Raiz wakes to the metallic taste of blood. Much to his surprise he’s still alive. Baffled he picks his exhausted, battered body up, his remaining arm straining to raise him from the ground. As he half-stands and finally looks beyond the blood-soaked ground he finds himself staring into the menacing face of the ape. With a fright he jumps away, ignoring his unwilling body as he scrambles up again ready to fight. He tries to back away but ends up knocking into something hard and heavy and can only freeze mid-motion. The chilled air drifts through a deafening silence as he stands there, still. The ape is dead which can be clearly seen by the body lying separate from the head.

The tension release from Raiz as he lets out a long sigh, letting the energy he received from the ape renew his body. He is unexpectedly alive when he has no right to be, and as such appreciate of his fortune and luck. Or at least that’s what one would expect. But the only thought that quickly passes through Raiz’s mind is one of ‘as it should be’ as he turns to what he considers far more prevalent - the thing behind him. A pedestal as he discovers, made of translucent white crystal like the ground he walks on.

On top of it lies a book. A beautiful book. It’s made of a dark brown leather with the edges of its pages that one can see a deep red. On its front is the carved the depiction of a man. He walks in a never-ending circle, each point on his travel turning him from inquisitive to knowledgeable; and then back to inquisitive. A continuous cycle. Time had worn the book, its colour dulled and its bindings frail, but still it stood the test of time.

Raiz stares at it enraptured. His eyes never leave the image craved onto the books cover as he reaches out and slowly opens it with his hand, gently splaying the pages out. Words fill it to the brim, their tone hurried and excited, drawings filling the spare spaces. Each page is filled with more text as if the further the writer got the more they needed to put down. But unfortunately Raiz could not understand it. He could only look through it in wonder, wondering what it could say.

A loud grating noise interrupts Raiz’s thoughts and makes him look up. It is then that he sees the crystal statue before him, its solemn tone guarding the grand cathedral behind it. Raiz’s breath catches as he stares at the intricately carved building. Its doors sitting on the side of the statue grates against its edges as it slowly opens its doors inward. With interest Raiz is driven forward. He grabs both of his acquired books to his chest as he steps under the statue’s gaze, pausing to look up at its heavy gaze, before moving beyond it into the building’s depth.

The dark shadows immediately dissipate as Raiz makes it through and opens out to a wide interior. Lit with candles he finds himself staring at unending bookcases, their rows stacked both high and wide as they reach further then the eye can see. Books so numerous a person could use it for kindling and never run out. A strange sight for a cathedral. Before he has the chance to get his bearings a man appears in front of Raiz. Slightly illusory the man stands in front of him and stares down, a mixture of warmth and understanding filling his eyes. The man’s clothes are unkempt, his hair disorderly and his body frail, but it does little to hide the regal gaze that fills the room with his presence. Curiously on his back sits a shell melded into his form, his arms shorter than one would expect and his face slightly shrunk.

“I have waited a long time little one.” The man speaks, his voice echoing through the hall. As he finishes speaking the words repeat in Raiz’s ears as whispers that he can understand, alighting his eyes with curiosity. The man gestures grandly as he looks at the building around him. “This is my inheritance - my magnum opus.” Turning back to Raiz he smiles warmly. “And you - my inheritor.” Raiz is excited at the man’s words and tries to emulate, attempting to stretch his voice to fill these long words the man speaks. Seeing this the man laughs loudly.

“You will learn to speak little one. My name is Lorvane,” he says pointing to himself and then to Raiz. “And yours?” Lorvane asks.

“Raiz,” he says proudly, waving the books in his hand.

Lorvane looks down and sees the second book in his hand. “’Guide to the Common Language’. No wonder. It’s interesting that the one who arrives is a newborn. But then, my test is strange for this world. What use do I have for strength? You passed, little one, because you picked up that book.” Lorvane says as he gestures to the brown leather book. “Do you know what that is? Nothing special. It’s my journal. From the day I first asked ‘why?’ to the day I no longer could.” Lorvane pauses as he looks down at his hands, seeing them grown paler. A deep sigh leaves him at the sight as an old weariness fills him.

“No time to talk. No time to discuss. I wish-” he pauses then and with a gentle shake of his head leaves the sentence unfinished. “I will be clear and brief little one. You are my inheritor. I will give you all that is mine, but I ask for something in return.” Lorvane’s gaze grows distant as he stares past the walls of the cathedral and above, to somewhere unknown. “I spent my lifetime pursing a question. It led me to many answers, but never the one I wanted. I failed, but still.” He clutches his fists tightly, an unwillingness fills his eyes. Raiz grows quiet as he stares up at Lorvane. “Still I cannot accept it. At the end of my journal is that question, little one. I hope, one day, you can answer it in my place.”

Lorvane turns to stare down at Raiz as his body starts to shatter inch by inch. “Question everything Raiz. This world seeks to keep us ignorant and beholden. The world has acted against me from the moment I asked why, and it has never relented. That is reason enough to seek answers.” The final shattered pieces of Lorvane drift away as his final words pass into Raiz’s ears. “Good luck, little one.”