Harry: <Summons Erlking>
Erlking: "GRRR! I recognize you mortal wizard!"
Harry: "Wait! I want to make a deal!"
Erlking: "Oh? What kind of deal?"
Harry: "I wan't you to go rescue my daughter from the vampires"
Erlking: "Ok, In return for this service, I want the life of your firstborn child"
Harry: "Err, no, I cannot accept that"
Erlking: "Ok then, if you don't want to make a deal, I will kill you in a most horrific manner" <kills Harry in a most horrific manner>

A Fae has no reason to accept a deal, if he does not find the terms agreeable. Given Erlkings power and his anger at Harry, his price would certainly be unpayable. And that is assuming that the Erlking makes deals. Most Fae do, but the Erlking was shown as a more predatory creature that leads the wild hunt.

It seems a very poor option to me. If Harry really had to risk it, he would be better off making a deal with Lily or Mab who he is associated with and who have interest in his well being to some extent, rather than the murderous and wild Erlking who wants his head.

 

Like I said, it's not really a viable option, but compared to being under Mab's thumb for the rest of his unnaturally long life, or the chance of Titania getting a hold on him in any way, I'd say a trade with an unaffiliated Fae would be a better option. That is if Lash doesn't make a reappearance.

On a different note, this is an interesting situation because we know already that Harry will not sacrifice his own morals to save himself, but will he for his daughter? If he's desperate enough, would he sell his soul for Maggie?

 

But the point is that the Erlking is not unaffiliated. Infact he is very much affiliated in that he wants to KILL Harry. Even if (and thats a big if) the Erlking would be willing to make a deal with Harry, the price would certainly be something bad such as Harry's life or something like that.

Mab on the other hand has use for Harry and does not want him dead. Harry might be able to bargain something like 3 extra favors owed to Mab in exchange for her assistance in rescuing the child. Or the mantle of the winter knight now to help with the rescue, and in return Harry will serve her AFTER the child is safe. I could especially see this if the child has inherited the red court infection from Susan. Mother Winter has the ability to make those unravelings that could cure her afterall and joining winter would be an opportunity to perhaps get one...

Any other Fae are not really available. The summer queen Titania is not exactly a fan of Harry what with him killing her daughter so making a deal with her side would be dangerous. Lily might be an option but Titania could simply order her not to deal with Harry and thats that. This seems quite likely in this instance. Since Harry killed Titania's child, I expect she might find it amusing for Harry to lose his child in return.

The Wildfae don't really have that many powerfull Fae, or any that Harry knows other than the Erlking ofcourse. And most of winter probably know that Mab has a connection to Harry and would not go over her head.

So reasonably, any deal would either be with Lily(if Titania allows it) or Mab.

We don't know really. Harry does have issues with family so I could see him being able to go further and do more than he would otherwise.

If he does go dark, I suspect its either accepting the mantle of a winter knight, or more likely just acting in an unethical manner without actually violating the seven laws (torturing reds for information, killing without hesitation, risking lives of allies, risking a restart of the war that could kill thousands, etc).

I doubt he would start using dark magic overtly, since we know that corrupts and using that could quickly twist Harry to such an extent that he no longer cares about rescuing children. And he must know this, so unless Eb lends him the Blackstaff, I doubt we will see any black magic. Except maybe if Harry acts in blind rage without thinking.

Lash might work, but I doubt Harry would actually go for a coin. Not after everything that has happened with Nicodemus and the denarians. I would be shocked if he did.

I could see him maybe making somekind of a deal with someone criminally inclined like Marcone or Lara. Assistance here, in return for him owing them assistance in return or something. Marcone wanted to recruit Harry once before and he has that concern about children thing. I could see him giving Harry money/resources to help with the rescue, in return for services later. And Lara is always interested in Harry, she might well help knowing that an alive child might be an extra tool to use in manipulating Harry to do her bidding.

 

Just gonna say that in Storm Front, Santa is mentioned as an obscenely powerful Wildfae. He could certainly call on ol' Saint Nick for help,.

 

Only to find out that Harry Dresden is clearly marked down in the 'naughty' column of Santa's list.

 

Also he doesn't know Nick's Name.

 

Klaus the Toymaker might

 

Lol Im sorry but this is just begging to be written surely I'm not the only one who now wants to see a fic with Dresden and Santa laying a righteous smack down on some vampires?

 

I'm imagining the Santa from that 15-20 year old claymation movie just marching through some jungles in South America and using a shotgun to blow the shit out of hordes of vampires.


And it is awesome.

 

Lol I had this Futurama inspired image of Santa flying in on his sleigh with demon reindeer chucking wrapped present bombs off the side and cackling maniacally while the little grease ball bats ran in terror.

 

Huh... Did anybody else who ordered it from the UK Amazon website get an e-mail today about their dispatch date being pushed back a couple of days, or anyone who ordered it from Amazon full stop? My dispatch has been pushed back from day of relase to the 10th of April =\.

As for the 1st chapter.. I think it's all been said really, What with Mac talking, Mouse still being awesome purely because of how easily he reacts to Harry and his rambling.

As for Harry's choices.. I dunno.. Morgans dead, Michael's out of action which leaves Sanya & Thomas to go into the shit with him. Much as Murphy would want to, I can't see her doing it, especially after she got booted down to Sargeant purely for a 24 hour MIA. Charging off to South America un-called for? Nuh uh, fired. Then there's the small fact of Sanya not really being on the same level with Harry was Michael is,.

