Their last torch soon went out, dropping them into utter darkness. There was no sound from beyond the split in the cliff, but Glenn knew the Moss Beast was still out there. He would have heard it move away. The beasts were difficult to spot before they moved, but when they did, they moved loud.

As hot as his blood might be right now, and with no relief in sight, he wasn’t entirely upset Levos had stopped them. It wasn’t just that he’d wanted his first time with Becka to be in a softly-lit room in a warm bed, one he’d rented for them both. It was because getting naked and eagerly boning in front of an aggressive Monster would bring a whole new level of risk.

Though he suspected, knowing Becka, the risk was part of the reason she found the idea so hot.

They sat in silence for a bit, with Glenn’s back pressed against the cliff and Becka’s back pressed against his front, his arms around her. Becka was so still, and her breathing so even, that he suspected she’d fallen asleep. Yet soon she gently pulled at his hands.

Glenn unwrapped his arms and heard rather than saw her turn to face him front to front, kneeling close. There wasn’t even enough light in these woods to make out her outline. Yet he would recognize the smell of her hair and the warmth of her closeness with his eyes closed.

“How are we getting out of here?” Becka whispered.

Should they whisper? It wasn’t like Moss Beasts understood human language, or ... did they? The beast had seemed pretty annoyed after Becka called it a rancid cabbage.

Glenn decided to trust her instincts. “You didn’t have a plan for escape?”

“Don’t be difficult,” Becka said crossly. “It’s not like I had a lot of time to plan with that thing and its horde of minions literally stomping on my heels. First goal was finding somewhere not to die. Getting out comes after that. It’s after now, so ... help?”

Despite the danger, Glenn couldn’t resist teasing her a little. “How is this my responsibility? You’re the one who got us in here.”

Becka huffed. “And I in no way implied you should join me!”

Glenn almost laughed, but as he considered, again, just how close she’d come to dying, it didn’t seem so funny anymore. He’d been so thrilled by their success in saving Azalea that he’d let the peril of their situation slip away from him. They were still in grave danger themselves.

“Is there any rush?” Glenn whispered.

Becka thumped his chest. “Be serious. Levos made his disapproval quite clear.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Glenn whispered back patiently. “Do we even need to move before daylight? It’s black as pitch out there, we have no potions or torches, and the only weapon we have is your dagger. If that Moss Beast could reach us in here, it would have already, and it’s now completely blocking the split. That means nothing else can get at us while we’re in here, either.”

A slight intake of breath suggested Becka had opened her mouth to argue. Finally, she huffed. “Are you still thinking about boning me?”

“Only every moment of every day.”

“Then you’re much better at thinking clearly, while thirsty, than I am,” she admitted. “You’re right. Even if we got out of this hole, traipsing off into the woods in total dark would likely just get us eaten by a Gloamwolf.”

“It’d take more than a Gloamwolf.”

“Fine. Two Gloamwolves.”

“Four.”

She cuddled up against his chest once more. “Close, please.”

He contentedly wrapped his arms around her waist once more.

“We can’t sleep,” she murmured into his chest. “What if the beast is waiting for that? It could send a bunch of Grass Sprites in to stamp on our necks in our sleep.”

“I’ll keep an ear out,” Glenn promised. “You sleep. You just survived losing almost your entire Health Bar and a poison I’ve never seen sprites use before. You need rest a lot more than me.”

“You’ll doze off,” Becka murmured. Yet she was already slumping in his arms.

“I’ll be fine,” Glenn assured her. “I’d never let anything in this world hurt you.”

She kissed his chest before snuggling deep into his arms. “I almost believe you.” Yet then she stirred again, and he sensed her staring up at him. “You can’t take watch the entire night. Wake me in a few hours so we can trade off. Promise you’ll wake me, Glenn.”

He really didn’t want to promise that, but Becka wasn’t just a woman he adored. She was also his Adventuring partner, and he’d never survive as an Adventurer if he didn’t trust his Party members to carry their weight. “I promise.”

Becka was already breathing softly, warm in his arms. All in all, this night risking forever death in the Deepscorn Woods could have ended much, much worse. Soon there was no sound but Becka’s quiet breathing and the gentle whisper of wind through the trees.

Glenn couldn’t see no matter how deeply his eyes adjusted, so he focused on his ears instead. Leaves rustled and the odd insect occasionally chirped, but he was fairly confident none of that was the sound of sticks scraping on rock as the Moss Beast wriggled through the split in the cliff. He was growing more and more confident the beast couldn’t reach them at all.

He’d memorized every entry in Card’s Manual of Monsters, at least the abridged copy in Wolfpine, and Moss Beasts were said to be both dense and thick. They couldn’t compress their bodies like a Tooth Worm, and they certainly couldn’t get in anywhere like a Slime. Just like him and the [Traveler’s Pack], the big beast’s bulk limited where it could go.

Still, he wouldn’t sleep. Not until Becka took over the watch. So Glenn listened to the forest instead, keeping his mind stimulated by focusing on the sounds.

A tree branch creaked. From which direction? An insect chirped. Could he identify it by sound alone? A Gloamwolf howled ... how far away?

