Life After Death

Chapter 16

Harry Dresden is dead. I still did not want to believe that but I was starting to see it could indeed be true. And unfortunately for the city of Chicago in that case it meant that its greatest magical defender was no more. I had dreams of greatness one day, and objectively I had done some fairly impressive things in my rather short magical career; but I was not Harry. And faced with a dragon rampaging through the city, Chicago needed Harry Dresden.

Since I had no indications of his return I knew that at the very least, Chicago needed a wizard. And as much as I knew I was not in Harry's league, I also knew that I was the only real choice the city had. Sure I was not Harry, and at best if the White Council did not kill me, they were not going to select me to be the new warden for this town, but that did not mean I couldn't take on the responsibility all on my own. I no more needed the White Council's approval to protect Chicago than Harry had before they had made him a warden.

"Very good child, you are learning." Margaret Dresden's voice spoke approvingly in my mind.

"Learning?" I asked back wanting to make sure I was not interpreting her meaning incorrectly. "Don't you mean surrendering to the inevitable?" I asked somewhat jokingly because I was still less than thrilled to be taking on this level of responsibility.

"Hardly child." She replied with a touch of pride. "Surrender is not in your nature."

"I think you have a misguided view of me Margaret." I countered as I was not really comfortable with this type of compliment. Unfortunately its all the harder to dismiss when the thoughts originate within your own head. "I have no problems running away. In fact I think it is usually the smarter course than getting killed."

"You are lying to yourself more than you are trying to lie to me." Her voice was calm and reasoned. "I observed your battles in Mexico. I know what you chose to take on for Harry. I know that you did not expect to live when you accepted his request. But even faced with all of those dangers you chose not to run away once things got dangerous."

"That is because I did not spend any time thinking about it or focusing on what was happening around me." I replied. "I turned myself off from feeling anything, especially the fear that we were all going to die for nothing. Had I stopped and taken a breath then I would probably have been overwhelmed by everything taking place during the battle. That was not courage, it was a survival instinct."

"Is that what you truly believe about yourself child?" Margaret asked with an odd tone in her voice I did not recognize. "Why do you think such things?" She asked all too like Harry when he knew something that I did not.

I thought on this for a moment and considered if I was missing something and then finally decided it was the truth. I knew both the strength of my magic and its limitations. I had learned these the hard way very early in my career. "Not that long ago I was with Harry looking for Thomas when a black court vampire killed a security guard at a mall here in town. The sudden overwhelming emotions related to that single act of violence nearly paralyzed and left me helpless. That was only a singular rather violent death, yet the emotion of that event was too much for me to accept at the time." I explained and then drew a breath as I prepared to continue.

"How many equally violent deaths did I just experience in Mexico? I mean not just those of the vampires but my God Harry destroyed a few hundred with his first powerful gravity attack." I asked opening my memories up to catch only glimpses of dozens, maybe even hundred of mortals and vampires dying violently all around me. "I had to block all those out so that I could help Harry save his daughter otherwise I would have been completely useless to him. But had the choice been mine I would have run away as quickly as I could. It was that or be paralyzed again and killed which I would prefer not." I finished without a doubt of that conclusion in my mind.

"I notice you like music my dear." Margaret said throwing me for a loop as she completely changed subjects in the middle of our conversation leaving me confused.

"Well, yeah of course." I responded not understanding where this was going.

"And you have an eclectic taste for older songs considering how young you are child." Margaret replied.

"Blame your son for that." I said. "I swear his record collection had nothing newer than 1975 in it. I mean I can handle The Who, Led Zepplin, and The Eagles, but I had to draw a line at the Beach Boys?"

"Perhaps dear he merely saw the music as a refuge from the world gone mad." She replied. "He would hardly be the first one to need a lifeline back to reality when facing down some of the horrors he has done battle with. You cannot really begrudge someone that now can you?"

"No, of course not." I replied still unsure of what she was getting at. "But what does this have to do with Mexico and how I adapted to not become overwhelmed emotionally?"

Margaret waited for a moment before she chose to respond either expecting something more from me, or figuring out what she wanted to say herself. "It is actually very simple my dear. You did not really put all those feelings aside in the middle of your battle." She said matter-of-factly. "You felt those horrible deaths, each and every one, just as you had the security guard you spoke of earlier."

