Chapter XX: The Merlin


AN:

Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!

Coming to the end now. Definitely only one more chapter. The third story now that's gonna finish on Chapter 21. Not remotely intended, it just seems to work out like that.

Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.


We entered into a scene from Lord of the fucking Rings. Great armies stood at the foot of a mountain, throwing fire and spells and arrows at the largest barrier I'd ever seen. The barrier stretched high and curled over a simple log cabin. If it hadn't been surrounded by monsters, it'd've been a perfectly pleasant, post-card-worthy image. Or given the shield, a snow-globe.

Ebenezar quickly took charge. "Ready up! Councillors, focus hard on shields, we need to push through 'em as quick as we can." He turned to me, the Wardens, and Caoimhe. "You three are on offense - anything tries to stop us, kick its ass."

I shrugged and pulled out my wands.

I don't remember much of what happened next. Just pushing and casting and emotions rocketing through my head like fireworks.

I think I killed a lot of things.

As we finally neared the shield, a small hole appeared in it. We scurried through and it sealed behind us. We were in!

We turned to the cabin, and saw a figure standing in the open porch, holding a cup of tea. Even at this distance, his white robes and cold, blue eyes revealed his identity. Arthur Langtry, the Merlin. He nodded a polite greeting at all of us, like we'd met out on the village green, before taking another drink from his teacup. Even his ridiculous, Gandalfian beard was perfectly groomed.

Something in me rebelled at the image. Like, what the fuck. What the actual fuck. He's sat, drinking tea, holding up a shield that's stopping literal hundreds of creatures with magic and weapons from tearing him apart.

Ebenezar lead the way, striding up the stairs with the ease of someone who lived in the 'great outdoors'. (Why did they call it that? Nothing great about it, I say). He walked over and stood next to the Merlin. "Arthur."

"Councillor McCoy." Those cultured British tones were as cold as his eyes. "It's been a while." He looked out over the others, and I know he'd clocked that Cristos wasn't with us. There was a moment of quiet, before- "I'm glad to see you're all alive."

"Glad to be alive." Caoimhe chirped.

One elegant eyebrow raised. "Indeed." He turned his attention back to Ebenezar. "Well, we'd better move this inside. We have much to plan if we're to retake Edinburgh and destroy these impudent creatures."

"You know we want to retake Edinburgh?" I blurted, promptly clapping my hand over my mouth and mentally cursing my complete lack of deference to authority. Fuck the man and all, but I wanted to know what was going on first. Luccio glared at me, probably thinking the same.

"I had assumed as much, yes." The Merlin responded. He frowned lightly at me. "It is the only course of action we can take."

"But... how do you know we weren't, like, planning to go underground or something? Run away and let them have the win?"

Damn my motor-mouth. Again.

The Merlin pondered for a moment, actually giving my blurted question some genuine thought, then spoke, "This is the nature of organisations, Apprentice Caulfield. Inexorably, they fall and they falter, whether through their own efforts or those of others. They then must either rise to the occasion or find themselves a footnote in the annals of history." He smiled at me, a curled and dry thing like a twig before a towering inferno. I could see the flame behind those cold, cold eyes. "I do not wish us to be a footnote, do you?"

"No sir."

You did not get to be the Merlin by collecting bottlecaps.

With that, he nodded and guided us inside to plan. Well. The Councillors did the planning, but I brought the tea!

We spent a few hours going through plans and ideas, trying to work out exactly how we'd retake the seat of the White Council's power. The Edinburgh Sanctuary was literally designed to repel attacks and even with the most powerful wizards on the planet, it was a risk. They got to something they were satisfied with, and then the Merlin stood. "Excellent. We'll need to tidy up in here and ensure we're leaving nothing for those outside to use, and then we shall be off."

We skittered about the place, following his instructions to collect various bits and bobs and store them away for transport. Once it was done, he met us back on the doorstep and we headed out into the fray.

With the Merlin's help, we made it back out through the army. He held the shields himself, while the rest of us were on offence. Honestly, it was a walk in the park. We made it to the Way without a single problem.


We stepped back through the Way, into the heavy, marshy Nevernever forest. Standing in the path was a familiar, cracked form. Denisek grinned, that smile a horrifying splinter across his already warped face. He raised his sword. "Found you." He crooned.

