Edward, Miss Bertilde, George, and Lt. Pellew returned just around sunrise. They had followed Mr. Xanthus, learned the location of his hideaway, and had witnessed him committing cold blooded murder. Pellew has a quite comprehensive map of Xanthus' stronghold, which he handed over to Sir Cosmo. Ordinarily this news would have caused the most concern among the League. The distraction was on Edward's finger.

Pellew had agreed to ascertain that the ritual dagger left to him by his late father was still locked safely away. When he did so, he was reminded of another object which had arrived along with the dagger: Moriarty's ring. The ring contains another of the enchanted rubies sometimes called Kali's Blood. Pellew decided that it was small enough he could easily transport it to our sorceresses to examine. In the small hours of the morning, while Pellew and Edward kept vigil over Xanthus' fortress, Pellew showed the ring to Edward. Edward wanted to examine the ring more closely. While toying with the ring, he allowed it to slip onto a finger.

The ring changed size, locking itself onto Edward and refusing to be removed. When Edward arrived at the house, the aura of Kali's power on him was unmistakable. He felt perfectly fine. Pellew was, understandably, worried that the ring's power might somehow harm the child. Miss Whitnell examined the ring and Edward. She concluded that it was the power of Kali that enveloped Edward, and not some demonic or necromantic force. However, she was still worried.

I, unfortunately, could tell her nothing more about then ring than that it had belonged to Moriarty, that it appeared to be an artifact of the goddess, and that it's power was considerable. Miss Whitnell decided that it was best to leave it alone until we could learn more.

Miss Sinclair was less sanguine. She gave Edward a lecture about the proper way to take care of mysterious valuables, which Edward seemed to take as instruction to build a strong box around his own hand. All of the talk of the ring and Xanthus' murderous activities were interspersed with accounts from various household members of dreams they had experienced, similar to the previous dream. Edward had had such a dream, in which he and Miss Chigwidgeon had played chess against Lady Miranda. Lady Miranda cheats, Edward says, and Moriarty warned her to beware of Miranda's underhandedness.

Miss Whitnell dreamed of a conversation with her Aunt, in which they discussed Moriarty's message and Lady Miranda's plots. She mentioned that she saw Miss Sinclair and Edward at a tea party in the dream, and Miss Sinclair gave quite a start. She admitted that she had had a nightmare involving herself and Edward at a tea party with some disagreeable people.

Mrs. Cuthbert dreamed of an unusual conversation with a caterpillar, in which the caterpillar told her that we have been wasting too much time chasing the puppets, instead of looking for the puppet master. Miss Chigwidgeon sayd she had dreamed of all of us, including myself working in the garden, Edward playing chess, Miss Whitnell having tea, and Nigel trying to cast a spell to stop some horrible event.

Because I had not sensed any visiting spirits in the night, I was inclined to dismiss these dreams. The others were not certain we could.

Miss Whitnell and Mrs. Cuthbert went to morning services. Dr. Wilson left the house around the same time to "handle something." Sir Cosmo compiled his reports and sent them off to A's office. A bit later, Sir Phillip arrived at the house with new instructions. Sir Cosmo did not invite him in, instead riding around the neighborhood in Sir Phillip's carriage to receive the information. Young Mr. Graham spent the morning going through Dr. Wilson's mail. Wilson has hired the young man to handle his correspondence. And just in time, as Edward has been eyeing the large pile of unopened mail as fuel for one of the boilers.

Dr. Wilson returned from his errand with a new bodyguard. Mr. O'Flaherty, I am given to understand, is a former professional boxer and the star of at least one of those adventure stories of which Miss Chigwidgeon is found. The Stein brothers, who are financing Dr. Wilson's rocket research, have hired Mr. O'Flaherty to protect Wilson. The man is a bit taller and wider than Rip Chigwidgeon. He appears to be a considerably more practical gentleman than Dr. Wilson. It should be entertaining to watch how they learn to get along.

Henri arrived in time for lunch, as did Inspector McGregor. Mr. Frazer arrived after luncheon.

I was sent, along with Miss Whitnell, Mrs. Cuthbert, and Mr. Cuthbert, in Cuthbert's carriage to scout out the home or Bertie "Peanuts" Molloy, where Wilhelmina's mother is currently residing. Bertie's wife, mother, and aunt have conspired with McGregor to get the woman out of their home, in exchange for which they will arrange a truce with the Billingham clan. The martriarchs of both clans have already offered McGregor information key to certain pending criminal cases which will allow some of the more deadly factions of Moriarty's old organization to be taken out of operation. We know that the elder Miss Brody is key to Lady Miranda's plan to resurrect Moriarty, and we knew that Molloy was trying to come to some sort of arrangement with Miranda's faction in exchange for her.

