"Molly," I called as Mouse trotted by my side. "Wait up!"
Molly Carpenter turned around and shot me an impatient look as I caught up with her and I sighed. I knew she wanted to get back to Chicago quickly, and the wound in my thigh was slowing both of us down.
"Your parents have lived with the Doom of Damocles over your head for four years," I said. "They can wait a few more hours to find out that it's been lifted."
We were walking through the Way from Edinburgh back to Chicago. What usually was an hour journey had already taken two hours, and I estimated that there were a couple of hours left to go. The Never Never could be funny that way. But neither of us really wanted to stay at Edinburgh. In'jun Joe pronounced us fit to travel, and my Grandfather understood our haste to leave and promised that he'd come by in a few days.
"You would think they would have been a little more grateful," Molly said, catching the emotions that played across my face. "I don't necessarily expect a thank you, but I didn't expect to be looked at like their dinner."
The battle between the Black Vampires and the White Council had been going strong for three nights when Molly and I showed up. The day before, she and I had finally sent Cowl packing from Chicago – permanently. Even a necromancer can't be restored from ashes. With him gone, I felt safe enough to leave Chicago and head to Edinburgh. Molly insisted on going with me, and although I tried to dissuade her, I was secretly glad to have her at my side.
50,000 Black Vampires and creatures from the Never Never had gathered their forces around the world and directly attacked the White Council's stronghold. Most but not all of the vampires withdrew at dawn while beings from the Never Never attacked during the day and then the Black Vampires returned at night. The worst part was that someone had left a crucial underground weak spot unguarded, allowing 10,000 to enter the tunnels before the alarm was sounded. The White Council was still working out if it was a gigantic screw-up or a traitorous act, but either way, I would not like to be in that person's shoes when they found out it was me. Even the Antarctic wouldn't be far away enough.
When we got there around 2 am Edinburgh time, The Merlin, Martha Liberty and Wizard McCoy were with the main contingent of wardens holding off and killing the vampires on the south, east and west side. Molly, Mouse, and I were sent to the north side to Ancient Mai and Injun Joe.
The North Side of the White Council Complex directly faced the North Sea. Wards and barriers constructed over hundreds of years normally prevented vampires and other supernatural creatures from approaching within a few hundred meters. But after three days, those wards had disintegrated.
Molly and I walked down a steep narrow stairway carved into the cliffs. We came out on a small ledge where Ancient Mai and Injun Joe stood with a group of 50 wardens in front of a facing over 5,000 vampires. A gigantic old ship was at anchor directly in front of the wardens, and thousands of vampires were crawling all over it. The Vampires that were not on the big ship were in a hundred or so smaller motor boats, rafts, and rowboats spread over a quarter of a mile. I stared at them puzzled, and then mentally kicked myself. Anything more technologically advanced wouldn't work with this many wizards around, but the automatic weapons, RPGs, grenades, and other arms that I was seeing definitely did work, as evidenced by the flashes I was seeing as magic and bullets struck the ward in front of me.
"Not worried about running water?" I greeted one of the two Senior Council members maintaining the ward in front of me. Running water, the essence of life, washed away vampires. And this was the frickin North Sea after all.
"Keeping it calm magically," Ancient Mai muttered. "Standing water doesn't hurt them."
"We've been maintaining this ward continuously for three days," Injun Joe said from the other side of her. "During the day, they stay on that ship while we're attacked by beings from the Never Never and a few powerful black vampires who don't need to sleep keep the water calm. Cristos and the Gatekeeper are trying to negotiate with the Fae to get rid of the beings in the Never Never, and also doing what they can from that side."
" Mai and I are both needed to maintain this ward, which prevents anything, including magic, from getting through both ways," Injun Joe continued. "If we drop it, we'll be overwhelmed before we can blink. We just don't have the numbers"
Hells bells. If I had to maintain a ward that strong for a full day, I wouldn't be able to lift my arms to feed myself the next. And the two of them had been maintaining a quarter of a mile ward for three.
"So all you need is time?" Molly asked.
"Yep," Injun Joe replied. "A few seconds after the ward drops so we can hit them with everything we've got."
"A veil," Molly said. "Or a fog, or an illusion."
"They're not dumb," Mai said scornfully. "They'll know that we're here even if they can't see us."
"Not if there are multiple veils," I said. "A simple black one to shield us, followed by an illusion that makes it look like nobody's here, and then a fast light show to keep them distracted while the wards come down."
Ancient Mai pursed her lips and furrowed her brow for a good 30 seconds. "Very well," she said reluctantly. "Dresden, start on the black illusion. Ensure that it covers the entire cliff, including the top so the Black Court can't collapse it on top of us, and ensure that we can see so we aren't tripping over ourselves. Carpenter, two veils in quick succession, please."
