Dresden Files Reread - Grave Peril Chapter 5

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The Nevernever has perceptibly different vibes from the real word, not quite a physical sensation, but  palpable all the same. The ghost dust, which was already heavier than it looked, starts to feel as though it weighs 30 or 40 lbs. Based on Harry's description of the ingredients, I think ghost dust is technically a potion. He describes depleted uranium as the "base ingredient" and says it also contains cold iron, basil, and dung, although from what we aren't told - Michael interrupts him, saying he doesn't want to know. 

Agatha Hagglethorn's demesne looks like her memories of Chicago, all made of wood, and wavering on the transition from gas lamps to the very earliest electric lights. The life forces of the infants are perceptible through the veil as glowing spots. Agatha herself, unfortunately, is not so readily apparent. Harry explains to Michael that he'd like a proper look at her, unimpeded by an active fight for survival, to see if he can figure out what's causing all the ghost activity. He's on the point of suggesting they split up to look for her when she explodes out of the sidewalk, sending splinters everywhere. I have no idea what she was doing down there, but it's a striking visual, especially since Agatha's recent injury is still reflected in her form here. Her arm is missing at the shoulder, not the wrist, and there's blood on her dress. She's screaming about her babies, hair undone, and generally both having and causing a bad time. 

Michael tries to attack her, and she blocks with her remaining arm, sending him flying. This is an excellent illustration of what Harry meant when he said she's be "stronger" on this side - it's not abstract. She as the physical power to bat them around light cat toys, and the metaphysical weight to overload Harry's shield, although the backlash from the latter at least slows her down a little, giving Michael and Harry both a chance to get back on their feet. It also bruises the shit out of Harry's hand, a foreshock, almost, of the various stranger things that will happen to it as the series progresses. 

Harry says he has good news and bad news, and Michael says "I've always been partial to the Good News". This, it cannot be overemphasized, is a joke, and it might be the only one he makes in the entire series. I feel like it gets overshadowed, because almost immediately after, Michael draws Harry's attention to the approaching sounds of Lea's hunt, and we get the "holy shit, heckhounds" thing. 

Michael offers to take on Agatha alone long enough to let Harry escape back through the rift. I don't know if he has his own way out of the Nevernever (unlikely, given later events), hasn't thought through the fact that he'd be stranding himself in the demesne of an angry ghost, or is really that eager to do the self-sacrifice thing. It's also possible, I suppose, that he Has Faith that God will provide him with a way out. Given who's around, that probably means Lea, and I'm genuinely curious how that would have gone. She doesn't have any preexisting beef with Michael, or the Knights, as far as I know, but she's likely to be pissed that he helped Harry escape her, and she's literally incapable of helping someone for free. She wants the sword, but there's a 0% chance of Michael trading it for something as insignificant as his own survival. I'm curious what he'd bargain her down to. Mab wants Molly, and Lea is still fully loyal to her at this point, but Michael is even less like to trade his kids than he is the sword. What might he be able to offer her? The elimination of some nasty critter that's making Lea's life difficult? Building a 100% iron-free house for a vassal of winter? Taking custody of a changeling child? Yeah, okay, I would read any of those short stories. But the eventuality does not come to pass, because Harry doesn't leave friends behind. 

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Michael engages Agatha, trying to buy Harry the time he needs to do his thing. Harry starts charging up his blasting rod, but she senses the energy building at the last second and physically tackles him just as he fires off the spell, causing the shot to go wild and set a couple buildings on fire. The ghost disarms him, bits his arm, and gets her hand on his throat. Michael once again saves Harry's butt, stabbing her through the back with his holy sword. In addition to killing(?) her and setting her on fire, this tears open the back of her shirt, revealing the twisting barbed wire of the torture spell. Harry immediately catches that this is what's been provoking the ghosts to violence all over the city, and that it means they're dealing with a person, not a monster or (super)natural phenomenon. I feel like this should also have tipped him off to the fact that they're dealing with a human, or something that thinks like one, and not, as he later supposes, the ghost of a demon. I don't think demons really know about barbed wire. If I remember correctly, there's some barbed wire in the portion of the Nevernever controlled by "evil Bob" in Ghost Story, but a) it's mostly aesthetic, not functional, b) Bob is half human, sort of, and c) Bob was made by (sort of) humans and has spent most of his existence in close proximity to them. But it's a small enough thing, and Dresden's reasons for the "ghost of a demon" notion may be stronger than I'm remembering at present. 

Agatha has been dealt with, and the "city" is on fire, which mean it's very much time to leave. Harry noticed a minute ago that he can no longer hear the hellhounds and hunting horns, but he doesn't really process what that means until about a second before Lea herself steps out of the smoke. She's the first one of the high sidhe described in the series, and I'm struck by the choice of the word "ageless" here, and by her addressing Harry as "my son", rather than "godson" or any of the other things she calls Harry throughout the series. I don't think I have a point here, except that "my son" is how, in Wheel of Time, the Amyrlin Seat addresses most men, unless she's annoyed with them, and that "ageless" is also the typical descriptor for Aes Sedai faces, and that's mildly amusing to me because, well, if you haven't already massively overthought the origins of the phrase "Aes Sedai", try reading the words "Aes Sidhe" out loud as though you don't know how they're pronounced. 

Gonna need to wait for the next episode to find out what Lea's gonna do, because the chapter ends here. As always, my workload has gone back up with the start of the school year, so I can't say with any certainly when the next chapter post will be, but I'm hoping for soon. Until then, be gay, do crimes, and read All The Things!