"No way." I said aloud I realized while shaking my head and recognizing that both Gard and Murphy would probably think I'm nuts by my outburst to an internal conversation. Thankfully they were both focused upon their own endeavors based upon the emotions I felt radiating from them so I turned back to my internal conversation. "I'm telling you there is no way I could have handled that level of emotion. It would have left me helpless or at the very least broken me."

"It is true that the old Molly would not have succeeded." Margaret admitted with a slight mental smile. "Thankfully I was there to help you through the worst parts of it."

"You were in my mind then?"

"Of course." She replied. "If you were going to be useful in the future I had to ensure there was actually going to be a future for you, heck who am I kidding it is 'for us,' so I walled off part of your mind from comprehending the emotions you were feeling while still allowing you to use their effects to power you magic."

"You manipulated my mind?" I asked in horror.

"Do not act like such an infant Molly." Margaret's spirit replied. "I merely guarded you and guided you so you could help Harry achieve his goal."

"But you controlled my mind!"

"No I did not." She replied. "I merely made the option of fleeing less desirable to you."

"And how is that any different?" I asked.

"Molly, you are starting to sound like those fear mongers in the White Council." She scolded gently. "I protected you child. I kept you from freezing up when others needed you. This allowed you to keep fighting and save the lives of your friends. It allowed you to help Harry do what he had to. You helped save the life of Harry's daughter. In part, because of you, and what I did for you, the Red Court has been destroyed."

I thought upon this and could not deny everything she said was indeed true. But by the same token I was not much of an ends justify the means type of girl, well unless I was the one doing the justifying that is. The thought that I had been mentally manipulated or controlled did not sit well and I could tell my annoyance was leaking out because both Murphy and Gard seemed to sense it and become less calm as well.

"Child, please understand that what I did was necessary for the survival of all involved." Margaret said in a much softer and impassioned tone of voice. "You were too young and inexperienced for what Harry was asking of you and the burdens he put on your soul. And Harry was too inexperienced in sensitive magic or even in emotions to understand this either. His entire plan was based upon this ignorance so I could not let all of you die, not when I had the means to save you."

Her logic made sense to me but I still felt violated spiritually. But hey, I knew it was important to hear her out. "What exactly did you do?" I asked as calmly as I could.

Margaret hesitated for some time and then started up with her tone of voice that was a mixture of mother and school teacher all at once. "You know that Harry has told you how emotions can fuel magic, correct? She asked me and I provided a mental nod in response.

"Harry is a regular wizard. He knows his own stronger emotions can fuel his spells, especially his destructive ones." She explained. "But he, and the majority of the wizards in the White Council, do not understand that emotions can fuel all types of spells, not just the violent ones. In fact, emotions provide additional fuel for magic of all types if the wizard in question is sensitive enough to make this connection."

"And for those deemed 'sensitive wizards' the emotions do not require coming from within the wizard even!" The shock of this statement along with its potential struck me almost like a physical blow and I knew I even shuddered and gasped aloud at this. "If the emotional environment is strong enough then a sensitive wizard can draw upon that as well."

I thought on that and wanted to deny it out of hand because it went far beyond anything Harry had ever taught me. But of course the first thing Harry had taught me is how little wizards really know. He said that it was important that we never get so wrapped up in our beliefs that we ignore things that are telling us the truths we cling to and are comfortable with are actually wrong.

Was it so far a stretch to assume that other beings' emotions could fuel my spells? I mean the phages that I had inadvertently called up fed upon emotions like fear so they had to be something tangible. A rather evil wizard who machinations I had run across had powered magic through the life force and despair of others. And heck, the White Council admitted it knew very little about this type of magic to begin with so why couldn't what Margaret was telling me actually be the truth?

And if that were true and I had used it to battle a host of vampires, would it be useful against a dragon? "Margaret, just exactly how do I use this type of power?"

Murphy drove my car because I had no illusions that I was in her league when the situation called for combat driving along city streets at night chasing a dragon. I was also still rebuilding my strength and while my chi was pretty tapped, I used the time as a passenger to pull in magic and think about what magic I had at my disposal that might help in this particular situation. My companions had the current emotional wellspring of Mount Rushmore so even if what Margaret had explained to me was true, they were too stoic of warriors to allow any leak of emotions that I might be able to tap into even if I knew what to do with it. Illusions were my current forte but I had trouble believing that they would be terribly impressive against a dragon. But it was not like my bolts of flame would serve me any better.

