He was following Ronan in what appeared to be aimless roaming as with every pause in the conversation they changed direction. Ronan had continued to explain that the effects weren’t set in stone, that while the spirits specialised in particular areas, what they were capable of doing was quite flexible. He explained that Finlay should think of it as a negotiation with the spirit, he’d be offering a certain amount of Anam in exchange for a task but how that task manifested could change from his and the spirit's will.

It was all starting to feel very loose and he couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing. Ronan made it sound great, that you could do just about anything within the realms of that spirit. Nochd as an example could help him see what is true when another person speaks, or it could reveal hidden objects, even find lost objects. However, that also meant the result could end up being different to what he intended or expected if there was a miscommunication between the person and the spirit.

“There are ways we avoid miscommunication. You see, it’s often better to specialise yourself. You build a relationship with a particular spirit, use them over and over and you start to understand one another better, just as Faye is teaching you all to do in your contracts.”

“So rather than learn all the invocations, it's better to pick a few and build closer relationships with the respective spirits?”

“At first yes, obviously, you can build from that as you go but it’s better to establish a good relationship with one before trying to call upon another. Not only do you improve communication but you become a reliable figure to the spirit, which means they might be more lenient on how much anam you need to give to perform a task.”

“So, a regular customer gets better deals?”

“A great analogy. One of the reasons I’m hopeful about your success is you seem to be able to develop good relationships with spirits quickly, and from what Faye has reported on top of what I’ve seen, are able to communicate with them in ways we didn't think possible.”

“And that should help me with invocations, even if I don’t have a weapon to fight.”

“Exactly, you have a lot of potential in this area of work—now, where are we?”

He stopped as the man he'd been following turned to look at him. “I assumed you were taking me somewhere.”

“I was just walking—it’s easier to process complicated topics when you’re moving.”

They found a cafe and worked out where they were in relation to the guild office. Ronan decided to use this opportunity to show him the appropriate symbols he needed to use to call upon Nochd, as they now had a table and somewhere to write on. He pulled out a roll of loose sheets of square paper from his jacket pocket and a pen.

“We had hoped to use tablets for this but it turns out when spirits are called upon, they often destroy the runes and whatever it was they were written on. Some people just carry writing tools like chalk around and do it anywhere, but I prefer to use paper. You’ll figure out what is best for you.”

“We call the symbols runes?”

“Well, we believe they are a language though it’s different from the written language we’ve found from the Seann. Some people argue it’s the language of the spirits but I don’t think that makes sense, spirits have no need for such a thing. So either it was created by the Seann or they acquired it from some other source and adopted it in use. What I am sure of though, is that they use the name of the spirit involved.”

He drew an elaborate symbol on one of the pieces of paper, it almost looked like an eye but had multiple lines extending out from the middle. “This rune is for Nochd, while many of the other runes are interchangeable and used in other invocations, this rune alone is always involved with Nochd. So I’m certain that it dictates the name.”

He continued to draw the rest of the runes on separate pieces of paper and explained each one as he did, though he also told him not to worry about remembering everything right now. Each time he drew one, he placed them in specific positions to create a circle.

“In the early days, we believed all invocations were created in circular patterns. But more and more, we’ve been finding some which use different shapes. We haven’t quite worked out what the significance of the shapes are yet.”

At the end, there was a circle of paper, each containing a rune and the one for Nochd in the centre. He placed his hand on that central rune and then there was a gentle golden glow that enveloped his body. His eyes were bright with the same shade and there was a pressure that filled the air around him. His mouth was moving though if he were saying anything, Finlay couldn’t hear it and then as quick as it came, the light vanished and the pressure eased.

“And that’s pretty much it.”

“I’m not sure I got that last part.”

Ronan laughed. “It’s about intention, you send out your Anam into the world, and the runes act like a guide to send them to the spirit. If they think it’s worth their time, they’ll respond.”

“The runes weren’t destroyed, does that mean Nochd didn’t answer you?”

