Harry rested for 2 more days and was feeling himself again. He had begun practising casting but this time using the knife as well as his wand, with some interesting results. He and Susan had been spending a lot of time together, much of it talking about the knife and some of it just talking.
“It can split the fabric of reality. If you know how to use it subtly, in certain places where the fabric of space is thin or there is a glitch, like a pulled thread, you can open a portal. You can then pass long distances or even between worlds.” She was slicing paper-thin discs off a steel ingot like you would butter with the proverbial hot knife. “Of course, you can only do that if you know the locations.”
“But I wasn’t doing that.”
“No, but the knife’s edge is infinitely thin, so it can slice through any material. It just slips between the molecules and separates them. It’s so thin you actually can’t see the edge.”
“Batman said something like that, before he…” Harry sighed, the memory still fresh. “What is it made of?” he continued.
“It’s made of steel,” she slipped it back inside the sheath and passed it to him. “It’s enchanted in some way.”
“And how did it come to exist?”
“We don’t know. It was made somewhere else, not this universe. It came through the shelves one day, a gift from Barnaby saying it might come in handy at some point.”
“He can tell the future?”
“No, but Death can, to an extent, and it was the Death of a different continuum that sent it, Barnaby was just the messenger.”
“There has to be a way to use this against Smedley!”
“I agree. I’m just not sure what that is yet. We’ll see what Barnaby knows before we make a plan.”
“Yes. Ok, let’s find the others. I’ve delayed this enough.” Said Harry, clipping the knife to his belt.
———————————————————————————
Cinderella and Fred were in the study, sitting at the table amid piles of books and eating toast. Lilith was sitting in the throne, drinking from a mug which said, ‘Keep quiet, it’s coffee time’.
“Where’s Death?” asked Harry.
“He’s at a staff development day.” Said Lilith.
Harry laughed, but no one else did. “You’re not joking!”
“No,” said Susan, “it’s his half-century refresher. He’s not happy about it, though sometimes it’s hard to tell if it’s a smile or a frown.” Harry began laughing, and soon everyone was.
Fred flew in and landed on one of the chairs. ‘The provisions are ready. We can leave immediately.’ Taking on the form of a silver-haired woman, Fred picked up one of the backpacks by the window. Harry noticed that each backpack had a name on it and slipped his on, passing Susan hers.
“We should set off then. First we find Barnaby, and then we have a picnic,” said Susan.
“Then we plan,” said Huck, “I’ve been given this.” He turned, and Harry saw he was wearing a cloak. “It’s actually one of Batman’s and can be used as a shield against the electrical attacks of Smedleys, at least for a bit. The Freds have enhanced it in some way.”
Cinderella pointed at her belt. “And I have a belt, one of Batman’s spares. I had to cut it down a lot, but it has some smoke bombs, explosives and a few other things in it.”
“Do I get anything?” Harry looked at Fred.
“You get me,” Fred said, smiling.
“And me.” Said Susan, who blushed a little.
“I wish Gimli were here. It’s the perfect time for ‘And my Axe’.” Harry smiled at the memory. “Ok, let’s go.” And they headed into the Bookcases.
“No thread this time?” Asked Huck.
“No, we won’t be coming back.” Answered Susan.
———————————————————————————
The sky was different again, this time filled with lightning jumping between the points of light that looked like stars. They had been walking for about 10 minutes. Cinderella and Susan were a little ahead, and Huck was slightly behind.
“How are you feeling, Harry?” The voice was feminine but not entirely. It sounded like singing, Harry thought.
“I’m ok. This place heals you quickly.”
“I didn’t just mean physically. You lost people, and while I don’t understand how that feels, I know it takes longer to get over that than a few days’ rest and a good night’s sleep.”
“No, for that you need a cup of tea and some biscuits… a bit of tea and sympathy.”
“Is that all?. Fred enquired.
“Not in the slightest, but it’s often all you get or all you get time for. Right now I’ve balled up all the anger and the grief and put it to one side in my mind, deal with it later.
“I’m not sure I can do that.”
“Good. I’m not sure I can either. It’s a very human thing to try and do, but that’s not always a good thing.” Harry turned to Fred. “So you are a woman today?”