The Merlin frowned at him and raised a hand, encasing the man in a perfect, glowing sphere of energy. The cracked man snarled and tried to swipe, though the lack of friction inside the sphere caused Denisek to slip and spin wildly. I blinked. In a moment, the Merlin had neutralised someone that had nearly killed us. Fucking hell.

For a moment. Then Denisek suddenly froze, and shattered. The pieces of him rapidly melted into an odd, sickly-looking liquid that oozed through the bottom of the sphere and down onto the ground, where he reformed into himself again. Even faster than last time.

Fuck.

His face firmed into a determined scowl and he raised his sword. There was a moment's pause before the entire remaining Senior Council began throwing spells at him. The shadows crawled from the cracks across his body, dozens of inky-black tendrils catching and diverting and blocking any of them from reaching him as he charged forward.

A moment before his blade would've bisected Ancient Mai, Caoimhe stepped forward and caught the hook of his blade with hers, wrenching it to the side. She pressed the attack, swiping in low at his belly - he took it with a laugh, another scar in his ruined skin was nothing.

His attention locked onto Caoimhe and he stepped towards her, slamming his sword onto hers with a feral savagery and that same splintered smile. Again and again, sending a ringing echoing out into the forest like fucking Church bells. Someone threw a beam of sickly-green light at his back, but it vanished the moment it passed through one of those shadowed tendrils.

Caoimhe had it right. Magic wasn't the right approach here. Or at least, offensive magic wasn't. As the last two wardens stepped forward, their own swords raised, and the last of the White Council, their various magical accoutrement held loosely at their sides, tried desperately to strike at this cracked, slippery hunter, I took a second to think.

I took my wands and began to focus on weaving an illusion. And it was weaving, of a sort, tying reality and fiction together to make a picture that fit. An illusion was far finer work than reality - reality had an innate believability of its own, but I had to make sure every bit of my facsimile was perfect. Set the scene, use the framing. Light and composition and interaction.

With the final word, I swiped my wand and within the trees, gnarled wooden masks poked out. I didn't enter Denisek's mind - I didn't want to, I got the feeling he was warped more than just on the outside - I just lightly grazed it, a faint touch along the smooth vertice of an edge.

And then I made the mask scream.

"FAILURE"

Denisek flinched back, getting another scrape from Caoimhe for his trouble. His eyes landed on one of my masks and I pushed that scream again. His panic and confusion was visible across his face. It was an almost childlike terror - tiny form facing up at the oncoming storm.

It was enough - all three Sword-wielders struck at once, swords sinking into that fractured meat. But as the blades pulled free, the wounds began to knit closed again. "Get him out of here!" I shouted to- hell, anyone. They were all more powerful than me, they should be able to-

Oh, my. That was impressive. I watched idly as the breeze around Denisek suddenly picked up, picked him up, and hurled him off into the distance. It half reminded me of the one and only Baseball game I'd been to - the bowler had thrown the ball so fast I could barely see it.

I looked back across the others and- wow. One guy had done all that? We made it through an army with less injuries! Every one of the Senior Council looked bruised and hurt and just... not in good shape. Not that we'd really been anything close since the first attack, but somehow this was worse.

The Merlin suddenly looked up as Liberty cocked her head, clearly listening to something distant. They had some hurried conversation of eyebrows and silences before he barked "We need to keep moving."

We kept moving.


We all gathered in the War Room. Every living councillor, Luccio and Ellis, me and Chloe and Weatherwax, and Caoimhe. The usual map table was covered with a map of the Hidden Halls at Edinburgh.

Dog, the place was even bigger than I'd thought. If that was full of those creatures, how in the fuck were we gonna do anything about it? Suddenly, the day's fatigue landed on me heavily. This was going to be...

I sighed.

Come on, Max. Optimistic thoughts. We talked about this, damnit.

The Merlin leaned in, his long form somehow seeming natural in front of the map spread out at the table. One finger extended out and tapped gently on a marked ramp that headed to nothing. "This is our objective. We must reach the deeper zone to activate the Hidden Halls full defences. That will give us the numbers we need to fully secure the Halls."

The others all nodding hinted at some Senior Council Secret that I didn't know, but... shit, I was too tired for it. I just sat and listened as the man spoke of tactics and strategy, scouts and guards, infiltration and attack, and other martial words I honestly forgot.

