The Hunters and the Prey - Chapter Ten
Author: Milady Dragon
After dinner, Ianto took Phil and Grand Master Stephen – call me Stephen, please – down to his casting chamber, citing security concerns and wanting as much privacy as possible for their discussion.
If Phil had though that his casting chamber was well warded, his precautions were nothing on the Cardinal Grand Master's.
He couldn't help the little shiver as he crossed the threshold to the stairs leading downward, the caress of the Deep Ways-laden magic that protected Ianto's sanctum from unwanted visitors. It wasn't anything he couldn't handle, but it was still just a little uncomfortable at first. He reached to his side, only to remember that Lola was with the other dragons, in the front room cuddled up in their dragon pile. Mistress Suzie had once told him that dragons were born in creches; she'd once seen the main creche in Genosha, and the cuddle piles were something that dragons were practically birthed into. The Mother Dragon, the Queen of Air and Fire, would keep her newborn children in such groups, for their comfort, so when they left the creche to find their Wizard they already had the behavior taught to them. It made sense to Phil, now that he considered the story.
Not for the first time, he wished that his former teaching Master had lived long enough to see him live up to the potential she'd seen in him.
Like the majority of casting chambers, Ianto's was underground, at the bottom of a tight spiral staircase that had been carved into the bedrock of Gateway. It was a large room, round, with the plinth in the center where the traditional Wizard's gramariya would sit when Ianto was using it for his spells. Tables and shelves lined the chamber, holding various books, scrolls, and artifacts; one of the tables held potion-making paraphernalia; another had a single map unrolled upon it, the edges held down by three paperweights made from various materials and the fourth corner by a plain wooden box, its lid closed.
Off to one side, there was a door, made of plain wood, and Ianto urged them toward it. "I had another study dug out when I had this place excavated," Ianto explained as he pulled the door open and ushered them both inside. "This is where I do my work with unknown artifacts."
The room beyond was smaller than the Grand Master's study upstairs, although not by much. Instead of a traditional desk, there was a raised workbench with a hinged top in one corner, a tall stool tucked under it, one glowglobe in a wall sconce over it, and another in a lamp that was clamped onto the side of the table. Resting on the top were several pairs of white cotton gloves, magnifiers, and a couple of scrolls that looked as if Ianto had been translating, judging from the spectacles that practically sparked with magic resting nearby, along with a ream of paper and various writing implements in a cup, ready for use.
Phil knew about the magical spectacles that the Grand Master owned, the ones that would translate any language. In a deep part inside him, he almost coveted those spectacles, although he was fairly sure their use would be beyond him. Ianto Jones' original magical power had been as a Catalyst: someone who could work out just what a magical item could do and then be able to use it…before he'd been revealed as the first Cardinal Wizard born in about a thousand years.
It was a fascinating power, along with the Grand Master's ability to unpick spells, no matter how they were cast. It made him a first-rate curse breaker, as evidenced by Andrew and his return to human.
Truly, Ianto Jones was the most powerful of them all. That included Phil himself, and he could wrestle a Void Point into submission. And he'd argue with anyone who disputed that fact.
There were a couple of chairs in the room as well, but Phil got the impression that Ianto had brought them in for them to use before their arrival. They were positioned opposite what resembled some sort of plain wooden coffin, flat-topped, with two age-stained brass handles on each side, one set at the front and the second at the back. It was resting on a wooden trestle, keeping it off the stone floor.
It bothered Phil to look at it.
Judging from the expression on Stephen's face, it did the same to him. "What is that?" the Great Grand Master demanded, taking one of the chairs and turning it away from facing the casket.
"That was found in the mansion Hydra was using as a base, and was just delivered about half an hour ago" Ianto explained. He rested a hand on it, and Phil had to wonder just how he was doing that, because that thing wasn't any sort of magic that the Void Wizard knew. It seemed to have been made up of all three orders, which should have been impossible as Cardinal and Void magicks didn't like to cooperate.
And yet, there they were. Whoever had enchanted that casket had been extremely powerful, and had had the cooperation of all three Orders to do whatever it was they'd done.
"This," Ianto continued, "is a Zero Cabinet."
Phil felt his jaw drop in surprise.
A Zero Cabinet was…nothing. Whatever was placed within it, would never wither, nor age, nor decay. It held back entropy in a way that should have been impossible, and yet there it was…sitting on that frame, denying Phil's certain knowledge that such a thing couldn't possibly exist.
