Chapter 9

Tirr turned around and started to head back inside as he ignored the blank stares around him. Just before he entered, he turned to the Guardian “You get in here too mutt, we need to pick a name for you.” Afterwards he disappeared inside the temple.

The Guardian bounded towards the door and Maria worried it would force its way through the small frame. But as she watched its form shrunk again, and by the time it passed through the door it was the size of a cub, barking happily as it chased after its master.

Maria watched after them for a moment before looking over at the villagers, who were already preparing to butcher the Beast the Guardian brought, then at her grandmother. Nora just smiled at her and motioned her inside while she went to go speak with the other villagers about bringing the wounded up.

Maria walked back inside and saw Tirr sitting in front of the Guardian, who was sat on the table obediently as Tirr muttered to himself. He looked up as Maria entered, “What should I call him? I can’t think of a good name…”

The question made Maria pause, “Well the village has always called it the Guardian…”

“The Guardian?” Tirr looked back at the Guardian sitting happily in front of him. “This mischievous runt? Didn’t you see during the fight?” Tirr snorted, “He was playing around the whole time.” The scolding made the Guardian whimper a bit, looking down as if sorry, but it kept stealing glances up as if checking if it was working.”

The act just made Tirr snort again, and even Maria chuckled at the ridiculousness of it. The Beast of her nightmares was acting like a sulking child in front of another child… “Well you said he was still young right? I’m sure he’ll grow into it.” Maria said as she finished the cooking.

Tirr thought for a moment, staring at the wolf cub in front of him. “Fine then, you’ll be the Guardian, and I’ll call you Garm for short." The cub barked happily at the name and jumped into Tirr’s lap to lick him.

Maria brought over the food, carrying a plate to Lina and her father, before setting some down for Tirr, Nora and herself. She was confused on how Tirr got the name Garm from Guardian but did not feeling like questioning it right then, as she hadn’t eaten yet either.

By the time she sat down Tirr was already digging in, shoveling spoonsful of eggs and potatoes into his mouth. “You shouldn’t eat so fast, you might choke.” She told him as she started eating herself.

Tirr glared as he chewed, “We need to finish so I can give you the blessing.” Bits of egg flew as he spoke making Maria wince. He grabbed a nearby cup and gulped down the water and food. “The sooner you pass your blessing on and start training the better.” Tirr said before continuing to eat.

“What is the blessing?” Maria asked curiously in between mouthfuls.

“It’s my power.” Replied Tirr as he finished swallowing the last bit of food. “I am the god of this land, so I control everything about it” He said proudly. There are eight… well nine but I gave one away, so eight blessings. I’ll give you the Life one since it’s the only one I have right now, plus it seems like your family had it in the past."

Nora came in as Tirr continued and sat down to eat as well. Tirr held Garm in his lap as he spoke further. “I can only give one of each blessing personally, so you’ll be in charge of spreading it further.”

Maria was taken aback and looked at Nora, “Shouldn’t you give it to my grandmother instead then? She’s the Head Priestess here...”

Tirr looked over at Nora and frowned. Nora simply shook her head, “No love, as much as I’d like to, I think it’s time for you to take the lead. These creaky old bones aren’t swift enough to keep up.”

Tirr nodded, “The Blessing of Life can slow aging but not stop it entirely, she’s to old to start training, and would be too weak in a fight.

“A fight?” said Maria alarmed.

“You’ll be able to give her the blessing afterwards anyways. As your strength grows, you’ll be able to pass the blessing to more people and they will do the same. I should be able to get you to Early Disciple, so you’ll be able to create 3 Devotees.” As Tirr noticed them staring blankly at his words he sighed.

He struggled for a moment as he tried to think of how to explain it. He noticed some old charcoal nearby and grabbed one and got on the table. He started drawing a very simple tree and Maria had to fight again not to giggle.

After he finished, he sat back proudly and pointed at it. “Here, think of my power like this tree. I’m at the trunk of it.” He drew a little stick figure of himself at the trunk of the tree. “Then I give My blessings out and those become the first branches, my Apostles. As they grow, they can grow branches of their own, passing on the blessing themselves. The branches that grew off them will do the same as they get strong enough. The more branches, the bigger the tree gets and the stronger I get as well.” Tirr was happy with his explanation as he continued to draw to the rapt Maria and Nora.

“Right now, I’m so weak that I actually had trouble with that scum earlier. That’s because I don’t have any of my branches so I’m like a sapling again. When I give you the Life Blessing, you’ll be the start of my first branch, and you’ll be able to start your own branches.”

“Each branch is given titles based on how strong they are and how much they can support. You’ll start as an early stage Disciple and be able to bless 3 Devotees. Disciples are the first rank that can fully control the blessing and pass it on to others. Devotees are like new sprouts that haven’t solidified yet; they can do some small stuff but don’t have full control of their blessing.”

“The rest can wait till later.” Tirr said as he noticed Maria’s eyes starting to swim. He stood back from his drawing, which now looked even more like the scribbles of a child. “For now, the important part is that I’ll pass my Blessing onto you, and then you’ll choose three more people to bless as well.”

Nora nodded, “So we’ll have at least 4 people other than you to help the injured, and the stronger we get the stronger you’ll get.” Tirr smiled happily, “Yes!” We’ll start with growing the Life branch and then find and spread the other blessings as well! After that, it will be easy to rebuild my empire and figure out what happened…”

Tirr looked back to Maria, stepped to the side of the table and held out a hand, “Ready?” Maria looked at her grandmother who smiled at her again. Somewhat reassured, she nodded at Tirr and stepped forward grabbing his small hand.

Tirr seemed to focus for a moment and their hands started to slowly light up. Maria felt a familiar and comfortable warmth fill her as the light slowly covered the room.