The Knightly Elven… Spider?

“Hmmm. Now that you mention it, I never did ask, did I?”

“You didn’t,” Cellestra said as she walked beside me. It had been a while since she transported herself and, while I didn't mind it, it would probably be good for her to move around a bit. Besides, my nest wasn’t that far. It did remind me that we should probably buy some shoes sometime soon as I believed hers weren’t the most comfortable.

“How much was it then?” I asked slyly, seeing as it appeared the brunette wasn’t going to elaborate.

“Three gold.”

“That’s a very decent price, I think,” I replied.

“That's what I thought. It was certainly worth her reaction. It was adorable.”

“I know,” I said before sighing. “I hope that one day, she’ll be able to learn all the magic she desires. I wonder if I can see her grow up and learn…” My voice trailed off and I continued in a whisper. “I’d like to see that.”

“Aw,” Cellestra let out. “That’s so sweet of you. I’m sure you’ll see it. Why wouldn’t you?”

“I’m worried that I'm going to be away from home for a good while. I’ve been thinking about things a bit, and I came to the conclusion that I found it odd for Elysa to bestow all this unto me. I feel like there is something else, but she’s never mentioned anything.”

Cellestra shook her head. “I think you’re overthinking again.”

“Maybe,” I said before heaving a deep sigh. “But I can’t shake off the feeling. I sincerely hope I’m wrong. I told you I feel eager to experience adventures, but I want to be able to enjoy life, and the simple things about it with my parents… and you too.”

“You see yourself in her, don’t you?” Cellestra suddenly asked. “You’re doing all this for her because you never had it.”

I was taken aback by her blunt statement, but it was mostly true, so I nodded slowly.

“She is exactly what I fought for all my life. By Elysa, I swear she’ll never experience the pain and regret that I lived with.”

I felt a tear form and roll down my cheek as I said it.

“I’ll do everything in my power to make it so,” I added with not more than a whisper. I was more than resolved in this matter, but it also hurt to remember, to see…

“I know you will,” Cellestra said softly and warmly. “You’re still the beautiful knight that you once were, and I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, and thank you.”

A few minutes of silence followed as we moved through the forest, giving me some time to think. Cellestra had made it clear once again that it was painful to mention my childhood, but in a way, I didn’t mind talking about it with her. At least, she could see the good that I’d become after those bad times, and it warmed my heart.

We reached our shelter where I’d only have to make one full wall and then one partial wall. Cellestra laid down in the middle as I got to work.

“I wonder what Soranir will say tomorrow,” She said.

“I just hope he believes what Elysa told me, but I doubt that’s going to be an issue.”

“After that is the next problem. We are looking for ancient information.”

“I wonder how much of that still exists in the world and whether anyone can read it. Languages change over time, too,” I said.

“There’s that too, but I suppose there are people that try to preserve archaic languages. I think there should be plenty of books on languages if need be.”

I thought about how I would make the entrance to the nest and came up with the idea to create some kind of tunnel so the wind would be less of a bother, but that would bring some issues, mainly where I was going to connect the threads. I would just leave a gap in the wall for now and then figure something out later.

“It’s starting to get pretty cozy in here, Kealyna,” Cellestra said, cheering me on.

“It’s about time. The amount of work I’m having to put in is insane.”

“But the result is there.”

“You know, I'm kind of hoping it will rain sometime soon, just so I can see how well this does and if I need to plug any holes.”

“I have faith in your work. It will be fine.”

“Thank you,” I said smiling as I moved to create the last partial wall. “I assume we’re doing some magic practice after this?”

“By the goddess, Kealyna. Don’t you ever take breaks?”

“I’ll take a bit of a break first after I’m done here, don’t worry.”

I spun thread after thread, making sure to leave a massive opening that I could fit through. Although this was the best I could do, for the time being, I wasn’t happy with it, at all. The gap was so incredibly big that no matter how much I insulated the walls, the temperature inside would always be the same as outside.

“Pfft,” I let out when I collapsed in the webs after I was finished, my spider head in the hole so I could lie down forward. “This is going to be much more difficult than I expected.”

“The issue is that we can’t really place a door or something,” Cellestra said, sitting up to look at the entrance.

“I was thinking about some kind of tunnel entrance, but that will bring its own issues. Why did I have to have such ridiculous proportions?”

“We’ll find a solution,” Cellestra said confidently.

“I just don’t want you to get cold. I can probably manage with this cold resistance skill I picked up a while ago, but you don’t have that luxury.”

“No worries. Winter is quite a while off.”

“I guess you’re right.”

I allowed myself to relax for a while, regenerating my mana and silk supplies. A thought from the day before entered my mind, and I decided to speak it as soon as it did.

“Remind me to make a pillow tonight. I want to see if it’s any good.”

“Alright,” Cellestra replied, smiling.

I allowed several minutes more to pass before I decided it was time to continue our practice.

Just like before, we had great difficulty with the healing light spell. We overcame smaller bumps one by one, but there was still a long road ahead. There were just so many obstacles in this spell in particular, but we wouldn’t give up.

After a few hours of intense practice, we relaxed on the web once more.

“Do you think Elira has passed out from mana exhaustion yet?” I asked, grinning as I turned my head to look at Cellestra who'd laid herself down next to me.

She chuckled in response.

“Probably several times at this point. I can’t believe your parents were fine with this. Now they have to watch her all day.” Cellestra grinned again. “I feel for your parents, you know?”

“So much for their day off,” I said with a snicker.

“I doubt they mind. Your father seemed to have it rough when he first mentioned her ability to learn magic, or rather, their inability to have her taught about it.”

“Easing their burden of money is something I gladly do. We still have like forty gold coins left and I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t think some armor for you will be that expensive, and if need be, I can probably make some myself.”

“That’d be nice,” Cellestra said. “That shirt you made earlier was really comfortable and warm. Shame it got ruined.”

“And it saved you from worse injuries too,” I replied. “I doubt normal, light clothing will do the same.”

“Always looking at the practical side of things, aren’t you?” A sly smile was plastered on the brunette’s face as she said it.

“Always,” I replied before pausing briefly. “Hey, Cellestra. I was thinking earlier about whether it was an idea to have you attempt the ritual at Nilene’s shrine, but with this odd wink I got from Elysa, I’m not so sure anymore. What do you think?”

“We could try that,” She said. “Did you think about it because of Elysa’s flames not responding to you for a while?‘

I nodded. “Yes, and there’s also the thing that she might want to talk to me, I can’t be sure, but if I do that, then there’s going to be a long time before I can talk to Elysa again, so I was thinking that it might be a good idea to have you talk to her instead.”

“Speaking to a goddess,” Cellestra said softly. “I cannot imagine what it’s like. Were you scared the first time?”

“Scared?” I repeated. “Scared… Not really. I was just confused more than anything. I had just died, after all. When I realized it was Elysa, I immediately knelt, but she told me to stand up. She was… very kind to me. I wasn’t scared at all.”

I paused for a brief moment. “That doesn’t say anything about Nilene, though.”

“I suppose we will find out, if she wishes to talk to me,” Cellestra said softly.

“Yeah,” I let out before spreading my legs to stand up. “Anyway, let’s go and get some dinner for you. I’d like to get to bed early tonight and completely clean myself, properly this time, before tomorrow’s meeting.”

“That sounds reasonable,” The purple-eyed elf said, smiling slyly. “You can use it.”