The Treasury

"Where am I going to find this jerk?" thought Dick, and shivered unhappily, "Well, we'll have to start at the last point I know." Dick walked silently out of the house, under Ritor's questioning glance, and jumping into the carriage drove off.

"Where is Lord Bondrewd?" asked the royal steward with a squeamishness in his eyes, for he did not like Dick, and he made no effort to conceal it.

"Let's go to the house of Aivina, the head of the trade guild, perhaps he is still there, - the steward silently poked his head out of the carriage and shouted something to the coachman, the carriage moved, and Dick began to suffer from a severe hangover.

...

"That's all," Bondrewd summed up the two-hour conversation, Aivyna's head was already splitting, in principle there was nothing supernatural in Lord's words, but the girl was tormented by a strange feeling of anxiety, as if her business nature protested against this plan, but there was no turning back. Detaching herself from her own bad thoughts she nodded in response. Lord Dawn rose from his chair and bowed towards the door, the girl following him. When they reached the exit, Lady Ayvina called out to the man.

"Lord Bondrewd, I hope you will fulfil your part of the plan," she looked at the tall figure, cursing Lord Bondrewd for his love of keeping his helmet on; she was a master of analysing facial expressions, and even without words she knew when a man was lying, but it was a bummer.

"Of course," Bondrewd answered her indifferently, and went out into the street, where, to his surprise, a carriage was waiting, from the window of which Dick's anguished face could be seen, while the second character came out of the carriage, a typical official: swaggering, fat and insolent.

"Lord Bondrewd, by royal order, you are required to report to the royal palace." The official mumbled, bowing and gesturing to the carriage. Bondrewd was already on his way to the carriage when again Aivina jumped out silently from behind and grabbed his hand and kissed him on the side of his helmet.

"So sorry you're leaving so soon. I'll look forward to your visit." Aivina spoke playfully, bestowing a wide smile on everyone present. Lord Dawn nodded and, freeing himself from the girl's grip, got into the carriage. The carriage moved off, and the girl waved her handkerchief in their wake.

"It's okay, you beat me this time Lord Bondrewd, but round two will be up to me." - The annoyed girl retired to her office - there was a lot of work to be done.

...

The carriage stopped in the courtyard of the palace, the guardsman opened the doors of the carriage, and following the clerk the men proceeded to the holy of holies - the throne room.

There were not many people in the place, a crowd of guardsmen that in a festive salute raised their halberds, and the king and queen - no one else, which slightly alarmed Bondrewd.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Reported Bondrewd, and bowing, Dick followed suit.

"Stand up my friend," Avitus got up from his seat and came close to Bondrewd and extended his hand, the firm handshake was rather fleeting, removing his hand the king continued.

"Follow me your reward awaits you," the two men moved away through a small door, leaving the queen alone with Dick and a bunch of guardsmen.

...

The dark corridors changed, one after another, Avitus walked ahead, lighting his way with a torch. They walked in silence, and after ten minutes of long descents and winding corridors they came to a huge metal door, Avitus threw the torch into the brazier, and leaned the ring against a special notch in the wall, the light filled the corridor and the massive doors opened.

The men entered a large room lit by magical light. - Look around, take what you find most useful," Avitus coughed slightly, and continued." If you don't know what to choose, I can tell you.

"Thank you, but I think I'll take a look around first." Bondrewd replied to the monarch and turned round, a whole warehouse filled with magic items was compactly placed in front of the Lord. Swords, axes, spears and other masterpieces of human genius for killing one's own kind hung in rows on the stone walls, and in the centre of the room there were many rings, pendants and other trinkets. In the corners of the room were scattered figures dressed in various armour, from heavy lats to light ringlets. And all this goodness reeked of magic, even though the Lord of the Dawn was not a mage, not yet.

But he could feel magic, if it was concentrated enough, clearly. The first choice was armour, he already had a set from his home world, he was used to it, and there was no need to change into medieval armour. So there were two options left, weapons or accessories.

"I wonder if you could clarify a few things."

"Not so official my friend, you saved my country and my skin at the same time, so just call me Avitus." Bondrewd nodded silently, and the king spoke again.

"I've seen you fight, you are incredibly powerful, even considering you fought with that rubbish." The king pointed to the scabbard of his interlocutor, Bondrewd exposed his sword, it was indeed not in the best condition, even after cleaning, rust was visible in places, and the sharpening was almost at zero, the blade was on its last breath and how it still hadn't fallen apart, considering Bondrewd's physical power was almost a miracle.

"I have good options for you," and in a couple of minutes three blades were lying on the table in the corner, the first one was richly decorated, the hilt was trimmed with gold, the scabbard was a work of art, and the tip was crowned with a large ruby. The second was noticeably simpler, but the blade itself glowed with a light glow, as if someone had illuminated the blade itself from within. The third was the least presentable, a plain black hilt, and the blade was scuffed and jagged in places, but something was wrong with it, and Bondrewd could feel it clearly.

"The first blade," his eyes filled with pride, "was the first work of a great master from the kingdom of dwarves, don't let its rich finish confuse you, it's perfect, the balance, weight, sharpness, everything is perfect, and the blade itself is indestructible, which with your power will be very useful.

"The second one is itself a magical artefact, at the master's command it can emit powerful magical blades, and believe me, they cut flesh and steel equally well." On the third blade, the king hesitated slightly, as if unsure of what to say.

"Um, this blade is cursed, I don't know how it got here, but when the warriors picked it up they would hear a strange voice, and little by little it would drive them mad, each day the voice would get louder and louder, and at one point the warriors would be found dead."

"Does he take you for an idiot?" Said the suddenly awake aide.

"Perhaps, yes, but it doesn't matter, I don't need this rubbish, and yes I know where he hid the most valuable thing." And Bondrewd wasn't lying, as soon as he entered the room he felt a powerful magical pressure, as if someone or something was trying to crush him.

"Bondrewd did you fall asleep?" Avitus interjected.

"It is not good, your majesty, you say we are friends, and yet you withhold my reward." A slight shiver ran across the king's face, and his expression changed to one of extreme irritation. Bondrewd at the same time approached the seemingly monolithic wall and swung his fist at it. The fist went through, collapsing the flimsy camouflage masonry, in front of Bondrewd's face there was a sword, somewhat similar to his current bastard sword, except that it felt the power, a huge power.

"No, I'm not giving it back," the King yelled and stepped between the sword and his named friend.

"Why?" Bondrewd was ready to back down if Avitus made it clear why this sword was not worth taking.

"No, you can't, you don't understand, this sword was forged from the flesh of a true god, if a mere mortal takes it in his hands he will immediately turn to ashes, many wars have tried to curb it, and as many have fallen to the ground as a mountain of ashes." 

"Give me an analysis," the assistant silently began to work, and rather quickly brought out the information needed.

The Blade of Dreams - was forged from the flesh of the Goddess of Dreams Kaira, has incredible power, contains a part of her soul, and since she was imprisoned in the blade against her will, tries to destroy anyone who takes the blade in his hands.

"In that case, your majesty, we have much to discuss." The king's face took on the utmost seriousness, and the men stood opposite each other,

"And what do you offer?"

"Much, most importantly life, for you, your family, your kingdom, and the world at large."