“Who…” He struggled to understand what had happened, “What’s—happening to me?”

The fear of the birds, the panic at feeling trapped, the worry over Keira and his father were all disappearing as something he could never have imagined was happening. He was being compelled to speak, compelled to say these words in answer to himself, compelled from somewhere other than his own mind. As if something was taking over his body and using it to speak their thoughts through him.

There wasn’t an answer to his questions, not from somewhere else and not from within. The thing that caused him to talk without his intention fell silent so only the echo of his voice remained. He tried to calm himself, he wasn’t going crazy, there was definitely something strange going on in this place, something he couldn't explain.

“Who’s there? What is this?” He called out again but again only the echo of his voice responded.

But then as he was thinking about repeating the question there was a stir within him. He could feel it bubbling up from somewhere, another thought that was being forced through his body, using it, manipulating it so that it could convey the answer through his words.

“There are no suitable words that you would understand, but you need not be afraid.”

It was his voice that spoke with the same echo that drifted up the tower but once again it didn’t feel like it belonged to him. He felt conflicted; afraid of the unknown, this strange thing that was using his body to speak but at the same time it seemed peaceful and willing to communicate.

“What do you want with me?”

“It is you who came to me.”

“I was forced here, pulled here. Even when I tried to leave I was stopped.”

There was silence again, the strange conversation with himself that wasn’t really with himself drifted away. He started to think he had offended or upset the thing that was compelling his words and wasn't sure what to do or say.

“You sought sanctuary and it was provided.”

“You mean this tower?”

“That is not an accurate description of the structure but it will suffice, yes, this place is safe from any who would try to enter it with harmful intent.”

“Where are you?”

Once again his voice trailed as the thing he spoke with seemed unwilling or unable to answer. He had been searching for an escape, a place that was safe for him and Keira to run to—were they trying to help? Did they let him into the building of the Ancients to protect him, to help him escape as he desired? He considered his position within the tower and his hand held in the middle of the flame.

“Is this flame letting you control me?” He had bent over to take a closer look but still kept his hand within it. “Is this how you’re talking to me?”

“This is also not an accurate understanding, but we are conversing because of your contact with me.”

“In contact with you, so you’re connected to this flame somehow?”

“That is a reasonable representation.”

He paused for a minute as he considered the thing he was communicating with. He was becoming more accustomed to having this strange conversation with himself and the feeling of it taking over his body to answer him. It still worried him but whatever this was, it was answering his questions and didn’t seem to be hostile.

“Did anyone else come here? Seek sanctuary in the tower recently, the miners?”

“No one has entered this place in a very long time by your standards.”

“But the miners found it, they built the tunnel, that’s how I got here.”

“Those people attempted to enter this place by force, they were rejected.”

“What do you mean... rejected?”

“The sanctuary is here to protect. If someone attempts to enter the sanctuary by force, the sanctuary treats them as hostile. They are then met with equal hostility.”

“Are you saying the tower—the sanctuary attacked them?”

“In essence, it called upon guardians to rid the area of the attackers.”

A chill swept down his spine and he felt sick at the realisation of what his own voice had just said to him. “The guardians, they’re the giant birds outside that attacked me?”

“Yes.”

He stumbled back on impulse as though struck, pulling his hand from the flame, he had to catch himself before he fell down the stairs behind him. His mind immediately rushed through the events; the sudden appearance of the guardians, the attack, Keira’s injuries, the fear and pain they both experienced. He thought about his father and the other miners. But as it had before, those thoughts vanished and his mood calmed. He was under pressure and the same compulsion to walk back and place his hand in the flame.

He fought it, at least he tried. He didn’t want to talk any more, to hear how this thing that forced him to talk was responsible for those creatures outside. The thing that caused them all so much pain, that attacked innocent people because they tried to get into a building they had discovered.

He couldn’t fight it for long and with as much reluctance as his mind could offer, his hand fell back onto the flame and once more words started to come from his lips without him knowing why.

“It does not benefit you to break our connection.”

“You killed innocent people, you nearly killed me and Keira for what, because some people were curious about what they had found?!”

“This is not accurate, I am not the sanctuary nor do I dictate how it responds to others.”

