It was well past midnight when the Water Beetle, a battered old boat that could have doubled for the one from Jaws, came to a stop at the What's Up Dock, the hastily constructed dock I had built onto Demonreach back when I first decided to actively research it. I expected my brother Thomas to step out of the hold and gracefully leap down onto the island proper with scarcely a sound. As usual, Thomas would remain unaffected by the late hour and even the sand itself would go out of its way to avoid staining his new dark shoes. Sometimes I could swear God had edited every ounce of him with a living version of Photoshop before allowing him to be born. On the other hand I was given a back up makeup person to cover over rough spots before the Almighty called it a day. Surprisingly though, Thomas didn't simply come on down to offer his usual sarcastic greeting.
I knew Thomas hadn't come down to Demonreach proper because had he touched ground I'd have felt it. My intellectus would have alerted me instantly if he had, instantly providing me with hundreds of details including just how many pebbles had been picked up on his shoes. Instead, the island was telling me that while it was indeed my brother's boat, it was not my brother at the helm. Whoever it was didn't want to step foot on the island uninvited, a smart move considering what went down the last time Demonreach had unwanted guests. Instead, they chose to stay on the deck and wait.
Standing within the underground cavern that doubled as a prison for all manner of centuries old evils, a patted the nearest glowing crystal much to the chagrin of the thing at its center.
"Looks like company. No, no don't you worry. I'll get it," I said.
After slipping into my new leather duster and retrieving my recently finished staff, I headed down to the shore. Intellectus has it's advantages with knowing exactly where everything is on the island and instantly being updated about terrain changes being one of the most useful. In almost no time flat I found myself at the shore, staring up at the dark silhouette standing on my brother's boat, and I had to fight back a snarl.
This was wrong. Not just anyone should be standing there. This person was not Thomas, was not Murph, or even Molly. And whoever it was, if he had hurt Thomas in anyway I was going to make him pay dearly. His pain would be tenfold whatever he had dealt out, his death would be…
I took a deep breath and fought back the mantle of Winter as it sought to take control. I counted slowly, reminded myself that whoever this was may simply have stolen the Water Beetle from port without even run afoul of my brother, and slowly stepped forward. Before I could say anything however, the dark shape spoke.
"I come seeking thee Harry Dresden. This night we shall engage in mortal combat and the winner shall be proven worthy of the honor to called Winter Knight!" declared a thunderous voice.
"Morning," I replied.
"What?" asked the voice, a bit deflated.
"It's morning, not night. In fact it is early morning. Far too early for me to be dealing with this crap." I answered.
The silhouette huffed angrily. "Enough! I have come not to engage in wordplay wizard! I have come to slay thee, becoming the Knight of Winter in your stead, serving the beautiful, elegant, and wise Queen Mab as befits a warrior of my stature!"
At that moment the figure moved, empowered by its own speechifying, stepping into the faint moonlight. Suddenly revealed was man, a youth really, wearing what looked like some kind of outfit a few days off from being Comicon ready. His long, curly hair fell into his eyes, which might explain why his costume was made mostly of plastic and plexiglass rather than something that would actually stand a chance of helping him in a battle with a wizard. At his side was a sword, probably the only thing that looked like it wasn't a complete prop, the strange amethyst in its hilt gleaming brightly despite the poor lighting.
"Riiight," I replied. "Listen, kid, I'm pretty sure that's not how it works. Only Mab herself chooses the knight and trust me, even if you could get it by killing me, it isn't all its made out to be. I mean sure you get some decent benefits, but the severance package blows. Hard. I mean there is no way you could raise a future brood of crazed Game of Thrones fans on what you'd make with this gig."
"SILENCE!" he shouted in a pitch that had to strain the limits of his scary voice abilities. "Face me and we shall see which of us is worthy!"
I pinched the space between my furrowed brows. This kid was nuts obviously, but that weird trinket in the sword felt like it could be the real deal. Aside from that, if he had managed to do something to Thomas or even if I just wanted to get more answers out of him, I couldn't very well do it while he was aboard the Beetle. If nothing else, being out on the water would make using magic more difficult. So I only had one real option.
"Alright chuckles, let's do this. You've permission to step onto the island, just for the purposes of me kicking your teeth in before you tell me what this is all about."
As the kid prepared to land, I drew in my power, felt it flow through my staff, and waited to see what would happen. To my surprise the kid leapt down into the sandy shore like something out of an action movie and…promptly fell flat on his face. I didn't even snicker. Not a peep. Honest.
Brushing himself off the kid angrily drew his blade, the amethyst throwing off ever-shifting lights that cast odd shadows all around him. As he slashed not at me, but the empty air between us I could feel a ripple of power emanating from the blade. Instantly a purple energy bolt shot out of the blade and towards my face. I quickly flicked my left arm outwards, staff still clutched in the fist, and shouted, "Defendarius!"
Instantly a half dome of blue-white energy formed in front of me, the shield blocking the energy bolt with a sizzling pop and the smell of burnt ozone. The kid was rushing me, eyes gleaming, and the power of Winter was screaming at me to lash out, my return attack reducing him to smoldering bones or ice impaled flesh in a single shot.
Instead, I kicked the mantle upside its metaphorical head, sidestepped the geek's clumsy lunge, and caught his ankle with my staff sending him crashing face first to the ground once more.
Before he could regain his feet I reached for my power once more, focused in the sword, put a bit of Will into it and muttered, "Ventas Servitus!" In response, a gust of wind carried the blade from where it had fallen and into my outstretched right hand.
"Okay, Lancelot. Now, let's talk about where you got the pig sticker."
Fifteen minutes later and I had the whole story and one kid with urine soaked cosplay armor. Somebody had put him up to this whole "I challenge you to a duel" business, that much was no surprise. He had been given directions, handed the sword, and was thoroughly convinced he could take me on for the glory of being the Winter Knight. Oh, and he thought he was getting an incredibly hot Sidhe girlfriend as part of the package.
Locking the kid below deck, I stared off into dark as I took the boat back out onto Lake Michigan and towards the city. Someone was handing out magical trinkets and setting teenagers in cheap costumes out after me. That same someone had known enough to guide their patsy to the Water Beetle, get him to Demonreach despite the fact that it isn't on the map, and had hinted to the kid he was in a contest and thus not the only person gunning for my job.
Not like I even wanted the damn job, but if I'm getting let go it'll be because Mab finally fires me for being too annoying…or scatters my essence to the winds. Whichever comes first.
To be honest it wasn't even the idea of being targeted, of being hunted that bothered me. That was just like any other day that ended in 'Y' when you got down to it. No, what bothered me was the idea of a lot of loose magical weapons in the hands of vanilla humans and all the damage that could cause. Plus, there was the whole my brother being missing thing. Thomas Raith is one of the few people I can count on and trust without question, but beyond that he's my big brother. If anything had happened to him, well, let's just say I was gonna go as Medieval on the person responsible as Lancelot had thought he was.
Sighing I looked out at Chicago's sparkling skyline and steadied myself for what was to come. It was going to be a hell of a time keeping a job I hated, didn't want, and was trying to find a way to get rid of.
