Life After Death
Chapter 15
"Harry Dresden is dead." Ms. Gard said when Murphy and I finally located her. "And it is looking like I may join him soon."
My tracking spell worked as designed, and for the sake of brevity I will not go into the details of its operation because I have walked you through this at least half a dozen times by now. In this case having the Valkyrie's hair was of course a boon and led us directly to her location which was vital in this instance because I would never have found her otherwise if I had to rely upon normal investigative skills.
Assuming she was in truth seriously wounded just as the cloaked woman had gloated over, the logical place for Ms. Gard to go to in my opinion would have been a hospital to have her wounds looked at. But of course logic rarely plays the leading role in the grand plays of life where wizards and magic are concerned. I must attest that I am not sure if Cook County is prepared to deal with any emergency medical treatment nuances related to the unique biology of a valkyrie, you know little things like not willing to put down a battleaxe and such. I suspect the means of dealing with this situation lies outside the traditional medical school classes offered at any of the Ivy League schools, or any medical school that is not in a warzone for that matter.
The next most likely option for Gard to take then, and the one I had suspected would be true, was that she had chosen to hole up at a hidden safe house location somewhere, most likely one of Marcone's numerous ones, where the facility would be stocked up on emergency medical supplies as well as food and weapons for a few day siege. Since Murphy told me Gentleman Johnny Marcone had dozens of front companies and properties all over the city I figured the tracking spell was the only means by which I was going to narrow down that particular list which to my mind entailed potentially everything except my parents house and our church in the greater Chicago area. I would have included Harry's apartment and office as well, but those no longer existed.
When the spell started leading Karrin and I down into the older, industrial parts of the city I was sure that the safe house answer was correct and that Murphy and I would find Gard hiding out in some warehouse or converted office building. Boy was I wrong and my nose may never forgive me for that particular error!
Few people realize that along with being an industrial town, a port city for transporting goods, and the western edge of the manufacturing rust belt, Chicago was also for much of its history considered the eastern edge or northern gateway to the Old West just as St. Louis served the same role further to the south. Chicago of course never really had the associated gunslingers and saloon mentality of say Tombstone, Arizona unless of course you think of Al Capone's days as a wild west sort of timeframe, but it still catered in that age to important aspects of that lifestyle.
Due to its location and especially as a major rail transportation hub for those goods transiting between the civilized northeastern states and the West Coast, Chicago also became a perfect transition location for goods coming east on the return trip, especially cattle. What that meant is that the city of Chicago had once been home to massive slaughter houses where still living beef on the hoof was processed, by that you can assume it to be a polite way of saying no longer living. It was then salted, and in the winter frozen, before being shipped to the plates of rich New Yorkers and others such discriminating tastes with money to spend and who did not desire the smells that went with such places to offend their rather sensitive, and did I mention rich, noses. If I had not already been a vegetarian this place would have converted me.
Of course over the last century much of that business moved on to other locations as fresh meat preservatives became better and transportation became faster and allowed for mechanical cooling. Those slaughterhouse businesses which remained in the city, mostly due to tradition, were also consolidated down to just a few such enormous places from the dozens that had once called the city home since this overall need was reduced.
My tracking spell led me unerringly to one of these last massive slaughter houses still operating in the city, which along with a neighboring brewery, gave this part of town what anyone might call a rather individual aroma that lost tourists always seemed to remember if they ended up here. Thank the magic gods I had power to remedy this effect at my disposal.
Normally Harry was quite strict in telling me not to use magic frivolously but the shared look on Karrin's face that I knew matched my own was enough to make me bend this particular caution and cast a scent-based illusion, something Margaret Dresden's spirit told me was call Olfactory Magic. Yes they really have smell spells it seems, to make the environment much more pleasant of if you are a teenage boy learning magic, less pleasant with a spell called 'pull my finger!' That was another particular memory from Harry's childhood that she shared with me that I probably would have lived quite well throughout the remainder of my life without visualizing.
