Echoes of Ceotir

“It’s not funny,” she groaned while trying to cover her face with her hands.

They were sitting in the corner of the cafe and while it was busy again, they were as out of the way as possible. It turned out that Keira had an unusually high level of Anam and because of that, multiple artefacts had responded to her. While there was one in particular she chose, it was not the one that caused the minor disaster.

When she had picked up a sword, the spirit within had decided it wanted to show off what it could do with her. The entire blade burst into flames and she came too close to setting one of the assistant's long white coats on fire. When she pulled it away in shock she swung it behind her and it did the same to another assistant. She dropped the sword after that and everyone was okay but she had a minor meltdown in another room, not dissimilar to him, before going back to try the rest of the items.

“No one was hurt and I’m starting to think they’re used to candidates doing stupid things with the artefacts during the selection, might explain why there were so many people there.”

“I was so embarrassed, I thought they were going to kick me out there and then.”

“At least you dropped it, Sara had to physically remove one from me.”

“Why do strange spirits keep obsessing over you, it stresses me out.”

“I don’t know, but at least the amulet seemed less—intense.”

They had exchanged stories back and forth but continued to bring up small details they had missed. The one that brought Finlay’s most recent fit of laughter at her was Keira realising she had never found the first assistant to apologise to them. Her interview had been a lot smoother than his, with no random interruptions but it lasted longer. They had explored details about her childhood, family life and expectations of the guild to the point she'd thought she'd never escape.

She told him they were all very intense but friendly enough that she couldn’t quite relax but thought that was the point. It was awkward and he assured her that until Ronan had broken up his interview, he had similar feelings. The artefact she had chosen, or at least given as her preference, was a spear.

“Honestly, after I got over the shame, the flaming sword did seem appealing.”

“I bet you were just scared you’d singe your hair.”

“The thought might have crossed my mind but it wasn’t the ultimate reason I avoided it.”

“What was?”

She seemed pensive. “Giant hell birds.”

“You’re going to have to unpack that a little more.”

“I was imagining trying to fight those things at the station. I pictured myself standing there, sword in hand—fire or not, it still didn’t feel enough.”

“I’m not sure anything would be.”

“Given the options I had, a spear seemed like a more suitable weapon for giant monsters.”

“Makes sense, though I’m not sure they follow the same conventions normal weapons do. The axe I picked up started as a stick and felt the same even though it grew twice as large.”

“Maybe I can turn it into a really long spear, poke things from far far away.”

He laughed. “If only the ancients had built guns.”

“It seems strange there were no ranged weapons, if not guns then why not bows or something?”

“From what I learned, the reason we need the spirit weapons is so they can devour the demons. For that, they have to be in contact with them, ranged weapons just wouldn’t work.”

“I guess that makes sense. I suppose they use other magic for that.”

“Invocations, spells, it’s what Sara told me I should focus on as the amulet isn’t really a weapon.”

“You’ll be throwing fireballs in no time.”

“I’m not sure that’s how it works, though she said the man who saved me as a child, the barrier he placed was an invocation. That seemed pretty effective back then.”

“Sounds good, why can’t we all learn that?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m going to assume it has something to do with Anam levels and efficiency. I talked a lot about finding the right balance in things with one of the assistants.”

“I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”

“Yeah, I have a feeling we’re going to be thrown in the deep end of whatever they have planned straight away. Speaking of, we should probably start heading back.”

“Do we have to; going back means telling my family I was selected, which probably means another argument.”

“You can stay at mine if you want but you’re going to have to face them eventually.”

“It’s been a long day, I think I'll take you up on that offer—I’d rather sleep first before dealing with them.”

They finished up at the cafe and travelled back to his house. Keira got set up in the living room as usual, she had her own set of blankets for the sofa as she stayed so often. They were both exhausted so they didn’t stay up much later once they updated his dad on what happened. His bed was calling him and he was looking forward to the rest.

