The Wizard and the Void - Chapter Nineteen
Author: Milady Dragon
Daisy was regretting her crying jag, as it just made her head hurt worse.
She had no idea how long she'd been weeping, curled up with Skye on the bed, scared and hurting and terrified for her Dad. There was no telling what they were having him do, because he'd do anything to keep her safe. With the surrounding Void stifling her connection with the Deep Ways, there was no way she could escape, to get past the man who was guarding her door. She could put Melinda's lessons to good use, but there was something about the man called the Winter Knight that had her doubting she'd get very far.
Besides, she had no idea where her Dad even was. Nor how many people there were in this place.
Daisy's stomach was growling. It had to have been hours since she last ate, but she wasn't going to let her hunger get the better of her. After all, she'd been starving before, and while it had been eleven years since that time, she could still recall it vividly. Dad had helped her through that period, taught her that there was plenty to eat now, and that she didn't need to horde food away in case there wasn't any forthcoming. That had taken years for him to accomplish, and he'd had the utmost patience for the job. It had made her love him even more.
Still, she could remember it. And she could deal with it.
Daisy did have water, though. Someone had provided a pitcher that was sitting on the table by the bed, but she hadn't had any yet. There was a small voice in the back of her head wondering if it was drugged or poisoned with something that would keep her quiet. There would come a point when she'd have to risk it, but for now she was fine.
It was getting dark outside. Through the window Daisy could see the ocean, and the house appeared to be too far up high on a promontory for her to use that window to escape. She did know it had been full daylight when she'd been pushed into the room, but not the exact time of day, so she had no idea just how long she'd been left on her own. It was worrying, but not for herself; for her Dad, because she had no idea what they were doing to him.
She laid back, closing her eyes against the pain in her head…and her heart. The young Wizard felt useless, and the notion of her being used as a hostage against her father grated. She wanted to escape, to free herself, but at the moment she couldn't come up with a way to do it.
Daisy was dozing off when she heard the door open. Sitting up quickly caused her head to throb even worse and her stomach to churn, but she disregarded it as she watched the Winter Knight practically toss someone else into the room and slam the door closed once more. The man stumbled, and he turned back to the door, shouting multiple curse words at the top of his lungs.
Daisy recognized him at once.
"Clint?" she said, her voice wobbling a lot.
He spun around, his eyes widening and then softening in relief. "Daisy!" he exclaimed. "Are you hurt?"
"I have the worst headache ever and I feel like I want to lose my lunch…not that I've actually had any lunch, but otherwise…"
She got a good look at him. He looked terrible, his eyes bloodshot and glassy as if he, himself, had been crying. There was a blossoming bruise on his jaw, and the leather armor she'd seem him wearing back at the Keep had been stripped away, leaving him in a deep purple undershirt and black trousers. His feet were bare as well, and she couldn't work out why they'd take his boots. That just seemed a little extreme to her.
But that thought went out of her head once she'd really gotten a good look at him.
"What's wrong?" she demanded, her heart sinking at his paleness and the evidence of some sort of emotional distress in his eyes. "Where's Dad?"
She couldn't help but notice the flinch he gave at that second question.
Daisy clambered off the bed, stumbling up to him. "Clint…where's Dad?" Her heart was thundering in panic. Something was very, very wrong, and Clint wouldn't look at her.
"Daisy, I…" He swallowed, like there was something blocking his throat. The pain and sadness in his eyes…she just knew what he was going to say,
"He's…" she couldn't say it, her hand coming up to cover her mouth, not wanting the words to escape. If she said them, it would be real, and she didn't want it to be real.
Clint put his hands on her shoulders, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I tried to have his back, but…"
Daisy didn't hear him. She was wailing her sorrow out, and suddenly she was in the Elf's arms, his own shaking a compliment to hers. She could feel his tears on her hair, and knew he was just as upset as she was. They were both mourning, her for the only father she'd known, and him for a friend – or more – that he'd now lost twice. It wasn't fair to either of them.
Somehow, they ended up on the floor, Skye huddled over them, sheltering them with her wings as if to keep their pain private. Daisy knew she was mourning as well, the dragon's own anguished cries joining with her own. Clint was silent, but no less upset for all that, and she didn't even need the same link with him that she had with her dragon to feel it.
It was full dark outside when she finally was able to control her tears, several glowglobes on the walls fading into light the darker it got within the room. She pulled back a little, not wanting to get out of the hug she so desperately needed, but craving to know what had happened to her Dad.
She wanted to know who she needed to kill.
"How did it happen?" she whispered, her voice hoarse from her weeping.
