Book 3 Chapter 24

Tirr roused slowly, whispers of another world fading as he left his dreams behind. A soft low growl welcomed him as he came to, Garm’s small body shaking from the intensity of it. As he looked over towards where the pup lay, he saw the white gleam of sharp teeth through the dark.

As he summoned a small ball of light from his Blessing it revealed the wolf's form. Garm’s lips were pulled into a snarl, his hackles raised as he lay with his whole body tense. He seemed to stare off into space, facing down some unseen enemy. Tirr looked at the wolf confused, “What is it?”

The wolf didn’t respond, locked into whatever danger it sensed. Tirr frowned, focusing his own senses… A sudden clatter caught him by surprise, making him jump. He turned, Blessing of Life surging through his body as he raised one small fist. Yet all he found was an open window shutter, swaying slowing in a silent breeze.

He moved toward the window cautiously, looking out into the underground cavern around them. A few torches flickered around the estate, lighting the underground mansion’s yard. He felt the cool breeze wash over him as he watched, his eyes searching.

Finally, he shook his head, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. Tirr looked back at Garm, who had also calmed. “Did you have a bad dream or something?” Tirr asked as he pushed the wolf over with his foot. “Next time you wake me up for the wind you’re getting replaced…” Garm let out a complaining whine, yet didn’t seem to understand what he had felt either. He rolled himself back over as he curled back up for bed.

Tirr let out a grunt, feeling somewhat frustrated at having been woken for nothing. He turned towards Maria, who slept deeply, and could help but feel jealous of her current ability to ignore the world around her. He had already transferred some of his own faith to help her recover, but still, she slept.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he got back into bed, trying to settle down once more… But as he tried to close his eyes, something kept him from succumbing to the darkness, He tossed, then turned, thinking maybe the position was bad. Yet still, his eyes wouldn’t close. The more he tried to sleep the tenser he felt…

There was something wrong… He didn’t know what it was but there was something… All signs pointed to it. Garm wouldn’t growl for no reason and the same could be said for how tense he felt… But what was it?

Things were quiet and they were in the safest place in the Confederation, hidden behind tunnels no one could traverse without the proper knowledge. They had even dealt a hard blow to their enemies recently, cutting off one of their best pawns with Odee’s death

So what was it? He thought to himself… He went over the night's events even as his heart started to beat faster and faster. Garm’s growl had awakened him, or so he assumed caused most likely by the breeze blowing the window open. A non-incident…

He kept thinking, repeating in his head over and over, Garm growling, shutter blown open by the breeze. Garm growling, shutter blown open by breeze… And as he repeated his eyes started to widen, Garm, Growling, Shutter, Breeze… Shutter… Breeze...

He sat up, alarms going off in his head as the thoughts connected, Shutter, Breeze… A breeze underground, Not impossible in caverns as large as this, but powerful enough to blow open a window shutter… He rose instantly, kicking Garm awake as he did so.

The archer, his arrows had acted as if guided by the air itself. If his shard dealt with air, could he control the breeze? He tried to think to remember his own Blessings… But the haze of his mind stumped him. He needed to warn people…

But he stopped, just as he was about to start yelling, It was so quiet… What if people were already here… He thought back to the children, If he yelled and let them know they were discovered, would they turn on them? “Torvus…” He whispered to himself. If anyone could help him find out what was happening it was Torvus

“Stay with her!” He ordered Garm, pointing towards Maria, The pup nodded obediently hopping on the bed to lay beside the snoozing apostle.

He turned back to the door his breath short and quiet as he slowly turned the handle, he let the door open only a crack, peaking into the hallway. He slipped out, traveling cautiously as he went, There was no sign of Raifes servants, no sign of the guards he had seen around before. Just quiet, empty hallways…

He moved to Torvus’s room but found it empty. He calmed himself, All this could still be an overreaction, maybe he had caught onto the wind beforehand… Maybe they weren’t here, Maybe the breeze was simply a breeze… Yet he still moved on heading towards where the children's’ rooms lay. As he turned the corner a tall slim figure stood in the darkness.

“Torvus?” Tirr called softly, His blessing churning through his body as he summoned a light. The figure turned, caught by the sudden illumination, and Tirr caught the sight of a dark heap, stained in red hanging from the figure’s grip.

A gritty voice called out, “We’ve been spotted, grab the children…” Yet before Tirr could respond he felt a clap of thunder strike his back…