Author's Note: All characters in here aren't mine. I've been thinking seriously about what I would have written about my favourite urban fantasy novel and it just came to me. What if I continued on the Dresden Legacy? So it did come to a lot of self-convincing to just sit down and write something like that and just pray hard that it would garner enough positive reviews to feed my ever growing ego. And I hope that it would do wonders. Seriously…
Anyway, before this gets awkward and all me me me, I'll just begin.
The Dresden Legacy- Blood Ties
Chapter 1
The look on Bill Meyers' face told me all. I wasn't ready for this. That was probably what he's thinking right now, it was just so tactful of him to not be saying it in my face. Instead, I gave him a reassuring look; mostly the kind of look I'd give when McCoy catches us together. I always had to reassure him that my mentor wasn't heading for a shotgun or anything, and that despite of his actions, he'd still approved of Bill. Let me say that it took a whole lot of convincing.
"I'll be okay", I whispered calmly. "It'll be quick".
As if offering a second opinion, Mouse whined.
"Big help you are", I remarked, rubbing his head. To both Bill and the dog, I ordered, "Stay and if I do survive, you two would have a year's supply of hot pancakes".
Despite all the rumours and the big hoorahs that had been circulating the White Council, the Carpenters were still family to me. Even if I still do see Dad from time to time, when he wasn't too preoccupied with his current job, Charity didn't mind at all when I did come for a visit. I just had to make sure I didn't bring a whole lot of Council folks to evaluate if any other of her children had the magical touch. Fishing out the keys from my coat pocket, I unlocked the front door. Turning around, I gave the boys a thumbs up before ducking inside. The Carpenters residence had always been a cheery warm place filled with love and what seemed to a whiff of teenage rebellion when I caught sight of a gaming console by the TV, most probably Harry's stuff.
Thinking thoughtfully that I shouldn't be sneaking upon said teenager, I called out his name. No reply. Charity isn't home; I heard leaving a teenager too much space could lead to some nasty stuff, most of the time being more focussed on self-destructive activities. Trust me, been there done that.
Kitchen cleared, I headed up the stairs, taking them two at the time. I was pretty much lanky for my age, almost as tall as Bill and in no time, I was by the door to Harry's bedroom. Without knocking, I pushed it open only to have a shock of my life. She gave a half scream half yelp and dove under the covers. Harry Carpenter just regarded me sheepishly with a doped up smile plastered on his face. Sure, having your adopted sister coming in like that would do that to anyone.
As if in some sick confirmation, I noticed some weed near them. Great, sure, trust a kid to be alone.
"Harry, what the hell is this?" I hissed. "And who is she?"
"Hi, I..uh…better go", the girl stammered, rushing to pick articles of clothing off the floor. I let her off, immediately picking up her features for future encounters. She struck me as some pretty chic who thinks that banging jocks should be an occupation. Meanwhile, Harry was a little too stoned to even put on a shirt. Thankfully, he was still in his boxers.
"Maggie, you're back", he stretched in his bed.
I glared at him, contemplating murder. Though it would definitely be more merciful compared to if Charity or Michael had been here. Once they're done, there certainly wouldn't be anything left of Harry.
"Hey, what's wrong, saw some girl running out-oh", Bill said when he stopped dead from behind me.
"That's one way to say it", I grumbled under my breath while Mouse gave the weed stash a sniff and regarded Harry with a look that said 'you are an irresponsible young man'. Then, he promptly flung it out of the window.
"Hey, you bastard, give that back", Harry slurred, scrambling out of bed to try to wrestle it out of Mouse. This was a fight Mouse easily won, ending with Harry being sat on.
"Mags, time a ticking, we got to hurry", Bill told me, his Texan accent starting to leak out a bit. Humour at the end of a tragedy, very fitting for a play. I gave him a nod.
"I'll get it. Watch over him", I motioned at a flailing Harry with his face on the floor. Muffled sounds of pleads of mercy came from under Mouse.
"Mouse", Bill warned, giving a motion (which was more of some flapping his hands in a shooing motion) for the dog to let the younger man go.
I shook my head, "It'll do him some good. Suffocation sounds alright if it clears his head".
Mouse was really amazing at the listening part.
The documents we were here for were in my old room, neatly arranged in a locked drawer of the small desk. I flipped through them, making sure that there were no missing portions and slipped the rest into my bag. Now Henry was just what I have to deal with.
