True Sacrifice

Characters: Dresden, Murphy, Mister
Timeline: AR, Set after Grave Peril
Summary: Supernatural Tragedy. Contains Character Death
Author's notes: After the large battle in Grave Peril, I wanted to see Dresden cut loose with his power again

I should have recognized the signs that this would turn out to be a bad day. I had been abruptly woken up by the ringing from my phone, its sounds slowly dying after it had been subjugated to the effects of my own brooding personality. Begrudgingly picking up the phone and avoiding any pleasantries that might have come from the benefits of a decent nights sleep, I murmured into the speaker what it is he or she wanted.

I heard some muttering from the other end of the line involving something along the lines of 'stubborn' and 'lazy moron', before receiving and identity.

"Murphy here. Glad you finally picked up, considering it was already six in the afternoon and I figured even you would have got the day started"

I sighed as I recognized the stubborn voice of my partner in crime. "Give me a break Murph, I was up all night doing research on the victims that YOU wanted to know about"

"It's what you're paid to do Dresden, so snap out of your dream-like state and get down here. We've found another one"

She then rolled out a quick address of somewhere called Box Hill, a little of its way out of Chicago. I scrambled to find a pen and paper before resorting to writing it out on the back of a notice that warned me of my due rent. When you start the morning with the brisk awareness you are poor, it tends to put negativity on everything else.

I walked back through the door to my bedroom and glared at Mister who had already taken refuge in the warmed covers that made up my little nest.

Yeah, you make the most of that you selfish fur ball. I thought to myself as I grabbed some relatively clean laundry, scattered around my floor. It had been nice to hear Murph's voice again though. The past few weeks had consists of her sending me occasional voice-mails concerning a string of murders around the city that had the clear hallmarks of vampire attacks.

I groaned to myself as the image of vampires took up residence next to my money concerns. No more deaths had occurred lately since the Black Court attack at Archangel, but the white council wasn't actually going on the offensive either. The most I'd seen of the war was the occasional vampire attack that has led me to try and avoid going out after sunset and this murder spree that had been hitting Chicago.

Suppressing all of my worries (which in the short-term is a rather effective denial strategy); I walked out of my apartment, grabbing at my blasting rod and staff, and towards my trusty blue beetle. I had just got it repaired the previous day, so I was quietly confident that it would work first time round. I remember Bob mentioning that he did some calculations and reckoned that there was a fifty percent chance the beetle would get torn up by a monster I will have pissed off and a hundred percent chance that it would at least break down in the next two weeks. After saying a small prayer, I started the engine second time around and pulled off towards Murph's location.

As I pulled into Box Hill, I got an uneasy feeling about the buildings around. Box Hill was an industrial estate that had been set up to accommodate the growing borders of Chicago. It started off as quite a success, but it had been built a little to far from the city borders and as such was in an inconvenient place for business. The isolated area meant that many of the warehouses had been abandoned and now stood up as empty shells of what they could have been.

Since Murphy hadn't given me an exact location, I kept on driving into the area until I figured I would see some crime scene tape or at least a Police car. While I didn't see either of those beacons, I did manage to spot Murphy's bike leaning on its kickstand close to one of the smaller warehouses, said which was being leaned on by a very casual looking Murphy.

Standing at five-foot-nothing, Sergeant Karrin Murphy was the main example of how unlucky it is for a girl born cute, trying to fit into a very much male profession. Instead of being dressed in her Police uniform, she was wearing a full leather outfit which she wore when using her bike, with her curled, shoulder length hair drooping down around her neck.

Instinctively, I drew up a smile when I saw her face. Though she would hit me if I dared to say it out loud, she had a beautiful face that was enhanced when one knew she chose very little make-up to adorn it. As she turned to look for the sound of the approaching engine, our eyes met and I saw her shoulders relax and a smile creep onto her face, before she quickly resumed her professional appearance and walked over as I stopped the car and got out.

"Good afternoon Murphy" I directed to her as I leaned back into the car to grab my wizardly equipment. "You're not exactly dressed for a work day"

Her shoulders tensed as she glared at me. "This was supposed to be my day off. I've done all my paperwork and I figured the supernatural Gods would give me a rest for one day of the year, so what's up?"

"Nothing much. I tried making a connection to each of the victims and they don't seem to have any thing in common" Her glare intensified. "B-but I've still got a few feelers out there, should be any day now"

We stood there for what felt like hours, both of us seemingly waiting for the other to say something else, so I took the stand and asked her "So what am I doing here?"

