Dead for as far as the eyes can see

Rain pounded on the awning over Silvyr and Leah head's as they stood next to a building on a street corner. Neither of them had moved from the spot for the past thirty minutes. Silvyr knew he would have to wait for his colleague to meet him considering he told him to meet there thirty minutes later than he planned on arriving. In the back of his mind he knew he wasn't completely safe while in London even though he doubted any Death Eaters knew him for who he was. Someone above them. Someone who could kill them in an instant without his Lord questioning his decision for doing so. He was beyond loyal and he knew he was respected for it. The thought of sticking around someone's coat tails made him cringe. He was more than some foot soldier that fought for the betterment of the wizarding world. He didn't care about the repetitive ideas of the wizards who made up the Order or Death Eaters. The way he saw it was the wizarding world no longer needed to be masked. No longer should he be looked at like a freak by the muggles passing on the street staring at him like a beast. The world was ready for a change and he planned on being one of the wizards who flipped the page of history.

Silvyr wasn't a fool though. He never had been and never would be unless it gave him an opening. One that he knew he could exploit easily. His eyes moved carelessly on the outside while his mind took in every detail of his surroundings to make sure he hadn't been followed. As far as he could tell the coast was clear. A man talking on the cell phone stopped in front of Silvyr and Leah. Silvyr could tell the man wanted his attention but he refused to show the man the respect of looking at him. Silvyr had sized him up fifty feet before he had gotten close to him and knew he wasn't a threat. The man spoke in a artificial pleasant voice, "What a cute dog. What's her name?" Silvyr continued to ignore the man as his eyes scanned over the few people passing by on the other side of the street under their umbrellas. The man continued to speak childishly to Leah who was staring at the man. The hair on the back of her neck began to raise showing she was clearly bothered. "Is she friendly? Can I pet her?" the man asked. Silvyr replied bluntly without looking at him, "She doesn't play nice with people like you. Why don't you shut the F*** up, take your little cell phone, and go about your business okay asshole." He had put the anger in his voice purposely to get the man moving. The man stood up strait and Silvyr could feel his eyes on him. He spoke again though his tone had changed drastically. "Excuse me, what did you just say to me?" Silvyr looked at the man for the first time in the conversation. His expression hadn't changed a bit. "If you don't leave right now then I'm going to let my cute friend here do what she was about to do a minute ago. You got that?" The mans eyes darted to Leah who's teeth were bared as she sat next to Silvyr slightly growling. Without a moments hesitation the man shuffled quickly across the street without looking back.

Silvyr placed his hand on Leah's head while she looked up at him and licked his forearm happy that she had his attention. The rain continued to fall heavily yet Sivlyr knew Whight wouldn't be late. He never was. The clock struck Eleven Thirty and Silvyr checked the side walks that stretched out to his left and right. He knew better than to expect to spot the man from far out but he wasn't checking for faces. Silvyr knew all to well that the body language of someone could tell him more than he needed to know.

Whight peered out through his blinds; he hated the rain. Nevertheless he knew Silvyr would already be waiting for him no matter the conditions, but Whight typically made it a point to arrive exactly as specified. Whight looked into the mirror as he buttoned up his shirt while shifting his features. He was going for a more casual look than normal. Considering where they were headed, one of Whight's traditional suits would only pose an inconvenience. He was surprised at the difficulty he came across while searching his wardrobe for some old travel wear.

Whight looked to his watch; only a minute was left before Silvyr would expect him. He pulled a sactual over his shoulder and grabbed his umbrella. It would be more than just a few days before their return. Whight had been planning this trip for a number of years but only recently had he met a man he trusted enough to venture with. He pressed his chest once more to ensure his journal was where it should be and at the pop of the umbrella he found himself in a back ally. Whight quickly pulled out his wand and gave it wave to ward of the enviable dampness that would come from the splashing rain.

