Chapter 57

Tears were streaming down Tirr’s face as he stared, muted by what he found. Inside the stone sarcophagus lay a man wearing a crimson robe over a well-made set of plate armor. His face was peaceful as he lay with his hands crossed over his chest holding his trusty war hammer. Tirr couldn’t help but smile a bit through the tears as he saw it, he always kept it with him didn’t he. It all looked so normal, like if he called out a little louder the man might just wake up and smile at him.

Tirr reached out hesitantly, sobbing, “Bren?” He could hear Maria calling out from behind him as Garm started to howl. As his hand touched Bren’s face there was a flash and the body started to dissolve, fading away into red dust, leaving only the hammer and a small red light at the bottom.

Tirr stared at the flickering light for a moment as fear pressed on him, but he resolved himself quickly and drew his hand over it.. As soon as he did his body ignited once more, his skin burning as flames surrounded him. Tirr felt a searing pain swallow him as the heat spread through him. Maria’s calls grew more frantic and Garm’s howls seemed to shake the large chamber as he stood withing the flames.

A sudden surge of feelings overwhelmed him all at once. Anger, regret, pain, a desire for more power. The feelings left within the Blessing from its original holder burned at Tirr’s body and mind. He felt himself giving in as he felt like he was being devoured. Suddenly he felt himself being wrapped in a familiar embrace and a strange warmth seemed to counteract the burning feelings. He felt the burning start to subside as he slowly closed his eyes and sunk into the quiet...

Tirr felt himself walking through a small village not too different from Roads end. He tried to stop, confused, but found he couldn’t. His body moved on its own as it took in the sights around him in a sort of nervous exactment.

He felt a tug and realized he wasn’t alone. Walking alongside him, holding his hand as she smiled down at him, was a woman. Though no matter how he tried he couldn’t seem to get a good view of her face.

They walked through the village together, Tirr listened to himself asking scared questions as he clung tightly to the young woman next to him. It was his first time being around so many of his people…

At some point the young woman seemed to notice something and indicated for Tirr to stay and wait, as she went towards one of the nearby stalls. As Tirr stood nervously he quickly grew bored.

Suddenly the ring of metal on metal started to come from nearby. The regularly ringing strikes seemed to draw Tirr’s interest and he slowly crept away from where the woman had left him as he searched out the sounds source. He soon came across a small building a bit off the path. There a young man stood over an anvil as he swung his hammer again and again at a piece of red-hot metal in front of a firey forge.

Tirr watched from the side curiously as the man worked.

“If you’re going to watch you might as well help.” The young man said suddenly without looking up. Tirr stood frozen for a moment, shocked at being discovered.

“If you got the strength for it go pump the bellows over there.” The young man pointed towards a strange contraption near the forge. “Just take that handle and press it down.”

Tirr looked over towards where the man had indicated and stepped forward cautiously, waiting for the man to suddenly yell or scream at him. But the man kept at his work, hammering down at the piece of metal he was working on. So, Tirr approached the handle and holding on tightly pressed it down easily.

“Strong for a kid aren’t you.” The young man said, seeming surprised as Tirr looked back at him for further instructions. “Just keep at it for a while. Need to make sure the fire is hot enough before I put this back in there.”

Tirr nodded and continued to pump the bellows, enjoying the sight of the fire of the forge as it grew stronger. He could feel the fire dancing and growing as he continued to pump, but felt it was to slow. He pressed on his power and the next pump used it to increase the power of the flames even further.

The forge reacted with a roar as the heat of the flames could be felt even from where the young man worked.

“That’s good!” The man stopped him as he looked over the forge with a laugh. He brought over the metal he was working and left it in the forge. “Going to have to leave it for a bit… You’re a lot stronger than you look huh?” The young man added with a laugh.

He took off his rough leather gloves and ruffled Tirr’s hair with a hand as he smiled down at him. “Thanks for the help! I’m Bren, what’s your name kid?”

“Tirr…”

“Well good job Tirr, aren’t many kids that can press the blower like that, you interested in blacksmithing then?”

“It's interesting.” Tirr heard himself say, “Are you making a sword?”

“Nope, just some tools for the farmers around here. And honestly that the way I like to keep it.”

“Aren’t swords cool though?”

“They are! Nothing better than a finely made blade. But if I’m making swords it’s because someone needs to use them.”

Tirr looked up at him confused but was startled when he heard the woman’s voice calling for him in the distance. The young man seemed to notice and waved him off with another laugh, “Better run back before you get into trouble, feel free to come help again though.”

Tirr felt himself nod happily before running off…

Things seemed to skip forward and soon Tirr was once again at Bren’s forge as he helped pump the bellows once again, using his blessing to control the fire and heat it quickly.