Basically, we were gonna kick in the front door, push through the halls, and secure the ramp down to the super-secret-defences area. Not much to it, really. Honestly, it was kind of a Dresden Plan. I liked it.

"-And tomorrow, we will take back our home. We will restore order and peace to the magical world." The Merlin wrapped up his rambling and turned to the room. "I would recommend you rest as much as you can and prepare what we've discussed."


Chloe came over and plonked herself down next to me at a booth in the main room of the Mill. The place was almost abandoned, one passed-out... thing in the corner the only customer besides our lot. The Council was holding council by the fire - or just old people trying to find some warmth, I guess. Fucked if I knew.

When I didn't respond, she elbowed me in the side. Hard. "Maxie? You alive in there?"

I grunted.

She laughed and settled in next to me. "That bad, huh?"

"No, I just..." I trailed off. How the fuck to even start? I don't think I was even sure what I was feeling, much less how to put it into words.

"Not feeling good about the plan? I thought it seemed pretty good. For a bunch of old assholes, these council peeps kinda seem to know what they're doing."

"A ringing endorsement indeed." We both jumped as Weatherwax appeared by our table. "I'm sure they'll be most satisfied to have your approval, Chloe."

Chloe snorted. "I'm pretty sure most of them don't even know my name."

"Quite possible. They do have slightly bigger concerns at the moment."

Chloe was definitely preparing for a prolonged bantering session - I could see the spark of it in her eyes - so I butted in. "Was there something you wanted, Weatherwax?"

"Merely to check on you. We're coming to the close now, I wanted to see how you were feeling about it."

Damn it.

"I have no idea. It's big, I know that. But-" I sighed. "I just don't know."

"Understandable. As you said, this will be another big change to all our lives. You lost someone you were close to in the last one and have been disconnected from your family since. It isn't the most steady place to be."

"No." My eyes drifted back down to the table and I slumped, feeling somehow worse than before.

"Look at me, Max."

"What?"

"Look at me."

Something in her tone makes me obey and I look up into the shadows of her hood. She began to speak with an intensity I hadn't seen from her before, each word indelibly imprinted upon my mind with a passionate force and roiling intensity that screamed that this was a truth I should listen well to.

So, I listened.

"The world will try to force causality. To make the great chain of events continue ploughing forward through any and all opposition. But we humans have a gift that no other species does. Every other entity adapts to the environment or dies. We Humans are the only ones to change it. We will the world to be as we would make it. If you only heed one lesson of mine, heed this: You are human and you have the right and the power to change the world. To damn its' continuity and make what you will. If you are feeling unsure of where the world is taking you, if you rail and anger against that current which drags us all down and along, fight. Fight long and hard and exert all the will you can and you can find a better path."

I just stared.

Weatherwax's lips quirked beneath the hood. "I will leave you to consider my thoughts, Max." She stood to leave, turning back as a thought occurs. "Oh, and do try to get some sleep. The will thing works better after a full night of rest."

And then she left.

Chloe stared as she went, all the way until Weatherwax disappeared into the rooms upstairs. Then she turned back to me. There was something in her eyes that unnerved me - I think maybe she understood Weatherwax's message better than I had. "That was weird."

"Yep."

"We should, uh, get some rest."

"Yep."

"You're not gonna get much rest either, are you?"

"Nope."

"Shit."


Well. Fuck. That's a cheery sight. Ahead stood the tree that marked the turn-off to the Hidden Halls. It had a pentacle carved into it, but across the star was now a bloody handprint nearly a foot from pinky to thumb. Despite the blood being cold, it was still dripping down the bark, casting deep stains.

We took the turn and headed up the path - the normal creepy was dialed up to eleven, those whispering voices just at the edge of hearing now fully audible, demanding and begging you to come find them in the branches, to put yourself within their reach.

None of us took them up on their oh-so-kind offer.

In the clearing stood the familiar dark stone entryway to the Hidden Halls, though no Warden stood guard as they had in the times of the Council. Oddly, no-one else stood guard either.

"Is anyone else worried that-"

"That there's no visible guard, so they may be watching all around us?" Luccio finished.

Not... quite what I was going for, but close enough. "Yeah."

"Yes." The Merlin spoke. "I am quite worried."

