The Alchemyst

CHAPTER TWELVE

J osh spotted an opening between two cars a VW Beetle and a Lexus. He pushed

his foot to the floor and the heavy car shot forward. But the gap wasn't

quite wide enough. The SUV s grill struck the side mirrors on the other two

cars and snapped them off. Oops Josh immediately took his foot off the

gas.

Keep going, Flamel ordered firmly. He had Sophie s phone in his hand and

was talking urgently in a guttural, rasping language that sounded like

nothing the twins had ever heard before.

Deliberately not looking in the rearview mirror, Josh roared across the

bridge, ignoring the honks and shouts behind him. He shot along the outside

lane, then cut into the middle lane, then back out again.

Sophie braced herself against the dashboard, peering through half-closed

eyes. She saw the car hit another side mirror; it came spinning, almost

slowly, up onto the hood of their SUV, scoring a long scrape in the black

paint before it bounced away. don't even think about it, she muttered as a

tiny open-topped Italian sports car spotted the same gap in the traffic that

Josh was aiming for. The driver, an older man with far too many gold chains

around his neck, put his foot down and raced for the gap. He didn't make it.

The heavy SUV caught the right front edge of the little car, just tapping it

on the bumper. The sports car was flung away, spinning in a complete

360-degree turn on the crowded bridge, bouncing off four other cars in the

process. Josh tore through the opening.

Flamel twisted around in the seat, looking through the rear window at the

chaos they had left in their wake. I thought you said you could drive, he

murmured.

I can drive, Josh said, surprised that his voice sounded so calm and

steady, I just didn't say I was good at it. Do you think anyone got our

license plates? he asked. This was nothing like one of his driving games!

The palms of his hands were slick and wet and beads of sweat were running

down the sides of his face. A muscle twitched in his right leg from the

effort of keeping the accelerator pressed hard to the floor.

I think they ve got other things to worry about, Sophie whispered.

The crows had descended on the Golden Gate Bridge. Thousands of them. They

came in a black wave, cawing and screaming, wings cracking and snapping. They

hovered over the cars, darting low, occasionally even landing on car roofs

and hoods to peck at the metal and glass. Cars crashed and sideswiped one

another along the entire length of the bridge.

They ve lost focus, Scathach said, watching the birds behavior. They re

looking for us, but they ve forgotten our description. They have such tiny

brains, she said dismissively.

Something distracted their dark mistress, Nicholas Flamel'said.

Perenelle, he said delightedly. I wonder what she did. Something dramatic,

no doubt. She always did have a sense of the theatrical.

But even as he was speaking, the birds rose into the air again, and then, as

one, their black eyes turned in the direction of the fleeing black SUV. This

time when they cawed, it sounded like screams of triumph.

They re coming back, Sophie said quickly, breathlessly. She realized that

her heart was pumping hard against her rib cage. She looked at Flamel and the

Warrior for support, but their grim expressions gave her no comfort.

Scathach looked at her and said, We re in trouble now.

In a huge black-feathered mass, the crows took off after the car.

Most of the traffic on the bridge was now stalled. People sat frozen in

terror in their cars as the birds flowed, foul and stinking, over the roofs.

The SUV was the only car moving. Josh had his foot pressed flat to the floor,

and the needle on the speedometer hovered close to eighty. He was becoming

more comfortable with the controls he hadn't hit anything for at least a

minute. The end of the bridge was in sight. He grinned; they were going to

make it.

And then the huge crow landed on the hood.

Sophie screamed and Josh jerked the wheel, attempting to knock the

evil-looking creature off, but it had hooked its feet into the raised ridges

on the hood. It cocked its head to one side, looking first at Josh, then

Sophie, and then, in two short hops, it came right up to the windshield and

deliberately peered inside, black eyes glittering.

It pecked at the glass and a tiny starred puncture mark appeared.

It shouldn t be able to do that, Josh said, trying to keep his eyes on the

road.

The crow pecked again and another hole appeared. Then there was a thump,

followed by a second and a third, and three more crows landed on the roof of

the car. The metal roof pinged as the birds began to peck at it.

I hate crows. Scathach sighed. She rooted through her bag and pulled out a

set of nunchaku two twelve-inch lengths of ornately carved wood linked by

four and a half inches of chain. She tapped the sticks in the palm of her

hand. Pity we haven t got a sunroof, she said. I could get out there and

give them a little taste of this.

Flamel pointed to where a long shaft of sunlight was coming through a pinhole

in the roof. We may soon have. Besides, he added, these are not normal

crows. The three on the roof and the one on the hood are Dire-Crows, the

Morrigan s special pets.

The huge bird on the hood tapped the windshield again, and this time, its

beak actually penetrated the glass.

I m not sure what I can do , Scathach began, and then Sophie leaned over

and hit the windshield wiper switch. The heavy blades activated and simply

swept the bird off the hood in a flurry of feathers and a shrill croak of

surprise. The red-haired warrior grinned. Well, there is that, of course.