He laughed again. “No, Nochd and I are quite familiar with each other and they are only a minor spirit so it doesn’t take much for them to respond to my call. But there wasn’t really much for it to do once it got here so they left again.”

At that moment a waitress cautiously appeared and asked if everything was okay. Ronan explained they were with the guild and he was giving Finlay a lesson. They apologised for the disruption after realising that everyone in the cafe was staring at them and they packed up the paper and decided to leave.

As they walked back to the hall the rest of his section was training in, Ronan continued to explain that he should start by learning the runes to call Nochd and how to offer his anam. It wasn’t dissimilar to forming a spiritual body but rather than holding it in place around himself, had to push it out into a specific area, in this case, the runic symbols.

“Do most people in the guild learn invocations?”

“In my opinion, they should. But many don’t see the value in it. The problem is if you give up half of your anam through invocation, you now have far less to support your spirit in combat. So that invocation better be worth it to justify that cost.”

“Aren’t they worth it? The man who saved us on the boat was amazing.”

“But ask yourself, could another member with an artefact weapon have fought off the wraiths just as quickly, if not better than him? Not to mention, he used a tremendous amount of anam for that and what would have happened if he had been unsuccessful but already used up his source? Of course, I’m an advocate for invocation but don’t expect everyone to see their value as I do.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Are there others who joined with my group learning them?”

“Yes, there are a few who have shown interest in the other sections. But they’re learning them from their instructors.”

“So you are taking special interest in me.”

“Of course, you are unusual.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“There are a few people in your section that are quite interesting, Faye is the perfect instructor for them but when it comes to invocations, she’s not the most ideal.”

“So if others from my section wanted to learn invocation, you’d teach them as well?”

“Yes; but that’s not really why I’m here, there’s still a mystery around you, Finlay. The spirit at the station has vanished and I still believe you, at least in some capacity, are the cause of that. The more you understand the spiritual world, the closer I think we’ll come to uncovering those secrets.”

“You still think I devoured it even though my anam level isn’t anything special?”

“It’s the only explanation I can think of, I just don’t have an answer for where that anam went.”

“I’m not sure if I should appreciate the extra support or be paranoid you’re all watching me.”

“Probably a bit of both, but don’t worry. Faye and I, Sara as well, we’re all looking out for you.”

“Thanks, I think.”

When they entered the hall where the others were training, they found half of them lining the walls in obvious exhaustion. Ronan told Finlay to practice calling his spirit in specific areas, rather than covering his entire body. He then went to greet Faye who was talking with one of the other members near the wooden dummies they were training against.

Keira was still training; she had managed to form the spear into the same glaive that came out during her contract formation and was slicing chunks out of her wooden opponent. William, however, was recovering on the far side of the room so he walked over to join him.

“How’s the training going?”

He looked about ready to collapse. “How the hell do you maintain that spirit form while running all day long?”

“That bad, huh?”

“It’s not just the physical effort of the movements, but now we have to maintain our understanding of the weapon, how it should move, how it should cut, even down to the shape of it or everything falls apart.”

“I didn’t appreciate it would be that difficult, I figured the spirit would do most of the work for that side of things.”

“It’s supposed to, but Faye said that’s part of our connection and understanding as well. Right now, we have to cover for it while it learns what we want and how we move.”

Some others were dropping out from their personal battles with the wooden puppets. A few people tried to return after resting against the wall but they never lasted long. By the end, only Keira remained and Faye told her to stop so they could break for lunch. She came over with a wide grin and hopped down beside them.

“You have an absurd amount of anam,” William complained when she reached them.

She was breathing hard but unrestrained and her eyes were full of life. “I can’t really explain it, it was almost like my spirit was taking over, I just wanted to keep going.”

“You looked very impressive out there.”

“Yeah, it’s hard to match you,” William agreed.

“Oh please, you probably outdid everyone if you compare actual damage.”