“Well, I am in a female form. I’m not really male or female. To experience life on earth, I think I need to do it from both of the primary sexes, though I’m not one or the other.” Fred looked at his hands as if studying them. “I’ve known about prejudice and sexism. These are things I don’t understand and can’t see the benefit of.”
“There isn’t any benefit to them. In the struggle to be heard, we forget we are all human. We become a representation of the fears within us and seek out others like us to feel heard and safe. It’s a dangerous ignorance. Saying that, I’m not sure I’ve been human long enough to understand it properly either.”
“I think you understand more than you think.”
“If you really want to experience the diversity in the world, you need to change your culture as well. You are an attractive white silver-haired woman. Changing your skin colour, accent, hair, weight, and features will make people think differently of you.”
“Why?”
“I really have no idea.”
———————————————————————————
In the distance, Harry could see the giant Redwood. He thought it looked bigger than before. He hoped Barnaby would have some information he’d gleaned from the book, but he was managing his expectations and looking forward to the picnic.
“Is that a Dragon?” Asked Huck. Harry looked up to see where he was pointing. In the distance, flying maybe 200 feet above the ground, there was indeed something that looked like a dragon.
“Yes, it’s one of the guardians,” answered Fred. “It’s not usual, but this place feels like it’s in lockdown. We should be careful not to upset anyone.”
“Do dragons exist?” Harry asked.
“Oh yes, just not on Earth, but their presence is felt there. Artists, writers, etc, they pick up on it, especially if they ‘enhance’ the experience.” Fred laughed. It was getting more natural and less metallic.
“So are unicorns, pegasus, etc all real?”
“They are for the most part. Some are distorted fictions. But you’d never get a Dragon and Unicorns in the same place.
“Why? Don’t they get on?”
“Nothing like that. Dragons prefer extreme conditions like Ice, Fire, Electrical Storms, etc whereas Unicorns… they love the forest and the plains.”
“Could we get one of these Dragons to come with us?” Asked Huck.
“We could ask, but I think the last thing we need is to give Smedley access to a Dragon, a portal to unlimited elemental power. I’m afraid it’s just us. We have to be enough.” Answered Susan. They reached the tree. “OK, let’s camp here and have a pre-picnic snack while we wait for Barnaby.” She dropped her backpack and pulled out her scythe, striking the stone tablet with it.
Barnaby appeared a moment later, this time as a moth, landed on the tablet, and quickly changed into a badger, but this time in humanoid form.
“I see you’ve brought more friends this time, Susan,” he said. “Hello Fred, I nearly didn’t recognise you.”
“Thank you,” replied Fred. Harry thought he heard pride in Fred’s response.
“So the book Barnaby,” Susan said after hugging him. “Anything interesting… or useful?”
“Well, there are bits, but not much and certainly not an ‘Off switch’ like you hoped there would be.” He fidgeted with a pair of spectacles on his nose. “So the good news is you should be able to see the threads running to the totems using ‘death vision’, Susan, and you to Fred, possibly. However, in order to see them, he will need to be drawing significant power from the totems, which means…”
“We will have to be openly fighting with him,” Susan interrupted.
“Yes, or while he’s remaking the world, and we don’t want that. Also in the book was his forge spell, which is no use to you, but might have slowed him down or even stopped him producing new followers, as the book is actually part of the spell.” He pulled out a small scroll. “I also found a list of creatures he’s pulled into his service. This is on papyrus so you can take it into the physical world when you leave.”
Susan took it, quickly scanned through it and passed the scroll to Huck. “Was that thing in the pub a version of Cthulhu?”
“The one Batman destroyed? Yes, thankfully you won’t see that again.”
“Are dragons on the list?” Asked Harry.
“No, because Dragons are real, and he can only conjure fictional creatures.”
“But there are fictional dragons.”
“Yes, but they have no real magical power, not like Hilda over there.” Barnaby nodded towards the dragon they’d noticed earlier, “She was born at the heart of a fledgling universe many millennia ago, quite beautiful.”
“Ok.” Cinderella passed Harry the list. “And Cerebus?”
“We don’t know. Batman damaged it, but we can’t be sure of how much.”
“We can talk about the list later,” said Susan. “Anything else we can use?”
“Yes, just one thing. There is another book. He calls it the ‘New Creation Manual’ or NCM. The details aren’t clear, but I think it’s how he is anchoring his power to the totems. It works a bit like a shunt. Otherwise he’d have a hard time controlling their power. You might need to break that connection as well. Sorry, that’s all I have.”
