to formulate her question. Staring hard at the
man, she asked, “You are human, aren’t you?”
Nicholas Flamel grinned. “Yes. Perhaps a little more than human, but
yes, I was born and will always be one of the human race.”
Sophie looked at Scathach. “But you’re…”
Scathach opened her green eyes wide, and for a single instant,
something ancient was visible in the planes and angles of her face. “No,” she
said very quietly. “I am not of the race of humani. My people were of
different stock, the Elder Race. We ruled this earth before the creatures who
became humani climbed down from the trees. Nowadays, we are
remembered in the myths of just about every race. We are the creatures of
legend, the Were clans, the Vampire, the Giants, the Dragons, the Monsters. In
stories we are remembered as the Old Ones or the Elder Race. Some stories
call us gods.”
“Were you ever a god?” Sophie whispered.
Scatty giggled. “No. I was never a god. But some of my people allowed
themselves to be worshipped as gods. Others simply became gods as humani
told tales of their adventures.” She shrugged. “We were just another race, an
older race than man, with different gifts, different skills.”
“What happened?” Sophie asked.
“The Flood,” Scatty said very softly, “amongst other things.”
“The earth is a lot older than most people imagine,” Flamel said quietly.
“Creatures and races that are now no more than myth once walked this
world.”
Sophie nodded slowly. “Our parents are archaeologists. They’ve told us
about some of the inexplicable things that archaeology sometimes reveals.”
“Remember that place we visited in Texas, Taylor something…,” Josh
said, carefully easing the heavy SUV into the middle lane. He’d never driven
anything so big before, and was terrified he was going to hit something. He’d
had a couple of near misses and was convinced he’d actually clipped
someone’s side mirror, but he’d kept going, saying nothing.