"O-"
"Wait!" I snapped. "She doesn't have enough raw power to do that and I won't be able to help." And even with my help, it would be difficult to pull off.
"We have 50 fresh wardens here who just arrived a half hour ago," Injun Joe said patiently. "They can feed her some power to keep it going. But they're all trained in combat magic, none of them can pull off a good veil. She's the only one here besides myself who can do subtle magic that well, and I'm needed to maintain this ward."
50 wardens feeding their strength, even part of it, to Molly, would be like funneling bucket loads of sand through an hourglass. And Molly would be the narrowest part of the hourglass.
"I never would have suggested this if I thought my apprentice would be doing this," I snapped. "There has to be another person available."
"On the other side of the complex," Mai said. "And from what I've heard, Captain Luccio can't make veils as good as she can."
"You never liked her," I said staring at Mai for as long as I dared and averted my eyes before triggering a soul gaze. "You wouldn't put any other apprentice in this situation."
"You took your apprentice to fight the Red Court at Chichen Itza," Ancient Mai retorted. "Don't talk to me about what situation I'd put her in. And not that it matters Dresden, but if there was another way to do this, I would take it."
"Harry, I'll do it."
"What?"
"You three enjoyed arguing about it so much that you forgot that I'm standing right here. I can do it."
"Timeout!" I barked and took Molly off to one side and looked at her in the eye.
"You don't have to," I said. "Captain Luccio can be over here soon. She'll do it."
"Ancient Mai and Injun' Joe have been maintaining a ward for three days straight," she hissed fiercely. "They're exhausted, and who knows how much time we have before they break through. And don't look at me like that. I'm not your grasshopper anymore. It's my decision."
"You know they won't lift the doom of Damocles, even if you survive." I said. "There's also a chance that you won't survive, and then I'll have to explain that to your mom."
"I don't expect them to lift it!" Molly exclaimed. "And this just isn't about the Senior Council, it's about all the wardens, and... and it's about you. You won't stand by and let the Black Court win, neither would my parents, and neither will I."
Ouch. She was too old for a hug, but I gave her hand a quick squeeze and we walked back to where Injun Joe and Ancient Mai were staying.
"Alright," she said. "I brought Harry around. This will work." She looked at Mai and Injun Joe. " But the wardens need to be ready at the right moment. I won't be able to give them too much time."
"Leave that to us," Carlos Ramirez walked over. He looked at Molly. "I've been working with this group of Wardens for a while. They will feed magic to me and then I'll be directly feeding magic to you. That will make sure you don't get overloaded and the group has enough left in reserve to fight later. Everything will be fine."
I stared at him closely. At that moment, the 28 year old warden commander looked and sounded like Michael Carpenter, retired Knight of the Cross and Molly's father. And he had spoken to Molly as an equal. And that's the first time I really believed that everything would be okay.
I closed my eyes and reached for my magic while taking a deep breath. I focused upwards with my wizards staff and a black wave started flowing down toward us from the top of the cliff. It wasn't smoke, nor did it look like smoke. It was a sheer wall of what looked like black night, and it stopped around 15 feet above our heads.
"Well..." Mai said. "What are you waiting for?"
"Thinking," I said, and brought the front half the black veil down right on top of the water, leaving the ledge untouched and gritted my teeth. This was the largest veil I had ever manged, a quarter of a mile wide and 500 meters high. Maintaining it took all of my magical ability, and if someone decided to tickle me right now, there was nothing I could do about it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Molly close her eyes and start to call upon her will. Carlos held her left hand with his right hand and all of the wardens around the ledge directed their attention to him.
Think of the Navy Seals, the Army Rangers, and the British SAS. In a head to head match up of the best soldiers from those units against the top wardens, even if magic wasn't allowed, I'm not quite sure who would win. Warden basic training lasts three months, during which they learn how to defend themselves from and attack a variety of supernatural monsters using both mortal guns and supernatural weapons. The swords they carried were definitely not just for shows. They then spend the next 100 or more years fighting against beings that most of the mortal world has no idea exists. The average retirement age for a warden is 200.
One of the many things that separates the elite military units and wardens from random private investigators is the cohesion and camaraderie that develops, which is necessary for getting the job done. Not to mention the trust and ability to work together.
The wardens had either never heard of Molly, or simply knew that she was under the Doom of Damocles, not a good recommendation, especially under these circumstances. But they knew and trusted Carlos. And if Carlos was willing to work with Molly, that was good enough for them.
I watched Molly's illusion begin as the wardens started to disappear, even though I could feel their magic present. Simultaneously, Carlos reached out to each of them, tapping into their magic that they willingly offered to him, without hesitation. There were very few people I would have been willing to allow that kind of intimate access to my magic. Because it would have been very easy for Carlos to turn their own magic back on them and destroy them, and nothing, even their death curse, would have been able to save them. What was it that I was saying about elite military units?
