Paris: Dt. John Dee has torn the city apart in every attempt to intercept the immor tal Nichplas Flamel and Sophie and Josh Newman. Paris's streets are in ruins. Notre Dame destroyed, the Comte de Saint-Germain's home leveled. Dee has the book of Abraham the Mage, but he's still missing the two pages the Dark Elders need for the Final Summoning. Without them the spell cannot he cast, and Dee is well aware that the Dark Elders will not rest until they are in power and the human race is destroyed or he is. London: Nicholas Flamel's heart almost broke as he watched his beloved Paris crumble before him. The city was demolished by Dee and Machiavelli, but Flamel played his own role in the destruction. Sophie and Josh Newman show every sign of being the twins of legend, and Flamel had to protect them and the pages from the Dark Elders. But Nicholas grows weaker with each passing day. Perenelle is still trapped on Alcatraz, and now that Scatty has gone missing, the group is without protection. Except for Clarent- -the twin sword to Excalibur. But Clarent's power is unthinkable, its evil making it nearly impossible to use without its darkness seeping into the soul of whoever wields it. If he hopes to defeat Dee, Nicholas must find someone who can teach Josh and Sophie the third elemental magic-Water Magic. The problem? The only being who can do that is Gilgamesh, and he is quite, quite insane.