Spirits and Knowledge

Zach forced his limbs to obey and slowly rose from the cold stone floor. He took in the room around him as he did so, studying it for the first time fully. It was a small room, with a high ceiling and one metal door. The runes that had been runes were gone now, but the remnants of his prison remained, etched in the stone floor around him. His prison was a circular room enveloped in darkness. The only light comes from the torches on the walls. The dungeon was silent, aside from the sound of Zach moving.

His body quivered as he rose, aching from the days in captivity. The pressure of the prison was gone, but it had still taken a lot out of him. Ereclaw appeared near him, standing tall and confident, as if he had always been there. With his presence came the answer to how he was now free. The first thing Zach did was use his True Link perk and connect to Naha, making sure that she was safe.

Zach turned his eyes and stared at the Grand Spirit of Knowledge, his gaze unwavering and intense. The Spirit stepped back slightly as he felt Zach's presence. Zach knew that this was a powerful spirit, but he also knew that he needed answers.

“Now. You’ll tell me all that you know,” Zach said slowly.

“You have freed yourself from my prison, but you are still not free," it said in a deep voice. "You are in the heart of my home."

Zach pulled on all of his willpower and took a step forward. "Tell me," he demanded again, forcing the gray furred bear spirit to take another step back.

The spirit glared at Zach, as if it was disgusted to have retreated before him, its eyes were filled with malice and disdain. “You have no right to demand anything from me, not here in my domain,” it spat.

Zach's gaze hardened as he spoke, his words carrying an edge that cut through the air. "You gave me the right to ask when you chained me up in this cell. I came to you for aid, help against what I knew to be our shared enemy. Or at least what I thought I knew. Now I'm giving you one chance for this to end without violence!" He spat the last words out, then immediately tried to reign himself in and calm down.

"Without violence?" The Grand Spirit snorted, clearly unimpressed. "Your companions slaughtered their way in here with no regard for our lives."

Zach grimaced, the anger and fear swirling through the link coming from Naha were intense. He could feel Naha's anger like a second heartbeat against his side, pulsing and building to a crescendo. They had come to help him, in part they were justified. All actions had consequences though. Yet, feeling her emotions now... a part of him did understand. "Tell me why?" He asked again.

The Grand Spirit glared back at him, then responded.

"The yeti offered more than your kind could provide. Knowledge of a universe that no longer exists, runes, that when carved on objects or creatures can change their nature. You do not understand what it is like to be bound by your nature. I am Knowledge, and I am bound to seek it above all else. And why would I even refuse him? Your kind treat mine the same as monsters that fill your realm. You summon and use us for your purposes, or you come and hunt to harvest us. Why? For the answer, look no further than the arm attached to your shoulder. You stole the Essence that fills it, I can feel it."

Zach glanced at his arm, his soul weapon. "The yeti made this."

“So, what is your point?” The Grand Spirit bellowed. "Knowledge and tools are without morals or judgment; you are the one who made the bargain, you are the one who used it, traded life for power." The cold truth of the Grand Spirit's words hung in the air like a monument. He truly believed his words.

A part of Zach agreed with the Grand Spirit. There was a reason why he hadn't sought out spirits or shades to improve his soul weapon. He had been conflicted about trading life for power, as the Grand Spirit put it.

Zach raised his head and met the Grand Spirit's eyes. "Is that not what you've attempted to do here? Trade my life for more power?"

The Grand Spirit didn't answer, but Zach understood better now. The spirits did not have the same morality as humans. They were beings of the Aspects, who lived according to their nature. In this case, Knowledge would always seek knowledge, even if it meant trading hundreds, thousands, or even millions of lives in the process. He would never be satisfied until he reached a level where he could view all other things from above, where he knew all. Even if they came to some accord here and now, Knowledge would never stop until he knew what yeti had to offer. And Ra'azel was the only one who held those secrets.

"Is Knowledge gained through these means, worth it?" Zach asked. "You know what Ra'azel does, he had hunted your kind across the Ethereal for the same thing you accuse mine. He harvested spirits to build his weapons, and still you would work with him."

The Grand Spirit bellowed an answer with a thunderous roar, shaking the ground beneath it. "Knowledge is worth any price! Death of a few will pave the way for the Spirits to finally be able to evolve beyond our innate nature thanks to Ra'azel's teachings, enabling us to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your kind in the eyes of the Framework!" Its voice echoed through the air, filling every corner of the room with its power and strength. "That is worth everything!"

Zach sighed, already seeing the way that this would end. The only way that it could end.

"Should I expect Ra'azel to come here, for me?" Zach asked.

The Grand Spirit tilted its head. "The yeti will not risk stepping into the Ethereal ever again."

Zach nodded, it wasn't the answer to his question, but it had told him much.

He had been using |I Analyze and Predict| from the moment he was free. It allowed him to observe the body language of the Grand Spirit, as well as the four other spirits in the room. The Grand Spirit was conversing with Zach, but there were signals that didn't make sense to Zach's trained eye - he noticed that the other spirits were responding to something in the Grand Spirit’s mannerisms. Its purported power was Knowledge, though Zach could only guess which abilities it held. Perhaps some way to transfer that knowledge? Perhaps that was how he was talking with the spirits around it. He also assumed the Grand Spirit now knew everything about his own powers.

The Grand Spirit had no intention of resolving this conflict peacefully. Zach knew, based on what the spirit had said before, that he was sending a message to the Real Realm, but couldn't figure out what it was for. He suspected it was meant for the yeti, but there was no way to be sure. If Ra'azel refused to go into the Etheral then maybe he'd sought help elsewhere, or possibly just wanted the yeti to know he was trapped. None of that mattered in the end; the Grand Spirit appeared to be stalling for time.

Zach had offered him a chance, which he disregarded even though no words were spoken about it. He was not willing to just stand by and do nothing. He had to find a way out, what he was feeling through the link with Naha wasn't good. The only thing that he could think of was attempting to negotiate with the Grand Spirit for some sort of peaceful solution. It had betrayed him, but if he could save the lives of more spirits, it was Zach's duty to at least try. It seemed unlikely, given what they had already discussed, but it might be his only chance.

"Stand down," Zach said. "Let us leave your domain, and I give you my word that I shall never return unless you give me cause."

The Grand Spirit snorted. "You would have me let you go, just like that? With all that you now know? Give you time to plot or turn the others against me?"

Zach bowed his head. He was afraid of this. The Grand Spirit's gamble had failed, now it couldn't afford to let him live. Not if it wanted to fulfill its goals. It was ironic, it saw the runes as a way to surpass its nature, yet it was still bound by it. Zach raised his eyes and looked at the other spirits in the room. Two appeared to be Blade Spirits of some kind. They were identical to one another, with each appearing like a metal skeleton that was something between a living creature and a deadly sword. The angles of their bodies were sharp, almost impossibly so, and there was an unworldly quality about them that defied description. Though Zach didn't recognize the skeletal structure as any race he was familiar with, he knew these beings weren't anything he'd encountered before. Their limbs tapered off into long blades, just as sharp as the rest of their forms.

The other two were harder to identify, due to their animal-like appearance. They resembled a combination of wolves and bears: large, four-legged and standing behind the Grand Spirit. Their eyes burned with a brilliant orange fire.

Zach had finally come to terms with the fact that he could no longer control this situation. Realizing that everyone deserved a chance at redemption, he wished that they would take it and stop making things worse. As his frustration grew, Zach took a moment to try to keep calm and level-headed, but it seemed like every option was futile; all that was left for him now was to brace himself and face the inevitable. He briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm, then centered himself, preparing for what was coming next.