Gard sat quietly in the back seat with her eyes closed in some sort of meditative trance. The vibes she gave off were completely opposite of the ones that my Buddhist monk friend had when he sought inner peace. In those times he projected a sense of inner peace and harmony. But what I sensed from Gard was just the opposite. She was like a bowstring being tightened as I sensed a long call to battle building within her like the stead sound of a beating drum calling out oar strokes, or perhaps mead tankards beaten upon a great feast table. And then of course there was the internal fueling rage.

I had of course heard stories of Viking berserkers and how they could shrug off otherwise mortal wounds to keep fighting and taking down even more enemies around them. I had always thought that this was a naturally induced condition of battle; that or perhaps too much mead. What I was sensed within her now was that it was far more mystical than merely uncontrolled rage. To the outsider it might appear insanity, but within the warrior it was razor sharp focus and determination to inflict the maximum pain possible on the enemy regardless of the damage to self this caused. Oddly enough being this close and so being able to sense how she wrapped all her anger around herself like armor I realized that I could do this too. Emotions it seemed could be used to make a shield just like the way Harry's shield bracelet did so with normal magic.

Not that I was going to follow her lead and wrap myself up in anger mind you. I figured a single crazy axe wielding bitch was probably enough for the city at any one time. Harry always said it was better to keep you head with magic than give into the emotions, especially for me since I had a history of violating the Laws of Magic with the White Council in this area. But I knew I could be just like Gard if I chose. I contented myself instead by preparing my wands for the battle to come and selecting the spells I figured best suited for taking down the original swamp thing.

Murphy of course approached this from the opposite side of the street from Gard. She too locked down on her emotions, but instead of using them to armor herself with for the coming battle, she locked them all away and entered her calm and detached mode that I had felt with her before. The only exception to this was a deep seated sense of remorse that permeated all of her. It was not the kind of emotion I wanted to draw upon, I had enough of this myself, and in truth I felt like I was intruding upon her pain by even knowing of it so I said nothing.

Even with Murphy driving and ignoring distractions like stop lights where she could there was no way we were going to keep up with a dragon on the wing. At this time of night there was not a lot of traffic, but it was easy to see the path the creature had taken by the number of accidents its aura of fear had caused in its wake. Whether or not the drivers actually caught a glimpse of the creature or not really did not matter, in fact even if they did, by sunrise almost all will have convinced themselves it was just a dream or some trick of shadows. That will leave the auto insurance companies wondering for years to come what had caused the spike in accidents along this stretch of road this night. Better that I guess than life insurance companies wondering the same thing about their customers.

Sweet made an appearance as we raced through the streets, literally popping into existence in the back seat next to Gard. If the valkyrie even sensed her arrival her expression did not show it as she continued to ready herself for battle. The leprechaun looked at the valkyrie next to her and then turned an offered me a wide smile.

"I see that you are gathering them up rather nicely." She said with a nod and a wink. "Have you learned yet just what you are facing up against and why?" She asked.

"Yes I know it is a dragon and that this is some sort of sick revenge against me because my father killed her father." I said showing that I had the information and that she could talk freely. I hoped the leprechaun would have something useful beyond her quaint Irish accent to contribute to the conversation but instead she just looked at me for a few seconds as if she were digesting the news before responding. I sensed there was something else taking place here behind those cute little green eyes of hers, something with a sense of regret, but she pushed it aside and focused fully on me once more.

"Is that so?" She said becoming slightly more serious as if this course of action now before her was the one she was forced to follow. "There still be a few aspects of this that I cannot speak to ye about, but I will provide you all that I may."

"You know I am getting truly tired of people deciding for me how much I can know and how much to shelter me from." I said aloud as my frustrations burst forth freely. I guess I was not nearly as in control of my emotions as I hoped for.

Sweet merely cocked her head at my outburst, showing neither concern nor amusement. "Are you truly Molly girl?"

