There I stood before Mab, awaiting her cruel judgment. I don't really
blame her for what she is about to do; for god's sake I nearly destroyed
the entire fey empire and ruined her chance at power. Yet at the same time,
I was saving all that is known reality. But what do I get? I win an all
expenses paid trip to damnation. And leave it to the White Counsel to take
the easy way out, though they never liked me in the first place. After I
managed to squelch the warring fey, Mab got royally pissed at her
floundered chance for power. It only made it worse that a mere mortal was
capable of this. So her first reaction to this was to declare war on the
White Council, although at one time the council would have been able to
deal with the fey, the recent wars with the Red Court had severely weakened
there power. So through long negotiations with Mab's Council they managed
to trade my life for in return for feigned peace. While the entire time I
was completely un-aware of what was taking place. At the time I was just
sloshing through what seemed to be a very dull time in my job. Almost
nothing had tried to kill me in three weeks. This was soon to change. It
was a late Friday night and I had just fallen into bed after the days long
drudgeries. When several white candles burst into violent flame above my
head. The candles were wards that had been enchanted to light when a
magical entity was near, the ferocity of the flame was based on how
powerful these entities were and judging by the number of candles that had
been lit, there was an entire proverbial magical, and damn powerful, army
right outside my door. Though I had not lost yet, a wizard's house is his
castle, and no castle is complete without defenses. Only my defenses were a
tad better than your average medieval hold. There was a tremendous pop out
side my basement apartment and I felt a wave of magical energy being
released, it was my first defenses. My attackers had pushed it aside like
one would push aside a beggar. Which was no easy feat, seeing as how this
energy shield had withstood daemons denarians before. So now it was time to
think fast, so I was basically screwed. I usually take the fight now think
later stance, and there was no way I could hold these guys off for very
long. So what did I do? I grabbed my staff, blasting rod, Sword of the
Templar, and assorted magical incendiaries and ran to my sub basement. I
shut the magically enhanced door and began to make preparations. My sub-
basement was more of a lab than a bunker, but I've made do with worse
before. A wide shelf lined the room with a flat black table in the middle.
On the wall parallel to me I could see my enchanted skull, bob, flickering
to life. He rattled a little in groggy irritation from being woken from his
slumber, but as soon as he came to and his inherent senses picked up the
magical energy out side my door his glowing orange eye sockets flared up in
alarm.
"Harry.what the hell is out side?" He asked me, in a very what-the- hell-have- you-gotten-us-into voice.
"Jesus Bob, I don't know. But whatever it is, it didn't come for tea". Then I heard another stunning pop followed by hellish screams of rage and a silence all to sudden to be good.
"Well, so much for the daemon guarding the door. Harry, you should start running, now. Don't stop and don't look back. Just run. Run like a bat out of hell." Bob sputtered.
"Gee, thanks for the faith and support old buddy." I shot back at him in fear-induced sarcasm. I grabbed my staff and began to weave an intricate web of shield magic and enchantments of the Templar. If the favor of god didn't help, I don't know what would. I could feel the creatures out side my house beginning to summon exponential amounts of energy. As the energy build up out side became greater and great I saw light begin to seep through the cracks around my heavy oak door. For this light alone to penetrate all the way through my house and into my sub-basement was no easy task, whatever was coming was not going to be a surprise birthday party. All I could do at this point was make my web stronger, and hold on for dear life. I pumped my heart and soul into that web, pouring everything I had into it, I drew up from the depths of my soul energies I had never touched before, I took all the feelings from my previous love, and all the rage from what the Red Court did to her and pumped them into this web. The magic became so strong that the stone in my little sub-basement began to shake a crack in places. Blue sparks shot from my head to the doorknob and to the metal on the table behind me. Quite a sight I should have made, my shaggy black hair alive with blue sparks, my staff grasped before me in both hands, and my eyes alive with rage. Then it happened, my attackers released the energy they had been building. The light intensified until it was starting to burn the door in front of me, all my wards were exploding in huge thunderclaps of sound, the door was blown free from its hinges, coming at me at unreasonable speed. It scattered of my shield and went careening into the wall, shattering the concrete. Where it had touched my shield violent blue lightening that seemed to have a rage of its own erupted, chasing the flying hunk of wood all the way through the air. The light that the door released came at me with the fire of a thousand suns. Completely incinerating everything around me, excluding what my shield kept safe. As the light began to fade I looked up the short stairwell that my door had once guarded and saw there three figures, clad in blinding white armor. I let out a little gasp of panic, I recognized these guys right of the bat. It was the triumvirate, three of the White Councils most powerful justiciars. These guys have single handled destroyed entire Red Court out posts. And if they wanted me, they could get me. But not without a fight I scoffed to my self. They came at me with clamors at their sides, and the entire support of the White Council behind them. They came towards me with undeniable strength. As there towering forms entered my Sub-basement just beyond the perimeter of my shield one of the spoke.