A look of confusion spread across Murphy's face, making her head tilt slightly to one side. God that was cute. "Is that a rhetorical question or did you just invite me down here to play guessing game?"

At that last line, every muscle in my body suddenly froze, staring straight at her unblinking. "You called me here didn't you?"

Murphy threw her hands in the air and stalked around in a circle for a bit. "My God Harry, could you take me seriously for once in your life and not waste my time. When I got your call, you sounded desperate and…"

I failed to hear the rest of what Murphy was talking about or hear much of anything for a matter of fact. …you called me… The words rattled around in my head as I knew it was bad but couldn't make sense of why.

By this point my subconscious gaze had drifted to the distance and Murphy had stopped talking and was staring intently at me. She too had stopped moving and she was studying my reactions. As a final thought hit me, I suddenly looked straight at her face and was met with a probably equal look of worry and fear.

A trap…

At that exact moment, we heard a large bang from the other side of the small park we were standing in and looked for the noise. The doors to one of the warehouses had been slammed open and its residents began pouring out of it and straight towards us. While still clearly a human shape to any outside view, both me and Murphy recognized the black eyes and extended fangs of the vampires.

Instinctively, I immediately began to lift up my blasting rod, but Murphy already had many years of cop instinct and had already pulled out her gun and started firing. In the space of a few short seconds, she had taken head shots on several of the vampires, but there was always more to take their place. When the war began, I had heavily informed her on the strengths and weaknesses of Vampires, including the fact it would take at least a head shot to put them down.

As Murphy continued to unleash pin point destruction, I took careful aim at the most densely packed group of vampires and bellowed out Forzare. A strong ball of force erupted from my rod and shot straight into the middle of the group. The energy in the blow practically ripped apart the ones directly hit, and any object caught behind them, including the comrades of the now deceased, shot backwards into the crowds of the Vampires, creating a sort of bowling pin effect.

I heard Murphy rapidly reload her pistol and I deeply realised that though we were decimating them in ranged combat, if they even got close we would surely perish. Surely the Vampires knew this too, but instead of charging directly at us, they began too circle around us, encasing us in a cage made of murderers and death.

To keep our eyes on all of them, me and Murphy went back to back, a warm feeling spreading through me as I felt her strength. In this strength though, I could feel her breathing rate quicken and her body begin to shake slightly. She was scared and if it wasn't for the thick leather duster holding my body still, I'm pretty sure I would be shaking too.

"You alright there Murph?" I whispered to her, slightly turning my head to make sure she could hear me.

She began to tremble a little more. "There's so many of them Harry, so many…" She went back to breathing quickly and I stiffened my stance.

"We're going to make it through this. They haven't attacked us yet so stay calm and aware". Truth be told, I wondered why they hadn't attacked. At any point during this moment, they could swarm us and we wouldn't stand a chance. We would only be able to scream as they ripped our bodies apart. Murphy's body apart.

I shook my head to try and dislodge those thoughts. No. I wasn't going to let some horror movie villains kill my Murphy. I'd take all of them down if they dared to touch her.

I suddenly heard a small cackle somewhere in front of me and the crowd moved apart slightly to show me who. There, in all of her glory, was Mavra, Vampire sorceress to the stars, and one of my many enemies who just refuse to die.

Still keeping my eyes scanning the crowd before me, I shouted out "What do you want Mavra?" Confidence had always got me out of difficult situations and I was hoping that this moment would be no exception.

Mavra laughed again. "Now now Dresden, I just want to make this world a fairer place. That stunt you pulled a few years back meant that many of my soldiers had been killed, even my precious Vampire hounds".

Before I could utter a word, Murphy yelled out from behind me. "What you were doing in this building was far from fair. Good lord woman, those were kids. There are some lines you just don't cross"

Still smiling, Mavra kept her eyes focused on me and replied "Those children were my property Dresden; I loved to be with them. Feel their warm supple bodies beneath my hands as I drained their delicious lives from them…" Her smile suddenly disappeared. "You took something of mine from me Dresden, so I'm going to take something from you".

My back suddenly stiffened. It wasn't because now every Vampire was grinning at me. Nor was it because of Mavra smiling at me in way that says she knows something that I don't. It was because I could no longer feel the strength of Murphy's back leaning against mine.

My eyes widened and met Mavra's still smiling face. I span around to try and stop what ever had happened to Murphy, but I was instead met with Murphy directly looking at me and no longer at the enemies surrounding us. She looked up at me and I saw fear and confusion in eyes as she tried to say something to me but couldn't. I followed her gaze down to where her hand was being held across her stomach and opened my mouth as I saw blood begin to spurt from the gaping wound across her abdomen.

