40Chapter Nineteen
With what seemed like the spring back in his step, Dresden hauled both of the bags out of the cabin. "Where's the big gun?" he asked.
I rubbed the shoulder I'd landed on. "Uh... I dropped it."
"Damn" he muttered.
"What's Plan B?"
"You think I've got a Plan B?" Dresden asked.
I shrugged. "Wouldn't be here if I didn't believe you did."
He grinned wolfishly. "Damn straight" he replied, reaching into the bag. He pulled out what looked like a simple wooden cane and held it out to me. I gripped the end and suddenly felt a rush of raw power. I pulled the thing to me and a sword, glowing bright with blinding blue light, came free of it's scabbard. I looked back up to him. "Fidelacchius," he said. "Amoracchius's brother. For my friend who keeps the faith."
"Oh, yeah." I pulled the blade completely free. It sang in my hand, and I could feel the power running through it like an electric current. It was a katana. I was decent with katanas. "This'll work" I said. "You got a plan for getting me close enough to use it?"
Dresden handed me the scabbard, which I fixed into a loop of my belt, opened up the other bag, producing a long rectangular rug. It looked rough; like it was hand-woven. The browns, reds, and blacks were old and worn, and it had a sort of Middle-Eastern design to it. He laid it out flat and sat down on it, crossing his legs. "Get on" he said.
I grinned. "You're kidding" I said, stepping on to the middle of the rug. I heard him mutter something in Arabic, and felt gravity get a little less lawful. I took a balanced stance as my feet sank just slightly into the rug that no longer had a boat beneath it, leaning slightly toward Dresden's weight. "You made a magic carpet?!" I half-screamed, grinning in the wind.
"Heck no! I ordered this thing from a guy in Bangladesh. I never could get one to work."
"Well let's hope the second time's the charm! We don't have time for a third!"
"Amen!"
With Dresden at the proverbial reigns, we flew across the lake on that magic carpet, closing in on the dragon. Dresden must have been getting a feel for it, because it felt like we were picking up speed as we went. Lightning flashed from the storm front, lighting our way. We followed along the wall of storms toward the Dragon as it tried to break through.. As we came up alongside it, I leaped off the carpet into the air, sword in-hand. Thankfully the Dragon hadn't noticed, and jerked in surprise as I landed on it's thorny back. "Miss me?" I said, slashing at it's wings. It roared in pain as the sword seemed to sear it's flesh.
"Insolent flea!" It bellowed. I held on to one of the ridges on it's back with my right hand as it flew backward, trying to shake me off. I kept swinging at the closest wing, trying to maim it and bring the sucker down. It flipped on to it's back, and nearly tossed me off, but I managed to get the sword turned around in my hand, and stabbed straight through the tough hide, holding on by the protruding handle. It screeched and roared as it twisted and rolled around in the air. I heard Dresden fly by on the carpet, and felt a sudden surge of force that leveled the Dragon out. I took the opportunity to climb it's ridges a bit closer to the neck, and start slashing again.
That's when I felt the spiky tail come up and give me a good lash across the back. I held on to the sword, but my stone hand slipped from the ridge, and I started to fall. Dresden suddenly swooped in, letting me grab the back end of the carpet. I managed to haul myself back on, but now the Dragon was on our tail. "Swing around!" I said, getting to my feet and holding the sword steady. "I always wanted to joust a Dragon."
"And you call me the basket-case!" he said, even as he turned in the air, sending us careening back toward the beast. It's mouth opened wide, and I could see bright fire building in it's throat. Just before we collided, I yelled "Down!" Dresden altered our course to just under the thing, and I ran the edge of the sword up and through it's underbelly, releasing a streak of blue-white flame as it cut into the thing like a light-saber.
As we passed by and wheeled around, I saw the Dragon falter in the sky, wings flapping weakly as it roared in pain. I'd gotten the hang of the carpet. It handled kind of like a carnival go-kart. "ENOUGH!" Came it's low, grinding voice echoing across the lake. It turned back toward us, and seemed to swell. Through the gash Watermelon had left, I could see red and white fire building up in it's body.
"Oh, crap! Dresden?" he called.
"I see it!" I replied. "Fasten your seat-belt!"
"DIIIIE!" the Dragon bellowed as it spewed a torrent of flame across the lake, filling the space between us in an instant. I whipped the carpet into going straight up. The lake below us was soon bathed in fire, and the Dragon quickly turned to follow us up.
