Life After Death
Chapter 8
"Harry Dresden is dead!"
The voice rolled and thundered above the twin waves of darkness that erupted upon the scene of magical destruction. I suspect those outside in the midst of those waves likely did not even hear it over the cacophony of other more immediate sounds like the gnawing of teeth, the rapid flapping, and of course the screams of those around them. Or even if they did hear these words then it still probably did not make a terrible impact upon their conscious mind compared to the horror they were presented with that race toward then of which the members of the crowd remained totally unprepared for.
The already night dark sky had served as the perfect camouflage for the tens of thousands of bats that spiraled out of the sky and descended upon the crowd of first responders and those casual observers whose focus had been upon first and foremost the fire and the desperate rescue attempts after the building's collapse.
In synchronization with the bats, a thousand or more sewer rats simultaneously erupted from storm drains that lined the streets and rushed into the crowd nipping at unprotected ankles. This made footfalls of those who sought to flee from their charge and that of the bats unstable and either overly cautious allowing for even more attacks, or increasingly panicked and therefore more prone toward instinctual self survival. Those trying to be cautious found themselves knocked down by their compatriots filled only with fear and were soon eye to eye with the rats.
Even those regularly accustomed to horrors, blood, and even a taste of the bizarre, which describes both the average first responder and the average college student still willingly awake at this hour just to watch a fire, were not emotionally equipped to stand before such an onslaught. I felt the wave of sensitive magic radiating across the streets seeking to cause even more terror and pain in its wake and gave myself an extra dose of courage to resist the spell's power. But I could not help those in the streets succumbing to this unnatural fear and seeking a direction to flee or else a place of immediate shelter where none was to be found.
Even the ever stalwart and normally alert Will who had faced down more than his share of magical beings in the past had showed no sign of awareness of the threat from the spell or the creatures until they was already upon him. Tera's more animalistic nature and with the help of her enhanced senses, probably those of hearing and smell, gave the woman a second or two more in mental preparation before the others around her had been granted but that was still limited in its overall help to her as she was still surrounded by those unaware rather than what she would have preferred to be a disciplined pack trained to respond to her commands.
"The timing of this spell was not a coincidence. She was purposely biding her time and awaiting proof of your arrival and the demonstration of your magic was just the sign she required." Ms. Gard said to me as she stabbed the point of her sword into the floor by her foot and tore off the expensive suit coat she wore so rapidly that the designer buttons went flying across the room. The expensive white silk shirt underneath it went the same way as well leaving her wearing only a bra but in the process revealing to me the well muscled arms and six pack abs that these clothes had been concealing. She also showed no signs of mortal embarrassment or hesitance at this display, but then again looking like she did I could not imagine why she would.
"Who are you talking about?" I asked confused as my mind was running just an instant behind my mouth. She meant the one who had proclaimed Harry was dead of course not that the Valkyrie knew the identity of this being, at least not at present. "Do you know where she is?"
"Not yet and I won't likely from down here." She said looking to the carnage running rampant outside. "If you can you do something about these bats then perhaps I can put an end to all of this right here and now." She closed her eyes in what appeared no more than a long blink, whispering what my senses reported as faith magic in words of a prayer composed in the same odd language she had spoken with a moment before. When Ms. Gard opened her eyes a second later looking for my answer there was also a bright flash of light that originated from nowhere yet everywhere and her bare but equally muscled back now supported a pair of white angel-like wings. She yanked her embedded sword blade from the concrete floor, yes I caught the sword in the stone reference, and looked at me for my answer as she stepped toward the door to leave.
"Yep I'm on it!" I said intimidated by the whole true warrior maiden Valkyrie thing. I mean it is one thing to convince yourself that the person you are speaking casually with is a couple thousand year old handmaiden of Norse mythology but it is another situation all together to actually witness this transformation before your eyes. And having done so now it was not like I wanted to tell her no as she was already angry, based upon her projected emotions, and holding that intimidating looking sword.
That of course did not change the fact that I had no clue exactly how to take care of the bats that I had just signed up to do. The area was way too big for any form of fire that I might be able to toss and even if that were not the case the bats were also flapping around the faces of the panicked people so I'd cause a lot of injuries, scalding, or at least remove everyone's eyebrows if I could cover such a wide area. Wizards do not take the Hippocratic oath to 'first do no harm' like doctors do, but I have found through trial and error in Harry's lab, emphasis on error, that this is a pretty good concept for an apprentice to keep firmly entrenched in her mind as well.
After working with Harry's old teenage day's girlfriend Elaine Mallory and seeing the power she was capable of by tossed around lightning as her base element I had experimented a little with that type of magic on my own as well and even envision an area encompassing spell just like I had need for right now. Again I will remind you that combat spells are not my forte and for an area like this the only thing I had envisioned was a static charge type spell that I hoped would work like an area effect taser.