His voice was calm and cultured and measured as ever. Cool as a cucumber sipping Bond's martini. Still, he gestured us forward and strode through the dark stone doors and into the Hidden Halls of Edinburgh. The long stair descended ahead.

Walking down into the Council halls had always been a daunting experience. I think they designed it that way - trying to intimidate and impose. To impart that vision of strength and power and solidified authority that they'd always tried to maintain. And failed dismally, of course.

The cold, still air and near-silent halls set our footsteps echoing wildly. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Needless to say, I was getting closer and closer to freaking the fuck out. Even with some of Ancient's Mai's animated guardians heading forward as an early warning system. I could feel the others around me, due to how they moved the air. For all the council were ancient, they moved with a flowing, confident grace. Staffs and staves and wands and accoutrements aplenty, raised and ready. Eyes scanning the area for any sign, any indication of occupation. Or attack.

The main hall at the base of the stairs was empty. It was- no!

A half dozen malformed suits of armour strode out of nowhere and took up weapons against us. Each were of the same set - a dark and rust-reddish metal of mismatched plates and cruel, jagged spines. Though it all bulged and bent as the slimy, bloated flesh beneath it pushed against the metal failing to keep it contained to a humanoid form.

Their helms were thin and sweeping, with three horizontal lines across the faceplate like clawed scars. Behind them was still nothing but that twitching mass of slimy flesh.

It... honestly, they looked like slugs, crammed into suits of armour.

They raised their weapons - a motley collection of swords, polearms, axes, and other stuff that wouldn't look out of place in a medieval levy. I could see Ebenezar snort and idly raise his staff to blast them, when one suddenly blinked out of place and landed next to him, swinging its' axe down at his spine. He whirled and jammed his staff up against its throat, letting off the spell he'd intended for distance - the thing exploded and sent him flying back into a wall where he landed with a painful crack and oof.

Again, the Senior Council burst into motion. The Wardens and Caoimhe, blades out, spread forward and charged in. The others fanned out and began throwing spells of various colours and forms.

The slugs met the charge with their own weapons, the clash of steel and iron echoing through the silent hall. While the Wardens and Caoimhe fought with training and skill, the slugs fought with ferocity and force. Even the staunch Commander Luccio shook under their heavy blows.

As the slugs pounded our companions like hammers on anvils, the Elder Council threw fire and acid and all manner of energy at the creatures. They took each and every blow and soon enough that rusted armour was covered in burns and frost and fuck knows what. Honestly, the 'fight' was starting to get slightly ridiculous. Just clangs and spell-sounds as each side thwacked away at each other, doing almost no fucking damage.

It wasn't until one of the slugs slid on its own slime and landed at just the right spot for Ellis' blade to get under its guard and into its flesh that things got... nasty.

As the creature fell, it- it was like acid. The flesh inside just melted away into a slick slop that dripped out onto the ground and sat, stagnating in seconds. In a few moments, the creature was gone and only the rusted armour remained - and even that was slowly flaking away, rusting at a far faster rate than nature would allow.

And the other creatures doubled their ferocity. Luccio broke the guard of another, slipping through its strikes only to find it vanish and reappear behind her, its heavy axe coming down on her shoulder with a meaty thwack.

She rolled with the blow even as she hissed with the pain, whirling out of the creature's reach. It took a step forward and flickered to pursue, only to fall itself as Ellis appeared behind it and stabbed through a chink in the armour. It didn't get any easier to watch the creature melt away.

One of the creatures seemed shocked by its companion's demise and turned to run, heading straight at Ancient Mai with its spear clutched in heavy gauntlets. It flickered every few feet, jumping a meter before taking another few steps. This one Ebenezar took care of, launching a dark and vibrating spell at it that suddenly compressed the armour inwards. The creature popped.

As the goop hit Ancient Mai, she grunted in pain. Dog, that sounds- She wafted a hand and cleaned it off. Her skin was pinkish below the spots it had hit her. Gleh.

The slugs began to blink more and more, but it wasn't too long before the Senior Council caught and killed them. The last slug finally fell, to Ebenezar's spell. As it started to quiver, Luccio yelled out an order. "Grab it, before it melts!"