"You got a plan?!" he yelled over the howling wind. We flew passed the glowing orb that was the two Faerie Queens, into the clouds above.
"Yeah!" I said. "Stay out of the line of fire!" I hazarded a look back, but couldn't see the Dragon. I pushed the carpet to fly faster, trying to get through the clouds as quickly as we could. But as we finally breached the top of the clouds and looked off into the darkness of space, something washed over me. A feeling of dread. I turned, and there on the horizon, were the first rays of sunlight. It's a pretty good deterrent of all things nasty, but that's mainly because dawn is about new beginnings. It's about cleansing the night of all the spells and magics that had come before it. In this case rug enchantments and energy boosts.
I felt the magic wither, both from the carpet and from me, receding back to the buckle. I had to shield my now sensitive eyes from the blinding light, so I didn't see the Dragon coming up from beneath us. I heard Watermelon yell my name vaguely before I felt a wave of heat and a sudden force on my back. I fell. And as I looked up, I saw the big guy on the burning carpet pull something out of the back of his trench coat. I couldn't hear too well now, so I couldn't tell what he said as he threw it down to me. I recognized the shine, and somehow managed to grab the thing by it's handle. Amoracchius.
As it touched my hand, I felt a calm, warming glow inside me. I thought about Michael, my friend who had trusted me so many times. I thought about Molly, my apprentice. I thought about Will and Georgia. I thought about Susan. And I thought about Karrin. Even with my eyes closed, I could see the sword's blue glow.
I opened my eyes and turned over in the sky, seeing the shadow of the Dragon coming toward me, all fire, smoke and fangs. I took the sword in both hands for a downward strike and screamed "Go back to the shadow!" with what little air I had.
The collision knocked the air out of me, but I felt and heard the impact I wanted. Amoracchius had plunged good and deep into the Dragon's throat, and black smoke began issuing from the hole. The Dragon's wings went limp, and I felt the pair of us falling. Falling. We fell back through the cloud cover, passed the glowing forms of Mab and Titania. The Dragon struggled, me sitting on his chest as we plummeted back down to the lake. It tried snapping at me, around the sword. So I grabbed the hilt and pushed it even deeper. The Dragon paused to roar in pain one more time. The last time.
I raised my right hand, power-saving ring ready, and yelled "Forzare!" as I swung downward. All the kinetic energy in the ring combined with my spell in a magical explosion of force, centered on the hilt of Amoracchius. I heard steel cut and grind against bone, and the Dragon went silent and limp in the wind. And with every last bit of energy gone from my body, I too passed out.
he Dragon had shot a fireball up at us and damn-near roasted the carpet. My coat got pretty scorched, too. Didn't think Dresden would be able to take it, so I'd pushed him out of the way.
I guess there was still a little magic left in that rug, though. I managed to steer the thing down and grab Dresden in the air, and level us out so that we skipped across the water twice before we crashed. I pulled him in tight to me so that I took all the impact. Managed to pull us to the surface just in time for the Dragon to hit the water, causing a huge waving. I rode it as best I could, swimming toward the Water Beetle. Thankfully, it wasn't too far away. It was only slightly charred when I hefted Dresden over the side and on to the deck.
My hand went down and found Fidelacchius still in it's scabbard where I'd put it on our way up. I looked back at the Dragon. Amoracchius was probably lodged it it somewhere. I through my sword on to the deck with Dresden and, with probably more aching muscles than I'd had in a long while, swam back out to the Dragon.
Mister Carpenter and I'd had a talk while Dresden was in the backyard. While I'd never been in love, Dresden had. He'd loved, lost, and kept on loving. The way Mr. Carpenter put it, anyway. Dresden loved Chicago. He loved his friends. And despite what he'd said, he loved this whole big stupid world, no matter how many times it had almost gotten him killed. I thought about that as I swam down to the sinking Dragon. I managed to follow the trail of blood right to the sword, lodged deep in it's neck. The eyes weren't glowing anymore. I wrenched the sword out of the Dragon's neck, and waited. When it didn't come back to life, I swam back to the boat and heaved myself in, ready for a nap.