"I thought they were myths," Stephen exclaimed.
As had Phil, and he said so.
"I've only heard of one before finding this," the Cardinal Grand Master answered, "and that had been discovered in a cave, of all places, on Argentyn Devastal…by Harold Saxon."
Before Phil had become the Dark One and had started his reign of terror, Void Master Harold Saxon had been the standard by which every Wizard with questionable morals had been measured. Harold Saxon had attempted to release the Silver Devastation upon the world, and had very nearly succeeded. He'd been stopped, no one really knows how it happened as the story had long been kept a secret from only a select few, for reasons Phil didn't know.
Harold Saxon had been mad. And he'd apparently been able to find a mythical artifact in a cave.
"Do we know who made this one?" Phil had to ask, it was a question that needed to be answered. If it had been one of the Wizards of Hydra…
"No idea," Ianto replied, "only that it's very old. I've examined it as best I could, and I wouldn't hesitate to put its age at over two thousand years old."
"So," Stephen sighed, "before magic was locked away."
Phil nodded. "That makes sense. I sincerely doubt such a thing could have been enchanted in this day and age."
"Phil's right," Stephen agreed. "Did you find anything interesting about it?"
"I did." Ianto walked over to the workbench, lifting the lid and bringing out a white cloth. He gravely passed it to Phil, who gently unwrapped the cloth, not wanting to touch whatever it was it held.
It was a hair.
A long, brown hair.
"Someone was kept in that thing?" he demanded. He was outraged that anyone would have stooped to holding another person prisoner within a Zero Cabinet.
How long had whoever it was been preserved within? It could have been centuries, and they would have been exactly the same coming out as going in. They wouldn't have even dreamed, only held in stasis until the casket was opened once more.
"That's what it looked like," Ianto confirmed. He looked as angry as Phil felt.
As did Stephen. "And we thought Hydra was bad before…do we have any idea who it might have been?"
Phil cast his mind back to walking into the Hydra mansion, attempting to recall just who he'd seen in that place that had long, straight hair that dark.
He immediately discarded the Master Wizards and their Novices. None of them had the hair that matched the strand in Phil's hand. That left only one person.
"The Winter Knight," he found himself speaking before he even realized he'd said anything.
"He had hair like that?" Ianto confirmed.
"He did. Now, I didn't get a look at him. You'd have to ask either Clint or Daisy about it. But, Clint did describe him to me, and it matches." He wrapped the hair back up in its cloth, handing it back to the Cardinal Grand Master.
"I was thinking that may be the case." Ianto accepted the cloth bundle back.
"Can we use that hair to Scry for him?" Stephen inquired.
Ianto smiled. "We can. Something this connected to the man should be able to find him easily."
Phil thought of the worktable out in the casting chamber with the map already prepared, and figured out that Ianto had already planned on it. He just had to wonder why it had taken the man this long to go hunting for the Winter Knight?
Something must have shown in his face – he was going to have to work on getting his inscrutableness back, apparently – because Ianto said, "I only found the hair a few minutes before you both arrived. I also wanted to get some sort of confirmation on who it might have belonged to." He smiled slightly. "I'd actually summoned you here to talk about plans to dig Hydra out of Void Order. This just sidetracked me a little."
"It's a damned good reason to be sidetracked." Stephen stood, still not looking directly at the Zero Cabinet. "Although, this begs the question…or two, at that: one, just who is the Winter Knight? And two: how long has he been in Hydra hands, if indeed Hydra's been around since the Century War?"
They'd explained what the Avatar of Gateway had said about Hydra not being a new organization. However, Phil hadn't heard of them until that day at Shield Keep, when John Garrett had approached him about joining their cabal…and the Void Wizard prided himself on knowing about that era, if only because of his respect and regard for Sir Steven Rogers.
This was something they'd need to ask the man when he finally awakened.
"And three," Phil said softly, "just how did Hydra get its hands on this thing?" He motioned toward the Cabinet.
"I suggest we find him and ask," Ianto said. He led the way out of the study and back into the casting chamber, toward the table that was already set up with a map of the Western Lands, specifically the western edge of the country.
Phil nodded at that, because that was where the Winter Knight had last been seen.
He hoped this worked. Taking the Winter Knight out of play – although he'd seemed to have broken from his Hydra masters – would be a coup they couldn't afford to let get away.