There were no signs of either mystical or extraordinary mundane protections on the home. We returned to Mayfair to prepare for the extraction. The sticking point proved to be where we could place Miss Brody afterwards where she would be out of danger and incapable of endangering any of us. The league was still discussing options when Miss Whitnell received a visit from a Mr. Weasely. She had mentioned this man earlier, having received a letter in which he claimed to work in the Office of the Lord High Warlock.

Mr. Weasely appears to be all he claims. Furthermore, this Lord High Warlock was willing to take Miss Brody into protective custody. We seemed to have a solution. We sorted ourselves into carriages and set out to extract Wilhelmina's mother from the home of Bertie "Peanuts" Molloy.

The elder Miss Brody was not at all happy to see us. She put up quite a fight, hurling anything she could get her hands on at McGregor and the others, all the while telling them off in the most derogatory manner. Miss Wilhelmina made a surprise appearance, and was able, with just a few sharp words, to turn her mother's attention away from us and send her storming out of the house under her own volition. Unfortunately, she shoved Miss Chigwidgeon aside, and Miss Chigwidgeon lost her balance, knocking poor Mr. O'Flaherty into the staircase bannister -- which had not been built to withstand such assaults. He and Miss Chigwidgeon fell into the hall.

I had expected the various Mrs. Molloys to raise a fuss over the destruction of the property. Instead, they were quite happy that we had removed the odious woman from their home. In fact, the younger Mrs. Molloy had a decided delighted gleam in her eye as she assured us that she would tell her husband that "the hussy" caused the damage as she left in a huff.

By the time the elder Miss Brody had reached the carriage where Miss Wilhelmina had gone back into hiding, Miss Whitnell and Mrs. Cuthbert had completed their ritual. Miss Brody became quite docile and cooperative once the enchantment had taken her.

We then met up with Mr. Weasely and some of his associates, who led us to the Tower of London. We went around to a gate that usually is closed and barred to the public. It seems that criminals of a sorcerous bent are imprisoned in the Tower, whose walls are resistant to certain types of magic. We were assured by the caretake, a Mr. Moody, that Lady Miranda and the Baron would have a very difficult time finding her there, and an even more difficult time abducting her if they managed the first trick.

Having gotten a glimpse at one of the creatures that guard this place, I had to agree.

We then proceeded to trying to find the other Kali dagger. Miss Whitnell's locating spells had begun to give contradictory information. Fortunately, George was able to find the building, and all became clear. There, in Stepney, was a very old stone building with walls that seems to turn mystical senses aside. The main floor of the building is currently a tavern. Portions of the ground floor (which are actually partially underground) have been turned into various shops, as have the upper stories. The building used to be a prison, used in earlier centuries to house pirates and other criminals associated with the docks. Before that it housed those convicted of witchcraft. The square in front of the building used to house a gallows, and before that it is where witches were burned. Long before the building was a prison, it had been a church.

In short, it is the perfect place to hide an artifact of mystical power.

One of the shops was owned by a Mrs. Goyle, who is an elderly sorceress. Miss Whitnell, Edward, and Lt. Pellew entered the shop, while the rest of us waited nearby. Mrs. Goyle was quite happy to turn the knife over to Edward and Pellew. Henri became involved somehow, though his interest was in purchasing as many gaudy items of statuary and the like as he could from Mrs. Goyle.

As we were returning to Mayfair, I sensed black sorcery. Before I could alert the others, Miss Whitnell was leaning out of her carriage, calling out instructions. I could perceive, then, Moriarty's spirit hovering near Edward. The spirit was not the source of the attack, it was the intended victim. Moriarty seemed to be clinging to Edward, as a drowning man might cling to a log. We stopped the carriages. The ladies performed a quick ritual to seal a ward around the carriage. That seemed to stop the attack. Mrs. Cuthbert was finally able to communicate directly with Moriarty. He was able to confirm what we had guessed, including the fact that Lady Miranda was trying to summon Moriarty's spirit to her location.

We made haste to Mayfair, where we intended to plan an counter-assault.

Mr. Weasely was awaiting us. His associates had seen Baron Blackhall's people unloading suspicious objects at a warehouse near Bishopgate. There was also an urgent message from Sir Phillip. A's agents confirmed that Lady Miranda and other members of Moriarty's old gang, had taken several boxes to the same location. We hurried off to the warehouse.

At the warehouse we met Mr. Weasely's supervisor, Mr. Poppins. Also present were two of Mr. Poppins' agents, a Mr. Snape and a Mr. Black. They informed us that the Baron, Lady Miranda, and a group of hindi sorceresses, were inside the warehouse. We fanned out to search for an entry point. In the course of the search, we also learned that the sorcerers had a hostage -- Mr. Fong Chigwidgeon. Mr. Chigwidgeon was in one of his gowns, made up as the Princess Quan Lee, bound and gagged in a chair.

