That night, I had a nightmare. I don't dream vividly often. I've trained myself to control my dreams over the years, long before the Great War. After the Great War, I trained myself to not dream at all. When I do dream, they're usually pleasant ones.

This was not a pleasant dream.

There were screams. A lot of them. People were being ripped apart, and not just in a physical sense. They were being torn asunder inside and out and from their minds. Tortured in every possible way. Most of these souls were betrayed. They expected something of someone, and now that person was tearing them to pieces. I've seen Hell, seen demons torturing hapless people who made a deal for power or safety or whatever.

Hell was supposed to be something you experience AFTER you die. I could see the sounds, smell the colors, and taste the scents of their torment. Steel, ozone, formaldehyde.

One of these things was not a soul. It was a being of some kind. A familiar one. Fair skinned, black hair, thin body...This was the most visual part of the dream. I could see here clearly. She was in pieces, with new bits of metal and pipes and wires going in and out of her once beautiful body. Even mangled and dismembered, she was still beautiful...Even tortured and torn, she still had grace...The fairy that had once been my Godmother...Lea looked 'at' me, and screamed,

"Harry! Harry come for me! Harry please! You must kill meeeeee! Harry!"

I thought that the twitch had woken me up, but a split second later I realized i was still dreaming, still seeing a vision of a suit of Power Armor. No, not one suit. Many suits. There was a man, in black, surrounded by black suits of Power Armor. I knew this man. I don't know who he was, but I knew him, at some point. Those Power Armor suits, I don't recognize, but they're definitely Power Armor. Big and bulky, somewhat resembling beetles. The man suddenly became aware of whatever was happening to me, him, and Leah, and I pulled out of the dream. I didn't want to touch minds.

I woke with a gasp; I hadn't been breathing. I laid in bed, breathing, catching my breath until my vision returned. I lit a candle with a spell, and then realized it was bright; the sun was out. I took several more breaths to finally get my sight all the way back. I took one last deep breath, and I could feel everything again. Oh good. I hate visions, I really do.

I guess I have a lot of questions for Bob today on how Lea, who is no longer connected to me, was able to project into my dreams. And that man in black surrounded by men in Power Armor? Talk about ominous. I pulled out some leftover for breakfast. I'm going to need to conjure up some more ice. Mouse smells it, and the dog runs over to me, panting and begging. Unlike Mister, Mouse has remained exactly the same as he was when he first exploded from the cute little fuzzball of a puppy I got in Tibet, except for the fact that he's gotten grayer, more cantankerous, and whines more about his bones. Sort of like me in that regard. He sired most of the packs in the Chicago area over the years; most of them can draw their ancestry to him. Not that dogs really care much about that sort of thing.

"No, you're not getting any. Mister caught you dinner last night, you have plenty of food," I insisted, and Mouse grumbled in protest, still following me to the dining table. I watched the Tribals practicing their drills; I really hope that Talor doesn't stay with the Brotherhood, or at least finds a job that's out of harm's way. Hell's bells I don't want any of them to put themselves in harm's way, especially if they're draftees. But I can't protect them all, not unless I want to go about and take down the Brotherhood myself. In times like these, who am I to be making even more enemies, anyway?

I ate through my breakfast, giving Mouse bits and pieces, despite my promise to not give him any. It's a game that we do, a game that Mister was sure to get in on when he thundered into the dining room, meowed, and gave me kitty-eyes. And by 'Meow' I mean he gave me a roar, which I believe is what a meow is anyway. I threw him some bits, too, not that it would take any edge of his ravenous hunger. I could feed him a Brahmin and he'd still beg for scraps. Ancient habits die hardest.

I was finished with my breakfast, when there was a knock at the door. Damn kids probably sprained an ankle. 'Help us Druid Dresden, I don't want to die out here.' I had someone tell me that over a sprained ankle. Now that I think of it, he kind of had a point, actually...I opened the door, blasting staff in hand, ready to yell at the Tribals for horsing around, when a familiar face was glaring into mine. In the eyes. I yelped and halfway jumped out of my shoes at that, but this person didn't have a soul to gaze into.