He'd never been much of a scryer, so watching the Grand Master prepare the crystal pendulum was a rare treat. Phil took careful note of the spells involved, vowing to try it again now that he'd watched Ianto do it, thinking this way was more elegant and less messy than what Phil had once attempted. That had led to a mess and the need to replace the workbench he'd been using.
The hair was effortlessly bound to the pendulum that Ianto had brought out of the wooden box; Phil had gotten a glimpse inside, and noticed that there were easily half a dozen more within.
"I can't believe you actually stalked Jack with one of these," Stephen laughed, once the crystal was ready.
"Excuse me?" Phil asked, confused.
"When we were looking for Daisy, Ianto here Scryed for her, using one of those pendula with a thread from a shirt she owned." Stephen's dark eyes were highly amused. "It was at that time we discovered that Ianto not only magically stalked his husband when they were separated, but had crystals made up for everyone he'd ever known that he was close to."
Ianto didn't look at all apologetic for it. "I like to know where my loved ones are."
Phil couldn't help but laugh. "Now, I want to make one up for Daisy so I'll always be able to find her." And Clint, as well, but for some reason he didn't want to admit that aloud. Everyone might know they were together now, but the Void Wizard didn't want to admit to anyone else just how he felt about the Elf.
It wasn't because he was ashamed or anything. However, what he and Clint had was personal, and private, and he didn't want to share it with anyone.
It was fine for them to know they were lovers. Not that Phil loved him. Not yet, anyway. Even though he did, very much. He wasn't ready for it to be public knowledge just yet.
Although, from Daisy's greeting to the Elf when they'd arrived, it was obvious she'd already guessed how much he was feeling for Clint.
From the expression Ianto was aiming in his direction, he knew exactly what Phil was thinking and thought it was ridiculous to hide such a thing.
Perhaps he should rethink this.
Phil shook his head. He needed to concentrate on what was going on now, and worry about how much everyone had assumed about his relationship with Clint later. It really wasn't anyone else's business, but it was most likely too late for that.
Ianto had the crystal dangling over the map, holding the pendulum lightly by the large O-ring that was at the end of the silver chain. Phil could feel the magic being evoked, and as he watched the crystal tugged forward, to land onto the map.
On the city of Golden Gate.
Right where the Hydra base had been.
The Winter Knight hadn't moved far from the area.
"Can we get that any closer?" Phil asked, leaning over the map. Golden Gate was north of Barony Ferrous but Phil hadn't ever been there. It hadn't been high on his list of priorities as the Dark One, being a city larger than what he and Marcus would have normally targeted, and afterward he'd stayed at home, only visiting Ferrous when he'd have meetings with Pepper. He did know it was a trading hub with one of the best seaports on the west coast, but beyond that…
"I'll need to find a map of Golden Gate," Ianto said, deactivating the magic and pulling the crystal away. "I'm not sure if I have one…let me check."
He put the crystal onto the closed lid of the box, and then went to one of the shelves, where he retrieved a scroll tube. Phil could sense the magic in the tube, and from the smile on Stephen's face he knew what that magic was. It wasn't Cardinal or Void, that the Wizard could tell.
"If we find exactly where the Winter Knight is," Stephen said, as Ianto ran his wand over the tube, using the tip to flip open the end, "we'll need to figure out who to send after him."
The Void Wizard immediately knew he'd be going. He wanted to see this through. The Winter Knight might have escaped his controllers, but he'd manhandled his daughter. He couldn't allow that to stand.
"No, Phil," Stephen said softly. He rested a hand on the Void Wizard's shoulder. "I know what you're thinking; it's written all over your face. But, we need you here, to help root out Hydra from Void Order. We'll need to figure something else out, but you can't go haring off after the Winter Knight just because of what occurred with Hydra."
"Stephen's correct," Ianto added. He must have found the proper map, judging from the one he was holding in his hand. "You're going to be busy enough here."
"Damnit," he swore. They were right. Of course they were. Hunting the Winter Knight wasn't in his future, and he knew that.
"Let's find him first," the Cardinal Wizard urged, "and then we can decide."
With those words, he was laying the map out on the table, using the paperweights to keep the edges from curling up. As Phil watched, he stuffed far too many maps back into the tube, figuring out that it had been enchanted with a Dimensional Expansion spell. Neat. He wanted that spell.
"Ianto's already promised me a copy." Stephen said, when Phil said exactly that. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind getting you one as well."
"Not at all," Ianto said serenely. Once again, he held the crystal over this map, calling upon the magic to Scry for the Winter Knight.
It landed.