Whight look at his watch once more. Perfect., he thought. With more than a second left, he rounded a corner and spotted Silvyr and Leah just as they should be. "Evening," he said while also giving Leah a welcoming gesture."The professor has left us a portkey just over there," he pointed and speaking louder than normal due to the storm. "It will take us to a man who has the only record of the ship's location. I can imagine he won't give the information over willingly or even at all, but I assure you, he has it." At that he turned and walked into another ally. Whight assumed Silvyr had little if anything to say. Most of the details has already be discussed so there should be no surprises.

Whight finally appreciated the storm for giving the three of them the privacy they needed to vanish from the street. He picked up the portkey and waited for Silvyr.

The clock across the street clicked to eleven thirty just as a man rounded the corner and nodded to Silvyr. The man who Silvyr guessed to be Whight made his way across the street over to where he was standing and acknowledge him along with Leah before got to the usual ways they spoke to one another in public. No chit chat was needed between the two of them. They worked well because of the way each of them were able to read others and predict their next move. Silvyr looked at it more along the lines of knowing rather than thinking though. He had learned a valuable lesson at a young age that second guessing only took time and effort away from any task at hand.

He followed Whight as they made their way to the alley a block down moving quickly. Sparing a quick glance back to the road only further proved to him that no one had found out who he really was. Looking back into the shadows he saw Whight standing and holding an old dirty can out in front of him. He stopped in front of him and waited for Leah's weight to press against his leg before he took hold and felt the jerk like pull behind his belly button yank him from the alley street.

___________

In moments they had arrived at their destination. A small vacant desert town stood before him barren and full of death. The sun shot up at his eyes as he looked down at Leah to make sure she was safe. He felt the heat already force his body to begin sweating under his jacket and t-shirt. At that moment Silvyr realized how deadly this mission was truly going to be. Not only did he have to be ready for anything waiting to kill him, he had to survive one of the harshest environments on earth.

Silvyr removed his wand from the inside of his jacket before taking it off leaving him only in his shirt. He placed it on the ground and thought of what he wanted it to transfigure into. Before his eyes the jacket morphed into a long piece of thin white cloth which he fashioned around his head and neck covering most of his face except for his eyes. He had already placed a blocking charm over them to stop the wind and sand from blinding him. He quickly placed his wand into his back left back pocket before looking out over the distant sand mounds of desert waiting for for Whight to call their next move.

The city instantly came into view. Buildings crumbled and small desert animals scurried about. Whight folded his umbrella, threw it's tip to the ground and it vanished. Sweat quickly began working to cool his body as heat continued to adjust on Whight. Excitement ran through him as the adventure had finally begun.

Whight pulled out his journal. After flipping through a few pages he found what he was looking for. When he had confirmed his second guessing, he closed the book and returned it to the pocket on his shirt. He surveyed the city and took a deep breath. This heat is going to be the worst aspect of this trip, he thought.

"Before the deadly droughts this use to be a port city. You can see some of the old docks just over there," he said as he pointed and made his way toward the city. "Believe it or not, there is only one man who lives in all of this city. He should be quiet aged by now. Weather or not he is a wizard is unbeknownst to me, but I imagine he is considering he is the only person to ever venture to the ship, survive and return with his own sanity; he will be undoubtedly crazy by our standards"

When they reached the overgrown entrance to the city, Whight pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket. "This is a rough map of the city," he showed Silvyr. "The man is said to live here in this small hut. Let us tread lightly for we know not what awaits through this passage," he said tucking the map away.

Whight drew his father's old wand.

Silvyr scanned the map taking in everything he needed. He knelt down and whispered in Leah's ear before removing his wand "Evanesco" said Silvyr and Leah turned invisible before his eyes. He knew she caught on to his plan instantly by the way she scanned the road he had just asked her to go down. She knew better than to give away their position and become a weak link. She took off silently and Silvyr stood looking to Whight now. "I saw three exit points for this man you say we're searching for. Leah will have the farthest exit covered therefore escape isn't an option for this man. I'd hate to be him. Right, so we'll enter the house in three minutes starting from now. Be ready for anything when we enter. I hope your internal clock works like ours." Silvyr said with a smile. He pointed his wand at himself and spoke the same spell before putting away his wand, morphing, and running down the street towards the house three blocks away.

