Broken Siege (1/2)
While Haalfrin is busy diligently meditating on his Names, many of the Wills become restless. Sure, Kaalhyme had ordered them to keep careful watch over their borders, though this isn't enough for many of them.
Particularly, sitting in silence isn't enough for the former Threshold soldier Wills. Because they had died to the Ants, they understandably feel a deep grudge against their enemy, though the Wills themselves have no idea why.
Alas, the only reason the Threshold Wills are willing to bow down and listen to Kaalhyme here is because the recognize Haalfrin as the commander here, and Haalfrin told them to obey his second in command.
Thus, Kaalhyme's Will spends most of his time playing psychological games with the Queen – sometimes aggressively attacking, sometimes going quiet, and sometimes showing his forces just to keep her on edge.
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One day, Haalfrin starts to notice something off; he starts to feel subtle whispers touching his spirit. Immediately alarmed, he goes to Freyya and asks her what's going on.
"Your comprehension for your Reh Name is getting stronger," Freyya responds happily. "You're slowly awakening your ability to talk to your Wills directly."
Unintentionally, Freyya's information here sparks a sense of Enlightenment in his mind… though the thought flits away just before he can advance his Reh Name.
"Still," he thinks, "I'm onto something. 'Reh' is all about connections and bonds anyway, so maybe I just need to strengthen my connection with my Wills in order to advance it?"
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Haalfrin ends up spending many more years deepening his understanding of his Reh Name. In the process, he starts to feel that his Wills… are becoming more REAL somehow. This is just a feeling, though, and he can't quite tell why.
Theoretically, it should be impossible for a long dead spirit to be connected to his / her Will, since the Death Reapers always sever your Spirit Threads when they come to collect your soul. They do this because they don't want anything connecting you to the world of the living.
However… Haalfrin is starting to feel something… bound to his Wills. He also has an inkling as to what his Wills have attached to them…
It's like his Wills are trying to pull something into themselves from beyond some veil.
"Is it their real spirits my Wills are connected to?" Haalfrin asks Freyya one day.
"Normally, I'd say no," she replies. "I mean, no dead person has any Spirit Threads connecting them to the mortal world; not even the greatest necromancer can summon a spirit once a Reaper has taken them away."
"That's probably why necromancers love Death Keys then," Haalfrin points out.
"WHERE DID YOU HEAR THAT FROM!?" she nearly shrieks.
"That god who came a few years ago told me."
"…Ah," Freyya sighs heavily, "They're weak enough. I can 'take care' of them later."
She shakes her head. "Anyway, I can feel your Wills trying to connect to something in the Death Realm. Just doing what you're doing; I'm sure whatever it is, it's working.
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Day and night, Haalfrin spends all his time training – only pausing to eat, sleep, and occasionally receive resources from Fisco. He even stops listening to Kaalhyme's daily reports, as the general Will had been told to leave him alone unless the Queen made a move.
Oddly enough… the Queen never moves to attack. It's like… she's waiting for something.
His foe's unusual behavior is unnerving to everyone, but this only motivates Haalfrin to be even more focused on his work.
Weeks pass, then years, then decades…
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At last, after 142 years, Haalfrin's Reh Name advances.
The moment it does, Haalfrin feels all of his Wills form a solid Spirit Thread each… though these Threads don't go anywhere in physical space; instead, they reach into the Spirit Realm and snake through the gate to the Death Realm.
Other than that… nothing seems to change.
Just when he thinks there is nothing more to his advanced Reh Name, he suddenly hears a chorus of confused and frightened screaming coming from every last Will in his Soul.
The spiritual sound of their shrieking is so deafening that Haalfrin feels like his soul is being attacked, and he recoils in pain.
After several minutes, enough of the thousands of Wills go quiet for Haalfrin to tell what each individual Will – no, SPIRIT is saying.
"What is this place!?" "Release me, fiend!" "We'll tell the Death King about this!" All of the Spirits in his Soul Realm are expressing all kinds of confusion and outrage.
Of course, when the spirits see Haalfrin, many of them recognize him – especially the people he had killed.
Out of all the Will / Spirits, one of them stands out. Rather than freaking out and demanding answers, one of the Spirits is calmly resting – as if meditating. The reason this spirit stands out to Haalfrin is because he has a stronger spirit thread with it. "Kaalhyme?" Haalfrin asks cautiously.
"Hmm… You're the young warrior who killed me, yes?"