Her eyes looked back at mine as her knees gave way and she sunk to the ground. Halfway down, I caught her and steadied her back against the concrete surface with my hand supporting my head. I tried to fight back the tears as I compared her wound to the many I'd seen during my life and instantly knew it was fatal.

Due to their supernatural nature, Vampires can be extremely fast. One of them must have charged Murphy when she wasn't looking and cut straight through her Kevlar vest and into her.

Murphy's eyes looked at me pleadingly as the life began to drain from her. "H-harry?" She looked at me and tried to say more but was stopped when I put my hand to her mouth.

"Stay with me Murph, I'm going to get you out of here. Just stay awake" Which at that point she began to convulse due to lack of blood.

"Please don't go Murphy. Just stay with me" I began to yell at her but her eyes had glazed over and her body had gone still. "MURPHY!" I shouted but she could no longer hear me. I felt out with my senses and could find no heartbeat. No sign of life. Just dead Murphy. My beautiful Murphy.

I didn't even try to hold back the tears no streaming from my eyes, but I didn't let them control me either. I slowly stood up while continuing to stare at Murphy's frozen face.

"Hurts doesn't it?" I heard Mavra chuckle behind me. "You're all alone now Harry. There is no help for you, no sign of rescue and it's your fault she's dead. If only you hadn't brought her into our world she might still be alive".

I could no longer hear any of Mavra's words. I continued to stare down at Murphy as I dropped my blasting rod and staff onto the ground and shed myself of my energy rings and shield bracelets. I had so many emotions pouring into me at that point that I wasn't aware of the slow, impending advance of the Vampires. I felt pain, knowing I would never see her again. I felt anger at the monstrosities who did this to her. But most of all, I felt regret for not telling her how I felt about her.

I didn't tell her that I loved her

Holding onto these feelings I slowly turned to look at Mavra in the eyes. The surrounding Vampires also saw my face and stopped their advance, some even walking back a few paces. Even Mavra stopped laughing and I saw a brief look of fear cross her face.

"You killed her to get to me" I whispered. Though it was quiet, I knew that every creature around me could hear my words. "I will burn you all in my fires before any of you and get out of here"

For that brief, split-second afterwards, time around me slowed. As I built the power in me, including diving deep into my soul to get it, I saw the air around me begin to shimmer with the external energy from my power. After that point, every Vampire, Sorceress and even the air, froze still as I shot my hand into the air and yelled to the heavens "PYROFUEGO!"

With my battle cry, I sent every ounce of energy I had into the air around me focusing it in every direction but the small area around me and Murphy. As I pictured Murphy's face and the smile I wouldn't get to see again, I used those thoughts to put more energy into the build up.

Rather than appear as a wall of flame and heat, I had poured so much energy into it so that it was just a barrier of white hot fire. For a brief second, a hole parted so that I saw Mavra's face, trying to push her cronies aside to escape, but they had been packed in to tight. I looked upon the face that killed Murphy and slammed my hand back onto the ground releasing my power.

No longer held by my will, the flames suddenly shot forward in a circle heading outwards towards the army who only moments ago, thought they would kill me. Before most of them could even scream in their bestial voices, the fires reached them and fried them to dust. I heard the sounds of the creatures being burnt alive but I didn't care about them. All of my attention was focused on the spot where I last saw Mavra standing, continuing to pour my will into that single area to make sure I burned her down to the atom.

From an outside observer, they would only see a white ball of energy glow around an industrial estate. A closer observer would hear the screams of my foes as their lives were extinguished by my hand. I didn't care if anyone was closer than that though. If you could see this then you were one of them and therefore my enemy.

As the flame poured past Mavra's spot and continued to destroy what little was left of the ranks, another surge of anger swelled through me. Seeing no escape, Mavra had brought up a shield around her and a few other Vampires, protecting them and her from my vengeance. I felt more anger flowing through me and I began to stalk towards her with only one intent in my eyes. Seeing no more threat, Mavra lowered her shield and her goons charged towards me. No longer smiling, her dark hair stuck to her face and her breathing was hoarse and rugged. I smiled as I realised raising that shield and holding it must have taken most of her power. Now she was completely defenceless.

