Radeon's lesson rang on the head of Fay and the other three. It etched not only on their minds, and their heart settled to the words, as it was now for them the best and right thing to do.
"Help has to be on time. Late help is just a gesture. It doesn't change the outcome."
"Help has to be generous. Give scraps, you buy complaints and an insincere reputation. You plant resentment instead."
"Count the cost. Cultivation costs a fortune. One spirit stone feeds a mortal family of five for a month. Remember that."
"And lastly, and most important of all," Radeon said, voice colder, "it must be free."
"Free means it costs you almost nothing. Breath. Sweat. Nothing else. If it costs your future, it isn't help. It's a gambling."
As the words struck the right chords in the young people's hearts, Radeon lay on the grass, exhausted.
"Now it's all on them," he said.
Oisin stifled a laugh for him, then failed. The rest of the ghosts, despite being in a fragmented state, followed.