I used a much better scent, lilacs in this case, this to allow Karrin and I to traipse through the various parts of the building once we were forced by crystal tracker to get out of Murphy's car to search on foot.
We found Ms. Gard lying on one of the twelve foot long butcher tables in what currently appeared to be a seldom used part of the facility. She still had her suit pants on that I had seen her wearing the last time but those looked much worse for wear based upon the dark stains they sported. I doubt Armani suits and blood go well together.
From the waist up Gard was naked, her matching shirt and coat little more now than shredded rags lying on the ground beside her tossed off because ti likely served more to get in the way of her first air treatments than offer any assistance or even modesty. Of course her wardrobe was not the only casualty of her battle.
Worse for her was that the valkyrie was forced to lay on her stomach on what appeared to be an awfully cold metal table. She did this not so much for modesty sake but rather because she had three long, deep gashes running from her shoulders and neck, down across her shoulder blades and spine to the small of her well muscled back. For simplicity sake picture a comic book Wolverine's claw strike effect but put the space between each blade more than six inches apart.
For the most part, while the parallel wounds looked nasty they were no longer bleeding, having been mostly stitched together, or more accurately sealed, with bottles of crazy glue as evident from the two dozen or so empty tubes that lay scattered on the ground around the table. However, on twin spots on each of her shoulder blades Gard's wounds appeared still slightly open and even now still oozed blood making the already pale woman nearly albino like in complexion.
I could tell that Gard had tried to reach these areas with glue as well but the combination of their awkward position and the way she had to bend to reach them likely just served to reopen other areas of the wounds when she tried to seal these. Therefore to keep herself from bleeding out completely she had decided to accept their current condition and just lay here unmoving until the rest scabbed over enough to allow her another option. The combination of her pale complexion and the way she did not even raise her head when she saw Karrin and I enter the room told me that even this course of action was not guaranteed to keep her alive.
"Of Jesus you look like crap! Hold on and I will call an ambulance." Murphy said stepping away from me before reaching for her cell phone. All her association with Harry had taught Murphy that if she was going to spend much time around a wizard, keeping the cell phone turned off when within ten feet or so nearly doubled its life expectancy of just a few days to maybe more than a week which is pretty exceptional.
"Don't." Gard said gritting her teeth in pain from just speaking. "It is not the warrior way. I will live or die as a warrior. Your hospitals would not know what to do with me anyway and that is not taking into account what I might do to those who rely upon technology to keep them alive." Good point! I stayed away from the intensive care units for this very reason and if the paramedics saw her injuries you could be sure that was right where they would choose to take her. Murphy was not as easily convinced and based upon her cop code of conduct showed no signs of changing her declared course of action regardless of how demanding Gard was on this point. I did not need these two starting off playing alpha female so I jumped right .
"I got it covered." I said injecting myself between two women, either of which I would not choose to face off against under normal circumstances. But something either in my tone or my words drew their momentary respect enough to silence them before they said or did anything else. For Karrin it was probably her knowledge of some of the things I had done. For Gard she was probably just too exhausted to fight me over this as well. Of course speaking convincingly that I had the situation under control and actually following up on this in a way that proved I was not full of crap was a bit different. I even dropped my coat because I did not want to get blood on it.
I stood next to Gard and with her warrior nature she naturally tried to adjust her body to offer some sort of position of less than totally defenseless to my actions. Allies of necessity are only so until the necessity abates and it is not like Marcone's side was going to go straight anytime soon.
The testament to her toughness is that she succeeded in reopening the two bloody points on her shoulder blades even wider and the trickle of blood began to again flow more freely over her alabaster skin. She did not scream or even wince in pain at this but I could feel her body's desperation not only through my emotional empathy but from the momentary blink this cause her eyes to make. She was certainly tough, but even handmaidens of the gods had their limits it seemed.
"Leave…me…" She tried to struggle and find the energy to sit up but her arms were too shaky to lift her more than an inch off the table by the time I reached the point where I was standing beside her. Thankfully I had also decided on what I had to do.
