I kept watching Cellestra as the cold flames died down in the bowl I was still holding. I’d never seen this part of the ritual, but there wasn’t much to it. The brunette was asleep and the priest tossed the bag in the bowl, and I placed it down onto the grass.

“The goddess has accepted her audience request,” The man in green said calmly as he looked at the sleeping Cellestra.

“What is it like talking to a goddess?” Elira asked, peeking from my side.

My parents both looked at me, awaiting my answer.

“Uh,” I let out, thinking about how I could bring this in a fancy way, before shaking my head in resignation. “It’s surprisingly disappointing. I appeared in a sober stone room with just Elysa sitting behind a desk. The depictions of her are incredibly accurate, and she acts and talks just like any other elf. In a way, it doesn’t feel special at all if you don’t think about it too much.”

“I wonder if I can see her someday,” The girl continued. “I’d like to see her for myself!”

The priest chuckled and smiled warmly at her.

“What does it generally take to be able to talk to a deity?” I asked, curious if there was a definitive answer.

“Oof,” The priest said with a sigh. “That’s a hard question. There are many things that can earn their favor. However, following the goddess’s teachings, honoring her, or performing heroic deeds will generally make them look upon you with admiration. One can, of course, always request an audience, and hope the gods see something in the mortals’ souls that sparks their curiosity. Many such requests go unanswered though.”

“What do Nilene’s teachings look like?” I asked. “I apologize if I sound ignorant, but I hadn’t heard of her before.”

“That’s okay. One cannot know everything, of course,” He said, making me feel more at ease as I continued watching Cellestra. I wondered just how differently time flowed in the goddesses’ realms. It felt like it was mere minutes, and on the low end of that, whenever I stood before Elysa.

“Nilene, as you may have heard, is the goddess of the harvest and the friend of farmers. Those who take good care and love their crops and their purpose, will have a much higher chance of being allowed to talk to her.”

“I see. Thank you.” I turned to my parents. “I think you may have a good chance of meeting her then.”

“One can hope,” My father said with a smile. “I wouldn’t even know what to say.”

“That's how I felt the first time too, but you’ll have the advantage of being able to think about it long before it even comes down to that.”

“I suppose that’s right.”

I noticed that the smile that was once on Cellestra’s face was now gone.

I hope she’s alright in there.

We watched and waited in silence for a few minutes when she stirred and groaned, experiencing the same dizziness that I experienced a few times so far. I helped her overcome it by casting healing light on her.

“Thanks,” She whispered as she tried to sit up.

“Just stay down for a bit if you need it,” I said.

“I’m alright. No worries.”

“I hope you found the answers you were looking for,” The priest said to her, receiving a nod, before taking a slight bow and walking off, bowl in hands.

It seemed she did get some answers, but I doubted they were the ones she was looking for judging from the concerned expression on her face. She looked up at me with the same worry and I felt my mood sour at the sight.

“That… doesn’t look good,” I said softly.

The brunette shook her head.

“I think it would be better to leave you two alone for a bit,” My mother suggested. “We’ll be off to the city. Feel free to stop by for dinner.”

“Thanks, mom. We’ll be there later today.”

She extended a hand towards Elira, who looked at Cellestra before taking it, her smile and cheerful attitude gone in an instant.

“Take care,” My dad said in support. “You’ll be fine.”

Cellestra nodded as my parents took Elira by the hand and left, the little girl waving back with the other as she turned her head one last time.

“How bad is it?” I asked as I helped Cellestra stand up.

“I don’t know,” She whispered. “It’s not so bad yet, but I’m sure it’s not something you want to hear right now with everything else going on as well.”

“Let’s go home. You can tell me on the way if you’d like.”

“Yeah,” She said with a nod, making her way over to climb on my back.

We left the shrine behind and started making our way through the forest, Cellestra anxiously looking around as we went.

“So,” I started once we were a few minutes into our trip. “What’s the bad news?”

“Elysa told Nilene that she has seen the first movements of what looked like followers of Hograd. She cannot attribute it to you yet, but she wanted to inform you that certain followers have started grouping with others, far away, but still.”

“Well, she knows that Hograd apparently has some kind of issue with me so it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if this was about that.” I sighed deeply. “We better assume it is, I suppose.”

I rubbed my forehead and eyes, thinking about the implications of this.

“Any word on where?” I asked.

Cellestra shook her head. “Not even close to the province. There’s no reason for any immediate worry.”

“But it’s something we need to keep in the back of our minds… as if there wasn’t enough there.”

I shook my head violently, forcing the thoughts to go away.

“Whatever,” I said. “Not gonna get lost in self-pity again. We’ll deal with whatever comes our way. Screw Hograd, and screw whoever would follow such a cruel entity.” I almost managed to spit at the ground at the mention of his name but managed to stop myself.

“So,” Cellestra continued after nodding. “What did Elysa say?”

“The spell I acquired is safe. That’s the good news. As for the bad news…” I trailed off and paused. “Actually, having more information isn’t a bad thing, is it? According to the goddess, the being that is banished by the obelisks is located deep underground in the center of the three obelisks.”

“That’s surprisingly useful knowledge.”

“That’s what I thought. She also gave me something else.”

“A warning?”

“Hah, no,” I chuckled. “A new skill, and I think I have an idea what she wants me to use it for.”

“What does it do?” Cellestra asked, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.

“It increases the effect of beneficial spells cast on me.”

“That’s amazing. Now you’ll have to spend way less time healing yourself.”

Her answer surprised me. I mean, she was right and I’d come to the same conclusion, but there was something else. I crossed my arms and turned my head to look at her, a smug smile on my face, hoping she’d get the clue.

“What? Am I wrong?”

I raised my eyebrows in response, and she seemed to rethink her answer.

“Wait,” She said as I saw it dawn on her. “All beneficial spells?” She asked slowly.

My response came with a nod and a sly smile. She’d figured it out.

“So my spell too, then.”

I nodded again.

“Does that mean it’s going to be easier for me to learn your spells? That would be amazing.”

“I haven’t tried it yet, but I just know that that’s exactly the reason behind this spell.”

“When?” Cellestra asked with a single word, happiness radiating from her face at the prospect of having a much easier time learning my healing spell.

“We will definitely do some later. I was thinking to work on the trees surrounding our home first. Do you think we’ll need to make a sign as a more permanent solution to those papers you made earlier?”

“That’s a pretty nice idea. I figure that in addition to the change you’re going to make that will make the place look like it’s occupied by intelligent creatures, a nameplate will make it feel even more like a house.”

“Did you bring any tools to inscribe wood or something?”

“Nope, but I don’t think it’s going to be hard to find some,” She smiled after that. “And I think I’ll keep myself busy with that aspect while you do the more… heavy labor.”

“Fair enough,” I said as we reached the nest, and I halted to check the trees that surrounded it, my halberd in hand, ready to cut the trees in half. If anything, this might be an even bigger durability test for my weapon than the dungeon.

“Well,” I let out. “Let’s see how much we can get done.”