Chapter VI: The Council Falls

-AN:

Heya fan-fic folks!

Sorry it's been so long since the last one of these. I'm experimenting with a new routine. Basically, I've now only got any decent time to write Thursday to Sunday, with a tiny bit on Tuesday evening, so update day is now Tuesday. It's also been brought to my attention that some of my summaries, uh, suck. So I'm rewriting those, too. Those'll be up sometime in the next month or so.

So, we finally get to meet one of my favourite characters in the series. Good 'ole Chandler, that dapper motherfucker. He's awesome, y'all. Also, this is kinda a big divergence from the book series… I know where I'm going with this though, so bear with me. I've got quite the ride planned.

Thanks for reading fan-fic-folks and, as always, please review.

MaxNeverMaxine: She certainly did. And well, you're gonna find that out now. Ish. Enjoy…

I sighed as we wandered up the path towards the massive slabs of rock that formed the doorway to the Edinburgh Headquarters. The 'Seat of the Council' was as pompous and ornament-gilded as you'd expect, but the outside only gave visitors a tiny idea of the decor inside.

A single grey-cloaked guard stood at the door. He was tall and lean, with cheekbones most models would kill for. The expensive suit fitted tightly against him. Something I definitely appreciated…

The black bowler sat on his head topped off the 'ensemble'. He also had an actual silver-headed cane, directly out of some old Victorian Novel. That cane was pointed at us as we came down the trail.

Dresden stepped forward and waved a hand. "Easy there, Steed."

He lowered the cane and smiled. It made him look a decade younger. "Hello there Harry." He bowed to me. "Ms Caulfield. How are you both?"

Dresden snorted. "Been a long night, Chandler. How about you?"

"I am freezing off my well-tailored ass," Chandler said cheerily, in an elegant Oxford accent. "But I endure, thanks to excellent breeding, a background in preparatory academies, and metric tons of British fortitude." He leant back on his cane. "So, what brings you to the 'Seat of the White Council'?

"We need to see the big bosses themselves." He thumbed back at Chloe. "We've got someone they need to see."

He nodded. "Ah. Top secret, I presume?"

Dresden shrugged apologetically. "You presume right, Steed. Sorry."

"Nonsense. It is only proper that secrets be kept on a need to know basis."

I frowned, looked at the solitary guard. "Wait. Um, aren't there supposed to be five of you watching the door?"

He put a hand to his chest and looked at me, hiding a smile. "Five of me guarding the door? Are you mad? The sheer power of the concentrated fashion sense would obliterate visitors on sight."

Chloe snorted as I laughed. "You gotta only use your powers for good?"

"Precisely, Ms Caulfield. Precisely." Chandler nodded. He straightened. "You know the rules, Harry."

Dresden faced Steed and straightened too, standing formally and putting a serious look on his face. "I seek entry to the Hidden Halls, O Warden. May we pass?"

He gave us a slow, regal nod. Chandler always did do the whole royalty thing really well. I actually thought he was royalty, but Dresden said that was just the Prep School talking. "Be welcome to the seat of the White Council. Enter in peace and depart in peace."

We bowed to him and walked in through the archway.

Chloe peered around the tunnels, grinning like a kid at the glowing crystals along the walls. There were these ancient doodles of old Council events along the walls that I had to stop her poking at more than once. They were mixed in with ancient wards that could repel a fucking demi-god. No way in hell I wanted Chloe poking at those. "Your bosses live in caves? Are they, like, mole-people?"

I smirked. "Nah. They're human. The council's been in Edinburgh for… 500 years?" I looked to Dresden. He shrugged. "A little under 490."

I rolled my eyes. "Close enough. We're right under the castle, too. There's all these tunnels under Edinburgh. They're all over the city."

Dresden nodded. "So stay close. You really don't want to get lost down here."

Chloe stayed quiet after that, just gawking at the slowly expanding tunnel. Every couple hundred yards there was a big metal gate flanked with two of the creepy Temple-Dog statues. Chloe nearly hit the ceiling when they moved. I'd have laughed if I wasn't so creeped out.

When we'd gotten past them, she leaned over and hissed "What the fuck were those things?"

"Magic sniffer dogs." I hissed back.