Now the rest of the birds had reached the SUV. They settled on the vehicle in

a great blanket. First dozens, then hundreds gathered on the roof, the hood,

the doors, clutching every available opening. If one fell off or lost its

grip, dozens more fought for its place. The noise inside the car was

incredible as thousands of birds pecked and tapped at the metal, the glass,

the doors. They tore into the rubber molding around the windows, ripped into

the spare tire on the back of the SUV, tearing it to shreds. There were so

many on the hood, pressed up against the windshield, that Josh couldn t see

where he was going. He took his foot off the accelerator and the car

immediately started to slow.

Drive! Flamel'shouted. If you stop, we are truly lost.

But I Can't see!

Flamel leaned through the seats and stretched out his right hand. Sophie

suddenly saw the small circular tattoo on the underside of his wrist. A cross

ran through the circle, the arms of the cross extending over the edges of the

circle. For a single instant it glowed and then the Alchemyst snapped his

fingers. A tiny ball of hissing, sizzling flame appeared on his fingertips.

Close your eyes, he commanded. Without waiting to see if they obeyed, he

flicked it toward the glass.

Even through their closed lids, the twins could see the searing light that

lit up the interior of the car.

Now drive, Nicholas Flamel commanded.

When the twins opened their eyes, most of the crows were gone from the hood,

and those few that remained looked dazed and shocked.

That'snot going to hold them for long, Scatty said. She looked up as a

razor-sharp beak punched a hole straight through the metal roof. She snapped

out the nunchaku. She held one stick in her hand, while the other, attached

to the short chain, shot out with explosive force and cracked against the

beak embedded in the roof. There was a startled shriek and the beak slightly

bent disappeared.

Sophie turned her head to peer in her side mirror. It was dangling off the

car, barely held on by a shred of metal and some wire. She could see more

birds thousands of them flying in to replace those that had been swept away,

and she knew then that they were not going to make it. There were simply too

many of them.

Listen, Nicholas Flamel'said suddenly.

I don't hear anything, Josh said grimly.

Sophie was just about to agree with him when she heard the sound. And she

suddenly felt the hairs on her arms prickle and rise. Low and lonely, the

noise hovered just at the edge of her hearing. It was like a breeze, one

moment sounding soft and gentle, the next louder, almost angry. A peculiar

odor wafted into the car.

What is that smell? Josh asked.

Smells like spicy oranges, Sophie said, breathing deeply.

Pomegranates, Nicholas Flamel'said.

And then the wind came.

It howled across the bay, warm and exotic, smelling of cardamom and

rosewater, lime and tarragon, and then it raced along the length of the

Golden Gate Bridge, plucking the birds off the struts, lifting them off the

cars, pulling them out of the air. Finally the pomegranate-scented wind

reached the SUV. One moment the car was surrounded by birds; the next, they

were gone, and the car was filled with the scents of the desert, of dry air

and warm sand.

Sophie hit a button and the scarred and pitted window jerked down. She craned

her neck out the SUV, breathing in the richly scented air. The huge flock of

birds was being pulled high into the sky, borne aloft on the breeze. When one

escaped one of the big Dire-Crows, Sophie thought it was quickly caught by a

tendril of the warm breeze and pushed back into the rest of the flock. From

underneath, the mass of birds looked like a dirty cloud and then the cloud

dispersed as the birds scattered, leaving the sky blue and clear again.

Sophie looked back along the length of the bridge. The Golden Gate was

completely impassable; cars were pointed in every direction, and there had

been dozens of minor accidents, which blocked the lanes and of course,

effectively prevented anyone from following them, she realized. Every vehicle

was spattered and splotched with white bird droppings. She looked at her

brother and saw with a shock that there was a tiny smear of blood on his

bottom lip. She pulled a tissue from her pocket. You re cut! she said

urgently, licking the edge of the tissue and dabbing at her twin s face.

Josh pushed her hand away. Stop. That'sdisgusting. He touched his lip with

his little finger. I must have bit it. I didn't even feel it. He took the

tissue from his sister s hand and rubbed his chin. It s nothing. Then he

smiled quickly. Did you see the mess the birds left back there? Sophie

nodded. He made a disgusted face. Now, that is going to smell!

Sophie leaned back against the seat, relieved that her brother was fine. When

she d seen the blood she d been truly frightened. A thought struck her and

she turned around to look at Flamel. Did you call up the wind?

He smiled and shook his head. No, I ve no control over the elements. That

skill rests solely with the Elders and a very few rare humans.

Sophie looked at Scatty, but the Warrior shook her head. Beyond my very

limited abilities.

But you did summon the wind? Sophie persisted.

Flamel handed Sophie back her phone. I just phoned in a request, he said,

and smiled.