He hesitated again, he had assumed this thing was in control, the sanctuary was after all a building. “What do you mean, isn’t this place yours?”

“No.”

A blunt statement without further explanation, his assumptions had been wrong but now he was back to uncertainty as to what this thing was or what was going on. He considered trying to remove his hand again; he wanted to run, to escape whatever was going on here but there was nowhere to go even if he could pull himself away from that compulsion.

“Then why are you here? What is this place to you?”

“Sanctuary.”

“It’s here to protect you?”

“It is here for those that require it, in practice however, yes, this would be accurate—I have been the sole occupier for some time.”

“What is it protecting you from?”

“The corruption.”

“Corruption—is that connected to the miasma that spirits and demons release?”

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“This is not an accurate understanding, though it will suffice with one correction. The source of the miasma, as you call it, is the corruption, not the spirit.”

“You mean, corrupted spirits release the miasma?”

“That is an adequate, though incomplete representation.”

“What does that make you? If you’re here to protect yourself from the corruption…”

Silence again but the answer was clear. The thing he was talking to, that was using his body was some kind of spirit. This flame might not be a way to communicate but the closest thing it had to a physical form. Another thought came to him, something that didn’t quite make sense to what this thing was telling him.

“The guardians, they had the same miasma, I felt it.”

Again silence, it was frustrating that this thing, this spirit was selective in what it answered. He wondered if he should press it further, and try and understand more. As far as he knew, no one had spoken to a spirit like this before. But before he could ask another question he once again felt that strange sensation as it borrowed his body to speak.

“The sanctuary may no longer be safe if the guardians have become corrupted.”

“You mean they could get in here?” His gaze shot up instinctively.

“Yes.”

“Then we need to get out of here.”

“You can leave at any time.”

It was strange, the spirit was here to protect itself from the corruption, the miasma that plagued him. He felt like he should help it, that it was as much a victim as he was.

“What would happen to you if the guardians returned, if the corruption came here?”

“I do not know the answer to that but my existence is unlikely to continue.”

“You’d die? Or—become corrupted?”

“I do not know the exact outcome but I would not exist as I am any longer.”

“Why can’t you leave?” It’s not as if he understood the spirits or how they interacted with the world but the spiritual creatures he had encountered before had no problems moving around.

“My current state would not be strong enough to withstand the corruption outside of the sanctuary.”

He was about to ask another question but then stopped, realising what the spirit had said. Only now that he thought about it had he become aware of it. The miasma was gone, there was no weight, no pressure, and no feeling of giving in any more. Since coming into the sanctuary he felt complete relief from the pain it brought. It only made him feel more sorry for the trapped spirit that could do nothing but wait for fate.

“Is there some way I can help?”

Silence again but this time he felt the spirit was considering the question rather than ignoring him. He knew it made more sense to leave, he had enough problems to deal with but at the same time, this spirit knew things he didn't. It might be able to help if he could offer to help it and right now he needed all the help he could get.

“I understand now why the sanctuary allowed you to enter, you have a genuine desire to help when you have no reason to.”

The statement startled him, more so because it implied this building was alive and able to determine things about him through his touch. It had judged his intentions and allowed him to enter where others couldn't. He had no connection with it, nor the spirit inside and yet it decided he was acceptable, safe to enter a place it had protected for more years than he could know.

“There is a way.”

“How?”

“You can be my anchor to this world.”

“Your anchor, as in your connection, like you are here with the sanctuary?”

"It is not the same and would not be the same for you."

"Explain it to me, I'd like to understand."

"You are a physical creature, as with all physical creatures there is stability to who and what you are. Your body acts as an anchor for your spirit so that it can remain consistent and stable within its manifestation."

There were conflicting views on the nature of humans compared to the spirits and the creatures of the world. Some considered human consciousness and the soul to be no different from other spirits. This spirit seemed to be confirming the consensus that the guild held. He wondered what the people of the order would say about that.

“Spirits without a physical body…” It continued to use his voice as he thought over what it was saying. “Are more flexible in their manifestation and what they are. But this also means they are less stable and in turn at greater risk from the corruption.”

“So you’re more vulnerable to the miasma than I am?”