Clint looked devastated, and once again she had to wonder just how much he loved her Dad, and for how long. "We…arrived on schedule…"
He went on to explain about the meeting, and what Pierce had intimated: that Dad was actually like the Deathless. Dad had denied it to the Void Wizards, of course, but Daisy had often wondered just how he'd survived Loki. When he'd found her, he'd been wearing a shirt covered in dried blood, holes in both the front and the back. From what she'd seen, no one could have survived that, but she'd wanted to believe he'd gotten the clothes from some corpse or other. To now know the damage must have been caused by the mortal wound that Loki had given him…
"They were wrong, though," Clint went on. He told her of the fight, and of the Novice called Raina who'd had some sort of power of suggestion, because she'd easily talked Dad into ceasing fighting. Clint had been in close combat with the man who, from his description, had been the Winter Knight – and wasn't Daisy mad at herself for not keeping track of him, she might have attempted to escape while he'd been gone. If all of this had occurred before she'd been caught and thrown into the room.
"I called out to him, and I thought he was going to break free…but then, Pierce got up behind him – "
"Pierce? Grand Master Pierce?"
Clint nodded. "They're all high-ranking Voids."
She knew then that the man who'd caught her and left her with the Winter Knight had been Alexander Pierce. It had to have been him, there was no other option. The Grand Master of the Voids…after the power of the Deathless. It just seemed so very inconceivable.
"Pierce had this…thing. This chain. He put it around Phil's neck, and…Gods, it killed him. He went to his knees, and then just…died." Clint choked up. "Pierce was shocked. It was obvious he wasn't expecting it."
Daisy's heart thudded painfully, wondering just what could kill someone like that, and so quickly. A curse, maybe? But why would they do that, if they'd wanted something from her Dad, and needed him alive? That didn't make sense.
Then it hit her. "Was this chain thing a very bright silver metal? Like, unnaturally bright?"
"Yeah, it was." He was staring at her. "You know what it was?"
Daisy closed her eyes. She knew immediately what it was; she'd seen a small sample of it at school, and it was far worse than any curse that could have been cast. "It's called Vibranium. It's…I guess you'd say it's anti-magic. When he put it on Dad, it…cut his connection to the Void."
The Elf was puzzled. "But why would that…" Even Clint couldn't say it, which shouldn't have made Daisy feel better, but it did.
"Both Cardinals and Voids," she struggled to explain, "we're connected directly to either the Deep Ways or the Void. It's literally a part of us. You take that away…" The young Wizard shook her head. "Right now, my connection is seriously muffled, and if I don't get out of here soon it will eventually kill me, too."
She had to wonder if that would be so bad. Maybe she'd even meet her Dad again in one of the Heavens…
But, no. He wouldn't want her to give up. She needed to make him proud of her, even if he wasn't around to see it anymore.
"I'm not surprised that it's affecting you. Phil…your Dad says this place is built on top of a Void Point. Your powers are being smothered by all that power."
That made sense. While Daisy had always been comfortable around Dad, and he was…had been…a very powerful Void Wizard, it had never bothered her, because it was a part of him and he had excellent control. But this…this was different. Very different.
"Dad's connection to the Void was completely severed. That's why Vibranium is really dangerous. It…" she still couldn't say it.
But, Clint understood. He hugged her to him once more, and Daisy let him, needing the closeness as much as the Elf obviously did. They might have just met that morning, but the young woman felt as if he'd known him all of her life…despite having never heard his name before he'd been introduced earlier in the day. Her Dad had trusted him, and so would she. She thought he might have done a little bit more than trusting.
"But, if Dad…" she had to say it, now, and it made it all real, "died, then he's not this other Deathless. Or else he would have come back…even with his connection to the Void severed. At least, does it work that way?" She wasn't sure, to be honest.
"No," he murmured into her hair. "From what the bastards talked about, he shouldn't have even died because of that chain…the Vibranium, because if he was Deathless he would have been filled with the Void, instead of being connected to it. The chain was only meant to incapacitate his magic long enough for them to capture him. We waited for hours for some sort of sign, but there was nothing. Pierce and the others were…well, disappointed isn't a strong enough word. They were yelling at Pierce for having done it, actually. It was a pretty impressive argument."
Daisy laughed, but it was a horrible, strangled sound. "Serves them right, only I had to lose my Dad to prove he wasn't what they thought." This heartache wasn't going to go away anytime soon, and they had things to do. Like bring down Hydra…for her Dad. Daisy really, really wanted revenge. "Do you have some way to get us out of here?"
