The Dresden Files, #1
Storm Front
by Jim Butcher
Contents
Chapter Twenty-two
Overview
Harry reaches his office to find Murphy poisoned and handcuffed to him, then battles Victor Sells’s animated scorpion talisman. He evacuates with Murphy, uses a wind spell to rocket the elevator and crush the creature, and survives the fall with shields. Outside in the storm, Harry realizes Victor still has his hair and the upper hand.
Summary
Harry sprints to his office and finds the door ajar, gunpowder in the air, and Murphy collapsed with a wounded, swelling shoulder. As Harry calls 911, Murphy, disoriented from poison, handcuffs him to her and tries to arrest him, convinced he set her up.
Victor Sells’s scorpion talisman erupts from beneath the desk, now terrier-sized and growing. Harry fends it off with a desk drawer, takes a painful gouge to the leg, and hauls the semi-conscious Murphy toward the hall. Cornered between stairs and an approaching ambulance deadline, he chooses the elevator despite his fear.
The scorpion smashes through his office door and attacks; Harry barely throws up a shield to rebound it long enough to get the elevator doors closed. The car then stalls and loses power. The construct climbs onto the roof and begins tearing through the ceiling to reach them.
Abandoning fire, Harry channels air magic, summoning a column of wind that hurls the elevator up the shaft. The car crushes the scorpion against the shaft’s roof, showering ectoplasm. Immediately the elevator drops; Harry cocoons himself and Murphy in layered, flexible shields to distribute the impact and they survive the catastrophic fall.
EMTs open the mangled doors to find Harry jubilant and Murphy unconscious. Outside in the rain, Harry sobers: his shield bracelet is burned out, he never recovered the talisman, Victor still holds Harry’s hair, and the strengthening storm will empower Victor’s planned killing ritual.
Who Appears
- Harry DresdenWizard protagonist; rescues poisoned, handcuffed Murphy, battles and kills Victor’s scorpion construct via elevator and wind magic, survives the crash.
- Karrin MurphyDetective; poisoned by the scorpion talisman, handcuffs Harry mid-rescue, slips toward unconsciousness and blindness before EMTs arrive.
- Victor Sells (Victor Shadowman)Antagonist; his scorpion talisman-construct ambushes Harry and Murphy, revealing his ongoing lethal plan and growing power with the storm.
- EMTsFirst responders who find the wrecked elevator, assist unconscious Murphy and a shocked, exuberant Harry.
- Scorpion Talisman ConstructMagical, growing golem set to attack; wounds Murphy, pursues them, and is crushed at the shaft roof.