100 Theme Challenge #25

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25. Broken Pieces

"You sure this is the right place?" Arnaud asked, crouching to fit through a half-destroyed wall.

"I'm sure. It's not far, I can feel it." Thomas walked on, as if spider webs didn't bother him in the least. Behind him, Arnaud sighed, but kept the torch high as he followed him. The last sword's piece had to be in the abandoned ruins of an old castle, of course.

Since the beginning of his internship with Thomas, he'd seen a lot. Places, magical objects, unnatural beings. There wasn't a day where he could just relax, they always were running around, collecting lost relics and defeating creatures of the Underworld.

Thomas had heard a few weeks ago of a famous sword that once held the power to defeat a demon that plagued the nights of Bel-Feu. The mayor had come to him for help when even his best men had failed to defeat it. Thomas had an odd reputation: people feared him but came to him when they needed help. He wasn't a bad man; in fact Arnaud had time to know him and his twisted sense of humor.

"What are you doing back there?" Thomas yelled, already way ahead. "The faster we find it, the faster we can eat."

At that, his stomach growled, and he hurried. "I was admiring the decorations." Thomas tsked in disbelief, but didn't reply to his obvious lie. He was too busy looking at the map and making his way through the destroyed place.

"Ah, finally, I think that's the one…" Thomas muttered, opening one of the only doors remaining intact. They entered the treasury room. At least, what was left of it. Everything was empty, dust taking the place of lost relics. Scavengers left nothing.  Arnaud's shoulders slumped; there wouldn't be no sword piece here. He sat against a dusty pillar and watched Thomas walk around and inspect every inch of the room. A few rays of light had managed to sneak through the broken windows so Arnaud could decipher Thomas's intense expression.

"Another vault hidden behind a painting, I suppose?" He grumbled.

"I have to admit, your lack of conviction almost bothers me, Arnaud. Help me instead, it could be anything."

Arnaud rolled his eyes but searched with him. It was a few minutes later, after his stomach complained loudly, that he noticed the pillars.

"The pillars don't look the same… Here, look, this mark isn't on the others."

Thomas grinned at him, and Arnaud hoped his blush wasn't too obvious. He pressed on the small embossed sign, and they heard a mechanism start. The center of the floor shifted, let something out — the sword fragment. Thomas took it.

"At last…" The floor began to shake with a worrying sound.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me," Arnaud mumbled before he took Thomas's hand to flee those ruins as fast as possible.

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