Carlos only drew a little bit from each warden and melded it all together into one powerful stream of magic. None of us could see it, but we could all feel it. And then very slowly, he started feeding that strength and power to Molly, using an enormous amount of control and concentration to prevent the magic from backfiring on all of us.
I saw Molly's body stiffen as she felt the magic flowing through her. Wardens all around me began disappearing from my sight, the empty air feeling their spaces and my eyes only seeing the water, the black veil, or the ground beneath their feet. And then Injun Joe and Ancient Mai vanished, followed by Carlos and Molly herself.
I then felt more power flowing from the wardens to Carlos, then from Carlos to Molly. The air pressure had dropped and magic filled the air, so thick that the most obtuse muggle would be able to feel it. A good 20 seconds later, everyone reappeared again without warning.
"It's done!" she yelled, sweat pouring off her face. "We will all be able to see each other, but the black court won't be able to see us. I've anchored the spell allowing us to see to the real ground. Anyone needs to be standing on the ledge to be able to see us. Carlos, I'm going to need everything everyone's got for the grand finale. Harry, Mai, Joe, lift the black veil and the Ward on my mark."
I slowly turned around and looked on her. The eyes which looked back on me held a mixture of terror and determination. The look of a woman who was giving everything, knew she may not survive, and decided to give everything anyway.
Spell work requires holding the spell in your mind and then activating it through an incantation, your will, and magic. Molly was actively maintaining one spell, and for another totally separate spell to work in quick succession, she had to form the second spell in her mind without activating it.
Carlos was already drawing more of the warden's power into himself. He had taken all he could and severed direct magical contact with the wardens. He simply held all that magic, waiting for Molly to be ready. Unless he released all of it soon, it was going to rebound taking all of us with it.
Molly squeezed Carlos hand and I could feel the beginning of the transfer of magic from him to her. I lifted the black veil completely just as Mai and Injun Joe brought down their ward, without waiting for her orders. It was now or never.
Seeing confused vampires was downright comical. Imagine if the starting line of an NFL football game charged forward two feet and then abruptly tried to stop themselves. The vampires swarmed out of the darkness like bats out of hell, and then those at the front ground to a halt. The back row slammed into the front row, and they all went sprawling.
And then that's when DJ Molly unloosed her grand finale and the magic that Carlos had been feeding her exploded into a concentrated burst. The loudest fireworks ever seen on any fourth of July celebration combined with the flashing strobe lights and booming music of a hardcore rave scene went off in the face of 50,000 black vampires. No doubt the illusion covering us was gone, but nothing could have been able to see amongst the commotion.
Red, purple, green, and blue fireworks were going off over their heads, in front of them, and behind them. This was accompanied by erratically flashing white lights, and rap music that caused vampires to literally try and cover their ears.
But most impressive of all, everyone on the ledge was unaffected by the performance. We saw it, but we were able to function.
I pointed my wizard's staff into the mass of vampires closest to me and screamed "Forzare" as next to me, 50 wardens let loose, spells striking black vampires and tossing them into the water, and setting fire to all of the boats.
Injun Joe pointed to the sky and a clap of thunder sounded and he brought his hand down, directly at the ship before us. Lightning stuck the mainmast of the huge ship, causing it to splinter in half. The entire deck caught fire and vampires started swarming into the water.
The light show vanished and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Molly fall to the ground with her eyes closed and breathing erratically. The entire light show had lasted for no more than ten seconds, far more than the few seconds she had promised us, but enough to exhaust her completely. I turned to look at her and then my knees hit the ground, as I collapsed, all of my own magical strength gone. One of the vampire's bullets grazed my thigh, and I fell over sideways, down and out for the fight. Oh yes, they definitely could see us now.
Carlos stepped directly in front of both of us and threw up a shield. He looked as if he had aged 20 years and needed a weeks sleep. But his shield held firm.
"Squad A, the water!" he yelled, his clear voice needing no magic to make itself heard above all the chaos. 25 wardens stopped aiming spells at vampires and instead focused their energy on the water. I could feel the battle of wills going on between the combined might of wardens matched against the strength of the most powerful black vampires in front of us, those who did not need sleep, but even among all this, could use their energy and willpower to keep the North Sea calm so the other vampires had a chance of survival.
New power built next to me as Ancient Mai found the last of her strength, joining her iron will to the battle on the side of the Wardens. Very slowly, the Vampire's will started to crumble, until finally it broke altogether.
The waters of the North Sea started to rage again, assisted with the magic of white council wardens, drowning and washing away every single black vampire in sight.
The burning ship was all that remained.