She looked like a human. The perfect woman, in fact: large, firm, luscious breasts and a tight, adorable butt that makes men red with embarrassment and women green with envy. She was wrapped in white leather over her top and a matching loincloth that covered everything, but only just. She had a Deathclaw skull mounted on her head as a helmet, and a hairy Deathclaw skin as a cape. Her snow white hair had been shaved in a reverse mohawk, dangling of the sides of her head, with a bald spot straight down the middle that was closed off at the ends.

"Hello, Harry," she said to me in that soothing, chilly voice. It was like warm water rolling down on a sunburn, the water wasn't really warm, but it was cool to the touch. It hurt, but you wanted more, "It's been some time."

"Fifty years."

"May I come in?" she asked, and I smirked.

"Not by invitation," I knew those old fairy tricks. She stepped through my door after hesitating; it was everything I could to not gawk. I saw the Tribals; each and every one had failed in that regard, even the girl. Talor stepped towards the door to follow her, but I shut it in his face. I was still a bit mad at him. Find a living judge and a lawyer and sue me.

"So, Mab. What brings you back to Chicago? Still enchanting Tribals to do your bidding, getting them to sell you their souls just to live a few more months?" I asked. Mab cringed at my words.

"I know what you think of me, Harry. Please, do not judge me, I am only doing what it takes to stay alive in this world. To make sure my people stay alive. Our home, our dwelling, our REALITY has been shredded to pieces. I am no less a monster than the humans that put my people in this situation."

"I don't know about that, I still say there's something fishy about the Great War. Not that I can do much about that now. And besides, humans can create as much as they can destroy. You and your kind are just parasites."

She winced again at my accusation, and just hung her head, nodding, "You're right..."

Hell's Bells, she was preying on my sense of chivalry I can't stand to see a woman in distress, even if she isn't really a woman. I took a breath and steeled myself. It wasn't going to work this time.

"What do you want, Mab?"

"Did you have the dream too, Harry? Lea was calling for you."

I stopped and scowled.

"What are you talking about?"

Mab turned to me, and held her head high, "The dream of Lea, tied to that abominable machine. She was calling for you, Harry. Calling in all directions, to every mind she could possibly think of. Lea needs your help, and needs your mercy. I couldn't kill Lea if I wanted to, she grew too powerful. But you, Harry, you are still connected to her in ways we are not. Even if your debt to me is fulfilled, she is still your Godmother. You are bound as family, though not by blood."

"That doesn't make any sense by any stretch of the imagination."

"Bonds, Harry. They mean more now than they ever have before, especially bonds that date back before the Great War. Anyone you were close to or were acquaintances with that are still alive, you can contact and send images through. Even dead ones can still be tapped into in some ways."

"Why can't she just do herself off? She has the power to end and scatter herself."

"The Never Never is attempting to rebuild itself through these bonds, through all bonds. The more magic there is in the world, the faster it will rebuild. You, Harry, and your daughter and your apprentices, the ones that still live? You are the anchors of which the Never Never are being rebuilt. Lea called you through those bonds and through those anchors, because as you are an anchor, and she is connected to you, she is also one such anchor."

"I don't understand."

"Because she is bonded to and through you, Harry, she cannot exert her power unto herself. Just as you could not to yourself if you tried. An external force must do it, even if it is one of those other bonds."

A shiver ran down my spine at the implications.

"Does that mean...I can't...Die naturally?" Wizards live to be about two hundred, three hundred if they're lucky. I figured my death was oncoming any time soon. I hadn't admitted it, but about thirty years ago, I'd more or less stopped aging. I stopped getting new aches and pains, and I stopped losing hair.

She nodded, "Yes, Harry. You are effectively immortal, until the Never Never rebuilds itself and no longer needs you, or until you are killed by something else. After the Never Never releases you, you will age as you once had."