"I have a ring that will teleport us back to either Triskelia or Shield Keep, whichever one's closest. They searched me, but I'd hidden the ring just in case. Also, it really wasn't my style, and I didn't feel like wearing it in the open. They did take the Explosive spell ring I was wearing, though, and all the enchanted arrows Phil made up for me."
"So we can get out of here?" Daisy wanted nothing more than to get them all for taking her father away from her, but they needed to get reinforcements first. They'd managed to murder her Dad, after all, which meant they were strong, stronger now because of the Void Point. She and Clint didn't stand a chance against them, no matter that she wanted to kill them all with her bare hands.
She wondered if this was how Dad had felt, when he'd been the Dark One. The young Wizard could certainly understand if it was, the need to burn them all down because they'd stolen something very precious from her. In her Dad's case, it had been his innocence and good nature. For Daisy…well, there was only one thing she wanted to strike out at them for.
"Yep." Clint pulled away, and the young Wizard missed his hugs immediately. He reached into his tunic, pulling out a ring that Daisy recognized immediately as the one Dad had given Uncle Nick. She'd also seen it on Clint's finger back at the Keep.
She then had an idea. "Let me see that?"
She was very familiar with the spell on the ring: it was a Teleport spell, but a very basic one, that would only work between Uncle Nick's castle and Shield Keep. It could also be used from anywhere else, but it would only take someone back to either place, and nowhere else, whichever was the closest to where they were at that particular moment.
The last thing Daisy wanted to do was leave her Dad's body behind. Chances were, they'd do something to him, since he'd ended up not that useful to them after all. There was no way in any hells was she going to let that happen.
Daisy could sense her Dad's magical signature within the ring's spell. It was as obvious to her as her own was. She'd lived with him, watched him perform his spells, and he'd even taught her some that could be adapted to both Cardinal and Void types of magic. His help with her wards had been amazing, and he was patient to boot.
Teleport spells were universal; any Wizard could cast one, if they were advanced enough in their skills. Daisy was still a Novice, but she'd watched her Dad, and could feel around the magic he'd used to make this an artifact anyone could use. Hopefully, she could work with it…
"What are you doing?" Clint murmured.
"We can't just leave Dad here, not with these animals," she answered, half of her aching mind on the spell, poking around it to see if she could change the coordinates. "Dad made this for Uncle Nick, so it was only meant to be used between the Keep and Triskelia. I'm hoping I can also use Dad's magical signature to locate him and get him out of here when we leave."
"Will that work?"
"Well, we'll need to get that Vibranium off him before we leave, or it'll affect the Teleport spell as well, but I'm hoping this is going to be simple enough for me to mess with." She tried to sound confident, and it really more to boost her own ego than to reassure Clint.
"Good, because you're right. There's no way we're leaving Phil in their hands."
Daisy was glad they agreed. But then, she hadn't really doubted it.
The main problem was, the Void energy surrounding them was really suppressing her magic. She'd never had this problem around Dad, and the pain was distracting her a little. Daisy took a deep breath, and tried to block it out, the way Dad had shown her, knowing that the Void, in extremely large doses, was likely going to affect her no matter how powerful she got. It really helped that she had some experience with Teleport spells, even though she'd never cast one before, and this one was really simple.
At least the spell wasn't using the Void to power itself. Dad had used a basic spell that any Wizard might have cast, with no taint of Void in it; he'd done it that way so no one would notice Uncle Nick obviously wearing a Void artifact on his finger, which would have drawn more attention than any of them really needed. That made it a little easier to manipulate, but as Daisy wasn't quite advanced enough…
It was sheer stubbornness that kept her at it. She could feel Clint and Skye beside her, her dragon supporting her through their link and with her physical proximity. The spell was beautiful in its simplicity, lines and whorls and angles in her magical sight, and once again she hoped that, one day, she could be as elegant at casting such magicks as her Dad was.
Had been.
Damn, that was something she would never get used to referring to him in the past tense. She didn't want him to be dead, but she didn't doubt Clint. He'd seen it, and would have had no reason to lie. Besides, she doubted he was that good of an actor. His mourning was very real.
Dad had once told her that casting and manipulating magic wasn't just the mental. There were sometimes physical components involved, and those had to be taken into consideration as well. It was like when he used lavender in his Sleep potions; it made them that much stronger than just waving a wand over the cauldron and hoping for the best. It was also like the old stories about the Wizard who'd used his own name to solidify a spell, it was the base on which the magic could settle around, to remain anchored to.