*****

It was still dark when he woke and he couldn’t get back to sleep. It wasn’t uncommon for him to wake in the middle of the night since the events at the mining station but he never remembered dreaming about it. He decided to try and creep through to the kitchen and get a drink but as he walked by the living room he could hear Keira.

She was having a nightmare, crying in her sleep and when he looked around the corner he could see she was tossing and turning on the sofa. He didn’t want to wake her, hoping it would pass but when he reached the kitchen and could still hear her, he decided it was better to.

“Keira,” he said as he knelt by her side and held her shoulder. “It’s okay, everything’s okay.”

She was shaking but after a moment she opened her eyes. “Finn,” she sobbed.

“It’s okay, it was just a nightmare, you’re safe.”

She sat up and wiped her face. “I’m such a mess.”

“You’re not.”

“I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No, of course not, I came to get a drink after waking up myself and heard you.”

“I’m sorry, I should have just gone home.”

He ruffled her hair as he stood. “Relax, it’s okay—let me get you a drink.”

When he came back, she was sitting upright with her knees tucked to her chest and arms wrapped around them. She took the glass but immediately curled back into her position and seemed unable to look at him.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“I’ve not been sleeping well either, that’s why I woke up—though I never really remember anything.”

“I remember.”

“We went through a lot at the station,” he sat on the floor with his back to the sofa she was on. “You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.”

“We’re going to be sent on missions to places like that soon, to deal with demons just like them. I can’t break down every time.”

“It won’t be the same, we’ll have ways to fight back, training, and have others with us. We’ll be better prepared, what we went through—we weren’t ready for but we will be next time.”

“Do you really think we’ll be ready to deal with something like that? Not just run but actually fight them.”

He tilted his head back so he could see her. “Yes, I do.”

“You’re so sure it’ll all work out.”

“I thought I was pretty great on a bike, then Faye showed me how fast you can really ride. I thought I was in decent shape but Sara knocked me on my ass before I even knew what was happening. The people in the guild are strong in ways I don’t think we’ve even seen yet.”

“And you think we’ll be able to be like that, as strong as them?”

He looked back down at the glass of water in his hands but he spoke with clear sincerity. “You’re awesome Keira, I’ve told you that before. Now you know you have exceptionally high levels of Anam, even the guild thinks you’re awesome. You really should stop doubting yourself.”

“I remember feeling so helpless, so weak, so scared—it’s hard to believe I can really be anything else. But thank you, I do appreciate it.”

“I doubt anyone who saw you nearly set the shrine on fire thought you were weak.”

“Don’t remind me.”

They continued to talk about the guild and exciting things they might learn. They kept clear of the fears and moved towards more positive thoughts until Keira started to fall asleep and he decided it was time to head back to bed. They’d both only sleep for a few more hours but neither of them had any more unpleasant dreams.

*****

The week passed by far faster than it should. They had received their update as promised by Sara and both would contract with the spirits they had expected, which wasn’t surprising to Finlay. He knew the amulet was going to be unique and given Keira’s response and level of Anam, it was a given she’d have priority.

They spent most of the week shopping and preparing for the move. The guild had apartments in the city for new recruits as the goal was to have them housed together so they could build strong relationships. Guild members worked together, it was rare to go out on a mission alone so they had to create parties before receiving missions. Living together during the training period was to encourage people to form those parties and train alongside one another so they were better prepared when it was time to go out.

In practice, because most people who joined the guild were from the city, with long-standing family connections, many of those parties were already formed before they ever joined. Finlay and Keira would obviously stick together but they didn’t know anyone else who was joining so they knew they’d have to do some scouting once they got there. It was part of the reason he had hoped more from the outer ring would get in, he felt they were more likely to join their party than people from the city.

Keira’s family was as she predicted, annoyed at her getting into the guild and even more frustrated when she told them how successful she was. Her grandmother had even come around to talk with her and she had complained that it felt more like an intervention than a normal family concern.

