“Mom?” I asked. “Say we want to furnish this place, who do we talk to?”

“Furnish? What kind?” She asked as she narrowed her eyes.

“We were thinking a dresser, maybe a bookshelf, that kind of thing. I don’t think we’ll need chairs or tables or the like.”

“There are quite a few good carpenters in town. Would you like me to talk to them, or do you want to have a look for yourselves?”

I looked at Cellestra to see what she wanted.

“I’m fine with anything.”

“In that case,” I said, speaking my thoughts. “Would you like to pick something for us today, so that we can work on our home in the meantime?”

“Hmmm,” My mother let out. “We could do that. Wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to do it in the first place as I doubt you’re going to be able to walk through the small pathways in the warehouse.”

“Of course,” I said, shaking my head. “Forgot that that was a possibility.”

My mother chuckled as I continued.

“We will give you plenty of money then, and I’d like you to keep some for yourselves, as thanks for all the breakfasts and other help.”

“That’s fine, sweetie,” She said with a warm smile. “You don’t have to do that.”

“But I want to, and you know that I won’t take no for an answer.”

My dad shook his head and my mom merely said she didn’t know what to say, seemingly mimicking my father’s thoughts. At the same time, Cellestra pulled out a pouch with coins from her backpack and handed it to me, which I then gave to my mother.

“Hope that’s enough,” I said.

My mother opened the pouch to discover five gold coins, causing her eyes to grow wide in disbelief.

“That’s way too much,” She said.

“How much will the aforementioned furniture cost?” I asked. “Any idea?”

“A gold coin, at most,” She reacted, still looking at the coins in her hand. “And that’s for both pieces.”

She didn’t at all seem comfortable holding so much money, so I took two coins from her and handed them back to Cellestra.

“Here,” I continued. “Keep whatever you have left, okay? Don’t worry about it too much.”

“Thank you,” She said. “You’re the sweetest.”

I noticed with my side eyes that Cellestra pulled out the spell orb from her backpack to show it to Elira, who was more than intrigued by it as she cocked her head and watched it from very close up, causing the brunette to giggle as I was locked in conversation with my parents.

“You’re too kind,” My father said. “Be careful with that.“

“I think I know what you mean, but you’re my mom and dad. I try to be kind to everyone, but I can be cold if someone tries to use me.”

He nodded in understanding.

“So, what do you think of my… ‘nest’?” I asked, changing the topic to something entirely different.

“It looks very well done,” My father replied. “And it’s warm in here. How are the nights?”

“You should ask Cellestra. I am hardly affected by the cold so I can’t tell.”

“Of course,” He said with a grin, looking at the long hairs along the length of my body.

“It’s warm, even at nights,” Cellestra answered the question, without looking up. She was still showing the elven girl the orb, which shifted every now and then. When it did, Elira let out a soft one of her ‘woahs’ each time it did. She was such a treasure to observe.

“You’d make the builder’s guild jealous,” My father said. “Better to not let them hear about all this.”

“Wasn’t planning to,” I said. “Hey, Cellestra and I were planning to get rituals done at the shrines. Would you like to join us?”

“Why not?” My mother said. “Seeing my daughter talk to the goddess, that’s an honor I never thought I’d experience.”

“Well, I doubt there’s much you’ll be able to see, but if you have any questions for her, I’d be happy to answer them. Unfortunately, I have a few crucial questions first. I feel kind of bad about that. Hopefully, I won’t have to wait too long before doing the next ritual.”

“It’s okay,” My mother said softly. “We have nothing to ask that can be considered important.”

“I’m sure you have questions for her, and I think those are important, even if you don’t think they are.”

“Perhaps,” She said.

“We’ll look into that when we can. Shall we go? Cellestra, you ready?” I said, turning my head to her.

“Ready when you are.”

I walked out of the nest in reverse and had Elira and Cellestra hop on my back again as the brunette held the bag containing her armor in place behind my head. I didn’t strap it as I’d fall unconscious during the ritual and it would just be in the way, and it seemed she knew that.

To my surprise, the braziers before Elysa’s shrine changed to their roaring blue for the first time since arriving in Thymhil. It made me freeze for a few seconds.

“That’s a relief,” I said.

“Good to see,” Cellestra said as she hopped off. “I’ll go and ask the priestess if she could do a ritual outside.”

I nodded as I stepped over the low wall and made my way to the corner of the premises where I wouldn’t obstruct anyone. I took the bag with armor and placed it at my side and watched Cellesta enter the shrine.

“So you’ll talk to goddess Elysa?” Elira asked curiously as she had made her way down and was now standing in front of me.

“Yep. There are some things that I hope she can answer.”

She must have seen the look in my eyes as her next question summed up what I was feeling.

“Is it bad?” She asked, her smile disappearing.

“I don’t know yet,” I replied in honesty with a soft voice. “I hope not.”

Cellestra soon returned, a bag in her hands while the priestess in white carried a large metal bowl, the one used to burn the reagents in. That, of course, would mean that those reagents were in the bag that the brunette held.

“Welcome, chosen of Elysa,” The priestess said warmly after looking at the blazing braziers, as she placed the bowl in front of me.

Goddess, it never becomes easier listening to that.

“Hi,” I replied politely as I placed myself on the ground. “I hope it’s not too much of an inconvenience to do the ritual here.”

“Not at all,” She said, shaking her head with the same kind smile. “I’m glad I can help out both you and our goddess any way I can.”

I saw my mom put her hands over Elira’s shoulders who was standing in front of her as they curiously eyed the priestess accepting the bag from Cellestra and carefully pulling out the leaves and other materials and laying them in the bowl in front of me. After placing the last, she closed her eyes, knelt, and whispered a few words as she held a hand over the items. She then tilted her head to look at me and asked if I was ready.

“I am,” I said with a nod.

She nodded in response and asked Cellestra to hold up the bowl in front of my face, which she did.

“Just make sure to put me on my back, if you will,” I told Cellestra.

“I will,” She said with a small smile. “We’ll see you in a bit.”

I smiled back at her before I turned my head to look at the magical agents before me. The priestess spoke a few words in a language unknown to me and blue flames engulfed my face, sending me off into a dream-like state.

---

“Elysa?” I called the goddess’s name as soon as I could think. My vision was still white, but it quickly faded away, revealing the deity sitting in her chair. She had her chin cupped in a hand and seemed to be thinking for a bit before she acknowledged my presence.

“Hi, Kealyna. I have a feeling I know what questions you’d like to ask. Let me try to answer those real quick. I talked to Nilene, and we arranged for her to react to her own braziers to warn you to not do the ritual again so soon. She is willing to talk to Cellestra to give you some info I can’t provide you in time.”

She flooded me with words, and knowing time was short, I merely nodded as she continued.

“I notice something has changed about your blessing. Something tampered with it. I don’t know how, or why. The resulting spell you learned seems to have the exact effect it describes. Strange as it is, it combines a spell you have and a spell you could have had if you’d chosen a different evolution. It’s perfectly safe to use. The source, though…”

I narrowed my eyes in anticipation of what she was about to say.

“I managed to find out a bit more. There’s some ancient being banished deep underground in the center of the three obelisks, and for some reason, it somehow connects to you through my blessing.”