"Lower your weapon Dresden, the White Council, so they be blessed, as ordered your capture. And we may take all means to fulfill this decree." He spoke in a very formal and commanding tone. I loathed every cocky word of it. "Bring it on, I've lead a good life." Adrenaline makes me say stupid thing, what's new? The justiciars raised their swords in unison and brought them down with what intended to be a devastating strike. But my shield held true. As their swords struck my magical wall, their armor burst into passion fueled flame, and bolts of pure raw energy danced down to their greaves. The force of my attack knocked their singed bodies back to the wall, on up them was even knocked back up the stair well and through my front wall, into the street outside. But a candle flickers most violent before it burns out. And like a candle I was out. The energy I expended into the web overloaded my sense and there I dropped to the floor, a crumpled beaten heap of tattered clothes and shell-shocked nerves.
"Harry.what the hell is out side?" He asked me, in a very what-the- hell-have- you-gotten-us-into voice.
"Jesus Bob, I don't know. But whatever it is, it didn't come for tea". Then I heard another stunning pop followed by hellish screams of rage and a silence all to sudden to be good.
"Well, so much for the daemon guarding the door. Harry, you should start running, now. Don't stop and don't look back. Just run. Run like a bat out of hell." Bob sputtered.
"Gee, thanks for the faith and support old buddy." I shot back at him in fear-induced sarcasm. I grabbed my staff and began to weave an intricate web of shield magic and enchantments of the Templar. If the favor of god didn't help, I don't know what would. I could feel the creatures out side my house beginning to summon exponential amounts of energy. As the energy build up out side became greater and great I saw light begin to seep through the cracks around my heavy oak door. For this light alone to penetrate all the way through my house and into my sub-basement was no easy task, whatever was coming was not going to be a surprise birthday party. All I could do at this point was make my web stronger, and hold on for dear life. I pumped my heart and soul into that web, pouring everything I had into it, I drew up from the depths of my soul energies I had never touched before, I took all the feelings from my previous love, and all the rage from what the Red Court did to her and pumped them into this web. The magic became so strong that the stone in my little sub-basement began to shake a crack in places. Blue sparks shot from my head to the doorknob and to the metal on the table behind me. Quite a sight I should have made, my shaggy black hair alive with blue sparks, my staff grasped before me in both hands, and my eyes alive with rage. Then it happened, my attackers released the energy they had been building. The light intensified until it was starting to burn the door in front of me, all my wards were exploding in huge thunderclaps of sound, the door was blown free from its hinges, coming at me at unreasonable speed. It scattered of my shield and went careening into the wall, shattering the concrete. Where it had touched my shield violent blue lightening that seemed to have a rage of its own erupted, chasing the flying hunk of wood all the way through the air. The light that the door released came at me with the fire of a thousand suns. Completely incinerating everything around me, excluding what my shield kept safe. As the light began to fade I looked up the short stairwell that my door had once guarded and saw there three figures, clad in blinding white armor. I let out a little gasp of panic, I recognized these guys right of the bat. It was the triumvirate, three of the White Councils most powerful justiciars. These guys have single handled destroyed entire Red Court out posts. And if they wanted me, they could get me. But not without a fight I scoffed to my self. They came at me with clamors at their sides, and the entire support of the White Council behind them. They came towards me with undeniable strength. As there towering forms entered my Sub-basement just beyond the perimeter of my shield one of the spoke.
"Lower your weapon Dresden, the White Council, so they be blessed, as ordered your capture. And we may take all means to fulfill this decree." He spoke in a very formal and commanding tone. I loathed every cocky word of it. "Bring it on, I've lead a good life." Adrenaline makes me say stupid thing, what's new? The justiciars raised their swords in unison and brought them down with what intended to be a devastating strike. But my shield held true. As their swords struck my magical wall, their armor burst into passion fueled flame, and bolts of pure raw energy danced down to their greaves. The force of my attack knocked their singed bodies back to the wall, on up them was even knocked back up the stair well and through my front wall, into the street outside. But a candle flickers most violent before it burns out. And like a candle I was out. The energy I expended into the web overloaded my sense and there I dropped to the floor, a crumpled beaten heap of tattered clothes and shell-shocked nerves.