Liberty twisted her hand and muttered a word and the slug-soldier froze in place, halfway to puddle. Ebenezar took hold of the creature and pulled it towards him, turning the face-plate up to look into it. "Where is everyone?"

It glubbed at him.

With a sigh, Ebenezar focused on the creature for a moment and then gestured, a quick, cutting vertical swipe. The creature quivered for a second, then bisected. And trisected. And quad-sected. And whatever the hell comes after that. All the sluggy cubes dropped out of the air into a neat little pile on the floor.

What in the actual fuck.

We all stand for a few short moments, dealing with the gross situation we just found ourselves in. Eventually, Ancient Mai speaks up. "What now?

I could see them all pondering. We'd had a plan, but it had not taken into account any of... this. Things were not what they seemed and not how we'd thought. The plan would have to change.

Weatherwax's lips curled beneath her hood - it was a cruel smile, but seemed directed at this place. I could understand that. Her voice slithered out and she chimed up for the first time since we'd arrived. "It may behoove us to find what they wanted from this attack. If they have abandoned this place, they would have taken something with them. The gap they left may tell us much about their intention."

I looked to Ebenezar. Then the Merlin. I kinda forgot he was in charge for a moment there. The man thought it over and then nodded. "Whatever they came for, it was something they did not have to remain here to utilise. Perhaps the Archives? There are many tomes and artifacts there that they may have wished to obtain."

Tomes...

"Maybe your journals, Ebenezar? You did say Merlin himself had written in them, maybe there's a secret of some kind in them." I frowned, looked over at Langtry. "The original, not you, Sir." He gave me an almost amused look, before nodding. "Is there anything else?"

The others pitched in with suggestions of this artifact or that valuable thing - and fucking hell did the Council have a lot of crap lying around - and everything was taken down in the mind of the Merlin. When we'd run out of ideas, he nodded. "We shall start with your journals, Ebenezar. They are closest to the Council Hall, which may make a good staging ground for further action." He strode off almost immediately after.

We shrugged and followed him.


The pomp and pointlessness of the Ostentationary was still just as imposingly decadent as ever. The White Council definitely needed a good redesign, maybe throw in one of those fancy fountain things they always had in posh offices. Then again, some of these people hadn't redesigned since the Aztec Empire was a thing, so that may have been a longshot.

We headed in and fanned out, poking into all the nooks and crannies and generally trying to check out the room for anyone else. Nothing.

The Merlin took command once again. "Ebenezar, take Luccio, Liberty, and Listens-to-Wind and locate your journals and the other artifacts upstairs. We will secure this area."

As the others headed off to the upper landing, the Merlin turned back to the rest of us. "Let's get started. I want circles of protection at each of the main entrances, and alert wards out to a range of twenty feet for each corridor. I will hold the main tether and set-up some protection wards from here."

The rest of us (Chloe with me, the rest in two groups at the other entrances) went to each of the three entrances to set up some circles. As Chloe watched the door, I started drawing on the ground. Graffiti-ing the majestic marble floor was oddly satisfying.

"So, what are you doing?" Chloe asked.

"Protection spells. The circle," I gestured down to the thing. "-lets me hold together more power than just casting would, which makes the protection stronger. And I'm about to-" I stepped into the circle and sealed it with a bit of blood and willpower. "-direct that power into-" I muttered a word of Latin-ish gibberish and threw power down the corridor. Little threads of light - sort of visible but only if you looked at it right - tied off on random bits of frippery and decorative crap in the corridor, the other ends sitting in my circle. "-the right form." I finished.

I stepped out of the circle. "See the tethers? That's the alert ward. It'll let us know if anyone gets close. It does make the protection a bit vulnerable, but it's worth the extra time." As I stepped out, a beam of light shone out from the centre and back towards the Merlin and his warding work.

"Cool." She nodded. "And what about the, uh, 'main tether'? What's that do?"

"I... honestly have no idea. The Merlin is the ward expert, I only know a few basic things. Dresden, he, never really did the 'fort up and protect stuff' side of things. He was more of a 'charge in and kick ass' kind of guy."

Chloe chuckled. "He'd definitely be proud of you then. Shit, the amount of places you've just charged into since this thing started is hella ridiculous."