There are those rare occasions where a perky apprentice wizard wants to drop a crowd of fairly regular beings, like henchmen and minions, without killing them so you can get on to facing off with the actual evil overlord. Unfortunately my current capabilities with this spell only achieved the level of what Harry designated as 'Molly's backyard bug zapper' spell; great for taking out all the mosquitoes and house flies in the yard when we went to a cookout at my parents' house. So this dream of mine was not really a spell that was ready or at least going to do much against something the size and nimbleness of these radar guided rodents.
But hey maybe that was it! Radar is sound based which of course is right up my natural alley of talents so to speak. Of course I had never tried what suddenly came to me so this would be completely trial and error but hey desperate times call for and all those lovely old quotes. I followed the Valkyrie outside as she prepared to spring into the air and began drawing magic into myself. Whoever was controlling the bats and rats must have noted my preparations as well for the random surge of these creatures against the crowd slacked off as their attention and the wave of hatred from the mind controlling them turned directly upon me
The power of the magic being used was so strong that I could even feel the dominating spell on the creatures sending their thoughts and perceptions back to the mind that controlled the spell. Once more I was face with the undeniable yet intimidating fact that this wizard was keeping ten thousand or more spells running all at the same time! Man am I good at picking enemies or what?
On the bright side this change of focus allowed the regular people to escape and flee without pursuit, the first responders making sure to drag their own wounded with them. The nearly sole exceptions to this retreat were Will and Tera who took the opportunity to both fully transform once more to their wolf-like aspects to increase their speed and agility against the swarm of foes around them.
Gard reached up and before I had the chance to stop her, yanked three strands of hair from my head and slipped them into the pocket of her suit pants before pulling the same from her own scalp and handing to me. I looked at her in confusion and with a sense of undisguised concern as I continued to draw magic to me.
"In case we get separated and need to find each other." She said which made sense in the midst of a battle but was not something I particularly was pleased with. You can cause a wizard a lot of pain with a few strands of their hair. But on the positive side she had provided me the means to do the same as a contingency so I accepted that her intentions in this particular area were not the opening preparations for anything sinister.
Did I mention that the negative side to my pulling up magic was that the bats and rats were now focused upon me? Oh yeah, by the way as a little kernel of extra knowledge for you; I think bats and rats are generally disgusting and it literally took all my control not to flee as well ahead of those hordes of beady little red eyes and sharp teeth that were headed in my direction with purposeful pain intentions.
My internal magical tank reached full and I focused on the effect I was hoping for and cast my spell this time without a command word, since a verbal command word would actually distract from the effect in this case. Instead all I needed was to picture the magic firmly and a single clap of my hands. On my side the effect was generally like the noise of a small firecracker going off near you. However, to those creatures standing within the cone wave that stretch out in front of me where I had focused with my mind on sending this magic the effect was more akin to that of a sonic boom!
Windows shattered inward in building and parked cars, anti theft alarms in both began to wail, and secondary echoes rumbled outward literally like rolling thunder here at ground level for the next few instants. I would later survey the financial level of injury I had caused and realized that I was in my own way approaching Harry's skill at inadvertently causing property damage. Normally this would not be something to proclaim with pride, but hey since my job was trying to act like Harry, little things like inadvertent wide swaths of destruction went a long way to convincing people in the know like the White Council, the Wardens, and things from the Nevernever that their favorite Chicago wizard might indeed be still alive.
At the start of my spell the flight of bats had been closer to me because it had been much easier for them to disengage from streaking among the crowd merely by gaining altitude and then retargeting their focus solely upon me. The rats by contrast had to wind and weave their way through the feet of the crowd and while this allowed them to still bite at targets of opportunity that got to close, perhaps ten percent of their number were likewise crushed or wounded by panicked stomping feet that were trying to break contact with them as well. They had in short order though both regrouped to form their charge at me. But by that point the literal clap of thunder blasted into the reformed critter and vermin armies.
As it turns out bats have extremely sensitive hearing and a thunderclap blasted into their midst cut off their natural radar which made the ones on the outer edges of the spell spiral out of control as if blind and crash in midair into each other. But for the massed majority flocked in the center of where I had focused the magic the spell the sonic boom literally stunned their limited senses so badly that the creatures were unable to flap or even keep their wings spread wide enough to glide so instead they fell from the skies in a rain of bodies that shattered delicate wings or broke fragile necks when gravity brought them into terminal contact with the ground.
