'That's impossible!' said Throen. 'You can't simply come into this temple and walk off with our most sacred instruments! This is outrageous!'
Ironfoot reached for the cynosure, removing its Motion enclosure with a flick of his wrist. The thing fell into his hands; it was much heavier than it looked.
'I'm sorry,' he said. 'I truly am, but-'
Throen flung himself at Ironfoot. 'Get your hands off of it!' he shouted. 'You are desecrating it!'
Throen grabbed at the cynosure and pulled; he was stronger than he had any right to be. Ironfoot pulled back. Throen's face was red; he was grunting.
Suddenly Ironfoot was struck by the absurdity of what was happening. Here he was, in a church, fighting with a priest over a holy relic as if it were a game ball. He almost laughed, but before he did, Throen shoved him hard, knocking him off the altar dais and slamming him into the first row of pews. The sound of the impact echoed like a cannon shot in the huge sanctuary. Throen was still on him, still pulling at the cynosure as if his life depended on it.
'Let go!' he shouted.
Ironfoot winced and pulled as hard as he could, throwing all of his Shadow strength into the motion. The cynosure came free of Throen's grasp, and Throen fell to the floor.
Ironfoot took the thing and ran.
'You will pay for this obscenity!' Throen shouted. 'The Church will sue the Foreign Ministry for this!'
'Tell them to go after a Lord Everess,' said Ironfoot over his shoulder. 'He's the one they want.'
A little later, Ironfoot and Silverdun were in the mission room, huddled over the cynosure. Sela sat on a nearby table, watching.
'Right here,' said Ironfoot. 'Separate it along this edge.' Ironfoot was getting impatient. He was on to something and he knew it. He watched Silverdun channel Elements carefully into the ceramic enclosure of the object, splitting it open.
'Careful,' he said.
'You mentioned,' said Silverdun. 'I'm being as careful as I can. If you think you can do better, by all means be my guest.'
Ironfoot looked up to see Pact coming down the steps.
'What are you two doing?' said Pact. 'We've got work to do.'
'Ironfoot's decided to set off a holy war,' said Silverdun. 'So we're boldly desecrating a holy artifact. You might want to let Everess know that if we all survive the next week, he's going to get a very unpleasant visit from the Synod of Chthonic Bishops.'
'Careful, Silverdun!' snapped Ironfoot.
'Wonderful,' said Pact. 'And where did we get this artifact?'
'Ironfoot beat up a priest in a Chthonic temple and stole it,' said Silverdun.
'May I ask why?'
'Remember our report from our first visit to Annwn?' asked Ironfoot, looking up. 'When we spoke to Prae Benesile's son, he told us that Hy Pezho stole something from Prae Benesile. A box. The son didn't know what was in it, but I'm almost certain that it was one of these-a Chthonic cynosure.'
'What good would it have done him?' asked Paet.
'If this relic does what I think it does, it may be the very secret to the Einswrath,' said Ironfoot. 'Under better circumstances, this would be the discovery of a career.'
'Well, get on with it then,' said Paet. 'And Ironfoot, I don't need a thesis. I just need a way to stop the damn thing.'
'I'll write the monograph later,' said Ironfoot.
Paet went into his office and shut the door.
Silverdun finished the cut, and Ironfoot removed the ceramic casing. Inside was one of the most complex thaumatic mechanisms he'd ever seen. Tiny plates of solid gold and silver sandwiched together, inscribed with minuscule runes and lines of force. Diamonds were set into these lines. They were probably reitic capacitors of some kind.
'This is unbelievable,' said Ironfoot. 'I've never seen anything like it.'
'What is it?' said Silverdun.
'I'm not entirely sure,' said Ironfoot. He pointed to one of the leaves of