“In my current state, yes.”

“And you can resist that by using me as an anchor?”

“Yes, as your spirit anchors to your body, as would I.”

“So you’d be able to take over my body like you’re doing now with my voice?”

“It would be different, I can only communicate in the way we are now because of the sanctuary.”

He wasn’t sure what to make of this, it wasn’t out of the question and sounded a lot like the contracts the guild used. It was the reason the order called the people of the guild possessed and considered them dangerous. Given his experience with the spirit, he was starting to understand their perspective better. But it was exactly those contracts that allowed the guild to fight back against the miasma and the creatures within. It was something he was intending to do all along.

“How long would you use me as an anchor?”

“The process is permanent."

That was surprising, he had assumed the spirit could move from him to another, as it was doing from the sanctuary. "There's no way to separate ourselves later?"

"We would bind our spirits together, intertwined within your body. Usually, one would consume the other but co-existence is also possible."

The devoured, this is what they meant, what it really was. Some people within the guild, especially in the early days had changed, become consumed by their contracts and became known as the devoured.

“You mean you could consume my soul and steal my body from me?”

“You have a stronger connection to your physical body, and therefore a greater level of stability. It is more likely that you would consume me.”

“That seems like a lot of trust, we’ve only just met.”

“I do not have many options and the sanctuary did allow you to enter which reassures me of your intentions but it is your choice and that choice is important.”

“What do you mean?”

“I cannot force myself onto you.”

“Isn’t that what you mean by consuming one another?”

“Yes but again, your physical body protects you from that. A spirit would require tremendous force to overcome that stability—that is not something I have.”

"But if I let you in, you'd anchor to my body and over time you'd grow as strong a connection with it as I do. It would no longer protect me any more than you."

The spirit didn't answer, he wasn't sure what to make of the lack of response but it confirmed what he said was true. It was a dangerous decision, and he felt as though he lacked enough information. He was hardly in the best mental state to make a decision that would affect him for the rest of his life, let alone one that might end it. But at the same time, there was something about the offer that pulled him towards it.

“There are people who make contracts with spirits to become stronger, strong enough to fight back against the miasma and the creatures within, would this be the same?”

“It is possible that our bonding could make you stronger."

That thought was encouraging. Even if he couldn't get into the guild, if he anchored with this spirit, it might not matter. Even then, how could they refuse him if he already had another spirit within him. They could learn even more than they already knew, the possibilities kept growing.

“If you anchored to me, could we escape the guardians?”

“I am certain that I can help you escape the guardians.”

Don't listen to it.

The thought appeared from deep within, a sensation, a fear that what he was doing was wrong. It felt familiar, like the moment of the attack when he almost gave up but instead tried to save Keira. It was an impulse but it was a strong one and one he felt he should listen to.

His mind snapped back from the possibilities that enticed him to the question he had before that went unanswered. The spirit could consume him, devour his soul and take his body. That was a very real possibility and one he had to remember.

Had it influenced him more than he realised, had it pushed those thoughts away with its silent pressure? He couldn't be sure, he couldn't know, it was impossible in this place where his mind and body were being manipulated.

"I want to leave, I need to think about this."

Silence again, but he was now aware of the slight pressure that pushed against him, it was urging him to say something else. It was almost as if he kept asking questions he'd move on from the doubts and accept the response.

"You said I could leave any time. I need time to think about this, it's a big decision."

"There is no reason to be afraid, I have not deceived you. You can leave any time, you need only to ask."

"Then I'm asking, now, I wish to leave."

"I am not keeping you here, you must ask the sanctuary."

It was a reasonable explanation given all that the spirit told him. It had already confirmed that it didn't control the sanctuary or what was going on inside. He wondered if he had been unfair to the spirit, if he'd jumped to conclusions but right now what he had to do was get out of here. Only then could he be sure of his own thoughts and decisions.

He stepped away, removing his hand from the flame but this time there was no calming sensation or urge for him to return. He was free again to walk to the wall of the sanctuary and as he had done before, he pressed his hand to its surface and thought about returning to the tunnel. And again, as before the pulsing green hues expanded from his hand and he felt himself falling.