Something in the way she said that just added fuel to my fire. "Yes!" I answered. "First it was my mother protecting me from the possibility I had inherited magic. Then it was Harry trying to protect me from all the bad things in this world instead of helping to make me stronger so I would be ready if he was no longer around."

"I understand." She said with a slow nod of her head. "But perhaps they were merely trying to protect you. Perhaps they thought it was not the time to share certain things."

"You do not protect people by cutting them out of your life." I responded with years of frustration behind that. "You do not make them stronger by hiding them away behind walls of protection because someone feels they are unable or unready for the truth. Well guess what? I now have real evidence that the truth does not wait for others to grow up and be ready. Usually it arrives at its own time and jabs a stake through your heart because someone sheltered you from it. Now tell me what you know or get the hell out of my car!" Yeah I guess you can say I have a little pent up frustration on this particular subject.

Timing, however, was working against me or maybe for me at that point. Murphy's skills at driving had us to our destination by that point and while I might have preferred to have Sweet's knowledge to draw upon, with Billy and Georgia in danger I figured it was better to chance it than take time for another lecture or question and answer period.

I was of course correct on my assumption of where the dragon was headed because I knew in my heart that the target was either Billy the Werewolf or his nine month pregnant wife Georgia. Considering they both had just a few days ago been drugged and kidnapped by a seller of unique beings and had to be rescued by Murphy, I was thinking that losing each other now would probably be the worst emotional pain that either could face. That seemed to fit perfectly the level of loss the potion's ingredients spoke of. That and of course that wolves mate for life.

"Anyone have any ideas on how best to take this bitch down this time?" I asked the other ladies present at the moment.

"You must be committed to use everything at your disposal." Gard replied opening her eyes that now reflected a typhoon of rage and destruction within them. The way she said it made me shudder inside but I was not going to argue with her. "You cannot hold back your power when the time comes to use it or you will fail."

"Okay." I said and we exited the car. There was no further explanation. Just Harry's doctrine of hit them hard and fast I guess. And even Murphy seemed to accept this course of action Gard offered as the right one given the current circumstances.

I should mention that in addition to the proverbial wave of fear that the dragon's presence was excluding, panic was also evident around the area as well. Billy and Georgia still lived near the university where they had met and most of the other apartments and homes in this area also catered to the students who attended school. Those who lived nearby I could sense were all falling under the sway of these two effects and it would only take a single spark to let this get out of hand. I strengthened my own resolve with a spell of courage and then the four of us went dragon hunting.

When I say 'hunting' I do not mean to suggest there is any of the stalking silently or detailed tracking required for most animals. In this case it was like coming up to a bear in its den. You knew it was there, and you were pretty sure the bear knew you were coming for it as well.

In the present case the dragon had made its presence and current location known to us and the rest of the community by shearing away the front of the apartment building Will and Georgia lived in. The wood and brick rubble lay in a mound before the multistory building basically blocking off the lowest level but creating a treacherous ramp that allowed access to the second floor. This made for a delicate placement of our feet since the pile seemed ready to flow out from under us at any time but we each successfully reached the second level without tumbles or broken legs to show for it so I chalked this up as a minor victory.

Of course once we stepped into the hallway and found the wood beneath our feet start to sag I was not really feeling all that much safer. Thankfully the edges closest to the walls seemed firmer, at least enough to hold our weight, as we headed for the stairwell halfway down the hall.

I could immediately sense the building was saturated with some sort of magical spell. It was not a ward or even a detection spell as much as the feelings of an active combat spell still at work for some purpose I could not fathom. The look of confusion as I pondered this, however, must have been evident on my face as Sweet saw it from across the hall as she scouted ahead. Her small body and light footsteps seemingly perfect for this task, and she stopped for a moment to answer my unasked question.

"The dragon cast a spell of rot and decay upon the building to give those within something else to worry about as she planned her attack." Sweet explained to my satisfaction. Gard had said a swamp dragon could only access power relevant to its climate so I guess rot and decay were fairly natural. Enough so that the timbers and wood supports within the brick building had not stood a chance. And if the floors of the rooms in this building were anything like the smaller hallways then Billy would certainly have his hands full trying to make sure Georgia and their unborn baby made it out safely. He would undoubtedly suspect an attack was taking place, but there was little he would be able to do about it until he knew the others were safe.