"Look we understand it. You are a tough warrior woman and all. No one here is about to think the less of you if you do not die." I said without sarcasm, placing my hands on her back, she may look female but god it felt like it was all solid muscle under her otherwise soft skin. Well that is except for where her back was now little more than shredded flesh. I pushed her gently but firmly back down onto the table. She resisted for a moment out of pride more than any reserve of strength, but I am not what one would call a weak damsel myself, and that fact combined with her exhaustion was enough to force her back down into a resting position to let me take care of things.
Once she was down again and seemed willing to stay there, or at least unable to resist further, I moved my hands and placed them right atop her bloody shoulder blades. To my surprise I felt lumps of bone jutting up through the torn flesh and realized that this was all that was left of her magnificent wings she had flown off with when I had last seen her. It seems like the cloaked woman really had clipped the Valkyrie's wings. I could not help myself from making a noise of sympathy at the beauty that had been destroyed.
"They will be restored over time if my body has the chance to heal." Gard spoke softly sensing my shock that had turned to hesitance. "Like the rest of my wounds, and with the All Father's blessing, I shall be restored to full health with the passage of days."
"Yeah that is a great plan providing the bitch that did this to you in the first place does not come along in the meantime and finish you off." Murphy replied coming up to stand beside me.
"If such is my fate then I welcome it as a true warrior's death." She said with a prideful tone. "But that is why I chose this place to hide. The scent of my blood is but a drop and therefore masked in comparison in the greater river that flows regularly through this building." I had to give her that. "I could sense my enemy had indeed pursued me at first but she was unable to find me here and finish our battle so she soon turned her thoughts back to the one she truly hates and her plans for you." Score one for the Norse warrior woman! Getting away, even injured appeared to be the best anyone on our side had accomplished so far. Of course the fact that her last sentence was spoke while looking directly at me took a second or two for me to realize. But I had to put that aside and save her life before I asking her what the hell she was talking about.
"Why do the magic ones always have to be hard cases?" Murphy asked aloud making Gard tense just slightly in anger based on what my hands and my emotion reading told me.
"That is enough from both of you!" I snapped sounding more like my mother than I cared to. "I'm working here and do not need the distraction of an unnecessary catfight. Save your bitch slapping for the real enemy and let me do my job!" Wow I am not sure where that came from. Actually I was sure. It came from fear. But I have to say it certainly sounded cool and got the momentary break of silence that I desired.
Working off of instinct I closed my eyes and sought out my inner chi, or mana, or the dozens of other terms that existed for the inner source of power that lay within us. I had learned how to use this to heal others in the past, having been tested under a trial by fire to keep my brother Daniel alive from an incredibly nasty spider bite. I of course had never tried this on a Valkyrie so I had no clue if this would even work but hey it was the best that I could come up with at the present.
Once I felt my inner self immersed in the power of my chi I let my consciousness flow outward from this spot, through my hands, and into Ms. Gard's body. I had invaded and dominated the minds of others before and I can say with some authority that this effect was nothing like that; especially since mind controlling another was a death warrant for me now.
Healing was more like allowing me to be an observer on the inner workings and damage of the warrior woman's body. And once I had this thorough understanding, I could suddenly serve as the site foreman, directing repairs and reconstruction be accomplished at a rather non-union like pace from her own healing resources and those that I brought with me.
I felt Gard stiffen in pain as I began repairing the damaged blood pathways. Few people understand healing hurts nearly as much as the inflicting of wounds only it is spread out over a longer period of time so we hardly notice it. Thankfully no arteries had been completely severed, only strained, and once all those appeared healed I ordered a heavy dose of endorphins released into the valkyrie's body to relieve the pain and make her more pliable to the next issues facing me.
Okay truth be told I am not a medical student so what I just explained is not something I consciously ordered but rather an instinctual thing that seemed right at the time. Chi healing works on this deeper understanding that we have. My Buddhist monk friend explained we are born knowing all these answers we merely need to remember them. I'm not sure I accept the deeper connotations of that statement. I just prefer the shortened version of when in doubt I go with what feels right.