As we prepared to rush in from several directions at once, Master Tandu and a group of his students came up from the subterraen tunnels into the same space. Master Tandu exchanged some angry words with Lady Miranda. Clearly, he had not been privy to her alliance with the Baron or the sorceresses collectively known as The Widows. I asked the others to leave Tandu and the thuggees to me. Miss Whitnell made the rather unnecessary counter-proposal that she would intervene if I appeared about to die. I didn't bother to reminder her that Miss Chigwidgeon already has extracted a promise from me to do everything in my power not to die, because I was already reciting my new mantra.

I wasn't certain if it would work. I was quite pleased that it did. I immediately felt the connection between my former teacher and his students. All of their strength was mine for the taking. A rushed forward and began disarming them. I tried to explain that Kali's true path still awaiting them.

The first one that I had to strike caused me more pain than I expected. I had to strike his right forearm with my left hand in order to keep his dagger from impaling me. My own right forearm hurt as if I had struck myself. As the fighting continued, I felt every strike twice, once in my own fist or foot, and again in which ever part of them I had struck. There were too many of them. And some of them were among Master Tandu's best students. I had to take more of their strength. Even as I fought them, I continued pleading with them to turn from the dark path. Tandu became more and more enraged as I fought.

I wasn't paying as close attention to the rest of the league as I had in previous fights. That was another part of the lesson Miss Chigwidgeon had shown me, that I had to trust them as far as I asked them to trust me. So I was relying upon their considerable talents to handle the other difficulties. I was dimly aware of several gun shots, lots of shouting, screaming, and other fighting. As one of the gunshots sounded, I felt a horrible pain in the center of my back, which exploded into my chest.

Someone had shot one of the thuggees I was fighting. Javas was his name. I felt the bullet moving through him, so painfully slowly. It was one of Cuthbert's rifle bullets, big enough and powerful enough to fell an elephant. It would cut through at least two more of the men I hoped to save once it exited Javas' chest.

I couldn't save Javas. Maybe I could spare the others. I moved faster.

I knocked Kantu and Chander out of the path of the bullet, and watched as it sailed slowly between us.

I was tiring. I didn't know how much longer this mantra could sustain me. I had to finish the fight. Soon the only one left standing against me was Tandu. He fought more viciously than I have ever seen him fight. He vowed to defeat me even if he had to kill me. I explained that death would not be defeat. I tried to repeat a lesson he had told me years ago, that you may be destroyed, but if you refuse to surrender, you can never be defeated. He didn't want to listen. He didn't want to believe that Kali has a plan other than death for him. He didn't want to believe that accepting the plan was not a surrender.

And then, he finally sensed what I had been doing, how I had found the strength to keep up with him. I saw the fury in his eyes as he saw allies and enemies alike laying dead or insensible.

He fled. He ran back into the tunnels, which had been burning since Dr. Wilson fired a rocket into them at the beginning of the battle. The tunnels contained pipes that carried coal gas to several industrial buildings nearby.

He was not running from me. He was running toward death.

I followed him, imploring.

He severed the connection between us. He understood the mantra and its magic enough to undo it. And he was rejecting a second chance at life.

There were several explosions. I couldn't tell if he survived them. But I knew that I wouldn't survive if I didn't leave the tunnel, so I turned and left him to the consequences of his choice.

The warehouse was more than a bit chaotic. The evil sorcerers had been defeated. Several of the league had been wounded. There were many unconscious people who needed to be carried out before the pipes exploded. Miss Whitnell, Mr. Poppins, Mr. Snape, Mr. Black, and Mr. Weasely were trying to put out the fires magickly while the rest of us carried people out, and Mrs. Cuthbert healed those most greviously wounded. By the time the local fire brigade arrive, the fires had finally been put out.

Later, Miss Chigwidgeon told me that Moriarty possessed Edward, and used his body and the ring to aid Miss Whitnell and the others. Dr. Wilson had been knocked senseless by a spell from the Baron, but Moriarty had took out the Baron before he could hurt anyone else. The Baron's coachman shot Mr. Cuthbert, but Cuthbert returned the favor, though with more deadly accuracy. Mr. Chigwidgeon got loose, and began attacking the sorceresses with one of their own large brass candle stands.

Lady Miranda was wounded by Miss Chigwidgeon's rocket parasol, Mr. Chigwidgeon's candlestand, and the rather powerful stunning spell from Miss Whitnell. As soon as Lady Miranda was vanquished, Moriarty fled this plane, and the ring returned to normal size, falling off Edward's finger.

Lt. Pellew is taking both daggers and the ring back to India. The Griffin has been ordered to the sub-continent. Pellew isn't certain how long he will be stationed there, but it sounds as if India will become the Griffin's home port more or less permanently. Pellew will search until he finds a temple of Kali that can properly house the artifacts.

Miss Chigwidgeon wanted to know how I was able to take on all of Tandu's students at once. I told her I was just applying the lesson she taught me the other night on the boat. I don't think she believed me. I supposed I need to name this new mantra. Perhaps I will call in the Mantra of the Web of Souls. Though a better name might be Namaste's Paradox. I don't know if she would like that name.

Proceed to 'A scathing review'

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