Teleport spells were like that, which was why they were often cast upon specific objects. They could also be manipulated physically, to get them to reset their coordinates. So, she used a fingernail to move some of the lines of magic around, knowing that Clint wouldn't be able to see what she could but she thought he would understand the tiny movements she was making over the ring in the palm of her hand. Usually, Dad would have used small tools for this sort of thing, and Daisy found herself wishing for the miniature probes he had in his casting chamber. Her own nail would have to do, and she carefully caught up one of the spell lines, a bright blue in her magical sight. The spell jangled alarmingly, disturbed by her manipulation, but then settled into a new configuration. She couldn't help but smile.
Her back was hurting from hunching over, so Daisy stretched a moment. "So," she said, taking this opportunity, "you love my Dad, don't you?" She didn't wince when she used the present tense. She'd probably be doing that a lot, until it sank in that he was gone forever.
Clint sighed. "I…could have. I mean, back when we were running together I was seriously attracted, but…he's changed. I was still very attracted, but I really wanted to get to know this new Phil better before I answer that question. I…planned to, you know? After this was over, I'd planned…well, I suppose that's not going to happen now."
Unexpectedly, in that moment Daisy didn't want to lose him in her life. She wanted him to hang around, to get to know him, and maybe they could be a bit of a family after they got more familiar with one another. He could tell her stories about Dad before she'd come along, and the young Wizard could let him know about how Dad had changed.
"Please don't leave," she found herself saying, blushing at how needy she sounded. "When we get out of this…please, don't leave me."
"Not gonna happen," he reassured her. "You're stuck with me now, kid."
She huffed. "Not a kid."
"Yeah, you are. Now, get back on that ring, so we can get the hells out of here."
"Got it."
And so, she did, picking around the essentials of the spell, seeing the components and twisting then slightly. This could go so horribly wrong, and they could be trapped in that house, but she had to try. She needed to get her Dad back, and then get them all to safety. It wouldn't matter where; home, or Triskelia. She was hoping for home but at this point either one was fine.
There was another twang against her magical senses, and then the spell sang to her. Taking a deep breath, Daisy then did the one thing that would get them to her Dad.
She reached out and grabbed at the Void that penetrated everything.
Daisy was a Cardinal Wizard. She couldn't do anything with the Void. It was beyond her. There had been stories that Grand Master Ianto had once used a Void Point during a battle ages ago, but he'd had the help of an actual Void Wizard and hadn't had to do much with it himself. What Daisy was trying to do was attune the ring to her Dad, even though his connection to the Void had been cut off completely. She was hoping there would still be that synchronicity, that resonance, with the Void even though he was…wasn't alive anymore.
She wasn't going to accept failure.
Oh Gods, her head was aching so badly. The Void was slippery in her mental fingers, like cold oil but not overly uncomfortable if she was honest. She chalked that up to being close to her Dad, and watching his casual use of his own magic, and her being used to having it near. That was helping, in a way, but it was also hurting her, because her own magic was so very different. She wanted to scream at the Void, demand that it let her do this for her Dad, to get him back after everything he'd been through in his life and terrified that the Hydra Wizards would…no, she wasn't even going to consider that.
She raged at it in her head, accusing it of failing her father.
Then to her surprise and gratitude, the Void decided to cooperate. A small tendril wisped its way into the coordinates of the spell, twining about the whorls that indicated where she wanted to go. The whorls began to spin, faster and faster, and Daisy pulled out of her manipulation just in time to grab Clint's hand with her free one. Skye had already climbed onto her shoulders, the better to watch and to keep close, so when the spell activated everyone went with her…
To what looked like some sort of laboratory.
Luckily for them, there wasn't anyone around. They'd arrived sitting on the cold, stone floor, and Daisy slowly climbed to her feet, not wanting to dislodge Skye but also needing to be careful of the near migraine she'd gotten out of her effort. If she jostled her head a little too much, she felt as if it was going to fall off.
Clint helped her rise, encouraging Skye to climb onto his shoulders in order to give her a little break. The dragon went willingly, but Daisy wasn't bothered. After all, it was an Elf thing, and Clint was a nice guy, not because Skye was abandoning her. Besides, her dragon knew just how much pain Daisy was in, and would want to make it easier for her.
The lab was…wrong. It wasn't like the ones at the school; Daisy couldn't say what was different, except there was a miasma in the air that just told of so much evil having been done within, as if the ghosts of Hydra's victims were still screaming. The Void was also tainted here, and even to Daisy it felt sick, as if it was suffering as well.
She gagged a little.
"You okay?" Clint asked worriedly.
"This isn't right. I might be a Cardinal, but even I can tell the Void has been damaged in here."
"This is probably where they've been doing all their experiments. They didn't tell us what sorts, but you can just bet they were nasty."
Daisy thought that was a very smart bet, because she was positive he was right. It made her even more determined to find Dad and leave.