William may not have lasted until the end as Keira had, but there wasn’t much left of his wooden opponent. He had cut clean through it multiple times compared to everyone else who had chipped away at theirs. Keira’s praise seemed to make him happy as he smiled wide and there was a small flush on his face.

“Let’s grab lunch and Finn can tell us all about his adventure with Ronan.”

They decided to look for a new spot and found a noodle shop that had outdoor seating. He first had to reassure William that his relationship with Ronan was even less exciting than what it was with Faye. Afterwards, he explained everything that happened and showed them the paper runes that Ronan had left him to study.

“I’m not sure how I feel about you being able to pull the truth out from anyone.”

“When do you ever keep anything from me?”

“That’s the point, you don’t know—I’m a girl of mystery, I have many secrets.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

“I can see the appeal but I’m not sure how useful it’d be if we were attacked by demons,” William said as he slurped his food.

“I don’t suppose Nochd would be particularly effective in combat, but there are definitely others that are. I’m just starting here.”

“I wonder if Ronan has an ulterior motive for teaching you Nochd over one of the others,” replied Keira.

He hadn’t considered that—Ronan’s reasons were understandable but it wasn’t as if he was always completely forward with him and given Sara’s warning, he absolutely had his own agenda.

“I’m not really sure what other benefit there would be for him.”

“Maybe it would help uncover the mystery of the spirit at the station?”

“Well he did say that was something he wanted to understand, I guess there could be a way for…” he hesitated.

If he were to use it on himself, to look inward would he be able to uncover something he didn’t know, some hidden truth that even he was unaware of? Was that what Ronan wanted? He had forgotten an important memory of his sister, could there be more hidden within him he didn’t remember or realise? The spirits played with his mind, he had been in the sanctuary for days without realising it—it was possible there was more to it.

“Even with Nochd, Ronan couldn’t see inside my mind but if I directed at myself, then maybe I could see something that was hidden.”

“Hidden from yourself? I don’t get it,” said William.

“Traumatic events can blur our memories; he might be looking for an answer that Finn doesn’t even realise himself, a memory that’s been pushed away, lost.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him, though there’s no reason to be secretive about that. If it’s true, I want to know as well.”

“You’d have to ask him, but you were pretty shaken up when you remembered that thing with your sister. He might be trying to protect you in his own way as well.”

That started a new conversation as William wasn’t in the loop about the mystery of his sister either. They deviated to explain more details about his experience at the station and the spirit which they had previously avoided but now William was very much a part of their group so he wanted to let him in on those secrets as well.

“You went through a lot more than I realised, your relationship with Faye and Ronan makes more sense now.”

“Yep, he’s the weirdo who talks to spirits and disappears for a week to play in ancient buildings.”

“Oh yeah, me, the spirit and the giant hell birds were all sitting around having tea, it was a great old time.”

They laughed and he and Keira continued to speculate over Ronan’s intentions. They finished their food and got up to head back to the hall but William seemed hesitant to move. He had been oddly quiet since he had explained his time at the station.

“Are you okay? We need to head back.”

“Finlay, there’s something you should know,” he looked up at Keira.

“I was going to talk to him about it tonight, but I guess now’s as good as any,” she replied.

“Well, that’s ominous.”

William looked up at him. “Faye told us after you had left with Ronan.”

He hesitated but Keira stepped in to finish the thought, “You know that once we’re more comfortable with our spirits, we’ll be going to train at a place with low miasma, to get used to working with our spirits in that environment.”

“Yeah, each section goes together with their instructor and a few others from the guild but, it’s supposed to be low miasma level. Right on the edge, like we felt when we were in the mountains before we even reached the station. I don't think it'll be that dangerous.”

“One of the areas is new, it’s a place that was badly affected but the guild has—in recent years, made some progress in driving back the demons there. Enough progress that the miasma is low enough for us to use it for our training.”

“You’re going to get to the point sometime today, right?”

“Finn… We’re going to your home, the place you were born and escaped from—we’re going to the island of Easach.”