"So I'm stuck as an old geyser until the Never Never fixes itself, which could take THOUSANDS OF YEARS. Hell's Bells, even Margret's gray in the hair. She's going to be stuck as a fifty five year old woman for that long?"

"There is a way to fix that," Mab said, turning to me. I shook my head.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, I am not making that mistake again. I am not making any deals with you, Mab."

"This one comes with no strings attached," she said. She reached out and grabbed me by my impressive four foot beard, and tugged me to her. I squirmed and protested, but she grabbed my head and locked lips with me. If the situation were different I would have enjoyed this profusely. I could feel energy flowing from her, to me. She held the kiss for two minutes, and I was starting to choke from not being able to breathe. She let go and I gasped.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded. She smiled; she now had wrinkles on her face that were not there before. Her snow white hair seemed even whiter now.

"A gift, Harry Dresden. You do the world little good as an old man. But a younger man, in his prime? You will make all the difference. Even if you couldn't-or simply didn't know how to-before."

I raised my eyebrows, "So I'm going to...Age in reverse until I'm physically in my forties, then?"

She nodded, "With just a touch of gray for wisdom."

"Well...Thank you. I'll do what I can to...Help...Lea. Also, the man in black, surrounded by the men in armor, who was that? In the dream?"

Mab stared at me, "What man?"

I sighed, "After the dream of Lea, I saw a man in a black suit, with a black hat, wearing a black mask. I...knew him. I couldn't tell who it was."

She shook her head, "He must be an acquaintance of yours I have not met that is still alive from before the war."

"Probably an acquaintance I'm eager to not meet again," I sighed. I was already thinking of people it might be. I was sort of thinking wishfully, listing Wizards I knew of more than anything else.

"There is one more thing, Harry. That young Shaman out there? Talor? I made a deal with him."

I thumped my staff, "You did WHAT?"

"My people are dying Harry. Every year there are fewer and fewer of us, and there are no births. No new fairies. One less now, with Leah undoubtedly in need of death! He won't be like the others, Harry, not just a temporary stop-gap. I will teach him magic, and make him a proper Wizard. His tribe will flourish with him. He made that sacrifice for his own people."

"He sold his soul to protect his tribe..."

"No, not just his soul. Himself. He is to be my king; he will be a Faerie and I will be the Winter Mother. But we will change, and challenge, what we are and what we will become. His power will flow through the Faeries and we will be rejuvenated, and we will adapt to this new world."

"You don't always want to be something that is adapted to this world," I warned her, "You might not like it."

"We will have the adaptability and creativity of humans, and the magic of Faeries. Your people survived, and for as long as there have been humans, there have been Faeries. And as Humans have had to change to this new world, so will we. But we are unguided, blind in the sands of the wastes. We live for now, but we die."

I scratched my beard irritably. She had a point; despite the end of the world, we Humans had survived, and we were slowly on the up.

"Well, you might as well let me teach him, then. You can teach him how to use magic. I can teach him how to be a Wizard. He should learn from the last Elder of the White Council."

She smiled at me, "You're too kind, Harry."

"It's what you wanted me to do anyway," I reminded her, and she shrugged with a smirk.

"Say hello to Toot-Toot for me, would you, Harry? He is welcome back to my Court anytime. Our kind should stick together, even if he is...Not quite the same anymore."

"I'll get started on his pizza. Is there anything else you want to sucker me into?"

"That's it for now, Harry. Until next time," she gave me another kiss, this one on the cheek, and stepped out my door. I watched as she spoke with Talor. His expression went from despair to excitement as she explained things to him. I got out some flour in my kitchen and started making the dough for the pizza. Talor rushed into my house, ignoring my Threshold, though undoubtedly he was affected by it. He rushed into the kitchen after searching for me for a few minutes, a grin from ear to ear. Just before he began to speak, I held up my hand.

"First lesson: Pizza. Wash your hands. I want you to knead this for a little while. Once this pizza is done, we'll go meet Toot-Toot."