I blushed down to the tips of my freaking toes. "We, um, should probably, um, check in. See if anyone needs anything." I quickly turned back to the room and ran the hell away from my emotions again. They're not the boss of me. Can't be the boss if I don't acknowledge their authority. No representation without taxation, or whatever. Is that how it goes?

I shook my head. Not the time, Max. Check in. The plan may be fucked, but keep to the goals. "Uh, sir? Merlin? Langt-" I stepped close enough to see the Merlin was frozen.

Weatherwax's hood was down, allowing me to see her face for the first time. And wasn't that a thought - this entire time, I'd never quite realised that I'd not seen it. She had two long, ice-coloured scars across her misty-grey eyes, both putting a nock in her eyebrows and dividing up her sharp cheekbones. Weirdest thing was, I swear she looked familiar. Long blonde hair flecked with grey furled out like she was the baddie in a fucking anime - I swear the stuff almost looked alive.

Oh, and she had her hand through the Merlin's chest, a pulsating bulge on the back of his robe hinting at what she'd done to his heart.

Her lips were quirked into a crooked grin and her eyes were gleaming with triumph. No, not triumph. Resolution. Like she'd been waiting for a moment for so very long and it had finally turned up. That bulge in the back of the Merlin's robe suddenly popped like a lanced boil, and the spot soaked through with red. Weatherwax pulled back and let the corpse of the most powerful Wizard alive drop to the floor.

Ellis shot forward, sword raised to strike, and was immediately cut down by his own sword as Weatherwax clenched her fist, took control of his hand, and raised the sword to cut his own throat. Two of Ancient Mai's stone creatures were hot on his heels, exploding into powder as Ellis' spellbreaking Warden sword slashed through them. His corpse whirled to face us, dead eyes behind broken glasses.

From behind me, Chloe suddenly blurted- "What the fuck?"

Weatherwax looked at her - almost sadly..? - and then wafted a hand at her, muttering dark and plosive sounds that made my head hurt to hear. A tentacle of shadow reached out from the dark and wrapped around her, yanking her hard against the wall. Her head hit hard and she just... slumped.

"Chloe!" I screamed, knowing it was pointless but unable to stop myself. Wowzers. This is fucked. This is totally, utterly fucked.

I whirled back to Weatherwax, her old face split between regret and a slowly building determination. "Why?" I demanded of her. "Why would you do this?"

She took a deep breath in and let it out slow. Then another sharp breath in - her face flickered. Not like a light, more like... a flickerbook. A kineograph. A million faces, masks, expressions, all imposed over Weatherwax and all there and gone in the briefest flash.

I was left with the feeling of ancient secrets and things that should not be seen.

She rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck and when it went back to her face, only determination remained. "You wouldn't understand, Max. And I'm no teacher."

My shouts had apparently drawn the others, as Ebenezar, Luccio, Liberty, and Listens-to-Wind all appeared at the railing of the balcony above. None of them bothered to speak, to state what we all knew was going to happen next. Their faces simply hardened as they descended the stairs - and ran straight into the Merlin's protection ward.

Luccio raised her spell-breaking blade and thrust into the ward - it bounced off and the energy flashed a wicked, bloody red. As she swung again, Ellis' animated corpse strode shakily towards Ancient Mai. The woman pointed at him and several of her creatures charged.

I looked to Caoimhe, who was watching everything go down with the dispassionate amusement of the fae. "We need to hit her now! You with me?"

She shook her head and drew her swords. "Sorry Cara. Bad form to kill your employer, y'know." And then she advanced on me. It was a languid, predatory walk - she believed she had me. Lucky for me, that meant it was quite slow and gave me just enough time to throw up a blinding light and hurl a table at her.

Telekinesis was a bitch.

She leapt up into a spin, curling her arms into herself as she tucked and rolled over the table. It crashed into the wall, shattering some of the ever-sparkling gilt.

Caoimhe landed in a crouch, then looked up and grinned. Just in time for my second shot to hit her in the face. Skin and bone tore, leaving the gaping chasm of her mouth open to the air. She spat out teeth - though does it still count as spitting out if they just fall out of the hole where your cheek used to be?

Either way, I threw another table at her, forcing her further back across the room. She managed to keep her feet, swinging her swords and slicing apart the various pieces of crap and detritus I hurled. Still couldn't push back, but I was burning too much energy too fast. I'd have to take a breather soon.