He had been waiting for so long to be back on the hunt. The work he had been forced to do over the past months with the Order was tedious and boring. This is where he knew he belonged. Free in the wild and away from the petty needs of fools. Silently he sprinted passing old abandoned huts while sun began to warm his coat. Strangely he wasn't hot due to the wind that was passing by him quickly. He knew he had two minutes left until they would be interrogating the crazed man.

Silvyr wasn't underestimating the man by any means. In his mind he began to prepare for the possible traps and attacks that the man had stock piled for any would be attacker. He looked at the map once more in his mind while making a quick left followed by an immediate right. The hut would be coming up soon but he had to go a block down to get to the entrance he was trying to enter from. "T minus a minute and thirty" he said to himself in his mind while sprinting down a straight dirt road. He made another left and began his approach to the hut. A opened hole in the side of the hut served as a window made his foot prints visible from this angle. He made the quickest right he could and then a left passing between two other huts in order to stay out of sight. "T minus one minute" he thought as he stopped next to the houses. He was staring at the hut from across the street. He morphed back into his human form and drew his wand. Silvyr pointed his wand and began to cast spells giving them the upper hand. He spoke softly out loud while simultaneously saying the words in his head with much more force as he cast an anti disapparition jinx on the building followed closely by "allohamora" to unlock the door he was preparing to go through.

"T minus thirty seconds", he again said while he walked quickly across the dirt road and prepared to enter the house.

Whight's partner vanished before his eyes. As he heard Leah and Silvyr sprint off, Whight reset his watch to keep up with their time of attack. Normally Whight would have simply knocked on the man's door and invited himself in, but there were others at risk if things went wrong and Whight didn't know how powerful or stable the man was going to be.

He did not have the speed of Silvyr and Leah but Whight still took his time before making his way to the house. As he walked he thought of the spells he was more than likely going to need. The hut was small enough that it would be unreasonable for there to be more than one entrance to the home. Silvyr was cover the window while Leah covered the rear. Whight's plan wasn't much different than his typical plan of entry. There would just be no warning this time.

Whight looked to his watch. 'Two minutes to go' He scanned the city further to look for anything out of the ordinary. White spirits bobbed in and out of site. A dead couple stood on the corner arguing about complete nonsense while a small beggar boy eyed his next target.

'One minute to go'

Whight started the countdown in his head. Like his companions, he made himself look as if he was nothing but air. He rounded a corner and saw the hut a great distance away. 'Thirty seconds to go' Whight began to sprint towards the house, dust following his footsteps. At '5 seconds' Whight apparated only to reappear a few steps from the door. Whight looked over and could see that Silvyr's dusty steps were heading toward the side of the house. Whight shot a spell at the door, "Bombarda," he said as pieces of wood and rock flew everywhere. Whight waved the debris out of way and sprinted into the hut.

An old man clamored to his knees and was making his way to his wand. As his hand landed on it and Whight voiced, "Expelliarmus." Fear filled the man's eyes and he looked to bother Whight and Silvyr. Whight held is wand to the man's neck. "Where is it?," he asked.

"Where is what?" cried the old man.

"Do not toy with us old man," said Whight as he made the tip of his wand burn into the man's skin.

"I don't know what you're talking about I swear," pleaded the man.

"Looks like my friend here will have to remind you," said Whight allowing Silvyr to move in closer.

The seconds began to tick down from ten in Silvyr's mind when he saw Whight sprint towards the door. The sound of the explosion sprung his reflexes into action. The opening on the side of the hut serving as a window stood only a few feet from the ground and Silvyr easily jumped through to watch Whight disarm the old man. Seeing that the hut's only occupant was now subdued Silvyr found no reason to be invisible. With a quick flick of his wand his body appeared out of thin air. The man's eyes showed everything. Still the fear and crazed appearance of the man wasn't enough to mask the knowledge stored within the mans mind.