“Thank you, Barnaby, that’s very useful,” she hugged him again. “We are having a picnic, would you like to join us?”
“No thank you, but I’ll be back in a little while. I’m going to see how Hilda is. Everyone is a little tense.” He passed what looked like a small paper bag to Susan, “For dessert,” and changed into a dragonfly and flew off.
“OK, food, wine and… dessert,” said Susan, a little seriously, and started unpacking her backpack. She sounded a little stressed.
Cinderella came over and hugged her. “You are doing fine, Susan. You are a great leader!”
“I’m not the leader. Harry is the leader!” Replied Susan, a bit unsure how to respond.
“Nope. I’m bloody not. You are so much better at this than I could ever be.”
“He’s right,” said Huck, smiling. “You are the glue here.” Susan looked a little overwhelmed.
“You’ve got this, and we’ve got you,” Harry said, getting up and joining the hug.
“I’ve got a lot to learn about being human,” said Fred.
“Then come and join the hug, you too, Huck, come on.” Cinderella waved them over.
———————————————————————————
The picnic was now in full swing. They had lit a fire using some wood Fred had packed, and Cinderella had found a speaker in Batman’s Belt so they were streaming one of his playlists. Fred was drinking wine and thinking about her first hug, while tapping her foot to the beat. “What’s this music?”
“Taylor Swift,” said Huck, “She writes a very infectious ditty, ‘Shake it off, Shake it off’.” He was dancing with Susan.
“Who knew Batman was a Swifty!” said Susan, laughing.
“Hmmm. I think I’ve decided on a new name,” announced Fred, “Taylor!”
Susan stopped dancing. “Taylor! Really, are you sure?” Fred nodded. “Ok Taylor, come over here and shake it off.”
“I’m not sure I know how to shake it off? Shake what off?”
“It’s an essential skill as a human. You’ll learn how, but for now just come and dance,” said Harry, offering his hand. “It might be your first and last.” Taylor got up and started copying Susan’s dance. Cinderella turned up the speaker and joined them.
“Why Taylor?” Asked Cinderella.
“Because I think right now I am feeling happy, properly, for the first time. And also because it’s a neutral name which is useful.”
“Have you picked the animal you can change into?” Asked Harry.
“Yes, that was easy. It’s the Owl. Because that was the start of my journey.”
Barnaby appeared at that moment. “Ahh, Taylor Swift.”
Susan laughed, “You like Taylor Swift, Barnaby?”
“No. But I know who she is, and she’s quite popular here. Over there, under the weeping willow, they have regular Swifty parties.” He sat on the grass next to the fire. Harry went to sit next to him. “Do you have a question, Harry?”
“It’s about Gandalf’s ring. When we fought Smedley, he was using electricity, I think, but now I’m guessing, with Gandalf’s totem, he’ll also have fire?”
“No, Harry, he didn’t get Narya. Gandalf shattered the ring, releasing its power into the staff, which continued to burn while you made your escape.”
“How did he break a totem? Can’t we do the same?” Harry asked.
“It was his totem, bound to him. So he could release its essence. Smedley would never do that to his own totems. He’d lose his sources of power.”
“So why did Gandalf do it?”
“I’m surmising. He knew he couldn’t win the fight. If he had been captured, Smedley would get the ring and come after you instantly, so he created the biggest burst of energy he could for you all to escape.” Barnaby looked Harry directly in the face. “It was a stroke of genius really. He released the full power of Narya into the staff, combining the two. The staff was made of enchanted wood, so it could handle the additional power of the ring, but not for long, and then it would turn to ash. That way he knew Smedley wouldn’t get the ring or the staff and allow you some time to get away.” He looked back at the fire. “It was a remarkable act on all levels.”
“Yes, it was… And it killed him.”
“He chose not to be captured, Harry. He could have surrendered the ring, been imprisoned, tortured, but he decided not to take that path.” Susan sat down next to Harry. She had been listening. She squeezed his hand. “In war, not everything is in our control.” Barnaby finished.
“We want to use Harry’s knife to travel back to Smedley’s shop… and we want to go from here. Can we?” She asked.
“Ahhh. Ummm… Give me the knife.” Harry handed it to him. “I will speak to Augustus, who also happens to be a Swiftie.” He stood up and left.