With blood flowing normally through her body and Gard's pain now reduced my thoughts turned to restoring the muscles, flesh, and skin to its more natural condition. I knew that I had neither the time, energy, nor knowledge to restore her wings at this point so since she said they would heal and regrow naturally over time I left that area alone with only enough healing to seal off the bleeding.
The problem with chi healing is that it is very easy to become addicted to the feeling of power that this gives you over another person. In many ways it made me feel like an artist molding a lump of clay. Some deep and dark part of me realized that was I so inclined that perhaps I could use this power to inflict damage, to open wounds where none existed before. Perhaps I even could mold skin and bone into new shapes they were never meant to take, rather than restoring them to their natural shape. Yeah if I had any inclinations to be the next Dr. Moreau and create my own mutant army, the use of this power would certainly afford me the opportunity.
But thankfully I'm a good girl. No really, I pretty much am no matter how I may dress to annoy my mother so you can stop laughing. Either way I did not give these thoughts any additional attention. Unfortunately I should have monitored my own power level a little better because by the time Ms. Gard was healed and I stopped flowing energy into her, my tank came up pretty much dry. I saw my internal low fuel light only an instant before I wobbled and fell forward as my eyes rolled up in my head.
And then awoke a few moments later finding myself lying on my back on a clean portion of the very same table where Gard had been only a few minutes before. Both she and Murphy were now standing over me and smiling as my eyes came back into focus.
"Jesus Molly you are just as stupid as Harry sometimes." Murphy said with a disapproving shake of her head that was over exaggerated because of the scare I had just put her through.
"Yeah well it worked though…um…right?" I said looking at Ms. Gard who was staring at me with a new found respect.
"It did indeed." She said with a hint of awe in her voice. "I am unsure the All Father could have accomplished what you did."
Okay I know that sounds cool being compared to a deity an all, but it's not like the Norse Pantheon was known for gods of healing or medicine. Basically they were a rowdy group dedicated to drinking and doing battle. And let there be no question that in those areas especially they were worthy of acknowledgement if not worship.
"It was nothing." I tried to shrug it off since I hate this type of praise and because Gard had done nothing to address her nakedness. I tried to sit up and raised my head almost six inches before getting woozy and literally falling back. It was at this point I found hitting a metal table with your head sound surprisingly like a clanging horseshoes at an outdoor picnic. The sounds of bells I heard after in my mind were closer to church ones by the way.
"You must conserve your strength." Gard said to me firmly but with a hint of mixed respect and concern. "If your enemy finds you in this weakened state all is lost!"
"Take…coat…" I had trouble focusing my mind and speaking as I wanted to chase rainbows and butterflies but her words seemed to strike a deeper chord in me that I knew was important to focus upon.
"Ah yes…mortal modesty." I heard the distinctive sounds of leather flapping into place and through barely opened eyes saw her now covered in the duster. I could not even help from thinking how good she looked in it. Like the ultimate biker bitch with an attitude and a glimmer in her eye that was enough to say it was not an act.
Come on Molly focus here. "You said 'my enemy.'" I tried to form a coherent thought while using a few words as possible. "Don't you mean our enemy?" I said trying to nod toward her still injured back as a means to emphasize my point. Note to self jerking nods when nearly unconscious merely makes the blood flow away from the brain not to it! That's good to know for next time.
"I was merely a target of convenience in this case." Gard replied evenly. "She and I have a long history between us where neither yet has found victory. Our battle was just that playing forth this dance we shared once again." She explained.
"So you know who the bitch blowing up the city is?" Murphy asked rather sternly. "And you did not think to share that knowledge with those of us who might be able to stop her?"
"Of course I know her." Gard replied confused by the statement. "So does she." By which I assume she meant me, though I had my eyes closed at the time so was unable to be certain of that until I began to feel Murphy's emotional temperature began to rise.