She blinked at me for a second before rolling her eyes. I guess she was getting used to all the shit. We went through every checkpoint until we hit the actual headquarters. Council Security was fucking ridiculous. Dresden stopped, pulled out a map and checked it.

He held up a hand and rotated the map. "This way."

He took two steps then paused.

He turned the map around. "Nope, this way." He swivelled and headed the opposite way.

I sighed. He stopped. He turned the map around again. "Nope, I was right the first time."

Chloe and I shared a look.

We headed into the Senior Council 'chambers'. Basically a fancy way of saying their place. It was like walking into Versailles. And I'd know, we got called in for an exorcism there a year ago. The place was fancy as fuck.

The white marble floor had little flecks of gold swirling about in the stone. The pillars running around the edge of the room matched the floor. They even had a fucking waterfall. It ran down the far wall into a little garden full of all sorts of plants and animals. There was a whole little ecosystem in here. The rest of the room was full of those expensive patio settings you see in Hotels.

There was a balcony running around the room like a second floor, connecting all the doors to the Council Member's private rooms. We walked straight the the main room (The Boss and I jokingly called it the Ostentatiary, because of how fucking over the top the decor was.) and up a set of stairs to one side of the waterfall garden.

Chloe's expression was fucking hilarious. She was such a fucking tourist. I elbowed her every time she stopped to gawk, getting a growl and a swipe every time. But, she kept up.

Dresden checked the map again and headed to one of the doors to our right. He opened the door and waved us in.

The room was packed full of even fuller bookshelves. I grinned when I saw the grizzled old guy sat in an armchair in the middle of the room. He looked up and his craggy face split into a grin when he saw us come in.

"Hey Hoss. Max."

"Hello, Sir." Dresden ambled in and sat in the only other armchair in the room opposite him. Me and Chloe kinda just stood off to the side.

Most of the Council had a sense of propriety they took way too fucking serious, always dressed to the nines in full ceremonial robes. Ebenezar McCoy… didn't.

Dresden's old mentor sat in his chair, decked out in an old pair of denim overalls and a flannel shirt paired with leather boots that were older than I was. He leaned back when Dresden sat down, peered over at all of us. "How are you, Hoss?"

Dresden looked back at me and Chloe. "Tired, sir."

The man's big, grey eyebrow twitched up. "Oh?"

So, the Boss told him the whole story. Dresden trusted McCoy completely, so he left nothing out. McCoy went from leaning back in his chair to all the way forward by the time the story ended.

"Well, Hoss. It's a mighty fine mess you've found yourself in this time, huh?" He grinned.

Dresden snorted. "That's pretty much par for the course by now, sir."

McCoy thought for a second. I could tell because the crags in his face got all bunched up. It made his face look like the surface of freaking Mars.

"I'll talk to the Merlin. If what you're saying is true," He held up a hand when Dresden tried to interrupt. "and I believe it is, then everyone needs to know."

He got up out of the armchair, calling out as he left. "Wait here. There's food in the other room."

Chloe grinned and looked at me. I rolled my eyes. "Wowzers... Come on, then." We headed into the other room for food.

Dresden, Chloe and I sat on a stone bench to one side of the stage, watching as the other members of the Council filed into the Auditorium. The Senior Council table was running down the middle and a similar stone bench sat on the other side. They were both empty.

Every one of the attending Wizards was in full formal robes. Dresden had tried to teach me what all the different colours and stoles and patterns meant, but he barely knew what half of it meant, so that meant I knew even less. Basically, I knew they were Wizards. That was about it.

As an Apprentice, I still had a plain brown robe. Chloe had smirked when I put it on. Bitch.

The Council had one serious ceremony-boner. When everyone had taken their seats, Luccio, the Warden Captain, had appeared. She was in full dress-armour and had a proper ceremonial staff. (Literally, it was just a staff with gold and jewels on it. Utterly useless in a fight, but great for boring and pompous ceremonies like this.) She walked in through the main door and proceeded to the stage.

She banged the staff three times on it and then the six members of the Senior Council entered, lead by the big boss himself, Arthur Langtry, our current Merlin.

I stifled a yawn.

