Shifters

The Library

A sigh of relief escaped Josh's lips as the dark corridor finally opened up into the massive library. Worried he'd been travelling in the wrong direction, a huge load of tension was lifted off of his shoulders as he narrowly avoided a potentially tense run-in with Patricia. Still burdened by how awkwardly things had ended between them, Josh cast an uneasy glance back the way he'd came. 

'There'll be time to rectify that later,' he promised mentally, forcefully trying to push his feelings aside. 

"Now!" he said aloud, turning his attention to the monumentally stacked bookshelves, "Where do I even begin?" 

Staring left, then right, Josh let out another sigh, this time in frustration as the size of what he was meant to undertake alone ultimately sank in. Eyes settling straight ahead once more, he fixated his gaze on the faded letter R as the beginnings of an idea began forming within his mind. Although according to Patricia, the rows seemingly went on forever, the alphabet as Josh remembered it, did not. Taking that fact into account, he'd only need to head in one direction until he found the letter needed to start his search. 

"But what letter should I start with?" he wondered aloud, thinking back to their predicament, "Should I start with Planetary Spirits, the Divine Goddess or perhaps the Cities of Light?"

Amidst his verbal thoughts however, a burning question he'd withheld since his arrival, yearned to be answered. 

"What exactly are Shifters?" he muttered suddenly, blanking all other thoughts out of his mind.

At every step of the way, he'd either been denied an answer or he'd forgotten to question the right people at the appropriate moment. Now there he stood, in a vast library only one letter away from the answers he'd so desperately sought after. Although very much aware of the undertaking he was tasked with, Josh couldn't help but feel compelled to satisfy his own curiosity. Biasedly surmising that he wouldn't be able to focus on Joana's assignment without satiating his inquisitive nature, Josh decided to prioritize his long awaited answers over the mission at hand. 

"Besides," he reasoned aloud, "maybe it'll help shed some light on that issue," he said to himself, expression darkening as he recalled an earlier realization. 

During his supposedly complete divulsion of his entire story, a key detail he hadn't realized until mentioned by Cassandra frolicked within his mind. As opposed to Cassandra's and perhaps the rest of his group's beliefs, Josh had only then become acutely aware that his ring had in fact never reacted in any way or form when Joana had spoken the language of the Shifters. Although he was unsure of what that meant, Josh was certain this new development, whether it be for better or for worse, signified that he was somehow related to the unknown group. With a lead potentially guiding him in the direction of his past, he casted a final glance down the dark corridor before turning his back to the opening as he made his way to the right of the monstrous bookcases. Travelling directly alongside the looming rows of knowledge, Josh smiled thinly as the sheer enormity of it all fully dawned on him. Searching the signs atop each lane carefully for the letter S, he suddenly paused as a vague feeling of someone observing him played on his nerves. 

'Could Patricia be following him right now?' he wondered, looking all around him, 'Surely someone of her background might be able to pull it off.'

However, after a few minutes of dreadful silence and the appearance of no one nearby, he continued on his journey as he crossed from lane to lane. 

"How long is this going to take?" he shouted in frustration after another half hour of walking. 

Unlike his earlier assumption, the letters printed atop each sign weren't as simple as they'd previously seemed. Rather than jumping from R to S, the letters instead broke into various subsections reading, Ra, Rb, Rc and so on. Despite him never hearing of words with those particular secondary letters, he ignored the discrepancy, resolving himself to continue down this path until he arrived at his destination. After his second hour of walking, Josh rejoiced aloud as the letter S, this time in a less faded print than its predecessor was embedded into a wooden sign overhead. His jubilation however, soon turned sour as he realized he'd not yet truly arrived at the right place . Unfortunately for him, his target word, Shifters, bore the letter h as it's secondary character, meaning his days of exercise were not yet past. Grinding his teeth as his joy completely faded, Josh steeled himself as he continued down the monotonous pathway. 