"Molly?" She said in the same tone my mother would normally say 'Margaret.'
"I don't." I whispered shaking my head and quickly finding out that head shakes were in the same bad category as head nods at the moment. Not that I expected any sympathy from Karrin for this though.
"But you must know her." Gard said even more confusion evident in her voice and emotions. "The old code of her kind requires her to proclaim a blood feud before striking at you. Only if they fight to defend their homes or property may she ignore this requirement of her people. And while Chicago may sit upon an ancient swamp, it is surely not her natural home or I would have smelled her out long ago."
"I did get a blood feud message more than a year ago but I had no idea why or who it was from." I said without moving my head and still suffering an even greater headache for my troubles. "I figured she was probably some psycho coming after me as Harry's apprentice or some such and when nothing ever happened I just forgot about it. Now I figure she is just trying to prevent me as the last magical defender of Chicago from interfering with the spell she is seeking to cast to raise the dead."
"WHAT?" Gard jerked at my words causing me to move my head and want to suddenly invest all my money in Tylenol. "Explain quickly what you know. There seems to be many more lives at stake than I first imagined, and those closest to you are most likely in the greatest danger."
Yeah her high pitched orders and level of obvious excitement along with identifying the next likely targets did wonders for clearing my head and making me ignore the throbbing headache for the moment. I pulled out the translation note of the spell that I had talked to Marva about as a starting point and offered it to Gard while trying not to move too fast.
"These are the spell components she is after." I said letting her read the note quickly and watching with my barely open eyes her own grow wider with each line. I have to say I took that reaction as less than good news and that helped rally my recovery a little more so I could explain the other key points I had learned so far.
"According to a Black Court vampire sorceress, those components are the basic elements of a potion to bring back the dead." I explained hoping Gard's experience was enough to fill in the blanks that I was making with a less than perfect explanation. "Best I can figure she has some plot to raise Harry from the dead, perhaps as a means to get him out of his contract of serving as the Winter Knight." Yeah that still seemed like weak reasoning to me, but it really was the best working theory I had at the moment.
"This note explains much, starting with why she targeted Marcone." She said refolding the note and handing it back to me. I have a feeling perfect recall is another of those divine gifts valkyries had but which the Norse legends never really focused upon since it probably did not shed a lot of blood or allow for much extra drinking. "You are correct about the ultimate use for this potion, but you have seriously erred on the target and scope of the spell based upon what each victim is expected to provide." Gard said looking at me with deadly seriousness she normally reserved for dying heroes.
"Okay from you look I gather that she wants to bring someone else back from the dead." I reasoned. "Then I can assume as well that it is someone really bad and that we would all be better off if the spell is never cast." Yeah for some reason no one ever wanted to bring Gandhi back to life; it was always someone like Genghis Khan. "So the simple answer is that if we can deny her the additional components she requires for the potion I figure we can stop this plan dead in its tracks." I said hopefully because this made the most sense. Components for a spell like this would not just grow on trees to be plucked at one's leisure.
"That would normally be true Molly Carpenter." Did I mention that when a valkyrie uses your whole name it sends shudders of dread running through your body as on some subtle level you understand that this is a call to Valhalla, even if you do not want to go? Personally I prefer my name be used in the same tone as reruns of Monty Hall and the Price is Right telling me to 'Come on Down' for something wonderful.
"This potion, however, is incredibly unique." Gard continued her explanation ignoring or use to my natural reaction. "The stories state that Death himself must provide the recipe and that it shall be uniquely based upon the being to be raised and the circumstances of his death. If you put together the implications you have learned so far you will understand not only who you face, but also who the next targets are likely to be." She said leading me along. "More important still… look to the third line and tell me what it says and through such who it refers to."
I took the note back from her and tried to focus my eyesight well enough to read my own scribbling. Thankfully with a word or two to jog my memory I had what she was looking for. "Then feast upon the bloody decadence like a Baron of Avarice." I said speaking the words aloud and beginning to get used to the pain in my head.