I heard a scream from off behind me and then I felt the air part next to me. I dodged to the right just a second before Ellis' sword cut past me and hit the floor with a clang.

I whirled back - Ancient Mai was on the ground, unmoving, and Ellis and Caoimhe were both now facing me, swords raised. Weatherwax was doing something - a low chant of building power - and the remainder of the Senior Council were still trying to contend with the Merlin's ward.

I'd been paying attention to the wrong thing too long as another sword came at me - this one hit, cutting a long gash across my nose and cheek that burned across my skin. I hissed out a swearword and flinched back in time to avoid the other blade following it.

The corpse and the fairy pushed me back, swinging with undead force and unnatural grace. It was everything I could do to not get cut again. Almost on instinct, I suddenly lifted one of my wands to parry - wood and steel hit and wood lost.

I hurled the remains at Caoimhe's torn face and the thing jammed into her like a chopstick stuck on a retainer band. Her distraction was enough for me to get some distance and, with the other wand, I took a moment to focus. Weatherwax's many-masks thing had been pretty cool, but I had a trick of my own.

My form vanished and a dozen of me suddenly ran in different directions, hurling fire and frost and magical stuff of every colour on the spectrum at Caoimhe and Ellis.

Caoimhe suddenly whirled at the nearest me and charged, sword dancing through the area. The illusory me joined the duet with reflexes far better than mine and dodged and weaved through the Sidhe's fast and powerful strikes. Left, right, left-

Ellis kept moving forward towards me until something pulled taut in his head and dragged him off to another of my illusions. It was almost nauseating, seeing someone who'd almost been a friend like... that.

I had to act fast, before I burned myself out. Or let the illusion overstay too long. Eventually they'd notice. So, I focused in and pushed my will into the magic further, sending my illusions dancing outwards towards the pond at one end of the room. Ellis lurched after them and Caoimhe stalked afterwards - both of them leaving their backs open to me.

I twisted my wand and spoke a word and my illusory copies burst into a burning light. Quick now, Max. I brought in more energy - my bones screamed under the strain of the sudden onset exhaustion - and hurled thoughts of death and disablement and finality in a wave that struck them both.

Ellis dropped like a puppet - strings cut. Caoimhe went painfully. The Fae never did go easily.

I left the bodies where they fell. Another thing to add to the list, Max.

Weatherwax was still in the same spot and was still in that same spot. The only part of her that was moving was her mouth, twisting and turning in odd syllables of semi-tones and half-sounds. The barrier was flashing a now fleshy-red, giving me brief glances at the Council still sealed behind it. They seemed to be trying a coordinated approach. It wasn't going to work. The Merlin is- was the best warder on the planet.

Either way, I had a traitor to fuck with.

I fell back on a classic - warped wooden masks peered out at us through the cracks in reality, a disconcerting atonal sound humming low in the background. I didn't touch her mind either - If Denisek's mind had been a no, Weatherwax's was a fuck no. But I added in the faint whispers: doubts, anxieties, worries clawing at the edge of her self.

None of them landed. Not one worries, not one shitty little question. Fuck. She was the bad kind of psycho-villain - the ones who were quiet and serious about whatever villainy thing they were doing. She believed. And belief made magic.

Weatherwax's face flickered again, that million-version of images super-imposed, melting, and juxtaposed together. Her own face finally settled on that old wooden mask - though hers had holes in the eyes. "If you're trying to scare me, you would be better served avoiding my own image."

I felt Chloe step up beside me, her trademark scowl and 'rebel without a cause' stare facing directly at Weatherwax. "I could say the same to you, asshole. Chose the wrong face to fuck with me - I saw through your shitty little illusion in a second."

Weatherwax... hesitated? Why would she- her hands suddenly started twisting in intricate shapes as she spoke another unnatural phrase. A bolt of energy, moving like liquid lightning, spat out from her hands and slammed into us.

I was expecting- it was... what? I, um. Oh god, why do I feel? Did that spell seriously just get me drunk?

I tried to throw a spell back, but my shaky balance and wobbly arms sent it wide. Weatherwax observed me with a detached amusement, but somehow the magic-booze gave me a clearer perception than I had before. Underneath the mask, she was spooked. This moment she'd been waiting for hadn't gone how it was supposed to.

