The weather had become somewhat more normal. A pilot from the City of Immortals landed the helicopter on the ice sheet and waited for Salomon to board. Just as he had told Tony Stark, the helicopter would take off in twelve minutes.
"Why don't you use..." Tony Stark held out a hand and made a circle. "A portal?"
"The Veil of Reality here is extremely fragile. Using Teleportation Magic would weaken the barrier further."
"So you can't open portals right now. That's pretty important intelligence, and you're actually telling me. If your enemies wanted to assassinate you, now would be the perfect opportunity." Tony Stark shrugged. "Are you planning to take me out here?"
"Your value is somewhat greater than that intelligence, and you have no way to verify whether it's true." Salomon spoke calmly. The sky was gradually brightening. Walking on the ice required less concern about slipping than glare; even the faintest light became blinding after refracting through hundreds of millions of ice crystals.
"That's true. I mean the value part."
Tony Stark casually rubbed his chin. He could sense Salomon's goodwill. After all, the hostility between Yugoslavia and NATO was a matter of official positions and interests; it did not affect personal relationships. Besides, what Salomon had done to the former Avengers at most prevented them from revealing his information, like little elves bound by contracts... Well, that was not exactly friendly. But for the sake of secrecy, Stark decided to tolerate it for now. If someone revealed Salomon's information, who knew what terrible things might happen?
He had seen how those soldiers cleared out local armed groups on the news.
"I still have some questions about your age. You know, Nick Fury has always suspected you're an old wizard who merely looks young. He thinks your