Cellestra at my side…

I finished my tea, stood up, and walked towards the elf. She tilted her head to look at what I was doing when I turned around and sank my fangs into the ground next to her as I lowered my spider head as low as I could so that I could get my torso somewhat even with the elf’s. Even so, I was still a head taller than her.

The elf smiled as she watched me struggle to ‘sit’ next to her. “What are you trying to do?”

I looked down at my second head and sighed. “I wanted to hug your side, but I just realized my body is not exactly making this easier.”

My spider head was a fair bit wider than my torso, which would make placing my head on Cellestra’s shoulder quite the hassle. Why did I have to be this large?

The elf peered down into the two eyes that were on my side and giggled slightly. “If you want to hug me, just say so.” She then stood up and sat down in front of me. “There, that should make things a bit easier.”

“Thanks,” I said softly as I put my arms under her shoulders and hugged her from behind. My pedipalps joined in and I laid my head on her shoulder and closed my eyes. The elf’s scent and closeness soothed my troubled mind like nothing else.

“You don’t mind this, do you?” I said as I placed my chin on her shoulder and felt her soft hair on my cheek.

“I don’t,” She said as she placed her arms on my pedipalps and stroked the soft hair on them. “In fact, I think I could fall asleep like this.”

“Hmmm, why don’t you?”

“I think I might,” She said with a bit of a giggle. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better now. Thank you.”

I cast my healing light spell on the elf while hugging her from behind. I then grabbed one of the wolf pelts with my legs and brought it forward where I placed one over the elf’s frame.

“You really want me to sleep like this, don’t you?” She asked.

“I do. I don’t want to break this hug.”

“Fair enough,” Cellestra whispered as she put away her empty cup.

I could tell the elf was comfortable with this position as I felt her muscles relax the longer we stayed that way. I was happy to know I wasn’t doing anything that might make her uncomfortable.

Cellestra moved her arm from under the pelt and brought it up to my head. She gently stroked the hair on my head and whispered to me good night before bringing it back on my pedipalp under the pelt.

“Good night, Cellestra,” I whispered back while allowing my torso to relax fully. Soon enough, we were both sleeping, leaving my lower half to watch the surroundings. I canceled my flame spell to not attract attention and started my watch.

The elf’s actions just before she went to sleep were a bit confusing to me, but I didn’t mind them, not at all. Perhaps it was a sign of her starting to reciprocate my feelings for her. I hoped that was the case. From the moment I first recognized what these emotions were, I had become unwilling to let them go. Thanks to her, my future was now brighter than it had ever been.

I knew I had the strength to change the course of events around us, but I seemed to lack confidence at times. It was odd considering I’d never lacked that before coming to this world. Then again, I hadn’t had to deal with all the unknowns I had faced in my life so far. Cellestra managed to wash away all those worries whenever she was close to me like this.

Her words and smile remained on my mind until dawn.

---

During the night, my arms relaxed and slid down into Cellestra’s lap, which had mildly annoyed me, but there was nothing I could do about that. I wasn’t going to wake myself up for that. As soon as she stirred, I forced myself awake as well. Soon enough, we were having breakfast with me still sitting behind her.

“Did you sleep well?” I asked while the elf was eating.

A slow nod confirmed she had. “I did. How about you?”

“Oh you know, I only slept about half as good as I can.”

Cellestra giggled. “Yeah, I figured that. Do let me know if you need a full rest, okay?”

“I will,” I promised her.

I stood up and started packing things again while the elf finished breakfast. Soon enough, we were on our way again, running through the fields with massive boulders laying around.

“Any idea what those things are?” Cellestra asked as we passed an exceptionally large one.

“They look like simple rocks to me. Why they are here is a mystery to me, though.”

“We better not touch them,” The elf joked.

“Wasn’t planning to. Who knows what will happen this time?”

“You’re not blaming yourself for what happened anymore, are you?”

“I am not,” I said clearly. “I’ve thought about it while you were asleep. If remnants of magic were ejected from the obelisk, that means that there was once a lot more magic in them, correct?”

“According to my book, yes,” Cellestra said.

“My assumption is that the magic has leaked out of the structures. If that’s the case, it means that this would have happened eventually. I may have accelerated the process in one of the obelisks, but still.”

“I see what you mean. That sounds reasonable.”

“In any case, now we know what this magic was about, or at least we do in part. If you consider that, it may have been a good thing that I touched it.”

“True, but to me, it seems unfair that you get to bear yet another burden,” Cellestra spoke softly. “You’re carrying enough as it is.”

“Except that I have the blessing of a goddess. I never intended to sit around and do nothing. I may be just what is needed to solve this puzzle.”

“You sound… a lot more optimistic about this,” The elf noted. “What happened?”

“You happened,” I said with a chuckle. “Last night, you helped me calm down and put my thoughts in order so I could think clearly again. You do that more often than you realize.”

A small smile formed on the elf’s face as she looked down at my spider eyes from where she was sitting on me. “Thank you,” She said softly.

“Anyway,” I continued, wanting to change the subject. I’d heard more than enough about these obelisks and was getting tired of it. “There’s not much we can do about it directly, so let’s focus on the things we can do. Vyath mentioned something about some kind of challenge to join the dungeon exploration guild. Do you know anything about how that works?”

Cellestra shook her head. “No idea how things work here, so I can’t say for certain. I believe the way to settle this back at home is a series of duels or a test where the newcomer has to defeat certain low-tier monsters that live nearby, under supervision, of course.”

“Maybe they will send me into a dungeon. I mean, the guild’s name kind of implies that, doesn’t it?”

“Should be doable, no?” Cellestra said with a smile.

I started laughing which earned me a confused look from the elf. “Imagine,” I managed to let out before I continued my laughter. “Imagine their faces when I start eating the dungeon creatures after killing them.”

Cellestra giggled. “You think it will be worse than the shock they go through upon first seeing you?”

“Hmmm,” I let out. “I like to think it’s worse.”

“I hope for your sake that whatever dungeon they will send us in has creatures that actually taste decent.”

I grinned. “It would kind of suck to end up in a dungeon filled with massive centipedes, wouldn’t it?”

“How bad do they taste?” Cellestra asked with an evil smile.

“Bad, and then worse than that,” I replied, shaking my head while smiling. “Before the guild, though, there are a few other things we need to take care of. I just pray that my parents are still somewhere around Thymhil. What should I tell them?”

“That’s… a hard question,” Cellestra admitted as her smile disappeared. “They will remember who you were, right?”

I nodded. “Seems like it.”

“I think you should just tell them the full story, as you did with me. I’m confident they will be proud of what you’ve grown up to be: a strong knight with exceptional morals and virtues.”

I nodded again. “I would think that any parent would be proud of that. It’s just that I haven’t seen them since I was eight years old. I feel like it’s unfair to them that they had to miss watching me grow up. You know?”

“You’re right,” Cellestra admitted. “But it can’t be helped now. I’m sure they will be happy no matter what. If anything, you can always tell them all that happened in the years that you were separated.”

“I could, but the story of my old life is not a happy one.”

“Which should make them even more proud that you turned out the way you did,” Cellestra said, a small smile growing on her lips once more.

Her words warmed me to the core. The way she was able to look at my life was beyond beautiful in my eyes.

“You’re right,” I said. “Thank you.”