The rats already on the street were not as drastically affected as the bats though the sound wave did shock them into complete immobility since they had a natural aversion to excessive and sudden noise. I could sense this shock increased their natural fear of people and this worked against the domination spell that had called them forth from the sewers and enraged them to this level of fury. I wondered if this type of spell could this really be some form of sensitive magic in control of them that I had never heard of used before or had even thought to explore yon my own. If it was sensitive magic then the implications of this type of power to me were intimidating because it meant even though I was naturally gifted in this area I was still way out of my league.
"Well done!" Ms. Gard called as she launched herself up into the sky carried aloft on her snow white wings and bearing a deadly steel blade. Like me she too obviously sensed the enemy's magic as was trying to focus and determine its location so she could put that nearly four foot length of deadly steel to a proper use.
After only a few seconds for me to draw a few breaths and begin to collect magic to me once more I felt a new wave of magical fury infused upon the army of rats and perhaps the few hundred remaining bats that had been outside the effects of my spell. Through this powerful flow of emotion the magical domination began to reestablish itself in the face of the creatures' normal fears. That was enough to tell me that my fight was not over yet. The mind behind this attack was also smart enough to learn from its momentary setbacks and its first command was to spread its forces out as they came back under control before they started their advance toward me again. This time though I was able to get a general sense of the direction from where the spell had origination; not that I could do much about that at the moment however. I believe I mentioned I hate bats and rats right?
My next immediate goal was to look for a place that would be advantageous where I could put up a hand to hand fight. I momentarily considered stepping back into the doorway of the boutique and drawing a line of flame across the doorstep as a magical deterrent but realized that would at best be effective only against the ground based rats and then only for the limited duration of my spell. The bats would fly right over it and certainly destroy my concentration after that. And then of course there was the chance to inadvertently burn down yet another of the businesses on this block which would not be good for the city in general. I mean I had already covered that part of Harry's normal mode of operations there was no reason to overdo it a second time.
A better option would have been a large magical circle to keep all of the creatures all at bay but I neither had the time to draw a large circle nor the materials at present to pull that one off either. I had not picked up any chalk like Harry always told me to carry around and I was of course now cursing myself for this oversight. Hey it's not like I had an 'emergency imitation of Harry' kit all ready to go or anything. As a famous archeologist once said 'I don't know, I'm making this up as I go along!'
Okay that left only tactical retreat to another location that would provide a better advantage for me. I know to those reading that this sounds a lot like I was planning to run away in panic. In fact I have a feeling that the shrieking cry of that I would have made when doing so would have only reinforced your false image of me that I was indeed fleeing in fear. In truth though your favorite apprentice wizard merely wanted to appear much the same as all the others who had fled the streets and this seemed the means most appropriate. Yeah that is my story and I am sticking to it. Thankfully for my pride other events took place that prevented that wise course of action from being followed.
As I prepared to make my tactical repositioning movement I heard what could only be a two thousand year old battle cry coming from the skies above which drew my eyes to a white winged avenger carrying a sword streaking out from the sky. Gard's target was some opponent who remained unseen from my vantage point but still a significant distance from me on one of the overlooking buildings and in the general direction from where the spells I had sensed originated from.
I released a little of the magic I had been husbanding for my next attack or magical defense. It was nothing required but instead something strictly based upon pure inspiration at the vision unfolding before me. With an explosion of triumph suddenly the entire block of buildings around me burst into the instantly familiar and battle inspiring echoes of Wagner's Flight of the Valkyrie. Yeah I know it was sort of a cheesy effect to cast in the middle of a life and death struggle but trust me at that moment it seemed incredibly appropriate and I'm certain Ms. Gard appreciated it.
In response to the combination of the Valkyrie's berserker charge and my own daunting musical accompaniment the dominating and frenzy spells that were enraging the surviving rats and bats were suddenly shut off. They did not fade out gracefully like a normal spell did once it had reached its maximum endurance or even when turned off by its caster but rather seemed to flick off like a light switch.
At the point toward where Ms. Gard was descending I saw a glow of familiar purple light and knew whoever had been standing upon that roof had just created a portal and crossed over into the Nevernever. The Valkyrie did not even slow at this and before the light had fully faded out she dove like a hawk through the gate just before it snapped shut.
On the street the remains of the vermin army now without its commanding general paused in their charge and then reverted to their baser instincts of flight before fight and fled back to the waiting sewer grates or up into the nighttime skies. The thousands of dead and wounded of their kinds that they left behind littered upon the street would no doubt be chalked up by the newspaper accounts as hidden residents of the sporting goods store that had fled the fire and died because of the smoke.
