Page 19 (1/2)

Chapter Forty-five

The naagloshii walked over to , as its inhu bestial back toward so almost human It probably made it easier to talk

"That was hardly pathetic at all," it ifted you with the life fire, little mortal?"

"Doubt you know him," I responded It was an effort to speak, but I was used to orous demands of life as a reflexive smart-ass "He&039;d have taken you out"

The skinwalker&039;s s that you could call forth the very fires of creation-and yet have no faith hich to employ theet sick of sadistic twits like you"

It tilted its head It dragged its claws idly across the stone, sharpening the on a hook," I said "It gets you off And once I&039; things out with a conversation"

"Are you so eager to leave life, loshii purred

"If the alternative is hanging around here with you, I sure as hell am," I replied "Get it over with or buzz off"

Its claws ht on fire It hurt too ht side of ether

"As you wish," the naagloshii said It leaned closer "But let ht, little spirit caller You think you&039;ve won a victory by taking the phage frobehind You don&039;t have words for the things I did to hi Mad with hunger And I san," it purred "I was considering throwing the phage inside with her before you so kindly saved me the bother Meditate upon that on your way to eternity"

Even through the pain and the fear, my stomach twisted into frozen knots

Oh, God

Molly

I couldn&039;t see out ofbut pain I turned ht so thatover ers, tipped with bloodied black claitching in as an almost sexual anticipation

I didn&039;t know if anyone had ever thrown a death curse backed by soulfire I didn&039;t know if using ration would o once they&039;re finished here I just knew that noto hurt for rin off the skinwalker&039;s face before I went

I wasn&039;t sure how defiant you could look with a one-eyed stare, but I did my best, even as I prepared the blast that would burn the life from my body as I unleashed it

Then there was a blur of light, and soloshii&039;s back It tensed and let out a snarl of surprise, whirling away froht Its back, I saw, bore a long and shalloound, straight across its hunched shoulders, as narrow and fine as if cut by a scalpel

Or a box knife

Toot-toot whirled about in midair, a bloodied utility knife clutched in one hand like a spear He lifted a tiny true, the notes of a cavalry charge in high-pitched miniature "Avaunt, villain!" he cried in a shrill, strident tone Then he darted at the skinwalker again

The naagloshii roared and swept out a claw, but Toot evaded the blow and laid a nine-inch-long slice up the skinwalker&039;s arm

It whirled on the tiny faerie in a sudden fury, its for foreli-but uard was always a hairsbreadth ahead

"Toot!" I called, as loudly as I was able "Get out of there!"

The naagloshii spat out an acidic-sounding curse as Toot avoided its claws again, and slapped a hand at the air itself, hissing out words in an alien tongue The wind rose in a sudden, spiteful little gale, and it hammered Toot&039;s tiny body from the air He crashed into a patch of blackberry bushes at the edge of the clearing, and the sphere of light around him winked out with a dreadfully sudden finality

The naagloshii turned, kicking dirt back toward the fallen faerie with its hind legs Then it stalked towardthat there was nothing I could do

At least I&039;d gotten Tholoshii&039;s yellow eyes burned with hate as it closed the distance and lifted its claws

"Hey," said a quiet voice "Ugly"

I turned and stared across the s at the same time the skinwalker did

I don&039;t kno Injun Joeof attackers and to the summit of the hill, but he had He stood there in moccasins, jeans, and a buckskin shirt decorated with bone beads and bits of turquoise His long silver hair hung in its custolealoshii faced the

The hilltop was completely silent and still

Then Listens-to-Wind smiled He hunkered down and rubbed his hands in sohtly covered the rocky summit of the hill He cupped his hands, raised theh his nose, breathing in the scent of the earth Then he rubbed his hands slowly together, the gesture so to undertake heavy routine labor

He rose to his feet again, and said, calmly, "Mother says you have no place here"

The naagloshii bared its fangs Its growl prowled around the hilltop like a beast unto itself

Lightning flashed overhead with no accolare down on the skinwalker Listens-to-Wind turned his face up to the skies and cocked his head slightly "Father says you are ugly," he reported He narrowed his eyes and straightened his shoulders, facing the naagloshii squarely as thunder rolled over the island, lending a ive you this chance Leave Now"

The skinwalker snarled "Old spirit caller The failed guardian of a dead people I do not fear you"

"Maybe you should," Listens-to-Wind said "The boy almost took you, and he doesn&039;t even know the Din¨¦, one Last chance"

The naagloshii let out a warbling growl as its body changed, thickening, growing physically thicker,"You are not a holyWay You have no power over me"

"Don&039;t plan to bind or banish you, old ghost," Injun Joe said "Just gonna kick your ass up between your ears" He clenched his hands into fists and said, "Let&039;s go"

The skinwalker let out a howl and hurled its ar into dozens and dozens of shadowy serpents that slithered through the night air in a writhing cloud, darting toward Listens-to-Wind The medicine man didn&039;t flinch He lifted his ar, high-pitched fashion of the native tribes The rain, which had vanished alain in an almost solid sheet of water that fell onswar before it could becoain at the naagloshii "That the best you got?"

