Chapter 2017 Voidfeather Armor (Part 1)
“Don’t you dare say that.” Kamila’s rage disappeared like snow under the summer sun. “Without you, Zinya would still be blind. She would have never met Zogar and by now Fallmug would have beaten her to death while all I could do was grieve her loss.
“I would still be a low-level bureaucrat, with no life, no family, and plenty of regrets. You’ve done more than putting me into danger, Lith Verhen. You have given me hope, purpose, and a place where I belong.
“I don’t regret for one moment coming to the Desert and proposing to you. I’m sorry for what I said.” She sat in front of him, taking his face into her hands.
“And I’m sorry for questioning our marriage first. That was a dick move.” Lith took her hands between his, kissing her palms.
“You can say that.” Kamila sighed. “Now that we have both calmed down, can you please tell me why you don’t trust me?”
“What do you mean?” He asked in bewilderment.
“Lith, I’ve lost count of the times that you asked me to wait for you while you went risking your life somewhere far away from me. Of the days I spent keeping my communicator close, praying that nothing happened to you.
“The one time that our roles are reversed, you try to put a leash on my neck and treat me like an idiot. How else am I supposed to explain your behavior if not as a lack of trust in my judgment and capabilities?” She asked.
“That’s not true! I shared with you every one of my secrets. I revealed my hybrid nature to you before I told my parents. I literally trusted you with my life until now and I still do.” He replied.
“Then why can’t you trust me with my own?” Kamila said, leaving Lith speechless.
“Because I’m afraid of losing you.” He said after a while.
“And I you.” She drew him closer in a tender embrace. “Yet I’ve never let my fear keep you from doing what I know is right. I’m only asking you to do the same.”
“Do I have any chance to convince you to wait until after the Magus ceremony?” Lith’s shoulders slouched in resignation as he returned the embrace.
“Nope.” Kamila replied, giving him a make up kiss.
“Fine. Then I guess I have even more work to do.” Lith exhaled sharply while extending his hand. “I can’t let you go alone behind the enemy lines with that old junk you wear.”
Kamila still used the Scalewalker armor that Lith had gifted her back when he was just her boyfriend. It was made out of Orichalcum and grafted with blue mana crystals.
It offered better protection than the regular Constable uniform, but it was nothing compared to the Voidwalker armor. Lith had developed them after they had broken up so she had never had the opportunity to receive the upgraded version.
“Wow. Smooth move, mister Forgemaster.” She chuckled. “But it’s not enough to get me undressed after such an ugly fight. You need to put way more effort than that and be romantic.”
Only then did Lith remember that if Kamila took her armor off, she would be stark naked.
“That’s not what I meant.” He chuckled as well. “Besides, it’s too late for angry sex and I’m not in the mood for cuddles. I just want to get you geared up as soon as I can.”
“Oh, really?” Kamila replied, making the armor slip off of her body and onto the ground in an orderly pile of metal. “I think this is the perfect time for cuddles, instead. Otherwise those mean words will be stuck in our heads for days.”
She enjoyed seeing his reaction as she sat on his lap. The eyes wide open, his gaze fixed on the lower part of her body, and the amazed expression as if it was their first time.
“What is that?” Lith pointed at the armor laying on the floor.
Only then did Kamila notice that the metal was shinier than she remembered it, that the mana crystal had turned into a pristine white, and that her husband’s attention had never been focused on her in the first place.
“Lith Tiamat Verhen, are you telling me that you are more interested in a piece of metal of unknown origin than in me?” The coldness had returned to her voice and her eyes held the promise of an ice age in the case he gave the wrong answer.
‘Shit! Kami uses my full name only when she’s pissed off big time. If she added my beast form akin to a second name, I’m in deep trouble.’ He thought and he was right.
“Absolutely not, honey. You know how paranoid I am. I was just worried about your safety.” He replied, Warping them both to their bedroom and discovering that he had spoken too soon.
It wasn’t too late, it was still angry sex o’clock.
***
A couple of hours later, Lith recovered Kamila’s armor and examined it with Invigoration.
‘What the fuck? The design isn’t that of a Scalewalker armor, the metal is purified Adamant, and the white crystals are the purest I’ve ever seen.’ He thought.
His regular senses proved to be much more useful than the mystical ones. Due to the unknown cloaking runes of the armor, Lith failed to learn anything about it. Even after calling Solus, he didn’t discover much.
Her mana sense failed to see past the magical protections and the Eyes of Menadion didn’t fare any better.
“I don’t get it.” Solus said. “How could neither of you notice the disappearance of the Scalewalker armor until now and where the heck does this thing come from?”
“Kami always wore it in the form of clothes.” Lith shrugged. “Even when she takes it off, she never had a reason to revert it to its original appearance. As for your second question, I think I know the answer.”
Since Kamila was still sleeping off her anger, Lith left the armor to Solus for studying it while he went to confirm his suspicions.
A Steps brought him in front of the door of Salaark’s office. Knowing how busy the Overlord was, he knocked and waited for a reply.
“Come on in.”
Lith walked through the door, finding the Guardian sitting on her chair while dozens of sheets of paper and streams of ink floated in mid-air. Salaark was using the Library to study the documents before signing them, amending those she found lacking, and rewriting from scratch those she didn’t like.
“What can I do for you, my Featherling?” She asked while ordering her attendant to bring her a hearty mid-morning snack.
“Did you use give Kamila’s armor an upgrade?” Lith remembered well how during the day of the first wedding Salaark had used Rejuvenation on his wife and Creation Magic on her lucky clothes to make them look brand new.
Until that moment, he had never considered that being the clothes stored in the armor, Salaark had to have modified it as well.
“Yes.” She nodded, inviting Lith to join her at the table. “Do you like my Voidfeather armor?”
“I find it amazing but that’s beside the point.” Lith replied.