As a wizard apprentice I still found it entertaining the lengths that normal human beings would go to in order to explain the results of magic in ways that not only defied what they actually saw but still allowed them to remain comfortably oblivious to the real world. This was an intellectual defensive measure that only seemed to increase with higher levels of civilization. Tribal cultures in the Pacific, Africa, and South America had no problems admitting things were magic, but to the average citizen of New York, Los Angeles, or even Chicago to do so was to open yourself up to scorn and ridicule and no one like to do that.
Will and Tera trotted over to me first before any of the others, even the first responders, had the courage to try and return to the scene. Instead of going back into to the perfumery store we went instead into the neighboring alleyway where the two transformed back into purely human form. Will had the foresight and picked up his sweats along the way carrying them gently in his teeth and he dressed quickly. Tera had overlooked this action or purposely failed to do so and appeared indifferent to the fact that she was naked until Will handed her his oversized sweatshirt that hung like a huge dress on her muscle cut and much smaller frame.
"I take it that the attack by the rats and the bats was the result of some kind of spell?" Will asked looking for clarity in his own mind. While he might accept magic, he was just as human prone to want things explained in terms that he could understand as those not gifted with the ability to transform themselves into a worl.
"Yes there was a woman behind that attack and according to Ms. Gard she had waited until I cast my own spell as a sign to set hers off." I told him what I had explained to me. "I could sense her magic controlling the creatures and bringing them forth in swarms to attack us. I cannot even imagine how strong she could be to pull that many creatures from wherever they were living and bring them here to the city."
"Such actions do not surprise me for this place is a swamp!" Tera said matter-of-factly about our city while looking around at neither of the two of us in particular.
"Hey, it's not that bad a neighborhood." Will defended against the claim since he lived fairly close by. Truth be told it was a better part of town even if it did cater mostly to the college generation.
"No you misunderstand my statement. I mean to say this city was built upon an ancient swamp." Tera corrected herself. "I can smell the original earth beneath our feet here is saturated with the ancient scent of primal life and death of such a place. Your kind has further used this dirt and sand in the construction of your buildings and roads. A subtle tang of still waters, moss, and death are a part of everything for your builders used the swamp's essence in creating these places of stone that surround us."
I knew she was correct; Chicago had indeed been built up over time on the boggy ground that sat beside the lower part of Lake Michigan. It was for this reason that the city itself was slowly sinking into the earth over the centuries in had existed here. As taller and heavier buildings went up, these structures sank even faster into the moisture permeated ground. There were entire underground tunnels and century old roadways that made up the Undertown that served as a hidden tribute to the truth of Tera West's words. And if anyplace could easily hold the army of rats and bats that had boiled forth and attacked us it would be Undertown.
"Okay I am willing to accept that is true." Will responded before following up with another question. "Still what does being built upon a swamp have to do with what happened just now?"
"The rats and bats are both native creatures to this swampy environment for it provides them the types of food in such quantities to support such numbers; and that was even before your kind began to build their tents here." Tera said with such feeling that I sensed her intrinsic and instinctual level attachment to the natural world around us. "Your spell caster did not need to go far afield to find such creatures. I would be surprised if she needed more than one of your city blocks in fact to rally such an army. Anyone with such power to call upon these forces would be able to do so again."
"Dracula!" Will said snapping his fingers before looking right at me as if to read his mind. Maybe he and Harry shared this shared thought thing but it took me a second to get at what he was thinking of. Thankfully Tera filled that pause first.
"Who is this Dracula?" Tera asked in confusion showing that although she could take human form, she did not have knowledge of all the general nuances that a true human being would have acquired by the time she reached that stage of her life.
"He was an ancient Black Court vampire." I explained. "He killed the love of an author called Bram Stoker. Mr. Stoker was unable to face the vampire directly and defeat his so instead he researched and published a book about his kind. Because this book described an evil origin as enemies of God for these creatures and the author made a detailed accounting of their powers and especially their weaknesses, the members of the Black Court have been hunted down and nearly exterminated over the past century not only by wizards but by mere mortals as well." And mortals had been so successful that now a century later when more civilized they believed these stories had been nothing more than folklore. Like I said it is interesting how far people will go to deny the truth that makes them uncomfortable.
"Yes but Bram Stoker recorded that Black Court vampires had the ability to summon bats and rats to serve them as well." Will said and I had to admit that he did indeed have a point. I noted that he skipped over the part that Dracula had done the same for wolves. I guess racial sensitivities probably exists at all levels of the animal kingdom to one extent or another.
"That seems an interesting coincidence. Are there any of these Black Court vampires in Chicago?" Tera West asked me knowing Harry Dresden was the resident expert on such matters.
"Like I said they are incredibly rare…" I started to point out just to be cautious. I did not want to make a false assumption especially where Black Court vampires were concerned. Harry and I had faced a relatively young one at the mall who had three fledglings with her and even then the fight had been a close one.