Still walking towards and staring at Mavra, two of the Vampires who had survived sprinted directly towards me with murder in their eyes. Using my hands as conduits, I muttered Forzare under my breath and brought my hands from behind me, over my head and down. The effect this had was immediately apparent as an unseen energy slammed both Vampires into the ground and hopelessly crushed them beyond recognition, denting the concrete with a crater shaped hole. I continued walking forward as a third and fourth vampire leapt over their falling towards me and I moved my hands outwards to send them flying in opposite directions. I don't know if they hit anything as all my attention was no focused on Mavra.

With a frightened look on her face, she glanced around her to see her fallen ranks, her elite utterly decimated by a single mortal. Seeing that she was alone, she turned back towards me and began to chant a spell, but she was so empty that it only took a mere thought of mine to extinguish her attempts. Before she could try for another, I reached out my hand and looked her body in place.

I only realised at this point I had been crying the whole time. Staring deep into her eyes, I stood in front of her and said "You wanted to see what would happen if you took what I loved away from me, well here it is".

I didn't want to physically hurt her though, she deserved more. I looked deep into her and poured power into her eyes, enhancing her Sight of the world. Of me.

Most wizards can use the sight and it shows us the world without lies. I doubted Mavra was no different, so I forced her to use her sight. What she saw was a man who had lost one of the few things precious to him and all of that anger was directed at her. For a split second, her face froze, focusing on mine and she saw true hate. From the bottom of her throat, I heard her building a screaming. Getting louder and louder until she lacked any air to make more screaming. Holding her head with my power, I chose that point to seal off her windpipe. Without her power, she was just a mortal with blood-lust and I saw her eyes cloud over as she continued to silently scream at the sight of me. With a quick flick of my wrist, I snapped her head in three different places and her lifeless body fell to the floor.

Without the anger and desperation holding me together, my legs began to feel rubbery and weak as I stumbled over to where Murphy lay. Even though the flames had practically melted most of the area around me, the little area I had stood in had not felt any of the effects. By this point though, the blood had already started to pour out of Murphy and into a large pool surrounding me.

Ignoring the blood, I fell to my knees and frowned at my one, true companion. There was still one thing left to do.

Reaching into myself again, I drew out the one source of energy I knew couldn't fail me. A friend had told me about Soulfire once. In every human being, there was a soul that contained every bit of information about them. Their memories, beauty and even emotions. You can draw from it like a supercharged battery, but it can't change the laws of physics. You cannot make it but only convert it. Reaching down into mine, I tore ragged chunks from it and poured it into my power.

I personally knew very little about healing magic, aside from the fact that it is extremely hard to do. I surprised a scream as I took the power from my soul and aimed it as Murphy. As a focus point, I imagined a picture of Murphy that represented who she was. This picture was when I first saw her with my Sight, all those years ago. Her in a brilliant white gown with her sword of justice, unwavering in the face of what she didn't or couldn't understand. These were just trimmings though. I mainly focused on her face, the way she smiled at me or the way she would look deep into my eyes to see me, even at the risk of a soulgaze.

With this image in mind, I fired the energy I had gathered into Murphy, the immense energy slightly lifting her off the ground as she was wrapped in a soft cloud of light. As the energy left me though, I screamed as my soul was ripped apart and a fell to the ground. With just enough energy left in me, I tilted up my head to see the light now pouring in through Murphy's wound, sealing it shut as it emptied into her.

No longer supporting her, Murphy's body slammed back onto the ground and for a split second, I thought she wasn't coming back. When I saw her eyes snap open though and stare widely around, I felt the greatest feeling I had ever felt since I saw my mother for the first time.

Murphy began to look around, but her eyes suddenly drifted away as if remembering something. Since my soul was the one the healed her, she likely gained a few of my thought term memories. A frown went over her eyes before her hand went to her mouth. "Oh no, Harry?" She then turned her head to look exactly at me. I managed to bring a smile onto my face, but that finished off what little energy I had left and my head slumped down onto the ground.

Making a gasping noise, Murphy crawled towards me and positioned her head on my lap, staring deep into my eyes. "Dammit Dresden, why do you always have to be the hero?" Tears were coming from her eyes and landing on my face. I think I was crying too put I no longer could feel it on my face.

I grinned up at her and stared right back into her eyes. "I'm sorry; I just couldn't let you go"

No longer caring about a Soulgaze any more, we both felt it gentle tug. Since neither of us moved, we flew into each others eyes, or to be more correct, Murphy's flew back into her own. That was where most of my soul was currently residing.

In Murphy's mind, time no longer mattered. In there, we saw the beauty in each other and were able to express the emotions that we now wondered why we hadn't after all of those years. Still staring into Murphy's eyes though, my vision began to go black as my eyes glazed over and my hand fell from her face and hit the ground with a dull thud.