Chapter 37

There was a crash as more shadowy figures came in from another door and window. They raced inside, a couple moving to block the shocked guards while the rest moved directly towards where Claire was seated at the table.

Tirr was the first to react as he stood preparing to charge towards Claire. Before he could there was a tug at the back of his shirt as the white-masked man appeared behind him, pulling him back before throwing Tirr into the wall behind them.

Garm let out an angry howl his size-changing until the white-masked figure appeared again, the back of his dagger slamming into the back of the small cub’s head. The blow threw Garm to the side, where he stood shakily.

The Assassins reached the table in an instant, cutting the Princess off from help as they moved to block the others. Claire had only just drawn her sword when two of the figures arrived at her side. She cut at one, laying a slash through the shoulder before she felt a strange slowness take over her.

She tried to respond to the other, but her body refused to do what she asked. It moved at a crawl, and she watched helplessly as the dagger approached her heart. It sunk into her chest up to the handle with a heavy thud.

Her sword fell to the ground with a clang as she slowly collapsed onto the table behind her. Jill let out a roar of anger as she tried to press through to her mistress but was held back. As Claire lay on the table, a bright light emerged from her chest and covered her whole body.

Tirr got up quickly but found the white-masked man in front of him again. The man was looking at the brightly covered Claire and let out a low whistle before looking back at Tirr. “So it’s true, interesting…Time to go then”

Tirr was confused by the words at first until he noticed one of the assassins pick up the unconscious Claire. He tried to charge forward but a sweep suddenly tripped him as he ran, sending him rolling.

The others tried to break through to Claire as they watched her be carried out the window to disappear into the dark night. The assassins held them up for a few moments longer before leaving as quickly as they arrived. When the group tried to chase they found themselves stuck, as if moving through sludge.

Tirr struggled through it the fastest reaching the window to look out and see a white masked figure looking down at him from the nearby wall. The figure disappeared and so did the whatever restriction was holding them down.

As reinforcing guards arrived the group tried to recover from their shock at the sudden attack. In all, only a little over a minute had passed between when the assassins had arrived and departed.

Tirr immediately went to Garm, healing him from the blow he had taken and preparing him to chase after Claire. Behind him, Count Vilea cursed as he prepared his guards to chase after them.

“How long will your protection last?” Asked Doron quietly as they readied to give chase.

“Not long, an hour at most,” Tirr said angrily, as he helped Garm recover. They had expected an attempt on Claire’s life at some point and knew the town would be the most likely place for the attack to come. Tirr had poured a large amount of his Blessing into Claire ahead of time, setting it to only activate if her life was in danger.

He hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly though. He thought back to the strange and flickering motions of the man in the white mask. And the strange restrictions he had felt. His mind itched as a memory seemed to be buried just deep enough to remain hidden.

Maria was trying to soothe the almost hysterical Jill as the group finished their preparations and took off, following Garm as he led the way guided by Claire’s scent. They quickly found signs that the assassins had taken off through the Town on horseback.

They reached the gate of the town quickly and found the stationed guards unconscious. Garm held onto the scent though as they traveled out onto the road. The moved by lantern light as Garm bounded forward, followed by the Count and his men on horses of their own.

After a while, they arrived at an old farm, with tall grass-covered fields and rickety buildings. As the guards led by the Count charged forwards to search for the Princess, Tirr rushed forward with them, until he noticed a flash of white from the field bringing him to a halt.

“Tirr?” Maria asked as she noticed him stop.

“Go ahead with the others.” He said frowning as he turned towards the fields with Garm at his side. He moved slowly as he entered the tall grass, with only the light of the stars above. He continued for a few minutes until the sounds of the Count's guards behind him grew muffled.

Soon reached a small clearing, in the middle sat the man in the white mask sitting under a lantern with Claire tied up beside him. He stopped at the sight, confused, but the man in the white mask waved him forward.

As he continued, the sudden squelch at his feet made him look down at the ground. Lit by the moonlight, Tirr found several bodies lying in their own blood.

“The Crown Prince’s men, sent to keep an eye on us,” The masked figure said.

Tirr walked through the bodies towards the man and stopped a short distance away. “Why?”

“They were mad when I told them I wasn’t going to kill her if I even could” He added with a laugh.

“Then why bring her out here?”

“I wanted to talk to you, its true what they’ve been saying right? That you don’t use a shard?”

“Of course, I’m a God,” Tirr said proudly

“I don’t care about the god nonsense, and I don’t care about this little spat Rasor is having” The man slowly removed the mask from his face, revealing the smiling young man Tirr had met at the fruit stall. “If you don’t use the Shards, does that mean you know how to remove them?”