The naagloshii snarledpoith both arms Balls of fire like the one I had seen at Château Raith were followed by crackling spheres of blue sparks and wobbling green spheres of what looked like Jell-O and smelled like sulfuric acid It was an i toward Listens-to-Wind, conjured froloshii pulled out all the stops, hurling enough raer at the small, weathered medicine man to scour the hilltop clean to the bedrock

I have no idea how the old ain he sang, and this ti his old body forward and back again, the e but just as obviously part of a dance He earing a band of bells on his ankles, and another on each wrist, and they jingled in ti at him seemed unable to find a mark Fire flashed by him as his feet shuffled and his body swayed without sovanished a few feet in front of him, and resumed their course a few feet beyond hi the space between Globes of acid wobbled in flight and splattered over the earth, sizzling and sending up clouds of choking vapors, but not actually doing hi to ainst power, the failure of the inco sorcery to harm Listens-to-Wind seemed like part of the natural order, as if the world was a place in which such a thing was perfectly norloshii hurled agony and death in a futile effort to overco forward, closing the distance between them, until it stood less than twenty feet frolittered with a terrible joy, and with a roar it hurled itself physically upon the old man

My heart leapt into ht not have come down on my side in this matter, but he had helped me more than once in the past, and was one of the feizards to hold Ebenezar McCoy&039;s respect He was a decent et hurt in ht the look on his face as the naagloshii pounced

Injun Joe was sloshii ca into a wolflikeclaws on all four of its lie the old le word, his voice shaking the air with power, and then his for as fluidly as if he&039;d been made of liquid mercury that until that moment had only been held in the shape of an old man by an effort of will His for different, as naturally and swiftly as taking a deep breath

When the naagloshii came down, it didn&039;t sink its claws into a leathery old wizard

Instead, it found itself muzzle to muzzle with a brown bear the size of aroar and surged forward, overwhelloshii with raw mass and muscle power If you&039;ve ever seen a furious beast like that in action, you know that it isn&039;t so that can be done justice in any kind of description The volue of is and glaring red-rireater than the su upon some ancient instinctual core inside every hus equal terror and death

The naagloshii screamed, a weird and alien shriek, and raked furiously at the bear, but it had outsantly sharp claws, perfect for eviscerating soft-skinned humans, simply did not have the h the bear&039;s thick pelt and the hide beneath, h layers of fat and heavy ht as well have strapped plastic coood its claws did it

The bear seized the skinwalker&039;s skull in its vast jaws, and for a second, it looked like the fight was over Then the naagloshii blurred, and where a vaguely simian creature had been an instant before, there was only a tiny flash of urine yellow fur, a long, lean creature like a ferret with oversized jaws It wiggled free of the huge bear and evaded two slaps of its giant paws, letting out a defiant,snarl as it slid free

But Injun Joe wasn&039;t done yet, either The bear lifted itself into a ponderous leap, and caain as a coyote, lean and swift, that raced after the ferret ni ferret-which suddenly turned, jaws opening wide, and then wider, and wider, until an alligator coated in sparse tufts of yellow fur turned tocanine, which found itself too close to turn aside

The canine forator&039;s ed raven swept into the jaws and out the far side as they snapped shut The raven turned its head and let outaround the clearing

The alligator shuddered all over, and becaolden and swift, its head marked by tufts of yellowish fur that alloshii&039;s ears had in its near-human for behind a veil as it flew

I heard the raven&039;s wings beat overhead as it circled cautiously, looking for its enemy-and then was struck from behind by the falcon&039;s claws I watched in horror as the hooked beak descended to rip at the captured raven-andturtle A leathery head twisted and jaws that could cut through loshii-falcon&039;s leg, and it let out another alien shriek of pain as the tent pluether

But in the last few feet, the turtle shi squirrel, lito a roll as it hit the ground The falcon wasn&039;t so skilled It began to change into so else, but struck the stony earth heavily before it could finish resolving into a new form

