I reappear in downtown Chicago with a loud crack. My breath is momentarily stolen as the sense of magic floods me. Chicago is virtually blanketed in it. It's an oily, slimy feel. Black Magic. I shudder, and wrap my cloak around me tighter before briskly walking towards the pub. I open the door, and descend down the stairs slightly bending to avoid scraping the top of my head on the low ceiling. Luccio and the others are already gone, I must have missed them.

McAnally's is an interesting place. It's fairly obvious that the owner is a wizard, or at least magically informed. Thirteen is a reoccurring theme in the bar. Prime numbers, particularly seven, are fairly significant. I have no idea how, I didn't take arithmancy, but I'm sure Hermione could tell me if she was here. The pillars and tables are scattered throughout the room, almost to randomly to be anything but intentional. I spot an ordinary looking man polishing a glass and staring at me from behind the bar. I walk over to him and take a seat at one of the stools.

“I'm looking for Luccio. They already leave?” The man sets the glass down and stares at me steadily.

When it's obvious he isn't going to answer, I say, “I'm here to help. I mean them no harm.”

He grunts at me. “Council?”

I nod.

He eyes me again before speaking. “Swear it, on your power.”

I frown. Swears and promises on your magic are useless. The only magically binding swear I know of is an Unbreakable Vow, and those require a witness. I decide to indulge him, and give him the swear that I mean Luccio and her people no harm.

He looks at me for a minute, before picking up a napkin and writing something on it. He slides the napkin towards me and I pick it up. Directions, to a hotel I've never heard of. It's not that far, within walking distance so I should go right away. I thank the bartender and walk out.

The night is cold. Off in the distance, I thought I heard a haunting howl that chilled me to my bones. I shake it off and walk briskly towards the hotel. The town looks like it's been the center of a long riot. Cars are overturned, and small bonfires lit the street up. There's an odd sense of fear and anger in the air. A pervasive sense of danger floods the area.

I walk faster.

I see a problem as I reach the hotel. Five stories high, that's hundreds of rooms. I could do a location spell but I'd need one of the Wardens names to do that. You can do a location spell with only partial a name, but it tends to get confused and directs you towards anybody with that name. I chew on my lip, thinking for a moment, before I feel like slapping myself in the forehead. The Germanic looking man, Morgan. Luccio had called him Donald. Donald Morgan. That should be specific enough for the spell.

I draw my wand with a flick of my wrist, twisting it in the complicated wand movements while murmuring the spell underneath my breath. “Reperio Donald Morgan. Reperio Donald Morgan. Reperio Donald Morgan.” I feel my wand shudder once, and then it starts to tug against my hand in the direction I need to go. I walk into the lobby and the spell tugs me towards a corner before tugging my hand upwards. I look around and spot some stairs. I start up them, and, of course, the spell takes me all the way to the top floor. I walk down the hallway and the spell leads me towards their room. I reach the door, knock on it, and cancel the tracking spell. I hear quiet voices behind the door before it opens. Morgan, dressed in his grey cloak, stares at me for a moment surprised.

“What are you doing here?”

I nod at him in greeting. “The Gatekeeper asked me to come help. I was supposed to meet up with you at McAnally's, but you had already left. The bartender gave me directions.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “Mac told you?” A voice floats towards us from the back of the room.

“Let him in, Warden. The Gatekeeper sent me a message a few minutes ago.”

Morgan looks back at Luccio, before nodding and stepping backwards. I walk in after him, and shut the door behind me.

Luccio, seated at the desk next to the bed, nods towards me with a small smile, while the young wardens glance at me before turning back to their gear. “Glad you could come to help, wizard.”

I seat myself on the other chair. “What's the situation?”

Morgan sits himself on the bed before speaking. “Necromancers who used to be Kemmler's apprentices. Three apprentices, three drummers. They're searching for Kemmler's last book.”

I frown. I don't really want to advertise that I'm not exactly from around here, but it'd be dangerous to go in without knowing everything. “I take it Kemmler was a bad-arse necromancer?”

Luccio nods. “Yes, it took the entire White Council to take him and his army down last time.”

“What's in this book they're looking for?”

Luccio grimaces. “Directions on how to perform a ritual called the Darkhallow. Supposedly, if done correctly, it will turn one of them into a Demi-God.”

I frown, confused. “Just one? What about the others?”

Morgan turns towards me, from where he was speaking to a dark-skinned man in low tones. “Hopefully, they'll be dead. The apprentices are very competitive with each other. They're helping each other reach this goal, but they're also trying to kill one another while they're at it.”

I nod. “Where is this taking place?”

“The University.” Luccio bares her teeth in a snarl. “They plan on doing this in the middle of a school for children.”

I frown, and lean back in my chair. This is going to be messy. If it takes place near the dorms, there could be a lot of civilian casualties. “How are we stopping it?”

Luccio looks out the window. “Dresden should have already summoned the Erlking, a powerful fae needed for the ritual. If Dresden contains him, the ritual won't have the chance to get off the ground. If he doesn't, we'll have to fight them.”

I nod, reaching for my mokeskin pouch absentmindedly. “That reminds me, the Gatekeeper said I should have you enchant my sword.” I rummage around in my pouch, before pulling it out. I hate swords. I know how to use it, but it's awkward as hell in my left hand. I'm not going to abandon my wand for something that I can't use to cast a spell with.

As swords go, this one is pretty simple. Leather wrapped handle, with a twenty-two inch double sided blade, it's more of an extremely long knife then a sword. At least it's light enough to use with one hand.

