A talk on spirits...

You're nervous, aren't you? Yeah, I can tell. I was nervous the first time I had to deal with the Shadow too. Hell, nervous wasn't the half of it. I'd say it's the biggest thing you have to come to terms with, after your own nature.

It might not seem obvious from the looks of me, but I used to be quite the skeptic. Yeah, the dreadlocks came later. Back before my change I was a scientist. I worked mostly on research, developing pharmaceuticals and various other medicinal chemicals. I got there, as you might expect, through a lot of hard work and rigorous studying. I was never really a nerd growing up, though I was fairly quiet - more that studious girl who stayed focused. Loud parties and excessive drinking really wasn't my scene (seriously, how could you do that to your brain?). I had my group of friends, who were equally quiet. We did a lot of baking and watching movies and nice simple things during our free time together. It was really comforting to do something mindless after all the science. Don't get me wrong, I loved every bit of it - it was just draining to take in all the time.

Going for runs was another one of those mindless things that made up for all the baking. I guess I did become a little stuck in routine after I earned my doctorate. It was so very easy, you didn't even have to think. Get up, go for a run, shower, breakfast, work, home, run, bed. I was fortunate enough to have a decent job, despite the hours. I knew more researchers without jobs than with, so I certainly wasn't going to complain.

You have to understand just what science meant to me to really appreciate what happened next. Have you ever believed in something so much that you were willing to risk your life for it? I guess you could call me a zealot of chemistry. Knowledge is such a precious thing, something we should hold dear in heart as well as mind. The most valuable knowledge is that which is hardest earned, requiring a lifetime of work to obtain, sometimes more.

The sun had just set as I began my evening run that night. Dusk and dawn were the best times to run, the air just has that certain quality, that freshness to it. I had been working hard that day, investing more long hours into the development of a new drug, a potential to slow the advancement of malignant cancers. It was exciting, but draining, so it felt so very good to get out and just... move.

A feeling of unease overtook me as I moved along the trodden path between the river and woods. It was a fairly isolated trail, I'd only ever encountered three other people out running before, but something was different this time. Have you ever been sure that you were being followed, even though nobody was around? Chances are you were probably right, only the pursuer was from across the gauntlet. I glanced over my shoulder, and saw nothing. Still, that unease remained, so I picked up the pace. I'd be home in another five minutes, no problem.

That ominous feeling wouldn't disappear though, and even as I was sweating in the warm summer evening, I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I mistook them for a dust particles, at first, the first spirits that I saw. They were nothing but motes, small and short lived things of insects and seeds. The drifted through the air, or were otherwise scattered along the ground. I slowed my run as I came closer to see them for what they were - specks of light, hardly more than a blurred imprint upon the world. My first thought was that they were fireflies of sorts, or a trick of the moonlight. My faith was in science, after all. I shook my head and moved on.

Of course, the spirit realm is not something that will be ignored - so don't even bother. I blinked with suddenly strained eyes, and noticed the trees wave their branches at me in a strange mix of fear and reverence. I stopped in my tracks. Trees certainly don't know fear... they're not sentient. It was impossible; I would have none of it! Clearly I was just overworked...

I forced the images out of my mind, and it caused me pain to do so. The feeling of dread was growing now, and I knew subconsciously that I was far from alone.
There was a rustling behind me, and in fright I span around, fists clenched. A man was standing a few metres behind me on the track.
"Oh, I'm sorry," I sighed a little nervously "You gave me quite... oh no..."

It was impossible. Before me was a man with needles for teeth, and bloody stab wounds peppered throughout his smooth black suit. In his hand I noticed a vicious looking dagger, blade stained an unnatural crimson. He smiled at me as he crept closer, as though enjoying every moment. Terrified, I backed away. It wasn't possible!

I found myself looking upwards to the heavens, and the crescent moon caught my eye. It felt like time slowed down to a stop as I drew in breath, and suddenly, inexplicably, I had an epiphany. That was no man at all. It was no trick. This was all real. It was an entity born from something horrible - a spirit of murder.

And as I accepted that I was facing a creature that did not belong here, I managed to accept that I was changing into something new. My fingers grew like claws, I became taller, swifter; and I howled, ready to send that spirit back where it belonged.

Obviously, as I'm telling you all of this, I survived that encounter. More frightening than the battle for my life was the shattering of the world I once knew. Everything changed after that. I lost a lot of faith in science, in the things that I could not explain. Nowadays, I know better. I am no less the person I was then because I don't wear a lab coat, or spend hours doing chemistry. There is a whole other world there, and though I can't explain it with what I know, I'm going to understand it one day. It's a terrifying thing, the unknown. But it is our birth right to be a part of that world and this one, our legacy to protect them. It is a constant challenge, but one that we must take up. Be mindful of the spirit realm. Be mindful of your nature, and your duty.