Chapter 58

Tirr stared at the hammer in his arms for a moment before putting it aside. The strange light faded quickly as he got out of the bed and gently woke Maria.

She woke up slowly, body stretching in the chair she had been sleeping in. “What is it Cl…” She stopped as she noticed him standing in front of her. Before Tirr could speak her arms wrapped around him and held him tightly as she cried.

Tirr didn’t resist and held her back, enjoying the familiar warmth. They held each other until the nearby door opened and a pup sized Garm ran in, soon to be followed by a yelling Claire.

“Garm! Stop it already…” Claire started, before noticing the wolf cub’s target.

Garm charged directly at the two, his size shifting as he leaped. He tackled Tirr and Maria before they could yell for him to stop pinning them to the floor as he licked Tirr’s face excitedly.

“Get off!” Tirr said jokingly pushing the cub off himself only to be tackled again this time by Claire who squeezed him so hard he was sure he could hear his bones creaking.

“You finally woke up!” Claire said happily as she helped him up.

“Was I out for that long?” Tirr asked confused.

“You were asleep for a week, and feverish for most of it” Maria replied.

“What happened back then anyway? How did you get out? And what happened after?”

Maria went over quickly how Doron and she had been captured and their escape.

“Right after you passed out things went kinda crazy.” Claire continued, “Monter tried to have everyone arrested while the Shard Users you helped wanted him dead. It almost broke into another fight until my Father woke up and ordered him to stand down. Seems getting rid of the main part of the shard freed him from whatever was driving him crazy.”

“So the King survived?” Tirr asked surprised.

Claire hesitated briefly, “Yes, Father is alive…But the shard damaged his body badly. The doctors say he won’t ever walk again. So Father stepped down from the throne and named Claus King.

“So it’s over?”

“Kind of?” Claire said looking at Maria. “Like I said its been kinda crazy. Monter’s been obeying Father so far but Nile managed to escape in all the chaos. Plus though the main Shard disappeared, the people who had them didn’t.”

“They’ve split into two groups with the ones you helped on one side and the others loyal to the Kingdom on the other. The ones you helped wanted Father to name you King after he stepped down and threatened to burn the capital down if he didn’t. Even Maria couldn’t calm them down. Claus had to promise to go through with the deal Father originally set to make you the leader of the Kingdom’s official religion.”

Tirr nodded, “I figured it wouldn’t go away, but I know how to help them now…” He whispered looking down.

“Did you see something again?” Maria asked noticing the change in his voice.

He gave a sad smile and told them what he had remembered about Bren, from their first meeting to the final moments. “I mentioned before how early on you use your strength to fuel the Blessing and Faith that you’ve built up later…” Tirr said quietly. “But there’s another option for followers. At a certain point, you can burn your very soul… You’ll receive an enormous amount of power, but…”

“You’ll die…” Maria whispered in reply.

Tirr nodded again. “That’s how the Shard came about. Bren Sacrificed himself to let me get away from whatever that thing was. I don’t know who buried Bren’s body down in that chamber, but I must have never gotten to it before I went to sleep. When an apostle dies, I need to personally pass their power to someone new. The shards must be what happens when I don’t get to them…”

“Then the other shards…” Claire asked slowly.

“They’re the remains of my apostles…” Tirr said with a sad smile tears streaming down his face. “I don’t even remember them…”

“Tirr…”

“I’m alright, I know what I need to do now, The shards are the keys to remembering them and what happened.” He looked up at Maria sincerely, “I’m sorry, everything that happened was my fault in the end… But will you please help me?”

Maria pulled him into another hug, “Of course, I can’t leave you alone now can I?”

“I’ll help too! I mean I don’t have any power here but I’ll complain to my brother until he does something. Otherwise, I’ll do whatever I can to help out.” Claire said grinning as they separated.

Tirr nodded smiling, “I do need your help, to help the people who were made into Shard Users, I need someone to take up the Blessing of Fire once more…”

Claire looked at him in shock, “Me? You don’t have to do that just cause I asked back at Road’s End. It's really important right?”

“If you don’t want to I understand…” Tirr said disappointed. But I wanted to give it to you because I trust you ..”

“I want it! Claire said eagerly, drawing a laugh from Maria and an excited bark from Garm.

Tirr laughed as well, and they quickly went through the ceremony. The Blessing of Fire was different in feeling to the Blessing of Life. Where Life was warm and gentle Fire was scorching and fierce. Claire let out a gasp as she felt it and flame seeped from her feet into the castles stone floor and rose around her short red hair.

As Tirr watch her test her powers carefully with help from Maria, he thought back to Bren and the strange shadowy eyes that he had faced. For a moment during the memory, they had seemed to look right at him… Not at the past him, but the him who was watching the dream… He shivered, feeling a chill run down his back before forcing a smile as he got pulled into Claire’s practice…