"Oh?" Haalfrin says while he strokes his bare chin. "You recognize me without a beard?"
"Not just that," Kaalhyme says. "I've been slowly absorbing the memories my lingering Will made with you. Tell me, what kind of technique did you use to grant a Will intelligence?"
"Shouldn't you know that if you're getting your Will's memories?" Haalfrin points out.
"No," Kaalhyme's spirit chuckles, "My Will never bothered to remember anything that wasn't relevant to completing his missions and bringing victory to his commander."
Looking unsurely at the tempest of spirits swirling around his soul, Haalfrin asks, "Now that all the Wills have connected with their Spirits in the Death Realm, will they all still fight for me?"
"I owe you enough, Haalfrin," Kaalhyme reassures him. "I'll fight for you."
"You owe me?" Haalfrin raises an eyebrow. "I'm the one who killed you and brought defeat to your people. Shouldn't you hate me?"
"Let me show you," Kaalhyme offers. "Come out of your soul realm. You'll understand when you see it."
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Moments later, Haalfrin's minds exits his soul realm, and he brings Kaalhyme's spirit with him.
Yet… instead of the spirit materializing as a ball of light, Kaalhyme himself materializes in the flesh in front of Haalfrin.
Other than the fact that the man is wearing winter clothing in this sweltering dungeon, he also has long, pointy ears stretching as wide as his shoulders.
"Where'd you get those ears, Kaalhyme?" Haalfrin asks with bated breath. Truth be told, he's a little shocked seeing this, since the version of himself in his Name's visions always had pointy ears like this. The pointy ears must mean he's an Arkin now.
In case it needs to be mentioned again, Arkin are humans. More accurately, humans are what you are when you haven't been blessed by the Universe. The Drakin were blessed with a powerful Dra (body). The Rehkin were blessed with a powerful Reh (spirit). The Felkin were blessed with a powerful Fel (change).
What about humans? They weren't blessed with anything. That's why they're the weakest.
The Arkin, on the other hand, are what humans SHOULD be at their greatest. That's why they're often called "high humans." Because of their pointy ears, the less informed call them "elves", though.
Sure, Haalfrin knows what an Arkin is, but Freyya never told him how exactly to become one.
"How did you become an Arkin?" Haalfrin asks.
Kaalhyme looks up and scratches his short beard awkwardly. "Yeah… I was pretty shocked too… But it seems you already know what an Arkin is, so that should make things easier to explain."
So, the old Alsa'ree general sits Haalfrin down and explains, "You're aware of the 7 Virtues, right?"
"Yeah," Haalfrin itches his ears. "Dra's virtue is Competence. Reh's virtue is Connection. And so on."
"You know what Ar's virtue is?" Kaalhyme asks.
"It's… specialness?"
"Originality and Completeness," the old general corrects, "That's why the 7th Name is always your Ar name; you can only get it when your soul is complete."
He then straightens up and continues, "So, one becomes an Arkin when the universe recognizes them as being unique, and when they're completed through death."
"What's so unique about you, then?" Haalfrin asks.
"It's not just me," Kaalhyme points to heart. "All those spirits in your Soul Realm are Arkin now. As for what made the universe recognize us as unique? I'm not really sure. My spiritual connection with you tells me that the root of our ascension is you."
"That's easy to explain," Freyya interjects as she rounds a corner. "Don't mind me. I was listening the whole time."
When Freyya reveals herself, Kaalhyme backs off a little and bows respectfully.
Freyya takes one side glance at Kaalhyme, then goes on to say, "There has never been an army like yours, Haalfrin. Thus, each one of the soldiers in your army have been recognized for their great Ar. Because they're all also dead, they were all qualified to become Arkin."
"Anyway, Commander Haalfrin," Kaalhyme says as he turns to him. "When you advanced your Reh Name, all of your Wills freaked out and stopped working momentarily. With no more guards on the outside of the maze, the Queen might try to take this opportunity to launch a counter attack. I'd suggest getting as many of your Arkin army to come out as possible."
Haalfrin shakes his head. "I'm not a Rehkin. My spirit isn't powerful enough to shout over all the other spirits. With the way they're clamoring in there, none of them will hear me."
"Understood," Kaalhyme nods understandingly. "I'll use my connection to all my old soldiers in there. They're always willing to fight for me."
"Good. Let's get them out to the borders as quickly as possible."