"And as girl from a good Catholic Family, what is the sin of Avarice?" She asked starting to annoy me.
"Greed." I answered since memorizing the seven deadly sins was one of my favorite parts of Sunday school. But it still took me a moment too long to put the clues together.
"Marcone!" Murphy said aloud to both Gard and I only an instant before my addled brain figured it out as well. As a signatory to the Seelie Accords, Gentleman Johnny Marcone had been bestowed with the title of Free Baron which I had forgotten until now. And if his lifestyle did not symbolize the epitome of greed and lust for power in Chicago then I would hate to meet the individual that did.
"Indeed, the second listed ingredient necessary is blood from my employer." Gard said in a very matter of factly tone. "That makes this business even more personal and aligns our fates it seems to see this situation through to the end."
"That's great to know, but you said you know who this is." Karrin replied sarcastically and obviously not thrilled by the inherent partnership. "Perhaps if you told us what you know about who is behind it instead of keeping these details to yourself and the impact to your scumbag employer then maybe we might be able to get a handle on what is going on."
Gard tensed and I thought there would be a fight, but something underlying in her knowledge let her overlook the slight and turn right to the subject just as Murphy demanded. "I will oblige you." Gard said in words and a way that filled me full of dread. "But I doubt it will provide you the insight and happiness through it that you are hoping for."
She paused and drew a breath. Why do they always have to start stories like they are the end of the world? Well other than those times when they actually might be the end of the world of course. "Through many lifetimes various beings of power have carved up this world and laid claim to its lands and people much as human farmers fence off their lands and lay claim to the cattle they keep contained." Oh yeah this is starting out good. The first words out of her mouth compared humans to livestock, which I guess coming from the Norse pantheon might not be so far of a stretch even if it was rather insulting to Karrin and I.
"Unlike other types of beings before their rise, her kind divided the world by the types of geography it contained and not lines drawn upon a map." She continued. "The very strongest claimed mountains, the next shared the seas, a few more the plains, and two the deserts. The younger generation and therefore weaker such as she who hunts you were left with little to pick from except the scraps of this world and her parcel claimed eventually was that of the swamps." Wow that really is a 'sucks to be you' kind of selection process.
"While the strongest eventually came into conflict with humans who bred rapidly and grew in knowledge unto the point that they competed for these same vital lands, the weaker had less call for violent interaction and turned instead to other pursuits." Gard explained as I tried to rally some more energy to eventually sit up without feeling like I was going to pass back out. "In the case of your enemy she turned to the human arts and accumulation of knowledge primarily finding your race to be a fascinating one. She happily avoided direct contact with the world at large except when it fell upon her doorstep."
"So she did have some dealings with humans?" I asked hoping this might provide more insight. If so that might mean there were records of her, and more importantly how to deal with and defeat her.
"Of course she did." Gard replied. "There is no part of this world where your kind does not hazard upon so occasionally either the bravest or the most foolish would stumble across her. Some she would take pity upon and teach lessons you kind had learned and all but forgotten, or heal those too sick to continue. And others who came upon her at a less agreeable time she would look down upon and destroy without a care leaving great piles of bones as warnings to others not to approach and disturb her solitude again." She paused to draw a breath. "Such a dual existence formed the basis for many of the stories of witches, wondrous healers, and vile monsters that lived in the heart of forbidden swamps."
I thought on this and knew such stories and myths often had a basis in fact so this hardly surprised me. It also did very little to expand upon what I knew in a useful way. Like Murphy, I was getting a little sick of this cat and mouse game.
"That is all interesting Gard but what are we up against?" I asked letting the annoyance drip with every word. I expected her to delay but she answered before my own words seemed to even stop resonating.
"You face a dragon of course as the first line of the potion and the missing reptile from the zoo should have hinted to you." She said with a total lack of emotion. "A dragon seeks your death child for the crimes it feels done to its honor."