There was a glassed-off room next to the laboratory, and within Daisy could make out a black shrouded figure on a table, and her heart constricted painfully, knowing that was her Dad.
Without even realizing she was moving, the young Wizard was out of the laboratory and into that plain room. She didn't even really notice her surroundings, her attention focused on that still, covered figure. Her hand trembling, she reached out to pull that shroud aside, needing to see her Dad, to see that Clint had told the truth about him being gone. Not that she doubted him, but she really needed to see it with her own eyes.
"Daisy," Clint murmured.
"No, I need to…"
"Okay." His hand rested on her shoulder. "But I'll take that Vibranium thing off. You don't need to do that. Leave it to me and I'll take care of it."
She had no problem with that. She doubted she could even touch it if she wanted to.
The shroud was cold and silky smooth in her fingers. Daisy pulled it aside, revealing her Dad's face.
She sobbed once, the rest of that horrible sound lodging firmly in her throat, choking her and keeping her silent. Dad actually appeared peaceful, although there was a speck of blood under his nose, where he must have bled when he was suddenly cut off from the Void. His face was almost white, his eyes cracked open just a little so she could see just a sliver of blue, and she couldn't delude herself into thinking he was simply sleeping.
Lola's head lay next to his. She'd been snugged up against him, her scales so pale they were almost pink and gray. Daisy had seen her lay like that before, on quiet nights when he would be reading on the couch in his study, the fire going in the fireplace, Daisy working on her lessons as they simply spent time together.
She tugged the shroud down a little farther, revealing the bright metal of a chain around his neck. Daisy couldn't look at it; while it might have appeared smooth and clean, in her magical sight there was a terrible nothingness there, a null space that was just so horribly wrong she wanted nothing more than to rip it from him and throw it in the ocean.
Still, she had enough sense left under the absolute rage that they'd done that to him to let Clint be the one to handle the Vibranium. He passed Skye back to her then, taking a deep breath, unfastened the chain and tossed it aside, the metal making an almost musical tinkle as it collided with the wall and then hit the floor.
"Gods, Phil," he murmured brokenly. "I would have given the world to have had a second chance with you."
Daisy did the only thing she could: she reached over and took his hand, needing that simple contact for a moment before they got out of there. Clint's palm was warm, with some interesting callouses that had to have come from his bow and his sword.
"Let's get him out of here," she whispered. It wasn't right that he was there, in that place, and so helpless. She wasn't used to her Dad being helpless and so unnaturally still.
"Oh, I don't think you'll be taking him anywhere."
They both jerked at the voice. Clint stepped in front of Daisy, protecting her, and she glanced around the taller man to see who it was standing there. It was a man, with spectacles, his arm in a sling, face pale and drawn in pain. A jet black dragon was at his side, and it hissed at them. Skye hissed back.
"This is Daniel Whitehall," Clint introduced sarcastically. "He looked really good with an arrow in his shoulder."
"You should have aimed for his heart," Daisy said spitefully.
"I don't really think he has one."
The young Wizard barked a laugh at that. No doubt Clint was correct.
"You can imagine our surprise when we discovered you weren't in your room anymore," Whitehall said. He seemed to be perfectly calm, but there was something in his pale eyes that had Daisy shivering in response. "I'd certainly like to know how you both got past the Winter Knight. He's not usually that careless with our guests."
Clint started, surprised. "What did you call him?"
A smirk erased a few of the pain lines from the man's face. "The Winter Knight. I take it, you've heard of him?"
"He's a legend," the Elf said flatly. "A ghost."
"No, he isn't. And he's under our control. He's been quite useful, although he's more Pierce's pet than anyone else's."
Daisy wished she knew what Clint had heard about that guy, because he was downright scary. She didn't ever want to meet the Winter Knight again, not without the full use of her powers, and maybe not even then.
"Look," she spoke up, "I just want to take my Dad home. You've already killed him…I just want to go home with him." She couldn't help the tears, despite the surprise that she had any tears left to cry. Her anger was raging within her, but the sorrow was smothering all that rage, like sand upon an open fire.
She needed time to mess with the ring once more, to get it back aligned with its original coordinates. The Hydra bastard wasn't giving her that.
"Oh, I don't think so," Whitehall said, his smile turning into something horrific. "We might have been wrong about him being a form of Deathless, but there's still so many things we can learn from his corpse. We have plans yet, for him and for the pair of you, and none of you will be leaving."
"I wouldn't say that."
Daisy felt as if she was going to faint, and her nails dug into the back of Clint's hand. She could tell he was just as dumfounded as she was from the audible gasp he let out.
That was her Dad speaking.
But he was dead.