Chapter 89: The Shadow Fragment

"Since we were not able to help, Champion, please let us show you to the weapon vault and have you pick anything you want."

Theo hesitated, the pause stretching a beat too long.

But Captain Dunn spoke before it could settle.

"Please take this as a token of gratitude from our King. Moreso, in higher floors, you will need the best weapon you can get. There’s rarely anywhere in shops outside here that you’ll get the quality of swords you’ll find in the vault."

Theo turned it over for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright."

Afterwards, the King promised to throw him a banquet, and sent Captain Dunn to escort him to the vault.

Alderkeep was large and beautiful, and its castle keep was larger and more beautiful still, towers rising over the rest of the city. The vault stood in its own building behind the keep, built like a place of worship, high columns lining the front of it.

Theo hadn’t expected that. Inside, a handful of people sat scattered through the pews, heads bowed, a few with their heads covered. Captain Dunn paid them no mind, and none to their customs either, so Theo followed her lead and did the same.

They walked behind the pews, through a side door, and down a flight of stairs that opened into darkness. They walked on in silence until the stairs let out into the room.

Captain Dunn stopped, and lazily slammed a palm against the wall beside her. The place rumbled, dust sifting loose from the seams of the ceiling, and light bloomed step by step overhead, climbing the high ceiling until the whole hall stood lit.

The Vault lay open before him, entire.

Weapons lined rack after rack, shields, swords, spears, amulets, and suits of armor, many of them hung on skeletal mannequins that stood watch over the room.

Theo’s eyes were already bright with want as he looked them over. But more than that, it was the ones sealed behind glass, cut off from the air of the room, that his eyes kept drifting to, though he couldn’t have said why.

He moved slowly down the row, studying the fine work of each piece. A set of daggers caught his eye first, blades that looked carved from violet darkness. Beside them stood a spear taller than he was, its shaft ghost-white.

Another shield floated free of its stand, blinking in and out of sight, there and then not.

There was a white helmet crowned with a mane like a cyan lion’s. And then there was the piece that pulled at him hardest.

A thin sheet of black metal, endlessly flying apart and reforming itself, never settling into one shape.

He pointed to it.

"What is that?"

Captain Dunn, who had been following him around with her hands clasped behind her back, answered.

"A very dangerous material that was created by one of the Losts."

Theo glanced at her.

"Who are the Losts?"

"There are certain phenomena, certain buildings, that cannot be explained by the old gods. If you look closely, sometimes it’s even as though the old gods are only pursuing something, hoping to surpass some legacy left behind."

She shrugged and kept talking.

"While the Losts have been forgotten, they’re remembered by the Tower and the relics they left."

Theo nodded, still watching the sheet of metal swirl and shift, stretching out to its full length before snapping back almost at once.

The want was plain on his face, but so was the caution holding him back.

"Why is such a thing on the first floor?" He looked at Captain Dunn carefully. "Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean it’s undeserving, I just assumed that something like this will be far up."

Captain Dunn giggled.

"There was nothing wrong with your question. Relics of the Losts aren’t cared for anymore. They’re as good as scrap, and the old gods have long overwritten whatever influence the first Towerians had on it."

Theo pressed on, unsatisfied.

"Then why is it in a glass, and not in a dumpster?"

Captain Dunn’s face contorted, though Theo missed it entirely, too busy staring at the metal sheet.

"It’s..."

"Can I have it?"

Theo straightened, glancing between Captain Dunn and the metal sheet behind the glass.

She hesitated.

"That thing will serve you no good, it’s scrap. You could spend your privilege on getting better things."

Theo smiled still.

"I have a reputation for collecting things that will serve me no good. I like this thing, it looks cool and I want it."

Captain Dunn went still, then sighed and gave in.

"Fine, I will let the King know about your request."

Theo smiled pleasantly, and before they left, he asked:

"Do you, by chance, know of anywhere they sell things belonging to ladies, like dresses or women’s jewelry and stuff?"

Captain Dunn gave him a doubtful look.

"Yes."

Theo nodded, and the two of them walked out. He’d sensed Captain Dunn wanting to talk since before they’d even reached the vault, but he’d said nothing then.

Now, though, with something good already in hand, he decided to ask her outright.

"Do you want to ask me a question, Captain Dunn?"

She startled, a beat passing before she found her words.

"Uhm, earlier, you mentioned to the King that I was the only one who survived. Who were the comrades that stood with me?"

Theo shook his head. He turned forward again and spoke as they walked.

"None. None of your subordinates were with you. They were all lost to the enemy."

Her voice dropped, disappointment threading through it.

"Then, how was it looking, without your interference?"

Theo smiled somberly.

"You had no chance. You all were going to die."

She sighed, and this time when she smiled, it came out warmer, more appreciative.

"Thank you, Lord Sky, I will take you to a very affordable place where you can buy good things for your wife."

Theo chuckled shyly.

"I don’t mind if it’s expensive actually, I feel like I should get them more expensive clothes since I have the money to afford it."

The words seemed to knock Captain Dunn briefly into shock. For a moment, she blinked too much.

So Theo had to ask:

"What?"

"Uh, no—nothing, I was just surprised. Your wife must be lucky."

Theo opened his mouth to correct her, then thought better of it and smiled instead.

"I’m the lucky one."