However, Small Favor saw Nicodemus claiming the Red Court to be nothing more than a nuiscance which with Harry's help he could erase... temptation to take up Lasciels coin, but still, perhaps a hint at what's to come? I still can't help but feel Nicodemus is playing a controlling role on the Black Council, alongside the already noted Cowl.

Still, Murhpy might do just that, or get some holiday, tough call... That said, I'm interested in how the 'Grey' Council will react and play a role in this, and I can't help but feel that Butters will make a return shortly.

 

It's entirely possible Nicodemus is Cowl. I don't find it particularly likely, but the possibility is certainly there. I also agree that Nicodemus is very likely to have at least some sway in the BC. The vast majority of actions they've taken, thus far, seem to fit with his modus operandi almost perfectly.



On the Dresden side, I seriously doubt Dresden will ever willingly take up the coin. Simply put, doing so goes against everything that he is. I just can't see him ever becoming the Winter Knight, or taking up the coin, or any of the other various "evil" things that have been bandied about. It's just not in his nature to go begging for power (which every standard suggestion for him going dark is). If he ever does go to the Dark Side, it will be completely on his own. He's just not the lackey type.

That said, I doubt he'll ever go evil in the first place. The farthest I can see him go is becoming more... careless, for lack of a better word. He could easily start becoming less and less concerned with collateral damage, but I can't see him outright going evil.

 

I think its been pretty explicit that Nicodemus is not a BC member. While their, possible, Armageddon plots may be similar their reasons for and methods clash. The BC's mere existence hinders many long term plans of Nicodemus'.

Also if Nicodemus had strong Council-level magic as his to command I'm pretty sure the Dresdenverse would have been fucked over many times by now.

 

What about Murphy taking up the sword? That is still a distinct possibility for the future is it not?

Nice for her to have a fallback is she does get discharged from the police.

 

I doubt Nicodemus is BC just from his reaction to Harry talking about hellfire in winter.

Tessa I can believe is BC, but Nicodemus no.

 

I doubt that Cowl and Nicodemus are one and the same... For one thing, their MO's are just... different. While Nic probably wouldn't have objected to much to wiping out a couple million people, I think he would rather have terrified them or made them suffer first - the worst the Darkhallow did was make people anxious earier that day.
For another, who would Kumori have been? There's zero chance it was Tessa, who as far as we know, is the only female wizard-level spell-caster the Denarians have. And Kumori was reasonable. Tessa was not. You see the difference.

 

Is becoming Winter Knight really that good of an option? I mean he has to learn how to use it in the first place, does he not? I mean, it is a power up, sure, but not an instantaneous one. At least I don't think it is. The new Summer Knight took some time until he got used to it. Sure, he was not a wizard beforehand and while Harry may get the hand of it much, much faster, I don't believe it would be something that can be mastered in a couple of days, days he probably doesn't have.

Taking the coin sounds as the most plausible to me, since there is a going back from it. You can't reject the knighthood of the Winter Court, you can't go back from a soul trading deal but people like Sanya proved that you can, indeed, let the coin go.

Also, the coin might be the least obvious option, the one he can hide best since otherwise he is not only risking his own head but Mollys as well.

I am also curious how it will play out with Thomas and whether or not Michael and Charity will come along, to repay the debt they owe for Molly and for just being good people.

 

I think Harry used Summer version of the faery energy when he rescued Molly. He absorbed the energy from Lily's butterfly and was instanly able to use that energy effectively. I suspect the power gained as Winter Knight would be pretty much the same so Harry could use it instantly.

Also, in book 7 there is a scene where Harry is faced with Kemmlers apprentices. Mab offers Harry the Winter Knight position so that he would be better equipped to face them. Given the timespan of the book, Harry would have needed that power boost right then and there. And yet Mab offered, implying that Harry could take advantage of that power right away.

It is possible that practise would increase his ability to take advantage of the Winter Knight power, but he would also gain a significant immediate boost. Most likely because he is a wizard and already used in throwing and manipulating energies like that.

That is assuming that the fallen in the coin would not manage to corrupt Harry to the point that he would not want to give up the coin anymore. If taking up the coin and giving it up would be this simple, Harry would surely have picked up Lasciels coin fully and then given it up, avoiding the whole Shadow/Lash issue. He did not.

I am sure that if Harry did take the job as a Winter Knight, he would negotiate it so that Molly would be protected. Given Mab's influence, if she sends a message to the White Council and says that Molly is now under the protection of Winter, the WC will listen.

Higly unlikely. Michael is no longer a knight, and given his physical injuries he would not be all that helpfull. Charity is also not really a warrior type so I doubt she would come. Not to mention that Harry probably won't want to risk it even if they offered, he would not want to risk the Carpenter kids becoming orphans.

 

Also, who's to say that Thomas would do anything to help? As I recall he's a lot less human nowadays so he'd likely as not just give up the girl if he thought it would advance the White Court's power.

 

I doubt he is far enough gone to betray Harry like that. And even if he is, he would know that Harry would hunt him down and kill him for betrayal like that so he would not risk it.

I still think that he will help Harry, but do something extra to benefit himself and the White Court aswell such as taking over the Red Court operation that Harry destroys and increasing his personal influence as a result.

Ofcourse its possible that this quest to save his niece is the one thing Thomas needs to recover and regain his humanity. It has even been suggested that Thomas might take up Amoracchius and become a Knight. I personally doubt it though.