Dad had once told me of a girl who'd tried to take her friends off drugs by invading their minds. At the moment, I wished I was that girl. I could then make Harry forget about what had gone through a moment ago. That was dangerous, not only to an extent that I would be breaking a rule that would leave me dead but that it was strictly invasive. I wasn't good with all the psychic mojo anyway; my kind of interests tends to be more destructive, with many accounts of public property being damaged beyond usability in the process.
"Got it", I announced when I went back to where Mouse was still on Harry.
"Maggie", Harry whined. "Get him off me; I'm sorry, I'm sorry".
I folded my arms, standing in a position so that he could see me. "Okay I will but you're coming with us".
"What about school?" he asked. He would have been in his senior year by now.
I rolled my eyes, reminding myself to write a note to Charity stating Harry's whereabouts, "You dropped out last year remember? Now get some pants on before I decide to torch them".
Sometimes, I just wondered where that good innocent kid went. Perhaps abducted by some alien life form that sent this horrible look-a-like replacement back, or was this all just something called the aftermath of puberty?
We drove all the way to an all too familiar place, Mac's place. He promised that he'd be taking care of my car when we were out of town. Mac just grunted when I handed him my car keys, being true to Dad's description of him. Mac wasn't a man of many words. He knew we were busy enough to not offer us any of his best brews, just grunted again to acknowledge the fact that we'd be gone. Opening the door, it was no longer the streets of Chicago outside the bar but the cold winter torn Nevernever. Bill went first with Mouse, his staff gripped in one hand. Then, with a nudge, Harry. When I walked through, I shut the door, making sure that it would stay shut and that nothing else could go over to Mac's bar. Elsewise that would be something that would definitely give Mac something to say about the next time we meet.
"Where are we going?" Harry shouted over the wind.
"Ever seen a pearl imperial dragon before?" I asked in return.
He looked at me as if I had just told him that I was a large lizard. I left it that way.
"Billy, stop here", I motioned for Billy. My silver pentacle was starting to get warmer. Dad had given me this when I had first started my apprenticeship with McCoy, since he always had the one which Gran used to wear, he made me a new one-perks of being with the Winter Court meant that he was able to find a good blacksmith that dealt with fine silver engravings. Once I got adventurous, I managed to make a customization spell which heats the pentacle when I get closer to what I wanted. That and also the small green emerald charm that kept me from being lost in the Nevernever, also a present from Dad.
"Geez, this storm", I muttered, opening a doorway into our destination.
Harry seemed speechless as we stumbled onto rolling hills and tall grass, a big difference to the winter storm. It was much warmer thanks to the sudden change in our environmental temperature. Even with the slight chilly wind going about. Once again making sure that the door I've opened was secured, I turned to take a look at out surroundings.
"A pearl imperial dragon?" Harry asked.
"Yeah", I nodded. If there isn't one, then I wouldn't be on this kind of goose chase in order to tag it for the International Cryptozoology Department. They were really covert in their specialised field and even Dad had to admit that he hadn't heard of it until now. Apparently, the Wardens did however. McCoy was familiar with a few of the members in our division. As a sign of good faith, Bill had been assigned into the ICD, though I'd bet a dollar he'd be itching to brag to Ramirez even if he couldn't possibly do so.
And before anyone asks, no, we're not some kind of magical park rangers. We don't use guns or any sort of magical enchantments that could seriously hurt any creatures on our list. I'd discovered that just by conversing with any one of them, I could get near enough to get measurements and other data.
Which brings us to this particular case.
There was word that there had been some poaching occurring in the China, and it ain't ordinary animal slaughterfest either. Turns out, there are a number of dragons still living in the mountains, secluded areas that the locals wouldn't be able to tell that there was a sign of these giant reptiles. Yet someone probably got hold of something and decided hey, dragons make good game. There were some recorded trade of large dinosaur sized eggs too, even with a museum in London receiving a fossilised baby dragon which was assumed to be a dinosaur since it was partially missing some bones that could indicate a growth of wings.
"Kid, you ever seen a dragon?" Bill asked.
"No. You have?" Harry frowned.
Bill nodded. "Forest dragon, big lumbering fire breathing crazy. Best catch Mags and I ever bagged. Wing span's easily fifteen meters, and claws about this long".