Glenn’s best efforts only delayed the inevitable. He’d gotten up before dawn today. He felt his eyelids growing heavy more than once, but every time he worried he might nod off, he angrily shook his head or gave himself a good hard slap. It also helped, in some sense, that Becka slept so soundly.

She might remain warm and quite soft, but she’d also pinned him in a slightly uncomfortable position against the rock. He was starting to get an annoying tinge in his thigh from her weight. He could move her, of course, and disturb her slumber ... but what kind of a monster would do that?

Still, it wasn’t long before he realized he was losing the battle with sleep. How much further could he push himself? How long had he sat in this donut hole with Becka wrapped up in his arms?

Not long enough. She wasn’t ready to take watch just yet. He gently removed Becka from his chest. He settled her to the rocky earth while eliciting nothing more than a tiny murmur, then stood.

Gods, his body ached even worse now. Before he’d shifted Becka off him and stood, her soft warmth had kept the pain at bay. Yet Glenn was now quite aware of how badly he’d pushed himself tonight, as well as the battering he’d taken. His forearm, and the tear the Grass Sprite had gnawed down it while he stared down the Moss Beast, ached. He hurt in places he didn’t know he could hurt.

He briefly opened his Health Bar. More than half of it was charred black. Still, he could move and fight, and he would recover Health Points gradually as the night wore on.

He had a bit of space to walk around in here. Standing would make it easier to fight against sleep. He breathed deeply and took a few quiet steps, pleased his [Hiking Boots] remained as quiet as ever against the rock. These were very good boots. His mother had purchased them for him.

Yet he couldn’t move more than a step or two in any direction, not without running into a wall, a Moss Beast, or Becka, so he decided to focus on body exercises instead. Anything to keep his heart pumping and his muscles awake. He fell into a well-practiced routine of quiet but rigorous shadow-boxing, followed by stretching, followed by a few squats. It pushed back some exhaustion.

He was still tiring. This wasn’t working. He’d already pushed himself quite far, so he’d keep at it until he absolutely couldn’t anymore. It was only when the sensation of falling jerked him awake in time to catch himself on a knee that he realized he had, quite literally, fallen asleep on his feet.

A bad sign. He wanted to let Becka sleep another hour, but that simply wasn’t safe. Not if they wanted to survive the night. Giving up felt like he was letting her down, but he’d promised.

He’d agreed to wake her for the watch once he couldn’t stay awake any longer. Becka knew her limits just like he knew his. He had to trust her like she trusted him.

He padded back to where Becka slept, knelt at her side, and reached out to touch her shoulder in utter darkness. He gripped it firmly, yet he didn’t remember her shoulder feeling quite so soft. As he moved to shake her gently, her shoulder felt more like a pillow. It was also … bigger?

Thunder crackled as divine force manifested. Something invisible ripped his hand of Becka’s body and slammed him into the cliffs. As he gasped for breath, his whole arm tingled.

“My my,” Becka whispered from the darkness. “He’s more powerful than Levos.”

Glenn only belatedly realized what part of Becka’s body he had actually grabbed. “Oh Gods, I’m sorry!”

Becka chortled as cloth rustled against rock, a sound that suggested she was sitting up. “A bit clumsier than I’d like for our first time, but I appreciated the vigor.”

“It was an accident!” Glenn protested.

Becka giggled. “I wish I could see your face. It must be crimson.”

“I’d be much gentler if I’d intended it!”

“Gods, I hope not,” Becka said huskily. Shoes brushed rock. “Why’d you stop?”

“Levos made me!” Glenn all but shouted. “Didn’t you see me fly?” Glenn only then realized she hadn’t seen Levos toss him into the cliff, given it was completely dark.

“Did He, now? Not in time.” Rocks scuffed as Becka crept closer. “I hope you enjoyed your first handful. There’s more in your future. And now, you’re obviously more in need of sleep than me, so cuddle with those rocks and let me listen for threats.”

Glenn breathed. He’d had absolutely no intention of grabbing Becka’s breast, but he was absurdly tired. He was very careful of where he moved his hands as he felt his way past her to the edge of the donut hole. He settled down with his back pressed against the rock.

“So lecherous,” Becka teased from the darkness. “I should report this to the church.”

“Please don’t,” Glenn said. “And I am sorry. I’d never do that unless you said it was okay.”

She said nothing for a moment. “I did say it was okay, you big goof. But I appreciate the sentiment.”

“Good,” he agreed.

“Now sleep, you thirsty monster.”

She really wasn’t going to stop teasing him about this. He couldn’t really complain. His eyes slipped closed before he could think up a suitable reply.

====

The Church of Celes stands above even the town mayors and advises both the Queen and province government. Primarily composed of Lifecasters and their Evolved Classes, Spiritualists and Shamanists, the church guides all in devotion to the Gods and provides counsel to those having difficulty understanding Their decisions. The Church of Celes administrates both matters of the heart and matters of family, officiating marriages, approving requests for children, and formalizing adoptions.

At least one Chapel of Celes exists in all settlements in Balarel, even towns in starter zones, and in bigger cities, multiple chapels may exist. Each chapel contains a Shrine of Celes, the only place in all of Balarel where Adventurers and Townsfolk can reSlot Skills and Blessings. The Chapel of Celes is also where those newly of trial age complete the Ceremony of the Path and learn if the Gods have chosen them as Adventurers or Townsfolk.