His dad on the other hand couldn’t be happier, he was very proud of them both and had a very different take on the situation. He had experienced the miasma and demons twice in Finlay’s lifetime alone. He had lost his daughter to it and both times, even though he was armed and competent, he was helpless against them. As far as he was concerned, Finlay and Keira becoming strong enough to defend themselves could only be beneficial.

He had offered to go and speak with Keira’s family but she didn’t think it would help and instead held firm knowing it wouldn’t be much longer before she could escape. They had no idea what they should take with them so shopping was a challenge. The guild had been entirely unhelpful when it came to telling them if they'd provide basic things like bedding or if they'd turn up to nothing more than an empty room.

They decided it was better to take the minimum and if they had to they could acquire more later. This was also favoured by Finlay as he didn’t enjoy shopping—Keira insisted they go together which meant he got dragged around almost every day to buy next to nothing.

Now on the day they were to leave, Keira had rushed away as soon as she could and met with him. His dad escorted them to the tram and they were riding it into the city clutching their giant bags full of everything they thought they might need.

The tram was full of people but it didn’t seem as though any others were there for the guild. Instead, they appeared to be travelling for work or day trips into the city with family. They tried their best to take up the same space with their oversized luggage but were not doing well and had received more than a welcome share of glares.

The only thing they knew was an address to travel to, there they’d gain access to their new apartments. There was a strict schedule which meant they had to do this in the morning as they were to arrive at the guild office, the same place they had their interviews by noon with the ceremony taking place soon after. The guild had definitely been loose on its rules and the way people followed them but this didn’t feel like the right time to be slack on punctuality.

“Do you think we should try and recruit people quickly or wait and see who’s proving themselves?” Keira had long since gone over the expectations of the day and was now planning ahead.

“You assume we’ll have a lot of choice in the matter.”

“You don’t think we will?”

“Given that most of the people joining are from the city, that have long-established family connections. Doesn’t it seem likely they already have long-established family parties as well?”

“You don’t think we could join them?”

“You probably could, I’m not so sure people are going to be so excited to have the weird guy with the amulet in their party.”

“You’re not going to be the weird guy with the amulet, you’re going to be the weird guy that flings fireballs at everyone,” the running joke she had decided upon for the past week.

“We don’t know anything about invocation beyond my one experience with it years ago. Who knows if I’ll even be able to do it, let alone if anyone would want me in their party.”

“I’m sure they will, it seems like it’d be pretty powerful.”

“There might also be others who specialise in it and have a more combat-focused artefact.”

“You’re putting yourself down so much and you haven’t even contracted with it yet.”

“I know—I mean I’m not doubting my decision, it really did feel right. But I can’t deny that it’s not what we were expecting and Sara did say they never usually bothered to offer them to candidates.”

“But you’re special, see, everyone wants someone who’s special.”

“Special isn’t always good.”

“I doubt they’d offer it to you if they didn’t think you’d still be able to fight. It wouldn’t exactly benefit the guild if they did that.”

“I know. I know you’re right, but I still worry and you’re biased, other people won’t have the same perception you do.”

“If they think like that, they’re not people we want in our party anyway.”

“Thanks. No matter what happens, at least we’ll have each other.”

“Always.”

After the tram, it was a short walk which was a good thing due to the weight of luggage they had to carry. Their destination turned out to be a large building that extended for what looked to be the entire street. There was a reception room in the middle and a lot of people were gathering inside. They spoke to an attendant who told them that all the apartments were the same, a single large room with an adjoining kitchen and a bathroom. Because all of the apartments were the same, they were free to choose which ones they wanted and as they were so early, they decided upon the lower floor and got to be right beside one another.

They dropped their bags off and found that though there were basic kitchen and bathroom facilities, the only thing in the main room was a single bed. He couldn’t help but feel frustrated that he was going to have to do more shopping.

After unpacking they decided to head out and explore some of the surrounding area. They found a few nice spots for food and one cafe that had more cakes and other baked treats than Keira could have dreamed about. But as it got closer to noon they decided to make their way to the guild for the ceremony—excited and nervous, it was time to form their contracts with the spirits.