Frostbite

Kamar-Taj

People were scattered throughout the courtyard, many of them practicing the same magic Stephen had used. Several moments went by as I stood there, processing what was before me. It was amazing, and I desperately wanted to learn about it all.

"This is Kamar-Taj?" I verified, and he nodded from beside me, "What is the purpose of this? What are you protecting?"

"The masters of the mystic arts use magic to protect reality from any mystical threats," he began explaining, strolling into the building behind us, "You- the avengers- protect us from physical threats, but we specialize in the ones you don't always see. There are three sanctum sanctorums linked across Earth, one in London, one in Hong Kong, and one in New York. They house many of our relics and sorcerers."

We stopped in a large room, my eyes scanning the space curiously as I asked another question, "So how does it all work? How do you just- study it- and poof magic? How is it possible?"

He chuckled and replied, "There are several ways to draw the energy required to perform any spell. Personal energy, which obviously comes from yourself and is limited to mental abilities like astral projection, telekinesis, and telepathy. These are more difficult because your body only has so much energy to draw from and if you use too much it can be fatal. The easier source to draw from is the universal energy from the sorcerer's home dimension, which can be used for conjuration, transmutation, teleportation. Then there are dimensional energies, which are drawn from other planes in the multiverse and have to be gifted by an extra-dimensional entity. We never use this; it usually requires a deal, or some promise or sacrifice in return. It's dark magic."

My head spun at the information. Multiverse? I knew we weren't the only ones out there... but the thought of multiple universes... It was mind boggling. He motioned for me to follow him, and he led me deeper into the building.

"So, you live here?"

"No, I am the master of the New York sanctum. Only people who are here to learn and train stay here. There is an extensive library in the west wing, which you are more than welcome to use. No knowledge is forbidden here."

"Nothing?" I blurted in surprise.

"No, only certain practices."

"Are you from New York? You were a doctor- before all this?" I wondered, waving my arm to our surroundings. We turned down another corridor, and he smiled a bit as he spoke.

"Yes, to both. I was the best; people came from all over to have me operate on them."

"You sure think highly of yourself," I muttered, to which he gave an exasperated huff. His demeanor slightly reminded me of Tony. Though I didn't think there was a chance in hell they'd ever get along if they met. Stephen seemed just as arrogant as Tony.

We walked through an archway that led into a chamber with three doors spread around it. There was a pedestal in the center of the room that had a golden amulet shaped like an eye with a glowing green stone housed in its center hovering over it. I stepped closer to study it further.

"What is that?"

"It's the eye of Agamotto. He was the founder of the masters of the mystic arts, and he created the eye to hold the time stone. We are sworn to protect it at all costs."

"The time stone? One of the infinity stones has been here this whole time?" I glanced at him in awe. Thor had explained there were other stones other than the mind stone that was in vision and the space stone that was safely tucked away in Asgard, but no one knew where the others were located or what they even did. "Have you used it?" I resisted the urge to reach out and touch it.

"Yes, but it should be handled with caution. It is a powerful weapon and can be extremely dangerous. It's kept here for safe keeping. Don't mess with it. Wong is less understanding than I am," he grunted, referring to someone I was sure to meet. He pointed at the three doors surrounding us. "Each one of these leads to one of the three sanctums."

With that, he turned on his heel and left the room so that I had to hurry to fall into step with him again. A few minutes later we halted outside of a wooden door.

"This will be your room while you're here. Later we could talk about moving you to the New York sanctum if you'd prefer but seeing how you're a wanted fugitive..." he shrugged, not bothered in the slightest that he would be housing a criminal. "We'll start tomorrow as it's already morning and you look like crap. All your things are already inside."

"Wow, thanks. That really boosts a girl's confidence doctor," I drawled, trying not to dwell on how he had gotten ahold of my few belongings. He snorted in response. Something clicked in my mind, and I whipped my head around to balk at him. "We? As in you are going to teach me?"

"Obviously."

"I saw instructors out there in the courtyard; I figured one of them was going to do it."

"Yes, well, I want it done right and you're different from everyone else here."

"How so?"

He narrowed his eyes in disbelief, "Uh- the fact that you have powers."

Oh. Right. I rolled my eyes and reached for the door handle, ready to finally clean up and lay down.

"Before you go, there's one condition. You have to cut back on drinking. I'm sure you realized that after tonight anyway; It just makes it easier for you learn when your mind is clear."

"Fine, done," I agreed a tad frostily. I couldn't tell if he was judging or not, not that I should care. He turned away to leave without another word.

I hesitated and then called after him when he was almost around the corner, "Hey! Thank you... I- uh- just thank you."

He glanced over his shoulder with a sad smile and only said, "I know what it's like to be out of options. To be without a purpose. Don't mention it."