Dave raced from the den and into the show room. The distance wasn't great; no more than a five minute walk on a normal day. When running it was something closer to two minutes. However, to Dave it was closer to hours. The hall seemed infinitely long to him, and it was with great dread that he finally reached the front room.

When he'd left her Becky had been looking at some antique hatpins. Now she had been smashed into that case. Glass shards were littered all around her. There was a nasty gash at her forehead and she lay on the floor, unconscious. He could see that there was a bloody mark on the bodice of her dress as well. Becky's breathing was labored and shallow.

Across from her he saw Drake, pressed up against the glass of the door. He looked shocked and somewhat frightened. Next to him was Horvath. With a look of puzzlement on his face Horvath was blowing flames off of his fingertips. Then he looked up and saw Dave. He gave another one of his crocodile smiles.

"I did wonder what would happen," he said, "Are you just like the rest of us now, or will that take some time?"

Dave formed a plasma bolt and sent it for Horvath. Horvath sidestepped it and sent a fire ball at him. He managed to form a vacuum spell that caught most of it. The blow back from the spell sent him crashing into a nearby wall though. Books clattered down around him. Ignoring the dizziness in his head he scrambled upwards, but fell. He was too unbalanced. He'd barely managed to get to his feet when Balthazar charged in.

Horvath spotted him and one of the swords from the wall came detached. It made a swing for Balthazar which he managed to dodge. Balthazar broke off the horn of what looked like a unicorn and blocked the next stroke. Dave shook his head once to clear it as the swordfight continued.

When he finally managed to get into control he took in the situation. Balthazar could take care of himself and seemed to be handling Horvath. Becky was still down and a puddle of blood was growing around her. Yet, Dave was far from her. In between him and her were two Morganians. Drake was slowly getting to his feet and didn't seem to be doing anything. However, he might soon change his mind about that.

Feeling furious he rushed at Drake and tackled him. His former tormentor seemed surprised and went down. Dave punched him across the jaw, a purely physical reaction.

"Dammit, she had nothing to do with this!" Dave yelled.

"I didn't-" started Drake, flailing trying to get his bearings.

Whatever he had to say for himself was cut off with a punch. However, the shock of Dave's attack only lasted so long. Drake was bigger than him after all. Soon he succeeded in pushing Dave to the floor and getting to his feet. Once again Dave had picked a fight with someone bigger than him. It was like high school all over again.

He pushed himself up and then spread his fingers out in a popping motion. Drake was thrown backwards, forcing the door open, and throwing Drake out into the street. He made his way over to Becky and ripped the sleeve of his jacket. He'd planned on using it as a bandage, but now that he was closer he could see that her rib was broken. Applying too much pressure would only make it worse so instead he settled for staunching the blood flow.

Behind him Balthazar managed to trap the sword Horvath was controlling in a wooden shield. He had thrown that to the floor and was now trying to force Horvath towards an antique mirror which rippled every time someone came near. Dave didn't recognize the spell, but Horvath seemed to.

"A Hungarian mirror trap Balthazar?" asked Horvath, "I haven't seen one of these in years."

He turned the hold so it was Balthazar whose face hovered inches above the glass. Dave started to wonder if perhaps his master needed help.

"What can I say?" he shrugged, "I'm old fashioned."

Shoving Horvath away they both stumbled. Dave did another popping motion with his hand that pushed Horvath forwards. He fell into the mirror. Its surface ripped before solidifying.

"Thanks," Balthazar said.

Picking up the mirror with both hands he went to the door. Balthazar kicked it open with his foot and the mirror out into the street. It shattered loudly.

"Won't keep him down forever, more's the pity," grimaced Balthazar.

"Balthazar," Dave said, "Becky-"

"I know," he said, shutting the door.

With a wave of his hands a blue light shimmered over the door. Then he walked over and knelt by her.

"Just making sure they can't get back in," said Balthazar, "Mistake on my part."

He sniffed the air.

"Horvath used fire," he said, "Loves that stuff. Only she isn't burned; just got the blow back from the spell. This could have been much worse. Wonder if she has some sort of protection."

"Yeah, never mind," said Dave impatiently, "She's bleeding."

"I've noticed Dave," Balthazar said, "Move the cloth."

Dave did so. Balthazar looked at the wound and grimaced.

"Definitely a broken rib," he said, "Judging by the way she's breathing I think it might have punctured a lung as well."

"We need to call 911," said Dave, "I'll get a phone or-"

"They'll ask questions," he said, "Questions like; what was she doing in the shop? How did she break her rib? Were either of you there at the time? Bad questions Dave, bad questions."

Balthazar's words were grim, but his face was undefeated. As long as he didn't seem defeated then Dave knew they had a chance.

"We've got magic. Healing magic is obscure and difficult, hard to do on others and impossible to do on oneself," Balthazar said, "I can make it so that the injury's not life threatening. I was never the best of us at this."

A grimace crossed his face. At any other time Dave might have picked up on the veiled subtext of his words, but this time he just shook his head.

"Don't care. I don't know how to do this Balthazar," he said, "You have to help her. If you can then you need to. I can't…"

Balthazar stared at him for a minute, and then sighed.

"Alright, but it's not going to be pretty."