I started weaving, slowly, from the bottom up, trying to remember the proportions I used last time. Cellestra smiled warmly as she watched me work, all while the world outside was slowly starting to become darker, causing the brunette to eventually pull out the spell orb from her backpack, which gave off plenty of light for the nest.

“You know, you really should consider the weavers guild,” Cellestra said, giggling when I looked at her with disbelief.

“I’ll take that as a no,” She said after another chuckle.

“I just started my new life as a dungeon explorer,” I said, finishing up the sleeveless shirt. “I don’t intend to retire just yet. Mind trying this on? See how it fits?”

“Isn’t it still sticky?”

“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “I seem to have gained precise control over that in the past few days. Still don’t think I can color it, though.”

“That’s fine,” She said in a carefree manner as she took the shirt and put it on, smiling happily all the while.

“It’s perfect. Just the sleeves to go now.”

“Yeah, but I think I’ll finish making those tomorrow. I’m pretty tired, and we need to get up early again.”

“Fair enough,” She said, taking off the shirt and neatly folding it before putting it in her backpack. “Let’s get some sleep.”

I nodded, yawned, lay down in the crevice, and turned my body sideways to take Cellestra in a loving hug, my heart beating faster as she pulled the pillow underneath our heads.

“Thank you so much,” She whispered. “For today.”

“Cellestra,” I whispered back, running a hand through her hair. “I should thank you for every day.”

“That’s so sweet,” She said. “I’m thankful for every day as well.”

“Do you think my parents know… you know, about us?” I asked softly.

“I don’t know. Do you want them to?”

“I’m not sure…” I admitted. “What do you think?”

“I’d say, just wait until you’re ready.”

“You don’t mind at all?”

She shook her head. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Whenever that is,” I concluded, before sighing.

“Don’t worry.” She whispered lovingly. “It’s going to be fine.” She placed her head on my chest and a hand in my hair, stroking it gently. “Good night, Kealyna.”

“Good night, Cellestra.”

Somewhere in the middle of the night, I noticed a shade of red in my thermal vision, penetrating the darkness and the webs surrounding me. I was surprised that I could see it so clearly through the barriers, but at the same time, it wasn’t a bad thing.

I was on high alert and saw the creature it belonged to near the nest, painting the outline of a bear. It walked around seemingly without purpose, got closer to our shelter until it was close enough where I could hear it sniff. If needed, I was ready to attack it, even though the silk, but nothing caught its interest, and it eventually just walked away, disappearing into the forest.

I didn’t think much of it at first, but when the anticipation of having to fight dissipated, I realized that this was an odd incident. Cellestra’s presence in this area should have caused her ailment to take hold of the nearby wildlife. However, there had been no signs of aggression for a while, making me think about the hypothesis I’d made earlier.

My magic suppressed more than just the nightmare side-effect. If that was true, there shouldn’t be an issue living among the other elves in or near the city. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the forest. Despite being close to civilization, there was still a clear separation from it, and if I was honest with myself, I preferred that.

I was also left thinking about when I’d put my last skill into action. I’d more or less already decided I’d make use of the spiderlings. From a tactical point of view, they were just too valuable to pass on, especially with this new synthesized version.

I would have sighed, but my other half was asleep, forcing me to give up on the idea.

The night progressed smoothly, and when the first signs of the morning came, my mind was suddenly drawn back to the whole spiderling thing. There was something I had no answer to yet. Sure, my blessing had made it all too clear that I’d lay eggs, but one thing still eluded me…

Elysa, how long do they need to hatch…?

I got the answer to that, and then some more. The only thing it didn’t mention was the size of my… offspring. I was beyond enormous, which led me to believe these spiderlings would also be.

At last, Cellestra awoke, still hugging me, and so did I in response. Considering we planned on heading out early, we didn’t waste any time. The brunette had a quick breakfast outside, while I’d already loaded her armor on my back, and started collecting the chopped-off treetops, connecting them together with threads and dragging them behind me. Despite their weight, they were no match for my strength.

“Looking good,” Cellestra commented. “And after this, you have… six more to go, right?”

“Yup, so I’ll check if they are interested in those as well. I’m very much looking forward to what my parents chose.”

“The knightly elven spider,” Cellestra said giggling. “Conquerer of dungeons, legendary weaver, looking forward to a bookshelf.”

I laughed heartily at her summary of my accomplishments.

“Though, I think the conqueror of dungeons is a bit premature, don’t you think?” I said as I regained my composure.

Cellestra shrugged.

“We’ll get there.”

“I’m sure we will,” I replied with a smile.

We then set out again, the brunette walking like the day before. She seemed to put in some extra effort during our trip by raising her knees high with each step she took. She saw me looking, but didn’t say a word about it. It was obvious that I knew exactly why she was doing that.

“Want to do that in the dungeon as well?” I asked. “With armor?”

“I should, but that might be a bit much for the time being. I’m quite weak still, so I’ll stick to trying to build some muscle and not overexert myself like that.”

“We’ll get there,” I repeated her comment from earlier, causing her to giggle.

“I’m sure we will,” She replied with the same response.

When we arrived at the farm, only my father was there, carrying a few empty buckets outside. He greeted us and told us my mother was taking Elira to school. He expected the furniture delivery to be here about the time she returned. Until then, he’d weed the nearby field.

I decided to help him, as did Cellestra, and when we had the first bucket filled up with the nasty, pesky weeds that would harm the newly-planted crops, a small convoy arrived.

Soranir, on horseback, led a cart pulled by two more horses, each ridden by lightly armored, strong-looking men.

“Greetings,” he said warmly as he brought everyone to a halt. As soon as they did, I saw my mother appear, my sight previously blocked by the horses. It appeared she got a ride from the city.

“Hey,” I said, waving.

“I’m happy to see you’re making yourself at home,” He said, looking at the men who dismounted and walked to the vehicle to unload, then at me, and then at the two logs in the gravel that I’d dropped previously. I thought he was being slightly sarcastic at first, but there was none of that in his voice, and his expression told me that he was truly happy.

“Yeah. I figured I’d take these back. It would be kind of wasteful to not give them purpose.”

“Agreed,” He said with a nod. “The carpenters will surely have use for them. Anyway,” He continued, his to-the-point nature surfacing. “I was told you had important information.”

“Would you like some tea?” My mother asked as she walked up behind him.

“You know it’s impossible for me to say no to good tea, Lilinia.”

He guided his horse to the side of the building as the other men unloaded a dresser and a bookshelf before they left with a nod in our direction, but no words. I’d take a closer look at those later. First, we’d convene with the mayor regarding the most recent events, and hopefully, reach some kind of solution.