To no surprise for Silvyr the man was playing dumb. "They always have to make it hard." he thought to himself while moving past Whight. "Levicorpus." said Silvyr. With the flick of his wrist the man's body was yanked into the air by his feet leaving him dangling upside down in front of Silvyr. Speaking softly to the old man Silvyr addressed the him hoping he would head to his warning and make this easier on himself, "My friend. I didn't come all this way to kill an old timer. Just tell me what we want to know and you can save yourself from the immense amounts of pain I'm ready to put you through."

The old mans eyes that were filled with fear quickly changed, replaced by anger and defiance. From where he was hanging the man looked to Silvyr's feet and spit on his shoes then looked back up at him. "Piss off. You'll never get what you want out of me. I don't know anything." the old man said. His words filled with hatred. Silvyr smiled slightly before kneeling in front of the man and grabbing him by the back of the head. "Oh, very unwise." he said before taking a step back gripping his wand tighter in his right. The mans body began to stretch as his feet remained stuck to the same spot in the air. "Obscuro" said Silvyr blindfolding the man. "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise now would I."

Silvyr spoke again louder this time only to be muffled out by the screams of the man. The fingers on the mans right hand were now gone and blood was pouring from the open wounds creating a puddle of the floor. His body began to flail in the air but Silvyr's grip on the back of his neck was to firm for the old man to break it. Again Silvyr pointed his wand at the mans body though this time targeting his left knee. "Expulso" Silvyr roared. The crunch of the bones in the mans leg could be heard splintering within the mans flesh as it broke through the skin and blood began to ooze down his leg. His screams doubled in volume as he shouted and begged for mercy. Silvyr spoke in a friendly tone, "Do you want this to stop? You know what you must do. So why don't you tell us what we want to know already?"

The mans lunges filled with air several times before he spoke again, "I don't know anything!" he screamed. Silvyr's face filled with disgust for the foolish man. He hated torture even though he knew it was the only way at this point. Pointing his wand at the man he shouted "Diffindo!" The mans flesh ripped and tore all over his body opening gapping wounds. Silvyr could barely hear himself think over the screams. "Tell me what we want to know. Tell me what we want to know, now!" he said before sending another Expulsio at the mans other knee. Again a crunch sounded out over the mans screams as his bones shattered from the force.

"Okay! Okay! I'll tell you anything." the man shouted in between his sobs. Silvyr knew he had been a little harsh on the man but the man had asked for it. He smacked him gently on the face a few time, "Good boy." he said nicely then released the back of the mans neck. The old man dangled there as blood rolled down his arms and face dripping onto the dirt floor beneath him. SIlvyr pointed his wand at the mans feet "Liberacorpus." he said and the man's body fell to the ground in a limp pile covered in blood and sand..

Now that Silvyr and Whight held the upper hand, Whight let himself relax. He brushed the bits of dust and dirt that had accumulated on his clothes after his little explosion. How could he be respected if he looked as if he had been rolling in filth? When he was content, Whight looked around the room and then pulled a chair in front of the man.

Whight did not pity the man, he shouldn't have lied; and who knows what would have happened had he made it to his wand in time. The old timer probably hadn't seen action in so long that he just became too comfortable and stopped carrying it everywhere. Whight didn't blame him, living in and abandoned city was probably far from adventurous.

After taking a seat in front of groaning man, Whight removed his satchel and began to rummage through it. After a moment he found what he was looking for and placed the bag beside the chair. Whight leaned back and crossed his legs while hold a small vile in the air.

"I realize you must be in a great deal of pain," Whight began, "but we do not deal with lairs, period. Now that you are aware of how we do things we can proceed." Whight adjusted and held the vile into the light. A light purple liquid was corked inside. "This good sir is a potion that will end your pain and stop your bleeding." The man looked more than desperate to drink the vile. "But you have something we want. We have traveled a great distance in search of a particular ship. The ship that was transporting the King Rings. We desire them and you are the only known soul who knows the location of the ship. Now, the deal is you give us all the information on that ship and the vile is yours. The choice should be rather simple considering my friend was just getting warmed up and your loss of blood is already great."