He held out an arm with the other hand placed just over his elbow. I smiled at his antics. That time we'd got lucky too, if it wasn't for Mouse, we would've been dragon bait. It was close but not the most nerve wrecking. Not to mention that time when Bill was nearly torn in two by a sasquatch, it took some time explaining the situation before it calmed down enough for us to get well away.
Mouse came to stand beside me.
"Take a whiff of this", I told him, pulling out the small packet of ground dragon claws to dangle it in front of his nose. He sniffed the air, and pointed us south. We followed.
And a surprise did await us ahead.
The stink was slightly unpleasant.
Dragon musk and the stench of rot setting in. The carcass was hidden with an illusion that was easily handled, the dragon's body contorted in such a manner that suggested broken vertebrae. The talons were gone. With some checks, so were the teeth. One side of its scaly hide looked picked clean, with its cyan coloured scales probably pried off and meat hacked away. Rib bones to the left side of its ribcage were missing.
Animal poaching extreme.
I breathed through my mouth, circling the carcass looking for any evidence that might give us the clue of the poachers we were dealing with.
"Holy shit", Harry said along one of the many strings of swearing that would impress any sailor.
"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Billy asked, pulling out a black talking stone. I let him do the reporting to HQ, he was more of the smooth talker and people pleaser in our relationship.
"Harry, c'mere", I motioned for him to get to where I am. "Tell me what you see".
"Looks like some kind of boot imprint", he remarked.
"That and the shell casings, they were packing some heavy ammunition to bring this one down", I said, bagging some of the large metal casings which were as long as the palm of my hand.
"I got something", Bill called out. He was knee deep in the carcass with what looked like a knife in his hand.
So, I couldn't blame the next thing that had happened to us.
There was a loud roar. The wind around us picked up. Bill was smart enough to duck into the dead dragon's mostly empty body cavity when another dragon landed a couple of feet away, roaring murder. Harry lost control of his leg muscles and fell on his bum. Mouse got ready to bark, I signalled him not to. I have this in control. I have this in control. I have this in control…
"Wait! Wait! It's not us! We didn't do this!" I yelled out, stink be damned. Scrambling for the department issued amulet, I showed it to the newcomer. It was enough to stop it from trying to snap at poor Bill.
The dragon cocked its gracefully shaped head one side, letting out a humming sound.
"We're from the International Cryptozoology Department, we got here as soon as we can but found this instead of the poachers. We're doing what we can, please, let us continue before you bring your dead somewhere else", I said as loud as I could.
The amulet in my hand did wonders in conveying the message, making sure that we have conveyed the fact that we were truly harmless. The dragon calmed down some, leaning forward to sniff at the dead one, gave a last snort at Bill (who was covered in juices I didn't want to know) before taking flight.
"Shitshitshitshit", Harry muttered, getting on his feet unsteadily.
"Hey, you done in there?" I asked Bill who scrambled out, knife still in hand.
"Found this. The sigil looks familiar", he showed the knife to me.
The sigil on it was a snake eating its own tail, creating a round circle. I'd seen it before too, in one of McCoy's old books.
"We'll figure this out", I said, glancing at Harry who looked like he was still in shock.
An insect bit the back of my neck, causing me to instinctively slap at the spot. Instead I came up with a feathered dart. I really didn't see that coming. I glanced at Bill, still a little gobsmacked by the sight of the sharp thing in my palm. Mouse hit the ground first, a red feathered dart sticking out if one flank. I didn't get to see the rest, my knees hit the hard ground hard. Collapsing on stinky dragon remains wasn't fun, I can assure you that. The last thing I saw was the maroon stained grass, the smell of the stench fading away. My vision hit pitch black. That was the last thing I remembered.
Author's Note: There aren't enough fics on Maggie and I do hope you guys would agree if I paired her with Bill Meyers (Note: NOT BILLY BORDEN, Meyers worked with Dresden a couple of times and is with the Wardens. Crack the books to check it out cause apparently Wikipedia didn't mention much about Billy at all). Okay and you'll also start to notice that Harry in this fic isn't Dresden, it's Harry Carpenter.
Oh and yeah, I probably made up the International Cryptozoology Department too cause this is a newer direction for Maggie and I decided that it would make an interesting story. Plus many of the usual Dresden Verse characters would be strolling in from time to time, so if you're curious, don't lose faith.
Now, I won't be continuing if I get less than 10 reviews and I'd be giving about a month. Or else I won't be finding this story worth continuing. If I were you, I'd better start reviewing.