Chapter 17

Claire stared dumbfounded at Tirr as he posed triumphantly with Garm still in his arms. She felt her face blanch as she remembered the name the boy had used to introduce himself.

“Tirr… You said your name was Tirr.” She mumbled to herself, slowly raising her own finger to point at the boy as she looked up at Doron behind him. “Tirr?”

Doron nodded stiffly as he and everyone but Kerri wondered over what had caused the strange interaction. “This is Tirr, the god of our village. He and the Guardian took care of the knights.” Doron explained, giving Tirr a pat on the shoulder to try and calm him down. But Tirr had grown irritated at their surprised expressions.

“You couldn’t even remember my name?” Tirr said, looking angrily at Claire. “Is your brain as weak as the rest of you?” Garm barked along in agreement with the insult as Claire’s face went red.

“How was I supposed to know a brat like you had anything to do with the Shard!” Claire retorted furiously. “This has to be some kind of sick joke!”

“Who you are calling a jo…” Tirr started before Doron’s hand covered his mouth.

“I think there must be some kind of misunderstanding.” Doron said, awkwardly chuckling and ignoring Tirr’s glare. “I understand that his appearance is confusing, but he is truly the god of this village. Though I don’t know what connection that has with the Shards you spoke of.” Hoping Tirr had calmed down enough, he let him go.

“That is rather hard to believe…” Chimed in Sir Elrik, “What about the large Beast that you called the guardian?”

“His name is Garm.” Tirr said, holding out the small wolf cub in his arms before Doron could speak.

The group looked at the small wiggling wolf, who barked at them for staring, until Tirr pulled him back. They turned to Doron with unconvinced eyes, and he had to stop himself from sighing. He nodded in affirmation, and the group turned back to Tirr still uncertain, causing Tirr to start flaring up again.

“Tirr.” Doron said calmingly, “This is Claire Ena Rasor, princess of the Rasor Kingdom, along with Sir Elrik Fore, they are the acting investigators from the Capital.”

“Hmph…” Tirr grunted in response.

“Well, I guess looks can be deceiving if he truly has the powers of a Shard.” Sir Elrik stated, “What kind of abilities do you have Tirr?”

“He can heal and strengthen his body.” Doron responded first, ignoring another glare from Tirr.

“Impressive abilities.” Sir Elrik exclaimed

“If they’re true…” Claire added testily, angering Tirr again. “Heal one of us then.” She continued.

“Why should I?” Tirr said, turning his nose up at them. “I don’t want to use my abilities to help you.”

“Probably because you're lying anyway.” Claire retorted

“I’m a god, I don’t lie.” Tirr said angrily.

“Prove it then! I’ll cut my finger and you can try to heal it!” Claire yelled triumphantly, thinking she had gotten the upper hand. The group from the capital couldn’t hide their embarrassment at her childness.

“Fine! But I won’t heal you, I’ll fight you! That’ll show you just how weak you are.” Tirr said, once again taking an arrogant pose.

“I’m not going to fight a brat!” Claire exclaimed, surprised at the sudden challenge.

“I’m a god!”

“Even if you were, you still look like a brat!”

“So?” Questioned Tir, “I’ll still beat you.”

“How am I supposed to attack a child seriously?”

“Fine then! You can fight my Apostle.” Tirr said before turning back inside and calling out for Maria.

Claire looked confused for a moment untill the young woman she had seen earlier stepped out, looking somewhat exasperated.

“Yes Tirr?” Maria asked with a sigh.

Tirr pointed towards where Claire stood, “Fight her! Prove how great I am.”

“What?” Maria said looking at Doron for help. He could only shake his head as he had no answers for her.

“Fine! This is the girl you said was stronger than me?” Claire spoke up, glaring now at Maria. “How do you want to fight?”

“I don’t think it’s a wise idea for the Princess of the Kingdom to participate in any random fights” Sir Elrik spoke up, no longer able to stay quiet. “How about one of my guards instead? I’m guessing she has the ability as well, so if she can strengthen herself and put up a fight, I think we would all be satisfied.”

“Fine!” Responded Tirr, Claire agreed reluctantly as well. They spread out to two different sides to create enough space as they talked to their fighters.

Sir Elrik’s guard felt uncomfortable fighting a young girl. “Just test to see if her strength is greater than expected. They probably don’t have good control over the Shard yet and can’t fully use it anyway.” Sir Elrik whispered to him.

On the other side Tirr was whispering in Maria’s ear. She looked at him unconvinced but nodded as he grinned.

Soon the two combatants faced each other in the center. The guard, still in his armor, was unsure if he should draw his sword or not.

“Beat him up!” Cheered Tirr, as Doron called for the fight to start. The guard took a defensive stance but didn’t draw as he saw Maria hadn’t been given a weapon.

Maria took a deep breath before calmly walking towards him, leaving the guard confused. The guard looked back at Sir Elrik who just nodded for him to continue. As the guard watched. Maria walked directly up to him and stopped.

She lifted a hand and put it softly on the guard’s chest, over his armor.

The guard, seeing the action, didn’t know how to respond. He soon blushed as he got a good look at the pretty young woman in front of him. “You don’t have to be scare…” he started when a bright light erupted from the girl’s hand.

Maria felt her sigil light up as she focused on her hand and shoved. The others only saw her gently push the guard’s chest, yet the reaction was extreme, sending the guard flying backwards. He landed on the side of the hill and continued, rolling the rest of the way down, only to stop once he got to the bottom. The visitors from the capital could only stare in shock at the motionless man at the bottom of the small hill.

Maria felt her strength leave her as she almost collapsed, only to be caught by Doron as Tirr walked up to brag.

“Looks like we win!” He said happily as the group was still caught in awe. “Don’t worry, I’ll heal him as a special service since my apostle was the one that hurt him.”

Tirr dropped Garm, who immediately grew, his body stretching and spreading. He quickly went from the small and cute wolf cub, to a ferocious wolf the size of a horse, shocking the group further.

“Go fetch him.” Tirr ordered, before looking at the pale face Claire with a smile. He struck another triumphant pose as Claire looked over at the giant wolf running down the hill, then back at the young boy who had been carrying him.

“Now do you believe me?” Tirr asked, grinning maliciously…