"Meaning those that have survived to this day are the very strongest and deadliest of their kind, right?" He asked me rhetorically, knowing the answer to that question was actually common for most reasoning species closest to extinction. "The question we really need answered is are there any female Black Court vampires here in the city of Chicago that may have a grudge against you Harry?"
"I do not mean to interrupt in your conversation." Margaret Dresden spoke within my head. "However, you should be aware my dear that Harry was hiding certain aspects of his encounters with a Black Court vampire from you." In my mind's eye I observed a series of images that included just such a being's henchmen attacking Harry, Thomas, and Lara in a parking lot, Kinkaid, Murphy and Harry taking down a Black Court safe house, and finally a personification of female evil in Black Court form standing beside a tombstone that had Harry's name on it. If these did not provide pretty clear cut evidence that the vampire in question wanted Harry dead then I am not sure what else I would be able to assume.
Based upon these images and the information Harry had provided to me I did know that this being also resided here in the city. Harry had opposed her plans twice and done battle with her or her forces each time, thinking he had succeeded in killing her once only to find out to his disappointment that he had actually failed. She had used that failure to manipulate Harry into serving her interests by threatening Murphy's career. But even though that business arrangement had not ended in violence, she had a good reason to want to see Harry dead from their previous dealings; and that was even before the story got out that Harry Dresden had nearly single handedly killed off the entire Red Court to include their nearly god-like rulers.
That little bit of news might have made the Black Court extremely wary of Harry and the White Council since how he had destroyed them all remained relatively vague in the telling except it had involved powerful magic. Because the Blacks, what few there were of them, had aligned with the Red Court cousins against the wizards they had to assume they were also targeted for complete annihilation as well. That made sense to both Margaret and myself. Now their strongest allies were completely destroyed the White Council who were likely to want to finish off this lesser group of enemies as well. And obviously they had the means through magic to do just that; or at least a certain Chicago wizard had such means.
Maybe, just maybe, instead of cowering in their holes and awaiting the fall of their kind one of the more ruthless might choose to strike at Harry as a means of showing that while small in number, the Black Court still demanded respect as an enemy and should not be trifled with. It might be the perfect act to make those on the White Council like Wizard Cristos willing to listen to terms for a peaceful settlement.
And then of course there was that note Stallings had recovered written in Latin, meaning likely from a race of near immortals, that spoke all about blood. It was circumstantial I know, but in this case it was also the best lead I had that fit all the evidence. And with this invasion of rats and bats I had to admit that this certainly made for an even more likely option now than when I had asked Lara Raith to begin beating the bushes looking for vampires in the city just a few hours ago.
"Yeah there is one." I admitted turning to look at Will who had already known that answer from our discussions while playing the game Arcanos. He even knew that she was a wizard of such skill as to garner Harry's respect, which is relatively rare. And being a wizard explained the little things like making a portal for slipping into the Nevernever that I had observed and sensed just minutes ago as well. It was not a certainty, but certainly all fingers were pointing right at…
"Marva." I said aloud turning to look straight at Will. "You want to help?" I asked seeing him nod in response. "See if you pick up anything about Marva or her agents operating here in the city." He agreed for once without raising any additional questions. Unfortunately those still came from another not totally unexpected quarter.
"Be careful child." Margaret Dresden's shade cautioned. "Marva represents and evil that has Harry's respect. While your magical skills are improving daily I am not sure you are capable of facing off against a foe such as her just yet.
"Neither am I." I admitted internally to myself. "But Harry is not here so I have to try."
I arrived back at the hospital still before dawn and with the help of a veil I made it into my room without anyone the wiser. All three wards I had placed upon the door were still functioning correctly so I knew no one had disturbed my room in my absence. I quickly put my Harry disguise away and got situated back in bed with my leg in the sling looking like I had not gone anywhere. And with a little luck I might just get enough sleep to feel human once more. I realized that I definitely needed the time to rest and let my leg heal up as it was now throbbing quite constantly at the physical stress that I had placed upon it.
I fell almost immediately into a deep and intense sleep. One of the bittersweet advantages to being a wizard is that you usually learn to fall asleep quickly, especially after expending magic. This allows a wizard to recover their magical strength faster than if you had merely been resting without actually sleeping.
The downside to this of course is that you learn this skill mainly as a survival technique because the bad guys who are often trying their best to kill you, your friends, or just the entire city around you, have no mercy and allow no timeouts on the field for a tired wizard, or even an exhausted wizard apprentice to catch a quick forty winks. It is sadly funny but I am actually getting to the point that when confronted between going out for a night of clubbing with friends or staying home to catch up on my sleep I find myself wanting more and more to lean toward the latter of those choices. I think this development however is totally unfair and perhaps justifies a reason for better bargaining by my local wizard union to improve my working environment. I say power to the common wizard apprentices everywhere!
