Chapter 51

“What did you mean, next step?” Tirr asked as he sat down in the king’s study.

“Thanks to you…” The King replied as he sat as his desk, “We’ve managed to make the process of creating a Shard User much safer than it was before.” He gave Tirr a strange smile.

“Now that we can control the process to some extent, it’s time to go bigger. We’ve long since known that the size of the Shard that a user takes in effects the power they display after. Before you came though, even a small piece of the shard resulted in such a low success rate that we never even thought to try using bigger pieces. I believe Captain Reynolds was a part of the attack on your village yes?”

Tirr nodded, thinking back to the man who had given Tirr his first real fight since awakening. At the time he had been surprised at how much of his Blessing the man seemed to be able to use and understand.

“Captain Reynolds was always a troublemaker. After enough problems, he was given the choice to attempt the joining ceremony or face execution. He chose to go through with the ceremony and took in the largest piece of the shard that we’ve seen so far… And then managed to survive the effects afterward.”

“So that’s why he seemed so much stronger than the others…” Tirr reasoned

The King nodded, “Yes, he progressed faster than any of our other Shard Users but also became more volatile and harder to control. “

“So, you want to start trying to have people join with larger pieces of the Shard?”

“Yes, but carefully… giving such power to Reynolds was risky enough and look how that ended. I believe if someone can survive joining with a large enough piece of the Shard, they might even reach the level of your apostles that you were talking about. It may even be the way to reconnect you to your Blessing. Something that important couldn’t be entrusted to anyone. The fire Shards have strange effects on temperament and even trusted officials can become dangerous under its power.”

“Then who do you want to give it to?” Tirr asked confused.

“I told you before that the only person a leader can truly rely on is themselves. With your help, I’ll be able to withstand the power of the shard and can use that power to put an end to Lutel once and for all.”

“That’s…” The child god said hesitantly.

“I understand your reservations,” The King said, holding up a hand. “But this is the only way I can think of. How could I trust anyone else with something so important? Even your own follower…” Torn stopped when he saw the anger in Tirr’s eyes.

“Regardless, I want to try as soon as possible. Lutel probably already knows that we’ve found a way to increase our Shard Users and will try anything to stop us. We must put an end to this war once and for all.”

Torn stood up putting a comforting hand on Tirr’s shoulder, “Once this war is over we’ll be able to start creating a place for you here in the kingdom. I’ll be able to spread your religion and help you grow your followers. Together, as equals, we will be able to do great things… But Lutel must be handled first.”

“…If this will help stop the war.”

“It will… And ending this war will save thousands of lives in the long run We’ll start with some slightly larger pieces tonight and move on from there. If all proves successful, we’ll make an attempt at joining me with an even larger piece, or even with the Shard itself.”

Tirr nodded, but still felt a strong reluctance. He wished Maria or Doron were there to talk with before suddenly having a thought. “Has Claire returned to the Castle yet?” Tirr asked hopefully.

The king’s eyes darkened slightly for just a moment before sighing “My daughter will be away for some time unfortunately, the preparation for the trial can be long and tedious and will require both Claus and Claire’s attention as I focus on the Shard.”

He started to lead the way out, beckoning Tir to follow him. “Now we should get to work, the sooner we progress, the sooner this war ends…”

“Any luck?” Doron asked. Listening as Maria strained to break through the manacle holding her hands together.

The was a brief moment of strain accompanied by the quiet screech of iron until Maria gave up, energy spent. She panted, feeling the exhaustion of overusing her Blessing. “It’s no use, my Blessing isn’t strong enough yet. And even if it was, I still might not be able to do it the way things are now…”

“What's that mean?”

“Tirr said part of the Blessing’s strength comes from the connection between him and his follower. The way things have been I doubt I could fully use the Blessing even if it was more powerful…”

She went over the fights that she’d been having with Tirr as well as the recent awkwardness that had come up between them afterward. Doron listened quietly as she spoke.

“So what, you think he doesn’t trust you?”

“Why should he? What have I done for him? I don’t know why I accepted this whole Apostle thing. Granny would have seen what the King was doing earlier and might have done something about it. Or she could have guessed about Tirr’s nightmares and known how to comfort him. Maybe Tirr would have just trusted her enough to tell about them from the beginning…” Maria said quietly, head down.

“I think of all the people in the world, you’re the one Tirr trusts and relies on most you know? You were the first person he saw when he woke up. And you were the first person he gave his Blessing to. Out of everyone, despite how he may act, I think he listens to you and your thoughts most of all. Whether or not you want that kind of responsibility is your choice, but as powerful as Tirr is he’s still a child. He needs someone he trusts to help him even when that help is harsh.”

“How am I supposed to help him though? Maria asked

“Well to start, we have to get out of here, are you sure you can’t force your way out of those chains?

Maria was quiet as she thought, trying to remember everything Tirr had told her about the Blessing and how to use it.

"If I do what Tirr did at the village when he gave his blessing to the villagers, but just store it in myself, I might be able to store enough of the Blessing to break free. But I’d have to be able to break down the door too and get you out somehow with collapsing immediately after, or we’ll just get caught again.”

“We can worry about the rest later, for now, can you at least free yourself?”

“It’ll take some time, and if I lose control for even a moment I’ll have to start again.”

“Well, we don’t have a lot of options and later is better than never right? They haven’t killed us yet, so we might as well try while we can…”