“H e looks so young,” Virginia Dare said, staring into Josh’s unblinking red eyes.
“He’s fifteen and a half,” Dee said absently. “You could help me here,” he added. He was standing in the middle of his living room, attempting to push the heavy sofas out of the way to clear a space in the center of the floor.
“I don’t push furniture,” Virginia said, still staring at Josh. “These red eyes are creepy. I’ve only seen them a couple of times before.”
“The boy was Awakened by Mars Ultor…”
Virginia Dare’s head snapped up. “The Avenger is still alive?” she gasped.
Dee’s smile was cruel. “Sort of. As you know, there is always a connection between an Elder and the humani he or she Awakens. Sometimes-though not always-the same Elder will offer the humani immortality.”
Virginia nodded. “That’s what happened to me. My Elder Awakened me when I was a child and then, fifteen years later, made me immortal.”
“One day you’re going to tell me who that Elder was,” Dee grunted, trying to move an enormous black leather lounger. “Why did I buy this?” he muttered.
“Is he asleep?” she asked, waving her hand in front of Josh’s eyes. They remained open and unblinking.
“He’s in a dream state. He’s aware enough to walk and talk and drive, but he’s only semiconscious. No doubt he believes all of this is a dream.”
“Like hypnosis?”
“Just like hypnosis,” Dee agreed. He finally managed to get the chair up against a wall and collapsed into it. “I’m getting too old for this,” he wheezed.
“Doctor,” Virginia said quietly, “you need to see this.”
The tone in the woman’s voice brought Dee quickly across the room. Josh was sitting on a stool at the kitchen table. The four swords and the Codex were on the glass tabletop before him, where Dee had left them. When the boy had rested his hands on the table, all of the swords had immediately started to glow, throbbing gently like beating hearts. There was the sudden odor of oranges, and abruptly the glass surface turned into a sheet of solid gold.
Virginia tapped the gold with her fingernail. “Now, that’s impressive.”
“The boy is powerful indeed,” Dee said. “I’ve never seen a pure Gold before.”
Gossamer threads of Josh’s gold aura drifted across the table like smoke, curling around the stone swords. Crackling sparks leapt from blade to blade. Particles of ice sparkled across Excalibur and red-black smoke drifted off Clarent; gritty brown sand formed on Joyeuse’s blade, and Durendal’s surface rippled as if a chill breeze were blowing across it. Then the heavy copper cover of the Codex flapped open and the pages began to riffle as if blown by a strong breeze. Dee carefully reached out and lifted the book off the table. “He is so strong,” the Magician said, “it seems almost a shame to have to kill him.”