No sooner had I closed my eyes and sleep taken me than I found myself in a dream that was just a little too real to be completely natural. Wizards of course have dreams just like the average person does. I can't begin to tell you how many times I had the dream of being naked in high school, incredibly awkward when you recall that I went to a Catholic school, or the other common one of having to perform a public speaking speech before an entire audience. I had even merged those two in one of the most highly embarrassing conditions anyone's subconscious mind ever subjected them too though my speech at least went over well and received ovations.
But wizards also have dreams unlike other people. Sometimes they are prophetic and show you glimpses of things to come or more importantly those things to avoid. Sometimes they are glimpses of the distant past and events that the wizard may never have even heard of but that will likely soon play an important role in coming events in his or her life. Sometimes these dreams were even omens of situations happening currently, like the death of a loved one that the wizard is informed of through the spirit world's connection to dreams. None of these are particularly enjoyable situations to experience and I would give them up if I could, but like many other circumstances it was just a burden to bear for the power we are bestowed. Worst of all when I awoke I often did not know which of these situations, past, present or future, I had been allowed to observe through my dreams.
The prophetic ones were those that gave me the greatest level of concern, not so much that they gave me insight into my own future but rather because there was an implication to them that I refused to acknowledge. My youngest brother Little Harry, named after Harry Dresden, had demonstrated not so long ago that he had the ability for prophetic visions as well. The problem with this is most wizards do not come into their power, and therefore these side effects, until they reach puberty or later giving them at least a modicum of emotional and mental ability to deal with such things. Little Harry had only been in pre-school at the time his visions began.
Now so that you don't go all Exorcist on me, Little Harry's visions did not have him cursing in a foreign language and spitting pea soup across the room. Instead they entailed a brief moment where he rolled his eyes back in his head like someone in a seizure and when he awoke he would find an appropriate coloring book page that could represent what he had seen and use that to offer up the message imparted to him. I know that you likely view this with some skepticism but hey I had witnessed this and even worse, been the focus of these visions at times not that long ago. So that is why when I had one of these dreams I always took them seriously.
In the case of my current dream I found myself standing out in a desolate stretch of desert. It was not one like the Sahara filled with sand dunes and majestic pyramids rising up in the distance. I had the unexpected opportunity to see the Giza Plateau where these feature lay just days ago on our trip to Mexico by way of the Ways though the Nevernever that Harry knew about. I could say with certainty my dream was not the same place.
This desert was more akin to the American southwest including the rolling tumbleweeds but without any signs of the far from actually typical Saguaro cactus that most people who have never been there seem to think grow every ten feet or so. There were however, the far more common prickly pear cactus with their inch long spines in occasional patches around me and while this was only a dream I had no desire of reaching out and finding it the spines could really hurt me. Pain is one of those things that can transfer from a wizard's dreams to the real world under the right conditions.
The only sign of civilization that was visible to me was a paving stone road, no not a more common modern one made of tar or cement, but actual hand laid stones that rested beneath my feet and led forward into the twilight lit hills some miles before me. I had a cold feeling that the end of that path would not be a village singing munchkins nor the great emerald city of Oz. Unfortunately I also sensed that I had to follow this path if I were going to learn the reason behind this dream. But like Dorothy, maybe I did not have to travel all this way alone if I could call upon friends. I would have loved to have Mouse play Toto for me but I'd settle for what I could get.
"Margaret are you with me?" I asked seeing myself speak aloud in my dream which I guess in such a case is still only speaking inside my head. I'd ponder that some other time I guess when I had nothing better to do but think on such things.
"I am child." She replied in her same comforting voice but with an underlying sense of concern in her emotions. I guess it was also possible her voice in my dream might only have been a figment of the experience itself, like waking from a dream to find yourself still in a dream, but I was going to assume that she was here and could provide valuable council.
"That is wise child because focusing upon the other option leads toward madness." She explained. Thanks for that little bit of knowledge that I could have lived just fine without Ms. Freud.
"You are welcome Molly and there is no reason to get sassy." She teased me.
"Easy for you to say." I said realizing that thinking and speaking to a shade in a dream was pretty much the same. "I'm the one standing out here in the desert all alone."
"Well if that is your concern." She said and suddenly she was standing beside me, physically the way I had pictured her, but now she was sporting jeans and a leather coat instead of the white wizardly robes that I had originally pictured her wearing. She looked down at herself and nodded in begrudging acceptance. "Still not quite my image I would have chosen for myself mind you, but it will do for the present." She explained as she turned to look at the road as well.