But that was too much to hope for. By now, the sun had come up. The massive storm created by the two faerie Queens being in the same place had already gone. Snow was coming down again, though lightly. And in the distance I heard a heavy sound. I sat up and looked out. Helicopter. Great. With some effort, I managed to stand up. I waved my big hand back and forth, letting whoever-it-was know we were there. Although, who else could it have been?
As the chopper came in for a landing, I recognized Cole at the controls. "Need a lift?" he called.
I shook my head. "Nope. Could use a tow, though!" He shot me a thumbs-up. "And hey! I called. He held up a hand to show he was listening. "Get a call out to Sergeant Karrin Murphy. She'll want to know we're coming." He gave me another thumbs-up and hovered the chopper just above the boat. He dropped down a heavy steel cable, which I hooked up to the bow. Soon enough, we were making headway across the lake, and back to Chicago.
Sergeant Murphy met us back at the pier, and graciously helped me steer the damn boat back into place. She didn't bother asking any questions. I helped her haul Harry and Mister Brady back to her car, where a skinny guy with dark frizzy hair was waiting. He cringed at my presence, but didn't say anything. I made sure Murphy had all of Dresden's things; the staff, wand-thing (she insisted it was his 'blasting rod'), both of the swords, and the two bags. The carpet didn't make it, and I admitted to losing the grenade launcher. I told her to bill the Bureau, and gave her an action code to file it under. Abe and Liz would take care of it. I left her a piece of paper with Harry Middleton's number on it, and left.
As for me, I was ready for that mattress in London. I looked at the clock as Cole flew me back to the base. It was almost nine in the morning now. I'd been up for... a long damn time. And I wasn't about to get any sleep on the plane. Cole offered to ship me off on a supply freighter with my own storage box. I politely declined. I used the phone on the Bureau's jet to call up Harry Middleton. "Hello" he answered. God, I missed the sound of his voice. Shaky, yet soothing.
"Harry it's me, Hellboy. Go ahead and start up a game of poker." It would probably take me eight or nine hours to get there. Just in time for their usual tea break.
"You got it, sonny" he said. "You fight the good fight over there?"
I looked out the window toward the Windy City. "Yeah" I replied. "And for once, I'm not the only one."
I woke up in my bed, covered in my warm, heavy blankets. I curled into them, hoping to go back to my dream. But instead of s'mores and snowballs, I remembered balls of fire and leathery wings. I snapped up in my bed, awakening every single sore muscle I'd gathered in the past twenty-four hours. "Now, now" I muttered. "Don't everyone scream at once."I reached back and rubbed my shoulder, thinking over things as I remembered them.
I remembered the carpet. Flying way up to avoid the fire. I saw the sun, and I guess I fell off the carpet. Then he threw me Amoracchius. Where the heck had that come from? It wasn't in the bag with Murphy's big... Murphy's big gun. I slumped back down to the bed. Watermelon said he'd lost the big gun in the lake. Crap. I made a mental note of that for later. I stabbed the Dragon, and... That was it. I thought back a bit further. Titiania had named the Dragon. What was it?
Suddenly a giant ball of gray fur plummeted into my lap, making me sit up on reflex and causing all my muscles to scream again. It was just Mister, my bob-tailed tomcat. I hadn't seen him all day. He must have ambled home while I was away. He stood there regally on my lap, awaiting his ceremonial scratch behind the ears. I obliged him and gave him a quick hug. Sometimes I thought of Mister as my rock. I'd found him, injured when he was just a kitten. He'd recovered, and turned into a great big ambling machine, and he knew it. Mister was real. And I understood him perfectly. He was the only thing I'd ever looked at with my Sight, and seen exactly the same thing. No vapors, no horns or extra eyes; just my cat.
I felt Mister begin to shake and heard his low, growling hiss grow in his mouth. I followed his eyes to the dark corner of my bedroom. "At last, you awaken" came the malk's voice. Mab, in the same garb she'd worn the night before, stepped out into the light. "You did well on the lake. I wanted to be certain my future knight was being properly taken care of."
"I've told you where you can stick that mantle" I said, scratching Mister's belly. He and Grimalkin seemed to be having a staring contest. Mab didn't reply to the quip, so I went on the offensive. "What happened?"
"You slew Invernax, and the demon brought you back to Chicago. The policewoman brought you home. She has stepped out for the moment."
"Invernax?" I said. "This Dragon had a name? Like Ferrovax?"
