“Shame we didn’t get any apples,” I said while Cellestra handed me another handful of berries as I left the outer perimeter of the fields. “Not sure how long we can keep these strawberries fresh for.”

“Not long,” Cellestra said. “A day, maybe two.” She then chuckled. “But I don’t think we’ll see them spoil with the rate you’re eating them.”

I reacted to that with a chuckle of my own and a feigned apology. “Oops.”

“It’s fine, though,” The elf continued. “There is no way I’ll be able to eat all of these. Besides, nothing but strawberries isn’t the best diet.”

“I doubt nothing but dried meat would be any better,” I said.

“Good point.”

“Hopefully, it won’t take us too long to reach Thymhil. Once we’re there, we can look into a more balanced diet, possibly for both of us. I’m surprised I haven’t had to eat anything yet.”

“Told you, spiders are great,” Cellestra said, smiling.

“By the way, that soldier said Thymhil is a city. Elysa said she has a shrine there, but how does that compare to a temple? Do they have braziers as well?”

“Yup,” The elf said. “Shrines, temples, any religious building has at least one brazier. The problem, as far as I know, is that smaller settlements don’t usually have all the materials needed for the ritual.”

“If Thymhil is a city, I don’t think we should have any trouble with that.”

“Wouldn’t think so, no.”

“You know what?” I said, staring into the distance. “I’m looking forward to what is to come. I’m not talking about the mess with the obelisks, but rather, the city, Thymhil. I want to know what this dungeon exploration guild challenge is.”

“Do I sense excitement in your voice?” Cellestra asked.

I nodded. “You sure do. I am… excited. You know, when I was a spider, even though I mostly hated it, the challenges I faced… I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Gave a sense of fulfillment after overcoming them?” The elf suggested.

“That. That’s exactly what I mean. The last fights I had, they weren’t really a challenge… they didn’t give that same sense of fulfillment.” I sighed. “I need something that is actually a challenge, but I know it’s putting my life at risk. I mean, my life had been on the line several times in my old life, but I had nothing to lose then. I do now. Am I weird?”

The brunette shook her head. “Not at all. It’s your nature as far as I can see, and there is no changing one’s nature.”

“What a load of garbage,” I said, shaking my head with a smile. “You’ve changed my nature too much for me to agree to that.”

“Maybe you’ve always been like that, deep down.”

Her words struck me like lightning and silenced me. The more I thought about it, the more I had to give it to her that she had a point. I had never been in a position where I worried about the things I could worry about now. Likewise, I had never fallen in love before. I concluded that there was no way of knowing for sure if she had actually changed my nature, which meant she could be right, after all.

I shrugged with both shoulders and pedipalps. “I don’t know. I guess it’s hard to say. I know I don’t mind it.”

“Well, that’s all that matters,” Cellestra said. “I don’t want to change your nature, either. I think it’s something special.”

“Thanks…” I said softly, knowing she meant it in a positive way.

“If anything is weird here, it’s me looking forward to seeing you in action. Back there, with the sword thing? Even though I was on your back and close to the danger, watching that was… how do I say this? Awesome?”

I started laughing quietly. “I’m glad you enjoyed that. You do have your barrier active, right?”

Cellestra nodded. “Always. Your version of this barrier spell is just too useful to not have in effect permanently.”

“Those were my thoughts exactly.”

Our trip brought us through more pastures with all kinds of flowers in full bloom. I had to admit that this province so far seemed to be very much alive. I loved being able to see something as beautiful as these lands. We came across a few trees here and there and a small stream of water which I jumped across after warning Cellestra about it.

Even so with the peaceful scenery around us, there was still the darkness clawing at the back of my mind, which soured my mood, as much as I tried to not have it do that.

We noticed something that resembled a forest to the south, but since I wasn’t hungry, or in the mood for a detour, we ignored it. After that, it wasn’t long until the sun started to set.

“Don’t think we’ll reach that river today,” I said. “I was stupid enough to not ask for a timeframe… again.”

“You were too busy being awesome,” Cellestra said with a grin.

“I suppose that’s true. Oh well.” I collapsed in a bed of flowers and stretched my legs in and outward a few times as the brunette stepped off.

“Not that I mind,” The elf said. “I enjoy our travels together, more than I could have ever known. I feel stupid for doubting this at first.”

“Nothing wrong with that. It’s not every day that a gigantic spider offers you to show you the world.” I grinned at my own sentence.

“I doubt that has ever happened before in the first place,” She said while putting down her backpack and removing the pelts from my abdomen. “To anyone.”

“Good point.”

I created a flame to illuminate the surroundings as the world around us slowly fell into darkness. Without too many more words, I unpacked our cargo and Cellestra started her dinner when I came up with some questions regarding what we had talked about earlier.

“By the way, the dungeon exploration guild. If you’re going to be joining as well, I assume you’re going to have to prove what you can do. How will you go about that with your spells?”

“I was hoping to learn some more of your… offensive spells before that. I don’t want to use mine, especially if there are other people there.”

“I had something like that in mind. If you want, we can try some tomorrow.”

She shook her head. “I would much rather learn your healing spell first. From the sound of it, it would benefit you a lot if I learned it.”

“Problem is that I’m not sure if it will even work…” I said, doubt obvious in my voice.

“I’m sure it will work,” Cellestra said confidently. “If you can dispel my nightmares with it, I’m positive it can wipe away anything that ails you as well.”

“Thank you,” I let out. “After you get the hang of that, I promise we’ll work on some more interesting spells.”

“Being able to help you is probably the most interesting spell of all,” The elf immediately said.

I looked at her to see a genuine smile on her face, one that forced me to smile as well and had me resist walking up to her to hug her tight. I shook my head and decided to just say it out loud.

“You know how hard it is to not walk up and hug you right now?”

Cellestra started giggling. “You can hug me all you want when I’m asleep tonight. How does that sound?”

“Pretty good actually,” I replied. “Looking forward to it.”

She maintained her smile while eating dinner. She still had some strawberries in the basket but I imagined she was saving those for tomorrow.

The rest of the evening proceeded as usual, with Cellestra finishing dinner, taking care of business, and then settling down at my side while looking at the stars in the night sky. I also prepared for sleep as I lay down in the soft hair on my back.

“You know,” Cellestra started. “Sometimes, I wonder what is out there. Your appearance here told me there is at least another world, but what about the rest?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, have you ever wondered where fallen stars come from? Thanks to you, I know they are made from magical metals. Is there some god out there that melts them together and then slings them towards worlds?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe? Once again, I do not know if gods can directly interfere in worlds, but would that be considered directly?”

I paused for a second. “I don’t know how all this works and it makes me dizzy just thinking about it.”

“Maybe there are large deposits of it on the moon, who knows?” Cellestra suggested.

“I doubt that. It’s starmetal. The moon is not a fallen star.”

“True,” The elf said. “Imagine if we could see our own world from the moon. How crazy would that be?”

“Unfortunately for you, I cannot fly,” I said with a smile. “Else, I would go there with you, just to find out.”

“I bet it’s beautiful from above…” Cellestra whispered.

“I bet it is,” I replied, whispering as well.

I continued staring at the moon above us, wondering about Cellestra’s question. What would there be on the moon?

After a few minutes, I wished the elf goodnight, expecting one in return, but it didn’t come. Seconds after that, I heard soft snoring from my side and smiled as I allowed myself to fall asleep as well.

I adjusted the wolf pelt so that it covered her properly while I stared at the stars and moon with my spider eyes, wondering what exactly was out there.