Everyone was silent as the Senior Council took their seats. Luccio sat on the bench on the opposite side, joined by this little guy with a quill and a writing desk. I guess he took the minutes or something.

The Merlin stood up. "Esteemed Wizards of the Council." He began. He waved a hand to the right. "Brothers." He waved his other hand to the left. "Sisters." He took a breath. Damn, this guy had good delivery. He was like a proper old Shakespearean actor. He came off as kind of a douche at my trial, but it was hella cool to listen to him.

"We have brought you here today to hear the…"

thud.

What the fuck is that? A murmur ran through the assembled wizards. I picked up a few "What the fuck is that?"s from the other wizards. My Latin always was better than the Boss's.

Thud.

What the fuck is..? Shit. A cloud of inky black smoke had risen up from the stage, just in front of the Merlin. It coiled around into a cylinder, then faded with a pop to reveal a figure. Whoever they were, they were tall, lean and strong. They were also wearing a black hood, like the sorcerer in the warehouse.

They raised their arms and proclaimed, their voice echoing through the hall "The end is nigh!"

THUD.

There was this huge fucking roar and something big and bloody crashed through the huge doors of the Ostentatiary.

Then the lights went out and the room exploded into chaos.

Oh, fuck. Where the shit did the lights go? I flailed, grabbing for Max's hand. She wasn't there.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, oh fuck. I couldn't see shit, all I could hear was people screaming and yelling and there was something big roaring and slamming about by the door. I think something glass shattered, too.

I was hella fucking scared. Everything was happening at once and I have no fucking clue what to do. Where the fuck is Max? She's supposed to be here!

Something flashed over to my left. What the fuck was that? This old woman had her arms up, with little balls of light in each hand. I stared. I'd spent like, weeks reading up on this shit, but it was still hella awesome to see happening in person.

Well, until a black tentacle cloud lashed out at her and her hands just sort of… dissolved. I stared, open mouthed as she fucking screamed and fell over in front of me.

Ohshitohshitohshit…

I closed my eyes and tried to remember the room. Shit, I don't fucking know!

Ok, calm the fuck down, Price. You can do this. Deep breaths and all that shit. Ok, Price, think. I gotta…

Shit! Fucking asshole! Some fucker had run over me trying to get out. I rolled, trying to push the pain in my stomach away and clambered back to my feet.

I… I… I don't know. Dark is scary, especially when it's filled with monsters and guys who can burn a whole fucking city block down with a thought.

I look around the dark, focusing on the flashes of light, trying to see Max.

I finally spot her next to Dresden. They're fighting the huge thing that broke through the doors. I only get kinda brief looks at the fucker when they throw fire and lightening and shit at it, but I'm pretty sure it's a Rawhead. They're like these big monsters made of slaughtered animals. They sounded hella cool in the book… In person… they fucking stink.

I watched as they threw spell after spell at it, only for it to just shrug 'em off and keep coming. I couldn't do shit to help, so I just sorta stayed out of the way, hiding behind the bench.

I feel a hand clamp down on my shoulder. "Come with me, if you wish to survive."

I look up into the face of this old woman standing over me. She's got a long black robe with a hood and one of those purple scarf things. That means she's a Wizard, right? Right.

She holds out a hand. Her voice was quiet, but still weirdly fucking loud in my head. All the shit that was going on around us and I could still hear her clearly. Probably magic. It's weird how used to that shit I'm getting. "Come with me if you wish to survive."

Ok, not quite the quote, but still. This is hella cool! But fuck no, I'm not leaving without Max.

I yell back at her through the noise, waving off at Max and Dresden. "No, go get Max!"

She growled. "Max? She is unnecessary, a distraction."

"I'm not going anywhere without her, ok? She stays, I stay." I glared up at the old woman. All I could see was her mouth and the bottom of her nose. Everything above that was covered by this weird black hood.

Her mouth did this weird creasing thing, like she'd just bit into a lemon. "Very well. Stay here."

I watched as she turned and strode into the battle, like a freaking rock against a tide. It was hella cool. Something small and grey with claws jumped on her, but she just raised a hand and it burst into fucking dust!

That was the last thing I saw before I blacked out again.

Fuck.