"I guess we follow the road?" I asked looking for her advice since this was novel for me to have someone to ask in one of my dreams.
"I believe we will likely be forced to that eventuality but I suggest you take advantage of your natural gifts and sense what else may be around us before we take up that course." She offered. "You might learn all you need to without such a journey."
I had never actually tried using my magical powers in a dream, probably because some part of me understood on a base level that if I attempted casting a ball of flame in my dreams I was likely to do it in the real world as well. That would not be good for Harry's apartment or my parent's home. And you probably thought sleepwalkers had it bad! But I took a moment to consider her advice in this case and figured there could not be much danger if all I was doing was tuning in my magically enhanced senses and 'feeling' what, if anything, was taking place around me.
In my dream I started by relaxing and concentrating just like I would in the real world since that was natural to me and then I slowly began pushing my senses farther and farther from my body. Immediately I could feel the soft caress of a cool evening breeze blowing from the road ahead straight down toward me making me shiver ever so slightly as the gentle wind fluttered through my hair and over my bare arms. I sensed both shimmering magic and light a ways beyond the spot where the pathway led over the hills and knew the answers I desired would lead me in that direction.
Carried upon that wind I also caught the whiff of something strange that seemed completely out of place to me. If you have ever been to a rock concert then you know the source of that unique smell of burning rope that I am speaking of. If you are still in the dark about what I am referring to then good for you because it's not like I plan to elaborate any further on this and get a contributing to the delinquency charge added to my list of offenses.
Like I said the smell though was odd in that it was part of my dream and that I could smell it when I was standing in the middle of nowhere yet borne on the wind. But as this substance has been known to affect perception I guess such things were to be considered possible in the dream world. The problem was, however, that this scent in my dream seemed to have an equally relaxing effect upon my dream body and mental consciousness as it would if it were occurring in real life. I felt suddenly tired and my eyes began to grow heavy and dim as I thought about this.
"Molly wake up!" Margaret's voice called distantly to me as I felt her shake me back toward consciousness. When I responded with a noncommittal grunt she slapped me across the cheek causing fireworks to explode in my mind and pull me back to an almost state of unconscious consciousness. Yes I know a dozen psychologists who would pay large sums to experience this state so they could write a book about the experience.
"I fear the scent was laid there for you as a trap!" Margaret's voice reasoned and though I was having trouble focusing on her words, eventually the urgency in them kindled understanding within me. I hoped I still had some magic within me as I called to mind an idea and spoke the command word before it fluttered from my mind.
"Smelling salt!" I said and suddenly the hypnotic spell trying to entrap my mind was shattered by a scent that brought me fully into control of my senses once more. I breathed deeply, then coughed to purge my lungs before letting go of the spell I had cast. I had never tried placing a scent upon myself before but it appeared that this was magic I was capable of. That would have been helpful to know before Ms. Gard doused me with perfume.
"You could not have chosen something more pleasant to use as a counter smell such as lilac?" Margaret asked while holding a cloth she had produced from somewhere over her face.
"I needed to wake myself up and that is what came to mind." I said explaining my choice and fairly pleased with its results.
"Well I guess I should be glad you did not pick your brother Daniel's sweat socks." She said giving me a look of horror that told me her shade had suffered through that smell while I was doing laundry just as badly as I had. That cannot be part of the afterlife she had consciously signed on for when she left this small piece of her soul behind for us to find. No one should be forced to endure such a thing!
"That was a clever trap." Margaret said after I took accounting of myself and felt confident to continue.
"It certainly was." I agreed.
"And you know it was set for you Molly, not for Harry right?" She asked me to be sure.
"Why do you think that?"
"Because Harry is not a sensitive wizard." She replied. "He would not have sensed it nor likely been affected by it either. No this one had been solely targeted for you my dear."
"So I take it that someone is trying to kill me?" I asked not really pleased with the idea that they could use my own dreams to do so if that was truly their wish.
"Perhaps." Margaret said. "But I think it is more likely that this particular trap was in actuality more designed as a test. I think whoever your opponent is she is taking you measure." Margaret explained to me as she made this evaluation.
"Great!" I said sarcastically. "I must have really impressed her by almost falling for it."
"Or she has now seen how agile you mind is and that you were not actually caught by so subtle a trap." She countered. "Do not degrade yourself for you still stand here on the field of battle and remain undefeated." You know that really was NOT a good pep talk though I tried to smile and thank her all the same for her attempt at words of encouragement.
"I sense light and the source of the magic down this path." I said telling Margaret what my own body was reporting to me and pointing to the flagstones that beckoned to our feet. "We might as well get on with it so we can get it over with."
"You are truly going to face the dragon in its den?" She asked me metaphorically making me think of Bilbo Baggins.
