Agent of Chaos

by Li_Time

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Harry Dresden

I was standing in a pitch black room with a single ring of light with no light source. I stood in the center of this ring and I knew what this was. I was about to have a conversation with my inner self. As if on cue, my double stepped into the light.

My inner self was my subconscious. He was that primal urge to do what it takes to survive, feed, drink, and have sex. He's an asshole and does not call the shots. But he's helpful. The last time I saw him, he was still in the clean black clothes with clean, neatly trimmed black hair and was clean shaved. The only thing that was different with him then was the blue snowflake pin on his shirt, signifying the winter mantel I now had.

This time, his clothes looked a little more ragged and his hair a little longer and could use a comb. It seemed he was becoming more and more primal the longer I held this fairy job.

"Hello, Harry," he said.

"Sup," I replied. "You look like you lost a fight."

"Just embracing more of the power of the Winter Knight,” my id said. “You really need to start using it more."

"What is this about?" I asked.

"First off, really?” he asked. “You have six young ladies and you don't even touch them."

"They're ponies,” I said.

"Stop denying it,” he told me. “They're humans. They’re maybe ponies where they're from, but here they're humans. And I'm sure they would love to see how it's done here."

"I am not having this discussion with you,” I said.

"Second, why haven't you done it with Molly?" he asked.

"We've talked about this,” I said with a growl. “That is not going to happen."

"She's your boss now,” he pointed out. “If she demanded it of you, are you going to deny it?"

"She wouldn't demand me to sleep with her,” I said. “That's not like her."

"She's less like herself everyday,” he said. “She can use technology again. She's becoming more like one of the fae everyday. It's not long now before she starts acting like the Winter Lady."

He had a point. Hell, the first day I saw her after she became the Winter Lady, she was already using a cell phone with no problem. Even in the car today, she glared at me when her cell phone started to mess up. She was changing, and I feared that she would become more like Maeve, the previous Winter Lady. I never would want her to turn into what Maeve had become.

"Well, part of you do," my inner me said.

"Shut up," I told him.

"The real issue is this dragonequus," he said. "He's gaining power. He escaped their world from a statue. Discord needed help to break his stone prison."

"Meaning he needed help,” I said, finishing my id’s point. “But why Cowl? I know he's a necromancer and is against the Laws of Magic, but he should know the dangers of trying to control an Outsider."

"He's powerful enough, he could do it,” he said. “Plus, there’s the Nemesis. And you know Chaogent is affecting the city."

"Yes,” I said. “He was testing his power with those textbooks and Michael's building project."

"Sometimes I wish I was someone else's subconscious,” he mumbled. “What did you do today?"

"Got up,” I said, counting them off on my fingers. “Went to Walmart. Picked up some food. Picked up the girls. Then we went to the pub, the church, then Marcone's. Then we came back."

"How long would you say you spent out and about today?" he asked.

"A few hours?" I said.

"How many?" he asked.

OK, what was my inner self getting at? Let's say I spent an hour at each location. That's...three hours. Hell, let's say it took an hour before we left Molly's and an hour in-between. That's five hours? That's a short day.

"Hell's bells, we lost hours," I said.

"What do we have for him, Johnny?” my id said.

"Could Chaogent make days shorter?" I asked.

"It's possible. Maybe both he and Cowl combined their powers to do it,” he theorized.

"But why do it?" I asked.

"Chaotic creature who can effect its surrounds and you're asking why,” he said.

"So, what's next?" I thought.

"Find him. Kill him." Yes, if only it was that simple.

"Can't kill an Outsider,” I pointed out.

"You can banish him back to the Outside and kill Cowl,” he said.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there,” I said. “But how do we find them?"

"Ask Murphy,” he said.

"Murphy?" I questioned.

"She's been trying to piece together the strange things happening around the city. She might have an idea where they are,” he said.

"Good point. You can be smart sometimes,” I told him.

"A real smartass,” he said. I gave myself a grin as the light cut off. I had a feeling it was going to be a long day tomorrow.