I scratched my head. “I have a plan, but I’m not sure how long it will take and if it’s worth putting in that much work. As much as I’d like to stay here, we might have to leave anytime.”

“I doubt there is much Vyath has figured out in the little time we haven’t seen him if that’s what you’re referring to,” Cellestra said. “Besides, I heard there is a beginner dungeon somewhere in the forest. I’d be interested to check that out with you if you want.”

“You’re right,” I said. “Okay, let’s start building.”

Cellestra watched as I connected the four trees with thick lines of silk, creating a square about a foot off the ground. I then connected the corners to create an X to add some more integrity to the ‘floor’ of my new… nest.

It didn’t look like it was going to rain anytime soon so I would start to just get the foundations done properly and then see how much energy I had left for anything else. Sleeping on the ground, while doable, made my legs feel oddly restless. I imagined a soft, somewhat elastic floor would do wonders in that regard.

Besides, I knew it would be a lot more comfortable for Cellestra, too. She’d been sleeping, sitting on the cold hard ground for days.

Then came the task of changing the basic web into an actual surface. I created an immense number of threads to transform it into just that. I started with a good layer of sticky threads which I then covered with a thick layer of soft, non-sticky threads. This way, the whole would have better structural integrity. That’s what I thought, at least. The entire process took about two hours due to the sheer amount of silk necessary.

At the end of it, I was left tired and drained. Cellestra watched me as I distanced myself from the foundation of our new shelter. I barely managed to contain a yawn.

“A lot of work for sure,” Cellestra said softly. “Are you okay?”

“Tired, but I’m okay. Unfortunately, this was the easy part.”

“Easy?”

“I planned to make the roof somewhat like a dome to better deal with rain.“

The brunette looked up to where the roof would eventually be. “I think I see what you mean. In any case, it’s still light outside, I suggest you get a couple of hours of full sleep. You look like you could use it.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I certainly could. Do you mind checking if this net is sticky? I think I’ve covered it well enough but I don’t seem to stick to my own threads no matter what I do.

“Sure.”

Cellestra touched the top layers, before stepping on the web and walking around without getting stuck. “Seems fine to me,” She said.

I nodded and skittered on top of it, laying myself down as I finally allowed myself to yawn.

“Go to sleep,” Cellestra said again with a smile. “You’ve had a hell of a day. I’ll wake you up when I want to sleep so you can do your half-sleep thing then.”

“Thank you,” I let out as I laid my elven half down on my back and looked at the sky above. “One hell of a day indeed.” I closed my eyes but still saw the brunette sitting down at my side. “I’m so happy all is well.”

“As am I. Your worrying wasn’t pleasant to look at.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“No need to be sorry.” Cellestra patted my side. “I just hope you won’t have to go through that again. I know there’s little you can do about it, but it just hurts me to see you like that.”

“Thank you, Cellestra,” I said softly as I reached over and touched the top of her head. “Do wake me up whenever you feel like. Good night.”

She nodded and wished me good night as well. I then let my body relax and allowed the exhaustion to drift me off.

I woke up to soft taps on my spider head.

“Kealyna? You awake?”

I nodded with my pedipalps as my spider half woke up. I tried to not disturb my other half as there was no point in waking that up.

It was already completely dark around us, which made me wonder just how late it was. It didn’t matter too much, but I hoped that the brunette hadn’t waited too long. She needed her own sleep as well, after all.

“I’ll go to sleep now, okay?” She said softly.

I nodded with my front two limbs again, causing her to giggle a bit as she sat back down at my side, her head burying itself in my soft, albeit dirty hair. It brought me back to how I wanted to shower in the morning, but I started to reconsider that. After a while of thinking, and Cellestra falling asleep during that, I concluded that my mind would not allow me to do such a thing when there were more pressing matters to attend to. I wanted to visit the guild and check for a weaponsmith who had the expertise to transform this chunk of starmetal into an actual weapon.

After that, I reckoned there was some time to look into our shelter and a shower before we were off to my parents. A promise I made would always be kept. I’d make sure of that.

Boring hours passed us by. Relief, but also excitement started building as soon as the first rays of light broke through the trees. Today was the day I hoped to move on from being a knight to an adventurer. It didn’t mean I’d leave my values behind, it was just a new chapter, hopefully, a better one of my life.

Cellestra woke up about an hour later with a yawn that was loud enough to wake up my upper half. The funny incident was a great start to my day. Not much later, we were having a quick breakfast and I told her about my ideas for the day.

“It sounds good to me, but there is one thing that I want to mention,” She said.

“Which is?”

“Can we leave this web here like this? Won’t people try to destroy it when they run into it? I mean, we’re not that far out. People will find this.”

“What do you want to do?” I said sarcastically. “Put up a note? Giant spider lady lives here, please do not destroy.”

Cellestra giggled. “Well, we could?”

“You have something to write with you?”

“Paper and charcoal. Always have it with me,” Cellestra said with a smile.

I smiled back at her. “Then sure, go for it.”

The elf reached for her backpack and pulled out a few pieces of paper on which she, to my amusement, wrote exactly what I just said. After that, she handed the notes to me and I put them up at the sides of the web and stuck them to it with a bit of sticky silk.

As I finished the last note, Cellestra handed me a small bread bun. “I figured you might want one of these,” She said. “Your mother made them, after all.”

I nodded and eagerly accepted the bun. For some reason, I found myself somewhat hungry for the first time in a long while. I wondered if building the base of my new nest had anything to do with it. If that was the case, I would probably need something bigger than some bread soon.

We then headed out to the city. Enough time should have passed for people to have been made aware of my presence, so I didn’t foresee any issues there. I shook my head just thinking about it.

“Hey, Cellestra?”

“Hm?”

“Do you think people have speculated about how I look?”

“For sure. I bet you big, white, perhaps even fluffy were among them.”

“Hmm, the fluffy part seems a bit more unlikely considering not many have been close enough to feel or even see that. Do you think I should stop hiding that pattern on my abdomen?”

“You could, but where else do you want to put those pelts? Leaving them in the forest is a sure way to get them stolen.”

“That’s true.” I looked at the blade of my halberd, close to my hand. “Say, where do you want to go first?”

“You mean between the dungeon exploration guild or the weaponsmith?”

I nodded.

Cellestra chuckled. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you looking at your weapon. Let’s get that done first. I reckon it’s not a matter of finished-while-you-wait.”

“I doubt it is. Say, didn’t you want an amulet made as well? Any specific purpose?”

The purple-eyes elf shook her head. “Not really no. I just… I have this gemstone that Rose left me. I thought it would be a nice idea to embed it in an amulet, you know, so she’s always close to me.”

I nodded slowly. “That’s a beautiful thought. I’m sure she would appreciate that.”

She looked down into my rear eyes with a certain sadness in her eyes but a small smile on her face. “Yeah. I’m sure she would.”