The squirrel whirled, bounded, and beca on the stunned, confused s and claws tore, and black blood stained the ground to the sound of loshii coalesced into an eerie shape, four legs and batlike wings, with eyes and , in half a dozen different voices, and it rip and go flapping and tuered wildly and began to leap clu It looked like an albatross without enough headwind, and the mountain lion was hard on its heels the whole way, claws lashing out to tear and rake

The naagloshii disappeared into the darkness, its howls drifting up in its wake as it fled It continued to screa, as it rushed down the slope toward the lake Demonreach followed its departure with a surly sense of satisfaction, and I couldn&039;t say that I blamed it

The skinwalker fled the island Its howls drifted on the night wind for a tione

The loshii had fled for long , shivered, and becaround, supporting himself with both hands He stood up slowly, and a bit stiffly, and one of his arht be broken midway betrist and elbow He continued to look after his routed opponent, then snorted once and turned to walk carefully over to me

"Wow," I told hihtly For a moment, pride and power shone in his dark eyes Then he s old ain "You claimed this place as a sanctuht"

He looked at h in et into trouble by halves, do you, son?"

"Apparently not," I slurred I spat blood from my mouth There was a lot of that, at thejust because the naagloshii was gone

Injun Joe knelt down beside me and examined ," he assured ," I said "I&039;m tapped I can&039;t even walk"

"All you need is your mind," he said "There are trees around the battle below Trees that are under strain Can you feel them?"

He&039;d barely said the words when I felt theh my link to the island&039;s spirit There were fourteen trees, in fact, most of them old s near the water Their branches were bowed down, sagging beneath enormous burdens

"Yeah," I said My voice sounded distant to me, and full of detached calm

"The island can be s in them," Injun Joe said "If it withdraws the water from the earth beneath those trees for a time"

"So?" I said "How am I supposed to-"

I broke off in midsentence as I felt Demonreach respond It seemed to seize upon Injun Joe&039;s words, but then I understood that nothing of the sort had happened Demonreach had understood Injun Joe only because it had understood the thoughts that those words created in ant and cumbersome and alien to the island&039;s spirit that it could never have truly happened But rasp

I could all but feel the soil shifting, settling slightly, as the island withdrew the water in the ground beneath those trees It had the predictable side effect that I realized Injun Joe had been going for Once the ground around the trees&039; roots had becoan to leach water froh the saht it in It flowed in fro the structures behind it dry

And brittle

Tree branches began to break with enor cracks A lot of branches broke, dozens, all within a few seconds, and it was like listening to packs of firecrackers going off There was a sudden cacophony of thunder and gunfire that rose up froht that threw bizarre shadows against the clouds overhead

I tried to focus on e in energy being released below, the increased flow of strange blood into the ground beneath the affected trees-blood that they drank thirstily, in their sudden drought conditions The Wardens wereahead of theht, swift stride of predators on the trail of wounded prey Strange things were dying in the trees, aunfire

A light rose over the island, a bright silver star that hung in the air for a long moment, like a flare

Once he saw that, Injun Joe&039;s shoulders sagged a little, and he let out a slow, relieved breath "Good Good, that&039;s done for them" He shook his head and looked at me "You&039;re a mess, boy Do you have any supplies here?"

I tried to sit up and couldn&039;t "The cottage," I blurted "Molly Thomas-the vauardian had bought ht and started pushing my way to my feet "Toot"

"Easy," Listens-to-Wind said "Easy, easy, son You can&039;t just-"

The rest of what he had to say was drowned out by a vast roaring noise, and everything, allany noise at all insidehurt

I had ti this

Then nothing

Chapter Forty-six

I heard voices speaking soht and swollen I could feel war wood A fire popped and crackled The ground beneath

" really no point to doing anything but waiting," Ebenezar said "Sure, they&039;re under a roof, but it&039;s leaking And if nothing else,should take care of it"

"Ai ya," Ancient Mai h"

"Not without risk," Ebenezar said in a reasonable tone "Morgan isn&039;t going anywhere What&039;s the har for the shield to fall?"

"I do not care for this place," Ancient Mai replied "Its feng shui is unpleasant And if the child was no warlock, she would have lowered the shield by now"

"No!" came Molly&039;s voice It sounded weirdly ated pipe and a kazoo "I&039; the shield until Harry says it&039;s okay" After a brief pause she added, "Uh, besides I&039; to one of the Wardens said, "Maybe we could tunnel beneath it"

I exhaled slowly, licked my cracked lips, and said, "Don&039;t bother It&039;s a sphere"

"Oh!" Molly said "Oh, thank God! Harry!"