It's a good thing I was already still sitting down and somewhat nearly horizontal as it allowed me to fall back over from shock without actually doing serious damage to myself in the process except for the bell clanging again. OW! I would say that I was in shock but that is like saying a tsunami made my clothes a little damp. I was unable to respond at all as my mind tried to process the enormity of what I had just heard.
Gard was content to let me work through this issue in silence as she stared at me with those judgmental eyes that had observed the deaths of thousands to select those worthy of Valhalla. Murphy was far more practical to the situation and kept pressing.
"You are not joking? You mean a real dragon?" She asked skeptically even though she had personally observed and lived through so much that such a concept should hardly seem irrational to her. "You are talking about the kind of thing that has the wings and the fiery breath and all that?" She asked a third time for clarity.
Gard turned to regard her. "You are basing your knowledge strictly upon the western world's view of such creatures. Most such beings of their kind do indeed fly but only a small few had flaming breath. The fact that so many stories speak of this type is because those who did battle with dragons tended to lose when they went up against such creatures so the beasts survived century after century to create even more such stories."
"Okay so no flames." Murphy accepted. "What does this one have instead?"
"She is master of the swamps so her powers manifest themselves as an extension of her domain." Gard explained. "She had domination over creatures of the swamp such as…"
"…the rats and the bats from the other night." Murphy finished immediately understanding where Gard was going with this.
"Indeed." The bodyguard replied. "It is fortunate we are not on her home territory or she would have such things as snakes, alligators, and wildcats that we would be forced to contend with as well. While none of these are impossible to overcome, they are not things that can easily be ignored out of hand either." And that was yet another understatement.
"Wait a minute." I said finding my voice at last. "I am pretty sure that I never had any direct dealings with dragons, and therefore can someone please explain to me how I managed to piss one off?"
"You do have Harry's gift Molly." Karrin tried to joke.
"Dresden has almost nothing to do with this except that by serving as his apprentice you are seen as an extension of him." Gard responded to the real question.
"Great so then Harry pissed off a dragon and it is now coming after me?" Well that is not overly surprising. I have to admit I expected his enemies to become my own given time, but really, a dragon?
"No." Gard put a halt to my mental wandering. "In this case it means that Harry's acquaintances are seen now as connected to you. That explains why my employer was on this list."
"And Mortimer Lindquist." Murphy added knowing that he too was an associate of Harry's.
"Yes." Gard replied. "The ghost talker would fulfill the fifth line Listen to the bloody secrets whispered by the spirits." She quoted the line verbatim without even needing to look at the paper. "This will give the being she raises a similar power when they awake."
"That is great, but again, why me?" I asked. "You said it is not Harry and I know I have not pissed off a dragon, at least not in any way that I can think of, so what has she got against me?"
"It is a blood feud child." Gard explained again. "The crime she seeks to rectify is not one you committed but one done unto her family by yours." Light bulb is ON!
"You are telling me that she is trying to kill me and people I know because my father…" I started.
"…killed her father." Gard said confirming my fear.
Dear lord the dragon was the daughter of the one my dad killed? Well that explained why she hated my family. "Why is she coming after me and not my dad?" I asked trying to figure the nuances out.
"With your father's injuries and surrendering his sword he is no longer deemed worthy of such vengeance." Gard replied and while it grated upon me to hear these words spoken about my dad, I knew the valkyrie did not say them in malice but merely as an explanation. "I suspect she watched and waited as their kind are prone to do and when you proved yourself a worthy challenge and equal to your father she sent you the announcement of the blood feud so you would be prepared." Yeah that really did not work how she planned it, but it was not like I could call a do over or anything.
Once again Molly you are up to your eyeballs in trouble and are way out of your league.
"Be strong child." Margaret Dresden's voice was reassuring and calm in my mind. "You have faced and beaten such odds before. Dragons tend to underestimate humans and you have shown a wonderful ability to destroy those who underestimate you."