Which was only appropriate. I was Dresden's apprentice. If there was one thing I knew how to do, it was fuck up a plan. My soul was built to be a wrench in the works.

I tried again, this time the force of my gestures completely knocking me to the ground. I rolled over in time to see Chloe hit the ground too. She was nimbler than me - or at least more used to this feeling - and rolled with her fall and back up onto her feet. I took a breath and scrambled back to mine, joining her in facing Weatherwax.

Chloe leaned down and scooped up one of Caoimhe's swords, holding it with the odd looseness of the truly pissed. "Shall we get her, Maxie? And her stupid fake face?"

Her what?

Weatherwax simply wafted a hand and the sword was wrenched from Chloe's grasp and buried up to the hilt in one of the walls. Right through a painting too - ooh, that's gonna be expensive.

She looked back at us both - I tore my gaze from hers before a soulgaze could start, but I got a flash of endless dark and glittering lights. At my flinch, she hurled another spell that burst into motes of light that zoned in on us like heat-seeking missiles. Before we could move, she turned and strode straight through a wall. The light motes exploded harmlessly around us.

Guess that worked out for her. Shit.

Chloe swayed gently next to me, then leaned in and gave me a bony nudge to the side. "Hey Max, Max!" When I looked at her, she gave me an exaggerated wink and- "Looks like she had to go catch a train!" She burst into drunken laughter.

I was glad she was happy, but I didn't get it at all.

I took a moment to try and focus through the haze. Doing magic like this was- bad. Bad idea, Max. Oh dog. My head! I sagged down to the floor, clutching at my temples. I closed my eyes and settled in to wait. No point trying anything now.

A while later - not sure how long - the spell finally wore off. It was like a heavy wet blanket had been over my brain and suddenly got whipped off. Gave me one hell of a headache, but at least I could think. I slowly eased up to my feet to find Chloe in a similar position of recovery.

I stumbled over to the barrier and leant up against one of the bannisters, staring up the stairs at the last of the Senior Council. They all looked back at me in open concern - Liberty tried to speak, but no noise came through the barrier. "Uh, hi? Can you hear me?"

They soundlessly gestured to their ears. I took it as a no. Shit.

Wait, was this new? I could've sworn they could hear us before. Come on Max, think it through. Oh fuck. Weatherwax must still be controlling it somehow. The Merlin was dead, so maybe he'd tethered it to something she's- Oh. I poked at the ward and it flashed that bloody red - the red of tendons and meat. His heart. She'd taken it. That had to be for a reason, right? Maybe it controlled the barrier that kept the council trapped in their quarters?

Made sense, right? She wanted to keep them out of the way while she did... whatever it was she was down there to do.

I pulled up some magic and went looking for some paper. I found a stack in one of the side tables and waved it up. Nothing to write with though. Ebenezar nodded in understanding and simply conjured a stack of his own.

I took a breath and cast my message onto the paper. "I need to go after her. She's got the Merlin's Heart - if I destroy it or take it from her, I can get this barrier down."

Ebenezar read it and his eyes widened. Luccio just facepalmed.

I quickly waved him down before he could interrupt and cast another message. "If Luccio's spellbreaker sword thing won't work, there's nothing you can do quickly that'll help. I'm pretty sure the heart is the key and-"

Damn paper. I held it up and quickly cast a follow-up. "-even if it isn't, we need to see what Weatherwax is doing as soon as we can. It might be time sensitive enough that we can't afford to wait."

Ebenezar scowled - almost picture perfect for how Dresden used to do it - and put in his message. "Fine. But stay out of it unless you absolutely have to. You're a scout only unless there's an emergency. Got it?"

The next paper was almost empty. "Got it."

I gave the last remnants of the senior council my best responsible nod and turned back to go. I walked right up to where Weatherwax had disappeared and stared at the spot. I didn't want to use the sight, but I could definitely sense something there. "Right. Chloe? You coming?"

Chloe didn't hesitate as she stepped up to stand beside me, just a step away from the wall. "Once more unto the breach, eh Maxie?"

"Shakespeare, Chloe? I didn't think you had it in you." I grinned at her. If I was going into hell, best to do it with a friend.

She laughed, something joyful in it despite our shitty as fuck situation. "Fuck you Maxie. Lets do this thing."

And we stepped through the wall.