Mab closed her eyes, and issued a screeching chuckle. "By no means, child. Were Invernax even a fraction of Mr. Ferro, he would not have needed poor Martin Brady, and this world would have perished hours ago."
I cringed at the thought. "So... this wasn't a capital-D Dragon, then?"
Mab shook her head. "No. Mr. Ferro and Siriothrax, who had been slain by your former friend Knight, are amongst the oldest Dragons. They are creatures of the universe. Invernax was but a wyrm, born just before the dawn of man. Like you, he was set upon by darkness, knowing little of the price of power." I scowled at the comparison, still petting Mister. "However," Mab continued, "unlike you, he allowed it to twist and change him. And this world lost a would-be guardian. It was one of my first acts as the Queen of Winter to imprison him, hoping he would recover with time, rather than allow Titania to destroy him and likely this entire area with him."
"So that's why you're so hard-up for me" I said. "You've got a fetish for childhood trauma."
Mab's eyes slitted, and a smiled pulled at one side of her mouth. "I have since refined my methods. Though it is so much easier, and more valuable, when I need not temper the steel myself."
"What about Brady?" I asked.
Mab looked thoughtful. "Oh yes, Invernax's poor host. He is alive. I believe the policewoman took him to an emergency room."
I laid back down, somewhat elated. "Good."
"Indeed. Your bargain was upheld, and you will be paid for your deeds."
I sat up again, this time using the pillows on my back. "And that's why you'll never get me, Mab. Because it's not about the money. It's about the people."
Mab issued another screechy laugh. "My dear wizard. That is exactly how I will get you."
Suddenly I heard my siege door scrape across the floor. "Harry?" It was Murphy.
"Get out" I said under my breath. Mab's eyes slitted, and she stepped backward into the shadows once again. I waited for Mister to stop growling before I assumed she'd left. Murphy came in with a warm washcloth. "Hey Mister" she said, giving the true lord of the house a quick scratch behind the ears. Content, Mister leaped off the bed and out into the living room. Murphy put her hand to my forehead, pushing me fully back on to the bed.
"What's the prognosis?" I asked cheerily.
Murphy took her hand away and sighed. "Congratulations, you're an asshole." She lightly slapped me across the face with a warm wet washrag. I held the thing to my head with a smile. "I had Butters take a look at you, as per usual."
"Anything special?" I asked.
"You had all the symptoms of a concussion, your right arm was popped out of it's socket, and your back looked like one of my punching bags after a bad weekend. Butters said to wear this" she handed me a sling for my arm, and I groaned. "And you're on bedrest for three days. That means no spells, no detective work, and no teaching."
I rigged the stupid sling over my shoulders and slipped my arm into it, covering my eyes with the other hand. "Bet Grasshopper was happy to hear that" I said. "How's she doing?"
"Better than you. She'll be out of bed by tomorrow." Murphy stepped out of the room and returned with a white paper bag, and my telephone with the long cord. She cleared off the random junk from my bedside table with my Mickey Mouse clock on it, and set both down there. She reached into the bag and plopped what I knew to be a Whopper with cheese into my lap. "Here's your food, and here's your phone" she said, pulling her own box of fries out of the bag and sitting beside me on the bed.
"He said you used Amoracchius. Michael's old sword."
I nodded. "Yeah, I did." I felt a little ping of pride in me as I said it, and took a nice big bite out of my burger.
She ate a few of her fries. "Guess all you needed was a little confidence."
"And a lot of desperation" I coughed through the burger. "You know how this stuff works, Murph. It may have worked for me this time. But if you don't believe you're a knight, then you're not." I swallowed. "And I'm definitely not."
"Pfft. Whatever" she said, scarfing down the rest of the fries. She stepped out of the room and headed down the hall toward the door. "I'll be back in a few hours. And by the way, Hellboy left a number for you to call when you woke up."
I stopped eating my Whopper, mid-bite. "Who?"
"The big guy" she said. "You never asked his name?" I sat there, silent and full of meat product. I hadn't. But I didn't want Murphy to know that. "Seeya, Harry" she said, grinding the steel door closed.
"Hellboy... Hellboy... Where do I...?" Suddenly it hit me, and I dropped my burger. I threw back the covers and staggered to my feet, dragging myself toward the trap door. "Bob?" I called as I threw open the trap door to my lab. It was a lot heavier when I was supposed to be on bedrest. "Bob!" I called again. "Where are those comic books?!"