The freaked out part of my mind wanted to snap back with something witty and harsh, but the confidence in me that Margaret offered was too much to ignore and certainly not something that deserved my cutting wit. She was quickly becoming someone I could lean on, even if she was just a partial spirit and even though I had never really wanted to lean upon anyone. I was glad she was in my mind.
"Alright so let's figure out who her next target is and go kick her ass from here to whatever swamp she came from!" I said with newfound determination and actually sat all the way up daring my body with my anger to try and disobey me. The wooziness fled knowing better than to challenge me on this action right now.
"Harry always said there are eight components in a potion." Murphy added showing me she knew more about the mystical side than I imagined. "You have mentioned three so far. What about the other five?"
"I believe I am the seventh." Gard said surprising me and reading the line aloud before I could look at the paper. "Steal the final drop of blood from the Angel of Death." Yeah I guess she would certainly qualify as an angel of death based upon her occupation. "The wings she tore from my back will provide her the sufficient means to fulfill that requirement."
"Okay that is four." Was all that Murphy said sticking strictly to business as she was prone to in a tense situation.
"Molly is the eighth." Gard explained further. "Her blood is most important because the blood of vengeance of the one who committed the crime against her family is the most important ingredient."
"So we keep her safe and this plan all goes to hell." Murphy answered.
"Unlikely." Gard replied. "She has faced you twice and left you to go free which means in her mind she knows there is some reason why you will come to her of your own accord and see this through to the end."
"Yeah, I'm really not seeing it." I replied. "I have no actual loyalty to either Mortimer or your boss and it seems they have a better chance of surviving if I stay away anyway so I do not see a reason to play her game. And no offense to you Gard, but I really don't think I'd come after you either." And while that sounded good my presence here and my healing put that last bit of logic at risk.
"The sixth line says she wants the one who held the bloody hand of God." Gard replied.
The implications struck home. The knights were known as the fists of God for they worked as his hands of vengeance here on earth. "You mean she is going after my father? He gave up his sword." I asked suddenly frightened. "I thought you said because of his injuries he was seen as no longer worthy." I actually stood up without any sense of swaying and thanked God for inventing adrenaline as I started to walk for the door.
"I admit that confused me as well." Gard said as she and Murphy also began to follow me. "But the wording can only refer to one who has carried the sword."
"Then it is me." Murphy said without even a hint of shock. "I held the damn blade and wish I had it now so I could plant it in her ass!" Her words reminded me I had a friend. And Murphy was someone I probably would seek to rescue.
I felt a sudden wash of fear that appeared from nowhere. It was overpowering and made me freeze in place like a frightened rabbit. I tried to draw a little magic to me to offer a spell of courage unto myself but I struggled to accomplish even that.
A bellowing roar broke over the building. It was something far too monstrous to be human and far too powerful to be anything less than nearly immortal. And even though I was inside a building sheltered from the moon's light outside, some deep part of me felt a shadow pass over us as it headed toward the city. And while I could not truly see it, the shadow had the bat-like wings of a dragon.
It took a few seconds after she passed for me to find the courage to step forward, but one step turned instantly into a run as I made it to the door. Normal human eyes would never have seen her dark form against the black sky at the distance she had already travelled, but I had the advantage of feeling emotion and could tell her course by the slowly dwindling aura of fear she carried with her.
I was happy to note she was not headed north toward where my family lived. Instead she made an arrow straight flight toward the northeast part of the city. This was not the residential part but rather an occupational section.
"Know the bloody scent of separated hearts eternally joined." The sixth line of the poem came to mind. That could only be two people. Wolves were one of the few creatures that mate for life and are therefore eternally joined. And the bitch was headed straight toward the university!
*Note: Sorry it has been so long since I updated. Very busy both with work and starting an MBA full scholarship. Just like you I HATE stories that start and never finish so I promise to you I will complete this one in the coming weeks. That being said I will also let you know this will be the last Carpenter Blueprints story for a while at least. 3 is a good number and if I get a chance to write I want to work on original characters for a while. I do thank you for those who have kept up and hope this story's conclusion does not disappoint. Best to you all….*