When we approached the farmhouse, I could see my father sweeping the walls with a broom. Elira was playing with Shadow, and my mother was nowhere to be seen, leaving me to believe she was preparing dinner. It wasn’t that late yet, but the chunk of meat we’d given them was enough for days, so it would probably need some time to get prepared.

It didn’t take long for the little elf to notice me. I grinned as she came running towards me, almost tripping. Sometimes I wondered where that supposedly shy girl was that my parents had made her out to be.

“Sis!” She said as she approached.

My father turned his head, noticed me, smiled, and waved before going back to work.

“Hey there,” I said, patting Elira’s head as she came to a halt before me, looking at my healed eye before looking up. “How are you?”

“I’m okay. You?”

“I’m alright. Is mom making dinner?”

“Yeah. She is making something special, she said.”

I smiled. “I know.”

Shadow slowly approached me and jumped on my back, in front of Cellestra, who was more than happy to pet the feline. I lifted the girl before me with my pedipalps and arms and scuttled to my father where I placed her on the ground again.

Keelarin was using some kind of soap solution to clean the brick walls. He was about to dip his broom in a wooden bucket when he addressed me.

“Hey, Kealyna. How’s it going?”

“Pretty good. Today’s a bit of a slow day for us, but it’s given us some time to sort some things out. Our shelter is coming along nicely.”

“Good to hear. I suppose you could say the same for ours.”

I chuckled. “No working the fields today?“

“We have a few days off and some maintenance was needed, so I figured we might just do it now.”

“A few days off, you say. This doesn’t look like you’re having a day off to me at all.”

“It’s okay,” He said. “I wanted to get this done today as it’s the last day of school for Elira for the week. Tomorrow, we want to go and see Soranir before going to Elysa’s shrine together. After that, we’ll do some shopping.”

“Don’t you have any fun activities around here you could do?” I asked. I understood all these things needed to be done, but I truly wished them some enjoyment and relaxation.

“We don’t have much choice in the matter,” He replied, his voice serious.

“I understand,” I replied.

It was sad, but this wasn't their own house and farm anymore. They had others to answer to. I hoped that my parents would eventually realize their goal of having their own plot of land and residence.

“If it’s okay,” I said softly. “I’d like to join you at Elysa’s shrine. I’d like to express my thanks as well.”

“You’re always welcome to join us,” He said as he continued scrubbing. “I’m sure we all have a lot to be thankful for.”

I nodded. “For sure.”

“Sis?” Elira asked. “Can we go for a ride?”

It was a welcome distraction from the serious talk. “Sure,” I said. “Cellestra, you want to join?”

The brunette giggled with her eyes closed. “Sure, why not?”

She lifted Shadow up and moved him forward so that I could place Elira in between.

“You girls have fun,” My father commented as he continued. I could tell he was grateful to have me there and spend time with Elira and I was more than happy to do so.

I spent the next fifteen minutes running around the fields with the two elves on my back. Elira’s eyes and smile were just beautiful to see, almost as beautiful as Cellestra’s. I got distracted by my thoughts during our run. I was wondering about what my parents would think of me and Cellestra having feelings for each other. Were they able to notice it?

Fortunately, I had two minds to separate my thoughts. Otherwise, I was sure I would have tripped over my own legs at some point when galloping.

When we reached the gravel again, my father seemed to finish up what he was doing and waved at us before going inside with the bucket.

“That was fun!” Elira said cheerfully. “Thank you!”

“Glad you had fun,” I said, lowering myself so both passengers could step off. “Say, Elira, what magic do you like most?”

“Uhhh,” She thought aloud, a finger on her lips. “Fire magic is pretty cool, but… hmmm,” She thought for several more seconds. “Have you ever seen arcane magic? It’s so cool and sparkly. I love purple! It’s my favorite color!”

“I have, yes,” I said as I recalled several instances where we had arcane wizards support us in battle. Arcane magic was incredibly destructive, more so than fire, and it required immense amounts of mana and control over magic to cast, making it one of the lesser-used types of magic in typical scenarios.

I’d obviously asked the question to find out what kind of spell scroll to get her, but I feared arcane spells weren’t going to be suitable. Fire would be much easier, but I didn’t know how much mana she could channel.

We’d have to get something extremely basic.

“What about you?” She asked. “What magic do you like most?”

“Defense,” I answered with a single word. “I’ve got multiple defensive spells, and I’m extremely happy with them.”

Elira pouted. “You know what I mean!”

I giggled. Of course, she wanted to know about offensive magic, I knew that, but there were so many other types.

“Hmmm, I think I like lightning most. It’s kind of funny that I have a spell called spider lightning.”

“Spider lightning?” Elira asked, cocking her head. “What does it do?”

“It creates a chain of lightning to a target and then arcs from them to nearby enemies. It keeps on going, looking for more targets until I cancel the channel. The more enemies I hit, the more damage it does. I wiped out thousands of insects with it once in a flash of light that was even more intense than lightning during a thunderstorm.”

“Woah!” The little girl said in astonishment. “That sounds awesome! Can you teach me?”

I shook my head as my smile disappeared. “I am afraid I can’t teach you how it works. These spells are a blessing from Elysa and I just know how they work. I can’t explain how to do any of it.”

“Awww.”

“I’m sorry,” I said softly, patting her head.

“Hey, Kealyna, Cellestra,” My mother said as she walked out the door with a stack of plates. “How are you doing?”

The brunette nodded as did I. “Doing well,” I said. “Bit tired, but doing great otherwise.”

“How about your eye?”

“Healed for the most part. I told you not to worry about it.”

“I’m happy to hear that. I heard you’ll join us tomorrow at the shrine?”

“Yeah. I wanted to properly thank the priests and Elysa as well.”

“And I should thank you for tonight’s dinner,” She said as she put the plates down. “Would you like some as well?” I noticed she had five plates so her question made me grin. “Sure, but just a bit. I’ve already eaten plenty.”

“I know. I just figured you’d want a taste.”

I nodded. “I’m very curious how it’s like when it’s cooked. Though, I have to admit, being able to eat it raw… the flavor is so different, but not in a bad way.”

“I guess being half spider has its advantages,” She said surprisingly casually.

“It does for sure.”

A few minutes later, we were seated and eating. Steak with roasted vegetables was an excellent combination, and far better than the rations we’d eaten on the road. Everyone seemed to be impressed by the quality of meat, which led me to make the promise to get it more often. It wasn’t like it would take me much extra effort to get them some when I had to go and find food for myself. An extra benefit was that it would allow my parents to save just a bit more coin, which was always welcome.

After dinner, Cellestra and I stayed a bit to play with the cats and Elira before we said our goodbyes for the day. My father would try to speak with Soranir tomorrow to try and arrange talks and Cellestra and I would head to the city for business and the trial. I hoped we could get a hold of Selleron to ask him when he had time to finish that.

Once I was in my half-finished nest, I collapsed in it and tried to relax, putting things in order in my head. Evening was slowly falling, but I didn’t think I should stay up much longer. I wasn’t planning on fully falling asleep so I’d need all the time I could get.

“Thinking again?” Cellestra asked as she lay down in front of me.

“Yeah.”

“Is it bad?”

“Not really. I’m just thinking how Soranir will react to all this.”

“Hard to say… but I wouldn’t worry too much,” She said. “He looks like a good person to me. I’m sure he’ll help out.”

“I hope there is something he can do. I guess we’ll find out.”

“Yeah,” The brunette said, smiling as she looked into my large red eyes. “Don’t worry about it.”