Chapter 56

In the center of the chamber, Owen called out once again towards the monstrous Giant the King had become, running forwards as he tried to reach the man.along with Monter. The Knight Commander and Marquess both trying to reach through to him in his maddened state. As they drew close, it turned toward them angrily, raising its swollen Shard encrusted arm to swing furiously. They both dove out of the way, drawing their weapons instinctively.

“Is this what you wanted Monter!?” Owen shouted at the man next to him in a rage as they avoided another attack.

“This never would have happened if you hadn’t interfered!” Monter yelled back, “We could have done it, we could have finally made them pay!”

“Damnit!” Owen cursed as the Giant prepared to swing again. Each swing seemed to come faster as if it was learning to move with its new body. The Giant looked at the flames coming from its body curiously, roaring in pain and rage as it started to shape them around its arm

“Torn please stop!” Owen called out once more, but the Giant didn’t care as it let out another roar and pointed its arm towards where the two stood. The fire around its arm started to collect at its hand, forming into a bright point.

Owen and Monter scrambled to move away when suddenly a small figure appeared in front of the Giant’s misshapen body. Tirr spun as he sent a fist into the Giant’s jaw, forcing it off balance as it fired its attack off course. There was an explosion from the other side of the Chamber as Tirr landed in front of the two men up confidently as he healed the burns that resulted from just getting close to the creature. The former King, however, still seemed shaken from the attack and stood slowly as it reoriented itself.

“Please!” Owen yelled as he saw Tirr, “You have to do something to help him!”

Tirr looked at the man for a moment before turning back towards where the King was still recovering.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know if I can save him.” Tirr said sadly, “But I’ll try…” He looked down at the fist that had struck the Giant, pieces of crystal seemed to be trying to infuse themselves into him, confirming his suspicions.

Tirr knew he had been avoiding it. Since he had first touched the Shard of that Knight Captain after he had woken up, until he had struck Torn just then, he hadn’t dared to touch even a piece of the Shard directly. He knew he had been afraid to find out what had happened, just like he had been with Maria. Some voice inside of him even now said he didn’t want to know, that it would be too painful…

He had felt it each time he had helped those people through the joining, that the Shard wanted to reach out to him, to join with him farm more than anyone else. But he had rejected it, told himself that he couldn’t do that. But he knew he couldn’t run anymore. When he had struck Torn, he had felt it waiting…

Nearby, the Giant seemed to regain its senses and turned angrily towards its attacker. It roared gathering its flames again as it launched them forwards.

Tirr stood still as the flames raced towards him and the two others behind him as they tried to run. He focused on his Blessing, which felt stronger than it ever had since he had woken up. He quietly thanked Maria again for her belief in him… Should be enough… He thought to himself as he breathed in deeply.

As the breath flowed out of him his small back seemed to flex. A pair of pure white wings spread from his back, shimmering brilliantly in contrast to the crimson light emitted from the Shard. The two lights seemed to fight, splitting the chamber into two sides, one bathed in red and the other in white.

Maria could only gasp as she saw the wings spread out front him. They were longer than his own body and seemed to be made of pure light reminding her of the apparition that Tirr caused at the village's celebration. She hardly noticed as Claire arrived with a small group of fighters, as all of them were struck still by the sight in front of them.

As the flames arrived at Tirr he held out a hand and a shimmering white barrier formed in front of him. The Flames struck the barrier fiercely but were turned away as Tirr held on. The edges of his wings seemed to fray and dissipate slowly the longer he held until the attack finished

As the King looked in confusion Tirr launched forward, within the blink of an eye he was at the Torn’s face as his fist connected again with the hard-crystalline skin. As Tirr’s punch hit, he let himself take in the Shards energy for the first time, resisting the revulsion he felt.

Torn stood surprised as his brother introduced him to a beautiful woman, she smiled at him happily as they greeted each other.

Tirr shook his head, focusing as he dashed and struck the King again as he spun breaking off a large chunk of the Shard that sprouted from the kings back.

Torn was assigned to work with her during her stay, or at least that was the excuse he gave for the time they spent together. He was entranced by her beauty and her passion for her work. And she seemed to feel just as deeply for him…

He attacked again, deftly dodging the Giant’s clumsy attacks and absorbing even more of the shard’s energy. Red lines seemed to flow under his skin and his wings were slowly starting to be tainted in red.

They had both known it was wrong. He, a married prince with a newborn son, nevermind that it had been political and loveless. Her, a princess of another Kingdom. But they slowly couldn’t resist each other…

Tirr struck over and over as Torn reeled back with each hit. The more energy Tirr absorbed the more the giant seemed to shrink.

When they found out she was pregnant they knew they couldn’t hide it anymore. Luckily his father was understanding and helped intervene until the birth. He remembered her smile as she held them…

Tirr’s wing continued to fray as they became stained with crimson veins. He could feel his skin burning as his body ignited. His Blessing fighting to stop the damage from the Shard’s energy.

It was supposed to be a night of success. Her crowning achievement. Instead, he watched, helpless, as one of her own attendants slit her throat as the other assassins murdered the rest of the evening’s participants. In the end, with his father and brother dead, and no one else of the royal line except for his brother's young son and his own children, he was named King…

The King lay on the ground, his body had returned to its normal size though it was still disfigured in certain places by the remaining shards. Tirr stood over him panting, his wings frayed and tattered and dyed red. Tirr reached out, putting one hand on the King as he tried to absorb the last of the Shard within him…

He hid her children as that of a maid while naming his wife’s son the crown prince, before going after Lutel. They denied having been behind the attack and instead blamed Rasor back. But he had seen her maid slit her throat. He fought desperately but once again the war ground to a stalemate, for years neither country could gain an advantage. Until the hidden chamber was found. Rumors of the Shards that had been found in different countries spread quickly and the more time he spent near the crimson obelisk as they started their experiments, the surer he was that this was his chance. This was how he could make them pay….

Torn let out another roar and Tirr felt the Shards energy surge in him once more even as he tried to absorb it. He could feel the energy coming off the main body of the Shard nearby.

“Fine! I’ll take responsibility for all of it!” Tirr yelled as he dashed at the Shard before the King could get up. His first attack left a deep crack within the Shard, but he felt the pain more deeply as he suddenly felt the memories of everyone that had come into contact with the shard.

He struck it again causing it to shake. He could hear Torn roaring behind him but couldn’t pay attention if he wanted to. The pain, anguish, fear, and anger of those that had been fed to the Shard, all of it swarmed him at once. And worse, a voice within Tirr screamed for him to stop, that something even more painful awaited if he kept going.

He ignored it all, raising his fist once more, his wings finally fading to nothing as he drew the last of his Blessing into one final attack. His body was covered in flames, red crystals sprouting from his skin along with the crimson veins. He could hear Maria yelling for him from somewhere as he swung one last time.

His fist connected with a crash, and in a moment the Shard started to shatter, pieces crumbling and fracturing as it fell apart into a thick red dust. Tirr stood panting, knowing it wasn’t over yet, the voice inside him was still screaming as the dust started to fade. The flames around the chamber had suddenly died leaving the chamber in a strange twilight.

In front of Tirr covered in the remnants of the Shard was a stone sarcophagus… Even as he saw it he felt tears spring into his eyes unbidden. A deep welling pain seemed to rise in his chest. He could still hear Maria calling out to him as he moved his exhausted body towards it. He shoved the lid off with both hands and stood wordlessly as he looked inside.

“Bren…”