I kept my eyes fixated on the defensive marvel of engineering before me, all six, or even eight, that could see in front of me. It wasn’t hard to believe that none had dared to attack this yet. It started to become clear to me why Elysa had placed my parents in this province. Threats from outside were non-existent. Besides that, it seemed the rulers of this place had the best intentions for their people, something which some people could only dream of.

Perhaps I had been too doubtful of the goddess. My faith in her had been shaken when I heard about this province bordering hostile demons, but it seems my doubt was entirely unwarranted.

I noticed some activity on the walls, but not much. Then again, there wasn’t anything going on that needed more personnel to be present. I doubted I counted.

We soon arrived at one of the massive gates. Only one heavily-armored guard was positioned at it and he seemed to be only there to relay orders as he shouted for the gate to be opened when we neared.

Of course, there was the wary look directed at me, but it seemed that I was going to have safe passage into Len Asari thanks to Vyath and Gwyn nonetheless. Once the portcullis was raised, Gwyn’s ‘pet’ took to the sky and landed on the wall while we walked through.

The wall was even more impressive to me after we had to walk through it. It was at least ten yards thick and there was another portcullis at the end of the tunnel that we had to walk through. I shook my head as I knew that no ordinary siege equipment would ever be able to even put a dent in this astounding display of power.

“Okay,” Vyath spoke as we almost exited the wall. “Gwyn and I will report our findings to the commander. I’m going to have to ask you to wait in the courtyard as I’m sure he will have some questions for you as well. I trust you mean no harm, but he decides who gets to enter the province. I don’t foresee any issues as long as you remain honest. After that is all said and done, I’ll get you one of the tokens if you’d like.”

“Sounds good to me,” I replied. I then turned my head to Cellestra who simply nodded.

When we exited the wall tunnel we walked into a large courtyard with several buildings at the side, integrated into the wall. Our first stop seemed to be a stable to the left as the succubus and elf dismounted their horses and led them inside a large doorway. When I peeked inside, I was proven right as I saw several horses in rows, some turning their heads to me.

I quickly walked away from the entrance as I didn’t want to startle them, although they seemed to be trained well enough to not panic if my experience with Gwyn and Vyath’s mounts was anything to go by.

I’d ignored the soldiers who were using the courtyard as training grounds but it became impossible to do so as most of them had stopped sparring to look at me. I tried to dodge their gazes and instead focus on the layout of this place while Gwyn and Vyath lead the way.

The courtyard in which we found ourselves was immense, with plenty of space for duels, and I could see target dummies for archers in a separate field next to this one. To the right of where we entered were two stone buildings, one large, and one smaller one. We were headed towards the smaller one, which was further out. I assumed that was the barracks.

That building was sizable, too, but I guessed that was to be expected if it had to support the hundred or so armored soldiers that were out and about.

All the stares made me nervous, but I knew that everyone here was disciplined enough to not attempt a random attack. Not only that, but no words were spoken and no slurs were yelled. It was just that, stares. Upon closer look, I noticed that most of them were simply out of curiosity, not of disgust, or even anger.

“I suck at being the center of attention,” I whispered so that only Cellestra would be able to hear me.

“Not just you,” She replied.

She was right. Seeing something that resembled a half-elf, half-spider for the first time was already novel in itself, but to see an elf riding it, added even more to it.

We came to a brief halt before the smaller building.

“You don’t mind waiting outside, do you? I mean, I would invite you in, but…” Vyath said.

I chuckled as I saw exactly what he meant. It was an issue I’d experienced before, and I’d probably experience it a lot more in this new life. The door leading inside the building would in no way allow me to enter.

I nodded. “That’s fine.”

Vyath led the way into the building and Gwyn followed. I had to suppress a chuckle at the sight of her tail dancing behind her as she entered.

“It does look funny, doesn’t it?” Cellestra asked with a smile.

“It does. I would joke about how I’m happy I have no tail, but…”

“Butt indeed.” She grinned.

“Damn,” I said, grinning. “That’s a good one. I was going to say how I’m carrying something far heavier around than a tail, but I guess that works.”

I quickly skimmed over the people that seemed to go back to training one by one. “We’re lucky those wolf pelts are covering that pattern on my behind. I imagine those stares would have been even worse. How are you holding up, anyway?”

“I’m surprised no one has reacted to your eyes yet, and I guess I’m doing alright. I just don’t like being near this many people.”

“You think they didn’t notice? I highly doubt anyone would miss something as obvious as my eyes.”

The elf shrugged. “I guess that once you see something like you, they aren’t that surprised at small things such as that anymore.”

“Seems about right,” I said. “Also, I can feel your unease. I’d like to get going as soon as possible myself, but I can see why all this is necessary. In fact, I’m glad everything is as organized as it is.”

I turned my attention back to the door and the building into which the elf and succubus had disappeared. There were two glass windows, but they were too opaque to see anything. I could see some shadows move behind one, but that didn’t tell me much.

“Gods, I hate waiting,” I said in frustration. I was about to cross my arms, but instead, pulled up one of my legs in front of me and scratched an itch on one of my front legs.

“Well, that looks hilarious,” Cellestra said with a smile. “I’m surprised you’ve never done that before.”

“I’ll probably do it more often. I’ll have you know this feels pretty nice.”

“Want me to use a comb on it?” The elf smirked.

I ran my hand through the hair covering my legs. I imagined that it would feel great to have this combed as well. Besides, I noticed that some dirt and dust had discolored some of the white and turned it to grey, or even brown at certain points near the end.

“If you want to do that, I won’t stop you.”

Finally, it appeared that the talks inside were done when the door swung open and I quickly let go of my leg to greet the imposing figure that walked out. Gwyn and Vyath followed.

An elf with short black hair walked outside, wearing armor that was far too flashy for my tastes. Silver and golden linings, in addition to a couple of gemstones and emblems of stars, adorned his equipment. He eyed me up and down multiple times and his face was devoid of emotion which made me feel uneasy.

I was used to having higher-ups that often used this expression to intimidate, especially when meeting people for the first time, so I knew of this tactic. Still, with what I was right now, there was no guessing what he thought of me.

“Name?” He asked sharply.

“Kealyna,” I replied.

At least he got straight to the point. I appreciated that.

“Well, then, Kealyna. I have a few questions that need to be answered. Vyath already told me a thing or two, but I’d like to ask some more.”

I nodded.

I was surprised that he seemed to have no questions directed at Cellestra considering her strange eye color, but I could live with that.

“I’d like to know what you are and where you’re from.”

I glanced over to Gwyn and saw her focused on what I would say. I was trying to find out how to answer the elf’s question without lying but found it hard.

“I’m an Arachne. I come from a forest near a town called Arhil.”

The elf turned his head to Gwyn.

“Not entirely true, but not a lie,” The succubus answered.

Well… damn.