I looked back at Murphy who had a pistol in each hand and was nodding with her head for me to get on with it while Gard, armed with broadsword that I have no idea where it came from – magic I guess, was moving up behind Sweet ready to cause her own unique form of mayhem.

We went up a few winding flights of stairs, these thankfully made from metal and concrete so quite a bit stronger, to the level that Will's apartment was on. Normally I took the elevator when Harry and I had come over here for game night and so did not think about where to stop. Thankfully Murphy had been here recently and knew the right level.

I reached for the handle looking once more at my companions and saw they were ready like I was to call down the hordes of Hell upon our foe if that was required. To hell with the handle I thought, then I kicked the door open and stepped to the hall looking toward Will's apartment part way down the hall. And at that moment I paused after taking only one step only to find the familiar dark cloaked woman standing in the middle of the hallways obviously waiting for our arrival.

"My time is precious and you kept me waiting." She spoke to me in a calm and confident though slightly annoyed voice of one who knows no fear. All she needed was to be puffing on a cigarette and this really would have set the mood. Of course maybe she could handle the whole smoke thing without the use of tobacco being a dragon and all.

"Well then be happy, your time has come." I said drawing my magic and emotions up into me so I could at least make a fine accounting of myself.

"Hardly, though I see you are gathering up the makings of an army for yourself." She smiled from under that cowl. Yeah I do not know how I knew that since I could not actually see it except that I was certain of it. "You do realize you are a few short if you plan to offer me any serious challenge?"

"Maybe…" I said more to keep her talking than to spend any time focused on her ramblings. Better I catch her off guard with an attack than she do the same to me.

"I must ask though." She said just as my power was almost full. "Are you purposely avoiding wondering about what I have done to those hybrid mongrels you consider friends because you are not as emotionally weak as Harry Dresden was, or did you just happen to forget about them at the moment?" Her cocksure demeanor held the twinge of uncertainty and inquisitiveness as did her emotions. And of course she did have a point.

I wanted nothing more at that moment to let down all my barriers, release the animal instincts inside of me and just attack her with everything I had. This would not be a berserker frenzy like Gard might employ for that was a conscious choice. I really wanted to dig down past reason and embrace the baser instincts from before man's evolution. Even Harry's discipline was probably not enough to prevent me from doing this.

But then I thought of Will…and especially of Georgia in her ninth month of pregnancy and that brought me up short. Even animals care for their young and that left me cold and drained away my rage. I could not afford to release this animal from within me until I knew they were safe.

"If you hurt woman or their child…" I began with no reason to further explain who I was talking about as I could sense she knew that instantly as well. The implicit threat was enough to communicate my thoughts on the matter as was my aggressive posture.

"Had I known this would be your reaction then perhaps I should have." She said in a calculating tone. Her words gave me hope that they were all still healthy and whole. "I focused instead on the boy since I only needed one of the two and he was more than obliging to throw himself at me rather than waste my time chasing one of them down."

No real surprise there. I figure Will was faced with the prospect of protecting Georgia and his baby and did the only thing he could do; try to buy them time to escape. Any alpha male would have done the same. That being said I was equally sure her statement was no boast. She had Will and meant him no good.

"Let him go!" I whispered with steel, no make that adamantium, in my voice.

"No." She replied back with almost a dismissive chuckle because in her mind we still offered her not actual threat. "Your little Wonder Woman Justice League is probably a teen boy's wet dream, but it still does not threaten me child. I am beyond any power you might…"

Sometimes you just gotta love how in the middle of a monologue the bad guy (or girl in this case) gets whacked. I wish it would have been from one of us, but with the cloaked bitch's attention firmly on the four of us and the hallway less than stable due to her decomposing magic we were all sort of limited in just what violence we could offer at that moment. But of course all our calculations failed to take into account the other important player we had overlooked.

There was a savage growl, a sound no human vocal cords could possibly make, as the only split second warning before the rotted wall halfway between the dragon and our group exploded as a body hurled through. Some small part of me knew that Will and Georgia's apartment lay just beyond that wall so I was not completely surprised except when I noted the attacker was much smaller and much less round than a nine month pregnant Georgia would be. Of course size and ferocity are not mutually exclusive and this case more than proved that point to us all.