"Finally," he said as small streams of perspiration flowed off his face and onto his neck before disappearing into his shirt below, "It took a while, but I've finally found you!"

Excitement returning as he stared up at the letters Sh, Josh rushed over to the nearest shelf situated on his left, pulling out a dust covered, leather bound book. To his dismay however, the title read, Sha, A Tale of Monsters! 

"Don't tell me," he said, pushing the book back into place, "that the books are ordered alphabetically as well?"

Reaching for another volume, its title confirmed his suspicion as it read, Sha, A Tyrant of Man. Backing onto the pathway once more as the grim realization struck, Josh fell back in defeat as his hope dwindled. In doing so however, his ring suddenly hummed gently, tugging his middle finger momentarily to the right. Staring in the direction it had pointed him in, Josh made out a book with a much older cover than it's surrounding companions. 

"There's no way...," Josh trailed off as he picked himself up before heading towards the ancient looking book. 

Gingerly removing it from its perch, he gently flipped the book onto it's side as he read the title. Smiling nervously, he noted the title in disbelief as it lay printed in bold characters, Shifters: Introduction to Shifters.

"This is way too convenient," Josh muttered, fingers gripping the cover. 

Prying open the ancient, dusty book cover, a wave of pristine white energy rippled off of its pages, knocking him backward as the book fell onto the floor. Crashing into the opposite bookshelf, Josh staggered as unprecedented amounts of information, similar to his previous flashes of memories entered his mind. Although not as oppressive and painful as his last few encounters, he slowly sank to his knees as various records tore into his mind, implanting itself  deep into his memory. As the rush of data slowly ebbed, the feeling he'd perceived earlier, returned, this time in full force as he sat completely defenseless. Unable to discern where the unknown presence was watching him from amidst the various bursts of information, Josh positioned himself into a crawl as he inched towards the open book. Hoping that him sealing the brilliantly shining novel would end his sudden weakness, Josh sprang forward, grasping the cover before slamming it shut. Fortunately for him, his theory proved to be correct as his strength returned almost immediately after closing the book. 

The presence however, did not disappear as he sat breathing heavily, staring all around him in unbridled concern. 

"Patricia!" he called out hoarsely, immediately surprised by the sudden change in his voice, "If you're doing that, it's definitely not cool!"

Straining his ears for a response, Josh desperately hoped to hear Patricia's melodious tone relieve his tension by revealing herself. However, his wish was immediately dashed as an invisible presence tore down the booklined halls towards him. Realizing it wasn't a prank and that he was in actual danger, Josh struggled to his feet as the oncoming force barreled directly towards him. Only managing to stand with a less than perfect posture, Josh stood defenselessly as the unseen entity bore down on him. Before he could utter a word, an invisible force, crushed his body flat onto the dusty floor. Successfully pinned beneath the imperceptible being, Josh lay immobile as his pulse pushed past record breaking speeds. 

As he lay wondering whether or not he was about to die, a raspy voice emanated from the unseen creature, "You, you do not belong!"

"What does that mean," he tried to say. 

However, both his lips as well as his voice refused to cooperate. 

"You wish to ignore my words?" the creature spat, tone slowly destabilizing into one of anger, "How dare you?" 

Clearly not wanting to upset the being that currently held his life within its hands, Josh tried to speak once again. To his dismay, his response, just as it did mere moments before, refused to come out. 

Unable to relay his words to the the unknown being through both his voice and action, Josh's eyes widened in alarm as the entity continued, "Very well then. For your insolence, you, the ill-mannered, shall let us see how well you fare against the Devourers of Knowledge!"

Still incapable of speech, Josh screamed mentally as the unseen entity decreed its punishment. Although he had no idea what the Devourers of Knowledge were, just by their terrifying name alone, he judged that they were most likely not someone he'd be willing to meet. Desperately trying to communicate with the invisible being, his consciousness suddenly went blank as an abrupt thump smashed into the back of his head. Letting out a satisfied growl of approval, the hidden presence, retreated further into the library with a limp Josh in tow.