“Perfect!” Bren said as he looked at the flames before putting the most recent piece he was working on in. “You’ve got a real way with the fire huh?”

“Is it usually hard?” Tirr asked, looking at Bren curiously.

“Of course!” Bren said chuckling, “Controlling the fire is one of the hardest parts of being a blacksmith, any idiot can learn to swing a hammer. But fire is alive, it has a temper. You have to get a feel for it. Except you it seems, your just a natural I guess, you sure you don’t want to be a blacksmith?”

Tirr shook his head smiling but seemed to think for a moment. “Would you want to control fire if you could?” Tirr asked seriously as he watched Bren.

Bren was too busy preparing for the next step to notice Tirr’s change, “Obviously, that be the dream of any blacksmith. I can’t imagine what great things I could make…”

Tirr nodded thinking for a moment before walking to Bren with his hand held out. He placed his hand on Bren’s back and channeled his blessing. He could feel his power and chose one of the streams and guided it into Bren

“What’s up ki…”

Bren started as there was a sudden rush of warmth and heat. It shocked him so badly he dropped the metal he was working on, almost landing in the bucket of water nearby.

Panicked that the splashing steam or water might hurt the child he reached down and caught the ingot, throwing it into the nearby forge. He dunked his hand into the water quickly but was surprised when he didn’t feel any pain. He looked at his hand, noticing there wasn’t the slightest burn, before looking back at Tirr behind him.

“Now you’re one of my followers…” Tirr said with a grin….

The time seemed to skip again and Tirr sat on a throne. around him were several figures who seemed to be arguing. Only snippets of the conversation seemed to work their way to Tirr as he tried to understand what they were saying.

“Why are they doing this? We aren’t a threat to them, we just want to be left alone…”

“We exist that’s their problem.”

“So, what do we do?”

“We fight obviously, their demands are ridiculous”

“I agree, we may not want a war, but we have been forced to fight before...”

As the arguments went on Tirr felt himself growing more and more uncomfortable, he felt a hand ruffle his hair affectionately and looked up to see Bren smiling down at him.

“Don’t worry Tirr we won’t let them take you. Even if all of these idiots agreed to give you up. I already told you, I’ll always be by your side.” He said with a smile drawing angry rebukes from others around the room…

The scene shifted once more and Tirr was suddenly filled with a deep sense of pain. He realized he was lying on his back as he clutched his side. A worried figure of the woman stood over him shouting and crying. He felt blood coming from his side and realized he wasn’t healing. He felt his body growing cold despite the woman’s efforts.

He looked around and saw they were surrounded by burning buildings. Bren was speaking with the woman, yelling at her as she cried.

“Bren?” he heard himself ask quietly.

Bren stopped, turning towards him with a sorry smile. He ruffled Tirr’s dark hair once more. “I’m sorry Tirr…”

“Bren? Why?” Tirr heard himself asked confused he felt hands picking him up from the ground. The woman hoisted him onto her back as she started to run, speeding up quickly.

“Goodbye Tirr…” Bren said with one last sad look before he turned. Tirr saw something dark rise out of the flaming city in front of Bren. It looked like a veil of darkness that crept over the flames towards the former blacksmith.

“Bren!” Tirr cried as he realized what was happening. “You promised Bren!” he yelled as he was carried away.

Bren didn’t look back though as he lifted the heavy hammer he had forged for himself. Fire started to spill from his feet with each step as he walked towards the coming darkness. His form grew and his body was wreathed in flames until he was taller then remaining spiraling towers of the city.

The darkness seemed to slow as it recognized him as a threat. Tirr saw two large eyes form within the darkness, watching as Bren finished his transformation. The fire giant raised his hammer high in the air as the ground beneath his feet started to melt and break from the heat. He brought it down in a searing strike and the Tirr could hear a surprised cry as the hammer came down, crashing into the earth in front of the giant. The impact shattered the ground as the flames sent super-heated rocks flying through the sky.

There was a roar as the flames grew and even from a distance as Tirr was carried away he could see the cloud of smoke that lifted in wake of the attack. The shockwave hit them a second later almost sending the woman to the ground. She struggled to right herself, pushing on as Tirr watched the city behind them disappear into ash and lava…

Tirr woke up with a start, looking around confused as he realized he was within his room inside the castle of Rasor. Bren never betrayed me… He thought to himself as he went over the strange memories he had just seen. His chest hurt with the loss. He thought back to the others he had seen beside him and the strange shadow he had seen over the city. As he tried to get up, he felt a heavy weight in his hand and raised it to find Bren’s war hammer.

“Bren…” Tirr whispered as he focused his Blessing. He felt a familiar stream of power flow and watched as flames surrounded the head of the hammer, filling the room with a strange crimson light…