Tera West's naked hybrid form landed only an instant in the hallway before springing forward once more directly at the dragon. Even the sagging floorboards where she hit did not slow her down as she seemed to instantly sense how much stress they could take and balanced just that amount upon them perfectly before converting the rest of her force to forward momentum at her target.

Her aim was so perfect that even without the time necessary for seeing and registering I knew she had to be using her canine sense of smell to track her target so effectively. As the floorboards broke away where she had landed for an instant Tera's claws were already grabbing hold of the dragon around her throat and propelling them both back out of the building to fall a few stories to the street below and out of our sight. The look of surprise on the cloaked woman's face as her hood fell back slightly told me she was just as caught off guard by this unexpected attack as the rest of us.

"Sweet go check out the apartment and make sure anyone inside is taken care of. Get them someplace safe." I ordered knowing that time was of the essence. I had no doubt Tera was fierce but I doubted she could stand toe to toe with a dragon for too long. That meant she needed backup. "Karrin, Gard, let's go." I said and found they were of like mind and had already turned back to the stairs which offered the safest and quickest route back to the street.

It took maybe half a minute for the three of us to get down stairs and through the ruined hallway, down the shifting rubble pile, and back to the street but I feared even that would be too long. Sure Tera had just demonstrated it was possible to surprise a dragon, but that would quickly wear off and then the tables would turn. I just hoped we could get there before the dragon had the upper hand and killed her. Surprisingly I was wrong.

Tera West was truly the example of someone releasing the base animal side as we found her still straddled over the cloaked woman keeping the dragon on the defensive. Tera's extended canine jaws sought out her opponent's throat from a multitude of angles while her clawed hands raked any other target or soft spot that became available.

For her part, the dragon was forced to fight purely defensively ensuring that one arm at least always protected her throat and face. Alternately the other appendage would try to come around and project a spell but between Tera's claws and jaws this would inevitably be batted away or forced to provide protection somewhere else so never released the magic it contained. Finally, succumbing to this realization that she needed to change the battlefield the dragon did call out words laced with magic power that did not require her aarms to focus.

"To me!" The command echoed across the street, carried and enhanced in part by magic. I knew this was not a mental domination attack but instead just a magic order. And those awaiting the call began to shuffle forward from the dark patches nearby.

"Molly?" Murphy's incomplete question hung in the air for a second as she looked at the dozen or so new arrivals we had missed spotting earlier. Trained and professional as always Karrin kept her guns shifting from target to target, focusing mostly the one closest to us, which was moving away, and then to the first one likely to reach Tera's side.

I understood her concern in an instant as the forms were undoubtedly human in appearance and Murphy had this thing about harming people even if she was no longer a cop. But I knew immediately that while they each looked human, or more appropriately each looked like the same exact human, they were in fact mystical creations made of dirt.

"They are golems Murphy not human." I said with a sense of confidence that overrode any skepticism she may have. "Take them out." I ordered and could see her nod. Gard of course needed no such command as she was already rushing the closest on her flank with that lovely broadsword swinging high for a decapitating attack.

The valkyrie's target must have had a self defense clause instilled in the magic spell that created it for it seemed to sense the attack and spun around in time to defend itself. Oddly enough when I had faced such creatures in the past they had been slower and ponderous than what I had just seen displayed. The ones we faced now were demonstrating speed and agility much like those of a ninja, or maybe an aikido specialist.

As the blade descended the golem spun into a perfect double arm high block, the very same technique Murphy had taught me in aikido to protect my head from blows, and caught the sword perfectly in the V created by its crossed arms. Normally this technique was used against clubs and such and only as a last defense against bladed weapons as they would still cause massive damage to the body, but in this case it was equally effective in that the thick clay that made up the golem stopped the blow's momentum before the broadsword could sheer all the way through its arms. In fact a follow up tug from the creature nearly disarmed the valkyrie and she had to instead twist and retract the blade by taking a step back to prevent losing it.

The attack was also enough for the others of its kind to register that there were additional opponents and two thirds broke away from coming to the dragon's aid and instead turned toward us. While this might be seen as some by a partial victory in distracting them from their initial target, the four remaining golems would certainly provide the necessary interruption of Tera's attention for the dragon to call upon her magic and then the fight would be over.

