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The following is a fan fiction I wrote about some the known members of the 17th Shard: Galladon and Captain Demoux. It occurs somewhere in Roshar after their meeting with Ishikk in Way of Kings. I don't know much about the 17th shard or the cosmere theories, but I don't think I made any blaring mistakes. "I'm kind of glad that this entire land will get obliterated like he said," said Temoo in the usual grim tone that seemed to be his normal speaking voice, "these people deserve it. Understand?" His bowl of soup sat cooling on the table in front of him. He had meticulously stirred through it with his knife to observe its contents and had apparently disapproved of them. Captain Demoux did not recognize any of the ingredients in the soup, but his soldier's training kicked in and he ate anyways. As a soldier, you needed to keep yourself fueled at all times, no matter how bad the food tasted. "If it were up to you Temoo," Demoux replied, "every land we visited would get obliterated." He did not know if Temoo was this man's real name, nor did he know where he came from. In fact, of the few members of the secretive seventeenth shard he had met so far, there was not a single person whose identity he could be sure of. But, he did know two things about Temoo that the man could not conceal: the man was a cynic and he had a secret power that involved drawing symbols in the air. Those symbols were the means by which they could travel between worlds. He knew far less about the other man on the mission with them, Vao, who was currently in a different part of town picking up some supplies. Sometimes Temoo's pessimism could make him quite angry, mainly because it was one of the main things that Kelsier had fought against when he was alive. Kelsier always had a smile and an optimistic attitude, even when the rebel army that he had been building for months was nearly destroyed in a day. However, Demoux was the leader in this mission, and he would not let the attitudes of his subordinates get the better of him. "Okay friend, maybe I do have a strong bias about what makes a good land good, but you have to admit that this place is just pitiful. Understand?" Temoo made a wide gesture at the bar they were sitting in. It was true; the place fit Temoo's description. Everything was carved out of grey stone, from the tables to the chairs. Even the mugs were of a greyish color. The other patrons sat at tables with grim expressions that fit the grey atmosphere. The only color in the place came from the sphere lanterns behind the main bar; they gave off dull reddish light that also seemed very gloomy. "The land that I came from was once very similar to this," replied Demoux. "We were once oppressed by a tyrant emperor who enslaved most of us and created large ashmounts everywhere that spewed ash onto the land constantly. However, we killed him and eventually fixed the land so that everything was colorful and full of life. These people are oppressed, but by their own tradition. They can't simply kill someone and-" He was interrupted by a loud crash as the door to the bar burst open and five men aggressively walked in. They had the look of warriors; four of them had leather armor and various weapons. The fifth man made a sight that immediately made Demoux forget about the gloominess of this land. He was armored in majestic crimson and gold armor from head to foot, and there were no gaps, just smaller interlocking plates. This man spoke to the bartender from behind his greathelm, ornamented with spheres on the outside that gave a bright golden glow, "Where are those foreigners I asked you to tell me about?' "Th-there," the nervous bartender was pointing straight towards them. "Idos Domi!" exclaimed Temoo, "they're after us!". He immediately drew one of his magic symbols in the air. It grew brighter and brighter until it exploded outward towards the soldiers. The four in standard leather armor were thrown across the room and hit the wall with such force that they were probably dead. The man in the majestic armor took a step back to steady himself, but was otherwise unaffected. Temoo swore again as the man in armor laughed and brought his hand to the side as if grabbing an invisible pole. "Let me take care of this one," said Demoux as he grabbed his knife from the table. He also drank a vial of atium. He had been given many of those in the black space between worlds, they seemed to have a lot there. He burned the atium and world became alive with shadowy specters resembling people and moving objects, showing him where everything would be a few seconds in the future. He started to approach the man in armor. Suddenly, the man's specter thrust at him with the hand that he had been holding out. A shadowy sword appeared in that hand which pierced his heart. What the-? Demoux thought. But he took a step back anyways to clear the blade. Sure enough, the man made the same motion with his hand and a real sword appeared out of nowhere. The blade misted on the sides and was unusually long and bright looking. The end was just an inch from his chest; it was a good thing that he had stepped back. The man grunted in surprise, but stepped forward and continued his attack with barely a moment of hesitation. Demoux saw the next swing long before it actually came and easily dodge it, the blade passing within inches of him. The man then took the sword in two hands and aimed a powerful downward swing at him. Demoux used the time bought by this costly swing to spin around to the man's back. There's not even a weak spot in the back. I guess I'll have to go for the eyeslit, he thought. The man's spectral image swung around and slashed at him, so he ducked before the real sword came around in the exact same motion, passing over his head with an inch to spare. Demoux jumped up and tried to thrust his knife into the eyeslit, but the man tilted his head back and avoided the knife. Demoux made another dodge and another thrust for the eyeslit but was again unsuccessful. I can dodge quickly, but my attacks are not helped by the atium at all. He is too good to let me stab him through the eyeslit. I need a better weapon. Knowing his opponent's next swing, Demoux took a step back and actually turned his back to the man in armor. He was looking at the four dead men on the other side of the room for a reliable weapon. The man swore as his blade passed by Demoux's back. "Fight me you cremling coward," he yelled as he tried to thrust at Demoux's back. Demoux simply rolled and ran over to where the other four soldiers had fallen. He picked up a heavy metal mallet and slammed it into the man's back with all his strength after dodging and spinning around another attack. The mallet barely affected the armor at all, but he thought there was a slight crack. From there on the battle consisted of Demoux dodging and spinning around to the man's back where he would slam in the mallet. The other bar patrons had mostly fled by now, but there were a couple gawking in open amazement. The man swore often, but did not change his tactics, he did not know what to do with an atium misting. There really wasn't a whole lot he could do. After about twenty hard swings of the mallet and downing two more vials of atium as his level got low (all while dodging the strange sword), a hole finally appeared in the armor on the man's back. Demoux grabbed his knife and then stabbed the man in the back through the hole. The man gasped and fell forward. He dropped the strange sword and it disappeared. Demoux quickly rolled him over onto his back, dodged a slow punch, and then stabbed him through the eyeslit with a powerful thrust. The man died and his sword appeared at his side. "Way to not show off your powers, friend" said Temoo from the back corner. "You're the one who made a magic symbol in the air that killed four men" said Demoux, through gasps. The fight had left him quite out of breath. "Oh well, I guess we're both in the wrong here then. Are you going to take that armor and sword? I'm pretty sure those are some of the legendary shards of this land." "Yeah, I guess they could be pretty useful," replied Demoux.