The cleric is one of the most disciplined of all the kharakters, Wolf read on, and can also be very secretive. Their friends are often surprised when they discover how deeply the cleric thinks about things, and in particular how much he or she yearns for good. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad match for him after all. And the cleric’s boon had worked on him. But spiritual and wise? This was going to take some getting used to.

“I wonder what my art is,” Raven said to Maximilian. “I haven’t found it yet. Probably never will. He looks pretty attached to that book.”

Wolf had found a case study of a warrior cleric and was reading it avidly. He hadn’t thought such a combination would even work, but there was quite a list in the Repertory: Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Joan Baez were among them. There was also some important mythical figure called Arjuna. Most people assume that peaceful religious people don’t really fight, the Repertory went on. Wolf thought back to his conversation with Aizik: there was a big difference between violence for its own sake and fighting for what you believe in. He’d proved you can fight without any violence at all.

“How’s your spider?” Maximilian asked Raven.

“A bit better after I did the stuff from the book I found in the University Library,” she said. “There was a special concoction of fennel and lavender that I had to make. And a spell, too. I’m supposed to be finding a familiar—witches need them to progress to higher levels than Neophyte according to Lexy, and Dr. Green’s magic class. So I’m trying really hard to find one. I know loads of animals, but none of them will agree. I thought one of the spiders might do it once the sick one had healed, but no.”

“Why not?”

“They want to be free, which I completely understand, of course. I absolutely wouldn’t want to exploit anyone. I think in the olden days becoming a familiar was seen by the Cosmic Web as a sort of servitude or even enslavement. It’s complicated.” She sighed.

“What about Echo?” asked Maximilian.

“A familiar has to come with you virtually everywhere,” said Raven. “It’s a big undertaking. It suits smaller animals better. I don’t think a horse could do it. But I’ll keep trying. Sooner or later I’ll find someone to help me. Apparently you’re supposed to know as soon as you meet your familiar. You don’t even have to ask. It’s supposed to be a bit like love at first sight.”

Raven went back to her pager. She’d been trying to contact Lexy for ages now.

“How are you getting on?” Maximilian asked Wolf, who was still reading the Repertory avidly.