A pair of blasts from right next to me told me that Murphy was joining the fight as well. The bullets slammed into the chest of the closest golem closing on us but even with their expanding rounds neither did any significant damage or even caused the creature to slow. The third shot, a single blast to the head, was more successful for while it was off center from the between the eyes point Murphy was aiming for, it caught the forehead right above the creature's left eye where the magic word 'emet' had been engraved to bring the creature to life. Karrin's shot erased the first 'e' – Hebrew writing being right to left – changing the word in an instant to 'met' which means death in Hebrew, killing the creature in the traditional, albeit through modern technological means, way.

Even with that success, and the fact I could see Gard still fighting and likely to destroy her own opponent, I knew we would never win unless we could take down all of these creatures at one time. That meant it would take magic and I was the one best suited in that regard. Thankfully I already had pulled power to me and now I let it flow forth.

Did I mention I am not Harry? Once or twice at least right? Okay so if you are expecting a flash of powerful blowing crap up type magic you have come to the wrong place. I am the much cuter and smarter perky wizard apprentice so I do things my own way. Thankfully in this case I even had experience to draw upon.

Part of the creation process of a golem is a constant beat or harmony that replicates the living heartbeat and brings the creature to life. With the help of a violin that I never learned to play, I once destroyed one of these creatures trying to kill me by strumming loudly and off key. Ergo, yes I was forced to learn Latin, if I provided equally bad music over a much larger, hence louder, area, the effect should be the same. That is at least what my experience told me was the correct answer.

The neighborhood suddenly erupted in a cacophony of sounds. I started with a memory of a practice session of Butters playing polka in his one man band suit, added some bagpipes that sounded more like a bag full of cats being beaten with a wet towel, and then for good measure included the screeching violin sounds that had worked so well for me before. Did I mention that being able to create illusions and sounds can really be useful at times like this? I even thought about including some lyrics from a certain Canadian teen boy heartthrob but that seemed far too cruel to inflict upon the neighborhood and the golems as well.

The initial effect of my spell was instantaneous. All the golems froze where they were as the discordant music assaulted their underlying orderly commands. Of course it was almost as bad for those of us living as well as I was playing this rather loudly. Gard finished off her opponent before covering her ears and Murphy wanted to take down another but the noise was too great for her to concentrate and get off a shot with the precision she required.

Fifteen, thirty, then sixty seconds passed as the disharmony continued likely intimidating and sending any neighborhood cats in heat fleeing. But the ultimate effect on the golems was exactly what I was looking for. As the minute finished the remaining near dozen or so collapsed into piles of dirt or clay, once more inanimate and posing no danger beyond merely tripping hazards. I let the sound drop at that instant so we could focus on the real target while Tera still had her pinned down.

Unfortunately as fast as Tera West was, a dragon is even faster. My audio attack had affected both combatants as well; dragons it seems have just as superior sensitive hearing as wolves. But as soon as the sound faded, the cloaked woman was able to shake off its effects faster than the wolf and with a burst of raw magical force flung the hybrid off of her and send the little woman cart wheeling into the sky. The three of us charged but she had no problem rising up off the ground; actually levitating to a standing position which I probably would have found cool under other circumstances.

She continued to float upward ten feet or more above the ground watching us close on her and then letting her eyes record Tera West's body come crashing back to the ground thanks to gravity upon some dumpsters. For the record if you are wondering, if you drop a wolf out of a window they do not always land on their feet.

"Fleeing already?" I taunted because I could sense that is what she intended to do. I could see that despite her lack of comparable power Tera had succeeded in landing some fairly significant blows. Blood did not appear to be flowing from the dragon but there were certainly tears in the cloaked woman's clothing and she did not seem nearly as steady and confident as she had been in the hallway minutes before when she was challenging us.

She stopped and smiled down at me and then each of the others, including Tera who was now staggered out of the dumpster and was limping back but obviously determined to attack again. "All the necessary pieces are not yet assembled. These will be required before we can have the final epic battle you seem to think is coming." She said as her eyes turned directly toward me in an obvious challenge. "Only through suffering will you get stronger. I think you will need to be stronger so I think it is time to make your suffering even greater. Let us see my dear what the future holds." She laughed and flew away before any of us could stop her.