I sat up slowly, and before I hadme "Easy, son," he said "Easy You&039;ve lost soot a knot on your head that would knock off a hat"

I felt really dizzy while he said that, but I stayed up He passed me a canteen and I drank, slowly and carefully, one s at a tilanced around e I sat on the floor near the fireplace Ebenezar sat on the hearth in front of the fireplace, his old wooden staff leaned up against one shoulder Ancient Mai stood on the opposite side of the cottage froan lay on the bedroll where I&039;d left hied on the floor beside hi the quartz crystal in both hands It shiht that illuhly than the fire did, and a perfectly circular do tent enclosed both Morgan and y

"Hey," I said to Molly

"Hey," she said back

"I guess it worked, huh?"

Her eyes widened "You didn&039;t know if it would?"

"The design was sound," I said "I&039;d just never had the chance to field-test it"

"Oh," Molly said "Urunted Then I looked up at Ebenezar "Sir"

"Hoss," he said "Glad you could join us"

"We waste time," Ancient Mai said She looked at me and said, "Tell your apprentice to drop the shield at once"

"In a minute"

Her eyes narrowed, and the Wardens beside her looked a little nored her and asked Molly, "Where&039;s Thomas?"

"With his family," said a calm voice

I looked overin the doorway, a slender shape wrapped in one of the blankets from a bunk on the Water Beetle She looked as pale and lovely as ever, though her hair had been burned down close to her scalp Without it to fraauntness to her features, and her grey eyes seeer and more distinct "Don&039;t worry, Dresden Your cat&039;s-paill live to becare of hi in her face that would tellelse about Thomas It wasn&039;t there She just watched me coolly

"There, vampire," Ancient Mai said politely "You have seen him and spoken to him What follows is Council business"

Lara s before I go, Harry Do you mind if I borrow the blanket?"

"What if I do?" I asked

She let it slip off of one pale shoulder "I&039;d give it back, of course"

The ie of the swollen, bruised, burned creature that had kissed Madeline Raith as it pulled out her entrails returned to hts, vividly

"Keep it," I told her

She s teeth, and bowed her head Then she turned and left I idly followed her progress down to the shore, where she walked out onto the floating dock and was gone

I looked at Ebenezar "What happened?"

He grunted "Whoever caate about a hundred yards back in the trees," he said "And he brought about a hundred big old shaggy spiders with him"

I blinked, and frowned "Spiders?"

Ebenezar nodded "Not conjured for, from Faerie,the trees while the others kept us busy, trying to trap us in"

"Didn&039;t want us getting behind theate," Listens-to-Wind said

"Didn&039;t want anyone to see who it was, more likely," I said "That was our perp That was the killer"

"Maybe," Ebenezar said quietly, nodding "As soon as those trees and the webbing ca the spiders back He ran And once he was gone, the spiders scattered, too"

"Dammit," I said quietly

"That&039;s what all this was about," Ebenezar said "There was no informant, no testimony"

I nodded "I told you that to draw the real killer out To force him to act And he did You saith your own eyes That should be proof enough that Morgan is innocent"

Ancient Mai shook her head "The only thing that proves is that so to hide It doesn&039;t an couldn&039;t have killed LaFortier At best, it suggests that he did not act alone"

Ebenezar gave her a steady look Then he said, "So there is a conspiracy nohat you&039;re saying? What was that you were saying earlier about sied her shoulders "Dresden&039;s theory is, adhed "It is, however, insufficient to the situation"

Ebenezar scowled "So?"

Mai turned her eyes back to him and held steady "That is precisely correct It is plausible that Morgan was involved The hard evidence universally suggests that he is guilty And the White Council will not shoeakness in the face of this act We cannot afford to allow LaFortier&039;s death to pass without retribution"

"Retribution," Ebenezar said "Not justice"

"Justice is not what keeps the various powers in this world fro their ith humanity," Ancient Mai responded "Fear does that Power does that They must know that if they strike us, there will be deadly consequences I am aware how reprehensible an act it would be to sentence an innocent man to death-and one who has repeatedly de of the Council, to boot But on the whole, it is less destructive and less irresponsible than allowing our enemies to perceive weakness"

Ebenezar put his elbows on his knees and looked at his hands He shook his head once, and then said nothing