The man squirmed on the ground and finally managed to prop himself against the wall. Blood drained from his hand and knees. His words were weak and soft. "I know the ship you speak of. I have sent many men to it, but none have returned so I made the adventure myself." The man wrapped him hand into his shirt to stop the bleeding. "The desert if fool of illusions and the magic on that ship will drive anyone mad. I promised myself I would never send another poor soul out to the ship after I managed to get out alive."

"Looks like it is time to break that promise," Whight said as he bent closer to the old man.

The man's face grew pale. "All of my maps and books for the ship's location have been stoned away. In the center of the city you will find a well; therein lies your treasure." The man's voice was almost inaudible by this point. He closed his eyes and began to breath heavily.

"A deal's a deal. Here is your potion," said Whight handing the man the vile.

Whight stood from his chair and picked up his bag. "I saw the well on my way here. It's not far," he said to Silvyr. Whight took the man's wand and left the hut. "The potion was poison by the way. Didn't think I would actually let him live did you?" he joked without laughing.

Silvyr walked out of the hut next to Whight and laughed at the thought of the old man being dead in only a matter of seconds. "I would have killed him had you given him potion or not. The old fool." Silvyr said as if he were discussing what he had eaten that morning. He whistled for Leah as they walked towards the center of the abandoned town. Her foot prints began to approach and he pointed his wand at her making her body visible again.

Silvyr noticed that all of the dirt roads led to the well in the center of town. He began to consider the possibility of the town being built for the soul purpose of keeping the maps and books safe. He thought to himself while piecing together the story in his mind, "Time must have killed the others who once guarded the precise scripts. As the years passed the stories turned into legend and no longer were the rings feared or thought of as valued. "Be on guard. Something's telling me that we'll be encountering a lot more than an old senile wizard before we have those pages in our hands." Silvyr said to Whight as they moved past the last hut and walked through the one hundred feet of open dirt that separated the well from the city surrounding it.

The three of them came to a stop in front of the ancient stones that made up the well that stood only two feet tall. Leah took a step towards the small lone structure before stopping at the 'tsk" sound from Silvyr's tongue. He pointed his wand at the well, "Accio maps." Nothing happened. He tried again, "Accio books." Again nothing. "Clearly that's not going to work. Finite Incatatum." He said before looking over to Whight to see if he had come to some kind of conclusion in his silence. He knew the odds of his spell disarming any ancient charms or spells that may have been placed around the treasure of information in the bottom of the well in front them was slim to none. Still, he wouldn't allow himself to be taken by surprise from a spell that could have been easily avoided by covering all of the basics.

Whight made a survey on their surroundings while Silvyr worked to opened what seemed to be a vault door. He wondered where everyone in the city had moved once the droughts took place. He watched as the top of a three story building crumbled a little more.

At Silvyr's words, Whight began to circle the well, thinking. It was clear no outsider was going to simply crack open the stone. He knew trying his own spells wouldn't work either; Silvyr was just as much a wizard as Whight; his wand would make no difference... Then an idea came to him.

Whight pulled out the old man's wand that he had successfully won. It twisted in his fingers while he still eyed the stone. "You may want to take a step back," he said to Silvyr without looking at him. He cast a shield charm around them using the old man's wand for the first time. He wanted to give himself some protection for what was about to take place next. There was a small chance that what he was about to do would work, but it was the only chance they had and he would give it his all.

"Finite Incantatem," he cast. Though he wasn't the original caster, he hoped the man's wand would act as a key to unlock the spells. Whight took a small one step back and lowered his center of gravity. Whight pulled the man's wand to the right side of his chest. His left arm remained extended, its finger tips pointing to the well. He placed all of his focus and attention into one simple spell. "Expulso!" he yelled with all his might simultaneously shifting the wand forward. The wand quickly became hot as the spell left and shattered and he let it fall to the ground.

The explosion could have been seen from miles outside of the city. Chunks of dirt and stone fell from the sky for minutes. Whight stood motionless and unphased as the debris bounced off his protection spell.

When the dust settled Whight drew his wand and looked down the well.