Luccio nods, taking it from me, pulling it from it's sheath. She lays it on the desk before her. “I don't have the necessary materials to make it permanent, but I'll do what I can. I suggest you take the time to prepare.”

I nod, and move to the floor to give Luccio time to work. I grimace at my pouch. Times like this I wish I had organized it. I feel around in it, searching for my medical tape, and my armor. I pull out the white medical tape first, and wrap it around my right wrist. It was feeling a little tender, now that my pain medicine had wore off. I lay it on the ground next to me, and search for my various articles of armor. I don't know what effect dragon hide will have on spells here, but it's better to have it on, then not and wish for it later. I slip out of my trainers and pull on the dragon skin boots. I shrug out of my cloak, slip on a vest, and slip on my lighter and shorter battle cloak. Instead of reaching the floor like normal cloaks and robes, this one only reaches my knees, allowing for greater movement. Finished, I stand back up.

I look over towards Luccio, interested in how enchanting is done here. She's running her hands lightly over the blade, fingers enveloped in a grey glow twitching every so often. Looks like it's a lot longer process then in my world, but then I'm not really sure exactly what it is she's enchanting my sword to do.

The dark skinned man is fiddling with a belt that has various weaponry attached to it. He checks his ammo in a gun, and... Are those grenades? Holy shit. I grin, and sit next to him on the bed. “Grenades, huh? What's the occasion?”

He grins. “Normally, I'm so good I wouldn't need them, but I figured everyone else could use the extra firepower.”

I extend my hand. “Harry.”

He shakes it, and then frowns like something he was expecting to happen didn't. “Call me Ramirez.”

“So. Zombies.”

He grimaces. “I hate zombies.”

Zombies would probably be the same no matter where I go, but I go ahead and ask just to be safe. “Any weaknesses or anything?”

He shakes his head. “Not really. Kill it.” He makes sure his gun is loaded. “Kill it some more. And if that doesn't work, kill it with fire.” He grins at me. “A nice fire will take care of pretty much anything.”

I laugh, before looking towards Luccio.

Luccio grunts and stands up, handing me my sword. “I did what I can. I don't want to use to much of my energy, so the enchantment will break at sunrise, most likely.”

I grasp the sword and frown. “Uh, what exactly will it do now?”

She raises an eyebrow before speaking. “The simplest explanation is that it'll dispel any enchantment that it comes into contact with.”

My eyebrows raise as I look at the sword. Impressive.

Morgan looks up, towards the window. “It's time, we should go, Captain.”

The Wardens and I stand up and leave the room. Oddly silent, we descend the stairs. You can see the nervousness on most of their faces. Only Morgan and Luccio, and to an extent, Ramirez, look calm. The other two look nervous as hell.

Jesus, they look young. Things must be really bad if they're sending kids this young to deal with necromancers.

We leave the hotel and start walking at a fast pace towards the campus. These guys really need to have a transportation spell. Maybe I'm just used to apparition, but walking feels like it takes forever. Off in the distance you can hear howls that are slowly getting closer.

This is where things started to go bad.

Not five minutes after we left the hotel, Luccio's head snapped to the right down a deserted street.

“Oh, no.” She breathed.

I draw my wand. “What is it?”

Morgan growls and draws his sword. “Dresden. The Wild Hunt. We lingered at the hotel for to long.” He turns towards Luccio. “If we're caught in the path of it...”

She nods. “I know. Hurry!”

The Wardens start to run out of the path of the Wild Hunt, and I follow confused. What exactly is the Wild Hunt? Looking up, I spot a building with a good view of the surrounding area. I skid to a stop, turn once and reappear on the roof of the building. I look around and spot a writhing, black shadow two blocks away, and coming fast. I turn again, and reappear in front of the Wardens. Luccio and the rest of the Wardens stop as I appear in front of them.

“Two blocks away and closing. No way we can get away.”

Morgan growls. “We have to. We can't go up against the Erlking and get away.”

I frown, thinking. Nobody here seems to have transportation spells... It's risky, but... I nod, and draw my sword.

“You can't, maybe. I can. Go.”

Ramirez looks at me in shock. “Dio. Harry... That's suicide. Do you know what the Wild Hunt is?”

I shrug. “I can guess. Go, I'll stall them.”

Luccio looks at me for a moment, before nodding and taking off at a run again. Morgan looks torn for a split second before he, and the rest of the wardens follow.

“Luck, Harry.” Ramirez murmurs at me as he runs by.

I turn towards the direction that the howls are coming from. How bad could it be?

I didn't have to wait long. Within thirty seconds, the Hunt rounds the corner coming towards me. What I had first taken for shadows were actually huge black dogs, flames for eyes, and goblins decked in black armor.

A hulking figure atop a black horse, the Erlking I guess, is in the lead. He stops as he comes within ten feet of me. A strange feeling threatens to overtake me. A primal need to hunt, to kill, to fight. I struggle with it for a few moments, before managing to shrug it off.

He points his sword towards me. “Why do you not join the Hunt? You are a predator, not prey. You belong among us.”

I shrug and smirk. “You know, I rolled out of bed this morning, I just felt like trying something different for a change. You're the Erlking, I presume.”

He nods his horned-helmet covered head towards me slightly. “You would be correct, human. I am the Erlking. Either join us in the Hunt, or become it's prey.”

I shuffle my feet bashfully. “Oh, dear. And on the first date, as well? You are a bold one.”

He stares at me for a moment, before nodding. “Very well.” I got the sense that if I could see his face, I'd see a wicked grin on it. “Running won't help you here.”

That was all the warning I got before the first dog charged towards me.