Of all the things Gyre could've chosen to do, smashing the crystal was probably not one of the default options. The branch strikes it and splinters in every direction and, at the same time, electricity shoots through it and through Gyre. He's immediately lifted off of the ground and sent flying. It doesn't hurt, but it's like he's been hit with a sack of potatoes and catapulted away.

When he eventually gets up and recovers, he'll find that the obelisk is gone and the same child, now back in tatters, is standing in the middle of the woods right where the obelisk had been.

Except now they're crackling with electricity.