TRA: A God's Sorrow

Chapter 1: Casarns Curse

Grall

"I have become the God of death." Grall said, he expected Tyril to strike him down where he stood, and rightfully so. The God of death is the one who controls the veil, who determines who can cross through and who cannot. All his choices weaken the veil and rushes the world to its end.

"Hmm." Tyril said started thinking on the matter. "It's plausible," he said after a moment of silence, "from what I heard from Grodak and Adrian, you were the one to strike the final blow, and considering you weren't dead yet, the powers of the God of death would have chosen you as its new host."

Grall looked down he couldn't bear to look into Tyrils eyes. He wished more than anything that he had just dyed back there.

"But," Tyril continued, "it's not always a bad thing that you received this power."

Grall looked up at Tyril, his bandage raised a bit to show Gralls shock and dismay.

"What?" Tyril asked, he looked a little hurt at Gralls expression. "Did you think I would kill you because of that power? I'm hurt." He smiled and slapped Grall on the back with a slight chuckle. "No, I won't kill you. We need your help to stop the cycle from restarting."

"I've been meaning to ask, Tyril," Grall said as he watched Tyrils expression, "how do you know about the Rebirth Algorithm?"

Tyril laughed, his laughter lightened Gralls mood and put him at ease. "I was once friends with Eidrich, the God of Life, and he told me all kinds of secrets."

"What kind of God was he?" Grall asked, he yearned to learn more of the God's of old.

"He was a complete and utter asshole." Tyril said scowling his face at the memories that dredged up. "He refused to allow us to hunt in order to survive. Always said 'you can live off plants, yo.' what does that even mean? Then he would always have at least three women in his bed every night, regardless of their marital status. He would always ask for peace, not war. He made my life a living hell."

Tyril sighed, then sat back in his chair pondering the past. "But he did save my life countless times. Even went so far as to turn me into a wraith so that I wouldn't be as easily killed. He sacrificed his life for my wife's and always made sure to protect others. Don't get me wrong, he was an asshole through and through," Tyril sighed, "but he was the only good asshole I've ever met, no homo."

Grall opened his mouth to ask about that word, homo, it was new to him, but before he could ask Tyril was already answering. "I don't know what it means, but, Eidrich used to say it a lot."

Grall nodded his head, resolving to never use the word. It almost sounded like a bad slang to him and he didn't want to offend anyone by miss using such a word.

Grall stood up, he knew there was still a chance he would turn against his allies. "Tyril," he said, pulling the black orb out from under his armor, "take this, and if there is ever a time when I cannot be trusted, use it to strike me down."

Tyril took the black orb and peered inside it, memorized by small lights inside. "What did you do to it?" Tyril asked in disbelief, watching as the small lights inside the orb moved, as if alive. "I've seen this orb on a few occasions in the past and it was never this...." Tyril paused as he looked for the right word to use, then quietly he continued. "Breathtaking."

"I did nothing," Grall explained, "it was all the orbs doing. It chose the shadow world as my new dominion. Those lights are the elders moving about in the shadow world."

Tyril nodded his head as he pocketed the orb and looked to Grall. "I agree to your terms. If I shall ever feel that there is need to, I will do everything in my powers to slay you myself."