Chapter 53

“Why do you care so much about someone who abandoned you?” Torn asked, His anger growing in his voice.

“Maria would never abandon me,” Tirr replied as he turned to leave. “At least not without saying anything. Something happened to her and I’m going to find out what, I should have gone looking from the start.”

As if to confirm his own feeling he felt his Blessing surge in response. Maria’s Blessing had grown, which meant that she hadn’t stopped believing in him. Tirr shook his head angrily at himself, wherever she was she probably needed his help, and here he had been wasting his time….

“No, she left you!” The King replied his anger now obvious. “I told you, didn’t I? She’s already left the city. Abandoned you! Chasing after her will do nothing for you, Meanwhile, I can help you get everything you want, but we must finish what we started first…”

The words stopped Tirr for a moment as he felt his body shake. It had been the king that told him about Maria. It had been the King’s messenger that gave the news from Doron, and it had been the King who sent Claire way…

Tirr turned around, his eyes cold as he stared at King Torn. “Where is she…?”

Claire looked about the castle yard in confusion as she saw guards and knights with Monter’s colors marching through.

“Did Monter manage to take over the castle?” Arnold asked from behind their hiding place.

“Impossible beside we’ve seen the regular castle guards as well, they weren’t fighting or acting like the castle had been taken over…” Claus answered quickly.

“Then why are Monter’s people all over the place?” Arnold replied.

“Weren’t your men watching him?” Claire questioned Claus.

“The first knight order took over soon after we finished our report to Father. He should have been held at his estate under house arrest until his trial. Maybe Father is trying to integrate them into the 1st Knight Order…?”

“Before Monter’s even hung?” Claire asked skeptically.

Claus could only shrug. A sudden clamor sounded as a ringing bell sent the guards running. They watched as they took off into the castle.

“Well, that might be our best chance to find out…” Claire said, moving to follow the guards as they ran into the castle.

Torn blinked, the anger on his face disappearing behind a calm mask, “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Shut up…” Tirr said quietly as realization dawned on him and he walked slowly towards the King. Garm could feel his master’s anger and let out a low growl.

Torn felt the chill of fear as he stared at the small boy walking towards him. He noticed he had taken a step back without realizing it.

“It seems like you pushed too hard your majesty…” A voice called out from behind Tirr.

Tirr glanced back to see Marquess Monter followed by guards that Tirr could tell were shard users. Monter stood behind him arms crossed as he inspected the young boy in front of him before looking back towards the King.

As Tirr thought back to what Maria had said about seeing Monter in the Castle and looked back at the man standing nonchalantly behind him, he couldn’t help but feel foolish for not listening to her.

The King let out a laugh at the fear he had just felt. Summoning his guards around him as he looked up at Monter. “You're probably right,” Torn replied looking back at Tirr. “It seems the more powerful the tool, the more skill it takes to handle.”

The words made Tirr furious, he dropped the growling Garm, focusing as he readied his blessing. Garm’s size quickly started to shift as he landed on the ground and Tirr prepared to fight.

“Stop it,” The King said plainly, “You could kill me, but if you don’t want your friends to die, you’ll behave and tell your dog to stop as well”

The words struck Tirr hard and he forced himself to calm down, gritting his teeth as he gained control of himself before telling Garm to stop., “Where are they?”

“Your friends are hidden away for now and will stay that way. If something happens here and the correct signals aren’t given. They’ll be burned to death well before you finish killing everyone here and go to find them. If you don’t want that to happen, you’ll cooperate and finish the Joining.”

“Why are you doing this?” Tirr asked as he glanced around measuring his options. The results were no help though. The King was right, even if he ran straight out killing anyone in his way, without any idea where Maria and Doron were he’d only get them killed…

“The same reason I already told you. I want to put an end to this war, permanently, and I need your power to do it. I’ll admit you weren’t what I was expecting when Monter first told me the rumors about your village. But you’ve proven yourself to be much more valuable than a Shard.”

“You knew about the village from the beginning?” Tirr asked, his mind spinning at the implication.

“I would have thought you’d guessed by now. Monter brought the rumors of your village to me when they first came up.” The King started,

“The chance to gain another shard was too good to give up, but it needed to be done quietly. I've told you before that the nobles around me bark and scrape like dogs chasing after any scrap of power. I couldn’t move, too many eyes and most under my command aren’t willing to do what needs to be done.”

The king shrugged, “So I had Monter feed the information to my son and try to direct him down the path we needed. Who would have thought he would fail so spectacularly though, failing to clean up that village and then even expanding his plan to killing me? Ambitious, no doubt, but stupid. Either way, the rewards weren’t low as it led you to me.”

“You… you were responsible for everything?” Tirr asked his voice strained with rage as he thought back to the dead that lay within Road End’s graveyard. He wanted to hurt this man, to make him pay, but if what he said about Maria was true. Tirr bit his lip until he tasted blood…

The King glanced at Tirr, locked in place and shaking with anger and couldn’t help but shake his head. “How pointless, all that power that strength and for what? You and that Beast could probably kill every single one of us and leave without a scratch and all it would cost you are the two fools who let you be trapped like this in the first place. All you need to do is be willing to sacrifice the things holding you down, but you won’t, will you Tirr. Because despite your strength you have a fatal weakness. You care too much about those beneath you…”

The King sighed walking towards Tirr and patting his shoulder. “A true leader knows that sacrifices must be made for the good of all. It’s good that you ran into me so early after waking up. I’ll put your Blessing to good use. I’ll even spread that religion of yours.” The king turned away, telling his men to finish the preparations as he left Tirr to angrily clench his fists…

Maria jolted awake as she lost her concentration. She tried to follow the nebulous connection to Tirr once again but couldn’t quite find the proper way. As she looked around, she noticed that the manacles around her wrists were already twisted and warped, her hands free.

“I hope you’re ready to get us out of here because I’m pretty sure someone heard that…” Doron whispered from the cell next to her.

She stood slowly feeling her body was filled with strength. “Doron, we’re getting out of here…” She said as she looked at the metal door. She heard voices as guards outside came to investigate the noise.

Maria focused, feeling the strength of Tirr’s Blessing coursing through her. She ran at the door lowering her shoulder to hit it dead center and with a wrenching wail, the iron door crashed open, bent and torn from the immense force used.

Maria let out a shaky breath as she stepped out, noticing the guards who immediately ran at her, weapons drawn. One lifted a hand and fire came spewing forth. Maria dashed through the flames barely feeling the pain as any damage was instantly healed. She caught the shard user in the chest sending him flying before quickly knocking out the other guards as well. She searched them quickly, knowing she had to work fast, already feeling the power coursing through her start to fade.

She found a set of keys and unlocked Doron’s door before freeing and helping him up. “We have to find Tirr and get out of here…”

“You don’t have to say it twice,” Doron replied, as he drank some of the water the guards had been carrying. “I’d be happy to never come back to this damned City.”

They started to leave when they heard a quiet voice call out from another nearby cell. “Is someone there? Get me out of here!”

Maria hesitated not knowing if there was any time, but the voice was familiar.

“I can help you get to your companion!”

Maria edged closer to the cell to look through the large iron door, similar to what had held them, and check inside. She was surprised to find Commander Owen, who had greeted them originally at the gate

He noticed her as well and looked up at her through unwavering eyes. “I can help you stop the King…”