"Hey it's in the blood. I've been told my dad killed a dragon once in its home." I replied with a laugh that was all bravado.
"Really?" She said with her eyes widening. "How did he manage to do that?" Margaret asked as she walked beside me as we began to follow the path laid out for us.
"I'm not really sure beyond of course knowing he used his sword and rescued my mother at the same time." I replied. "He always said that was a story he would only talk to me about when I was older and able to fully understand it. Now that I have a few adventures like that of my own to share maybe I will ask him the next chance I get." That was providing of course that someone did not kill me first. Margaret accepted the answer and we followed the stone worked path over the distant hills and from atop this vantage point we stared down upon a sight which had no business being in a western United States desert motif.
It was a palace. Not a castle in the western sense of the word or anything remotely resembling a structure built by Walt Disney. Instead it was more akin to the Taj Mahal in India but enhanced with the spiral minarets of a Persian palace as well as the onion shaped domes of the court of the Russian Czars. And strangest of all the central tower appeared more akin to a Roman Catholic church even with a great bell that currently stood in silent testimony. Even with all these features the structure seemed small at first, due completely to its distance from us, but I knew up close the palace would be enormous to behold!
But while the great building itself was a marvel to beauty and contrasting design, the lands around it that had once been fertile and overflowing with statuary and gardens full of life was now withered or dead and all were scarred with the signs of great battle. I followed the course of the path I stood upon with my eyes and it marched forward unerringly directly toward the single gate of this structure, offering no off shoots or options to turn away provided by its track. It was obvious that there was but one course for me to follow and I did so without a word of complaint.
Margaret and I trudged forward in silence as we took in the sight before us. "Is this any place with which you are familiar?" I asked Harry's mother because she had mapped out more places than anyone since Marco Polo if the stories I heard about her were true. It was one of the many things I admired about the woman who had died before I was born.
"It is beyond my experience." She said simply looking at wonder to the building that was even bigger up close than we had both imagined. As if in response to our words the bell in the great central tower began to toll nearly in time with our footsteps.
"Ask not for who…" Margaret began.
"Don't." I said with a stern look. "I am not one who goes looking for extra trouble and that particular literary phrase is hardly one of inspiration." Why someone had chosen to create such a forbidding saying was absolutely beyond me.
"You are of course correct my dear." Margaret said with a look of contrition. "I have this bad tendency of repeating such well referenced things when faced with the unknown."
"Yeah Harry is like that too but her falls back on Star Wars lines." I laughed and she joined in as well.
We made it to the door and found there was a cloaked woman waiting for us there holding aloft an old fashion lantern with a candle inside. I stayed a few steps away knowing that the ultimate enemy I faced was going to be a woman and since this one was cloaked and hooded in such a way so I could not make out her features she was not someone I was immediately going to trust. Margaret seemed to second my assessment and stayed at my side as well as we decided our next course of action.
"Alright is this supposed to be Heaven or Hell?" I asked the woman when she did not acknowledge our presence with a greeting or any other sound that I could hear above the bell's tolling.
"You stand before the visitors' palace of Al' Forn the former ruler of this land." The woman's voice spoke to us from out of the hood. She made no hostile move and though I searched my memory I could not confirm or deny this was the same voice that I had heard spoken toward me when the sorceress redirected her bat and rat minions in my direction.
"He was the great Caliph of this desert and was slain by an invader and a thief." She continued as if this were a history lesson. I of course tried best to record all this as that was often necessary for wizard dreams of this sort. I hoped Margaret caught anything I missed. "The battle between our lord and the thief left this wake of destruction that you see all around you." Her words grew silent as she bid us to ponder upon the desolation and wanton devastation that surrounded us.
"Who are you and what is your purpose here?" I asked finding my voice to challenge.
"You may call be Ia." She said. "For I serve her in abstentia for my lord." She replied telling me that she was the caretaker of this place. I did not miss that the words she used were Latin in their origin. Thank you for those learn Latin at home books Harry had given me.
"Surely he has heirs to take up this palace." Margaret said. "Royalty does not usually wither upon the vine."
"In his entire existence only that single lone thief had the foolishness to seek to take what belonged rightfully to the Caliph." She said with a sense of hatred evident in her words. "But justice for events might one day be done." I prepared for an attack based upon these ominous words, but the woman did nothing offensive, nor did I sense her drawing magic to herself. I was ready for a fight but she showed no signs of offering one.
"Come, you shall find rest for the night." She said at last lifting up the lantern candle and walking into the palace as if she expected us to follow. I looked to Margaret and shrugged in her direction finding she had not answers for me either.
Finally as I took my first step inside I heard distant voice… a voice calling my name…