“Want to rejoin the others?” Asked Harry, “Until he gets back.”
“No, let’s just sit and watch the fire die out,” Susan replied and rested her head on his shoulder. “Are you ok?”
“I think I’m as ok as anyone can be at this time. So yeah, I’m ok.” He put his arm around her, and they watched the flames dance.
———————————————————————————
Harry woke up first and saw everyone was still asleep around the embers of the fire. He had no idea how long it had been.
“It can be done,” came a gentle whisper. Barnaby was standing next to him. It made him jump a little.
“How long have you been there?”
“About 3 hours”
“Why didn’t you wake us?”
“Because you needed to sleep, so I just meditated and did admin while I waited.” He passed the knife back to Harry.
“So tell us how this is going to work,” asked Susan, who had also woken up and had been listening.
“About half a mile above us there is an access point you can open with the knife. When you step through, you will be in Smedley’s shop”.
“That’s precise. How can you be so sure it’ll work?” Asked Harry.
“We know it will work. We don’t deal in maybes or guesswork here.” Barnaby didn’t sound irritated or arrogant.
“How do we get up there?” Susan asked, rubbing her eyes.
“Hilda.”
“Hilda? The dragon? Huck was up, smiling. “Are we going to have to ride a dragon, Mr Barnaby?”
“Unless you can levitate?” It was a real question from Barnaby, not sarcasm.
“No sir, I cannot. We’ll need to ride a dragon!”
“Ok, and how does Hilda feel about that?” Asked Harry.
Susan ignored his question and asked, “How will we know what time it is on Smedley’s end?”
“That is tricky, as currently you’ve not long left him.” Barnaby.
“What?” Said Harry.
“Time is different in this realm, and in Death’s realm.” Susan was pondering. “I wonder how that would work. If we went now, he’d be on full alert but… maybe exhausted.”
“It would be suicide!” Harry’s voice was just below that of a shout. “We can’t just walk in. We just don’t have that power.” He sat on a rock, head in his hands. “Look what happened last time! And we don’t have a wizard this time!”
“I’ll leave you to discuss it. I don’t do well in emotional conversations,” Barnaby responded, who became a Magpie and flew off into the trees.
“When would be the right time, Harry?” Susan asked quietly and sat down next to him. They all gathered round the remains of the fire. “And we do have a wizard,” she squeezed his arm.
“I’m not a wizard! Not like Gandalf!” His voice became softer, “We need to sneak in again, find that book… See if you can see the threads, while he’s asleep or something.”
“If I were him, Harry,” Huck began. “Knowing that we had decided to act, I’d start preparing for our next incursion, to be ready with whatever weapons and monsters I have available.” He sighed, “We were lucky to get away from a relatively unprepared man, but next time… he’ll be expecting us, and he’ll be ready.”
“Wait!” Harry was suddenly excited, maybe a little frantic. “ Could we… Couldn’t we… Could Barnaby send us back before the event? I mean time runs differently here, could we go back, all of us, and stop them going in, stop me setting off the alarm?” Tears were running down his face. “Stop them dying?”
“No Harry, that we can’t do. If we could, I’d be tempted, but it’s not possible.” She pulled her cloak around him and held him close. “We can’t save them… and you can’t protect us, or me, from what happens next. I, more than most, understand that death is part of life, but it doesn’t make it easier when I see friends die. It doesn’t stop me being afraid.”
“I know, I know…But.” He was sobbing now. “I’m sorry I’m all… these feelings… I don’t understand, it’s.”
“You’ve become human, Harry.” Cinderella was kneeling in front of him, “and that’s a big change. And what you are feeling is grief and guilt.”
“Don’t you feel it?”
“Yes, but… we aren’t the same, not like you. It’s different for us. This, what is happening now, is our story and we accept it. You have dreams, you see a future, it’s different.” She took his hand.
“There’s no rush to leave tonight. Let’s sleep on it.” Susan looked about. “There are things here which burn like wood. Let’s rekindle that fire.”
“No, we have to plan,” said Harry, sitting up.
“No, we can take a little longer. Time isn’t a factor, so we can reflect, talk and decide tonight and tomorrow. Let your head clear, and we still have food… though all the wine is gone.” She picked up an empty bottle and shook it as if to confirm its emptiness. He sat back down and put his head in her lap.