The priestess smiled. “Anything for Elysa’s chosen. I’ll have some priests arrange some food suitable for a journey.”

After those words, she walked off into the other room with what remained of the reagents inside the piece of fabric she’d folded. Cellestra finally managed to look at me after we were left alone.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “I could literally see the weight lift from your shoulders.”

The elf nodded. “I am, and it did. To hear it won’t kill me is just… I have no words.”

I saw a tear form in her eye again which she quickly wiped away once more.

“Don’t worry. I don’t intend to go anywhere until we’ve got rid of your problem.”

Cellestra nodded but remained silent. Little did she know that I didn’t intend to ever leave her, if I could help it…

In the meantime, the head priestess walked back into the main room of the temple and took position behind the altar once more.

“We will have an assortment of food arranged soon. Now, if you don’t mind, my curiosity is starting to get the better of me. Would you mind explaining what happened?”

“I’d rather not,” I said. “It’s a long story and I’d like to forget a lot of it. All I want to share is that Elysa saved me from a terrible fate.”

The priestess nodded in understanding, but I could see a hint of disappointment in her eyes. Maybe I could share the full story one day when all this was behind us. The problem was that I’d be quite far away.

Maybe I’d visit this temple again sometime. When and if we ever went back to Cellestra’s cabin in the woods, I’d definitely stop by.

A minute or so of silence passed before a priest walked out of the backroom. He held a large brown linen bag, one that rivaled Cellestra’s own backpack in size, and placed it on the altar before quickly walking off again.

“The best we have to offer,” The priestess said warmly. “Would you like to look at the goods?”

I shook my head. “That won’t be necessary. I’m sure we’d rather be on the way.”

“Alright then,” She continued as I took the bag with a pedipalp and placed it on my spider head, behind my elven torso, on top of the partially finished shirt. I would fix that later. “If that is all, then I wish you a safe journey. May Elysa light your path.”

I nodded and thanked her with a small bow. Cellestra did the same and we soon exited the temple. As we walked down the stairs I could see the roaring blue flames slowly turn back to their usual color and size. Once we were at the bottom, I turned to Cellestra who was still mostly speechless.

Uncertain about what to do, I took her in for a proper hug and lightly patted her back. “Are you okay?” I asked softly.

The elf didn’t reply. Rather, she placed her own hands on my back and hugged me back. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warmth that this gave me, even if the main reason was to comfort Cellestra.

“Come,” I said after a good while. “We still have a long way to go. We can talk about things on the way.”

The elf nodded and I let myself sink to the ground so she could easily step on again. After she’d placed herself on my back, I took out the silken shirt from under the bag and then summoned threads to fasten the brown bag properly. I then continued to circle the city.

“What did the goddess say? About your parents I mean. They are in Len Asari, in a place called Thymhil?”

I nodded. “The way I understand it, they were placed in this world before me. I do not know how much earlier. I know very little about the circumstances; it’s all speculation at this point, but I’m sure Elysa had her reasons for doing it that way.”

“But won’t they know this is a different world?”

“I would think so, but once again, speculation. It seems Elysa has placed somewhat of a curse on them that makes them not remember me. Apparently, this curse will be broken as soon as I meet them, which will cause memories to return. I do not know the extent of those memories. Maybe they don’t know they are in a different world right now, but they will when I show up? I have no idea.”

“She probably has something arranged.”

“What I do not get, however,” I said, completely ignoring Cellestra’s response. “Is why they were placed in a, in my opinion, dangerous place. I mean, hostile demons? That doesn’t sound safe to me at all.”

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“Was your old world safe?” Cellestra said, catching me completely off-guard.

“Well,” I started what I believed to be something that would be a good retort. I then realized I couldn’t finish that sentence. Nowhere in my old world was truly safe. I imagined my old life was a testament to that. “No,” I finally muttered quietly.

“I’m sorry for asking that...” Cellestra replied equally softly.

I shook my head. “No, you’re right. The priestess did mention they have a formidable military. Maybe that’s exactly why Elysa placed them there.”

Upon further consideration, things did make more sense. Still, it was nagging me, as always.

“And you don’t know if they are still there. That’s what I got from all that rambling you did earlier.”

I nodded. “I don’t know for certain. I would assume they would still be there, and if not, they couldn’t have gone far. Still, Thymhil would be the first place to look. I just hope the settlement will be… accepting of us.”

“The best we can hope for is a temple to Elysa,” Cellestra replied.

“That certainly seems to have quite the impact, as far as I could tell back there.”

“Issue is that I cannot stay in town for long. I’ll cause all kinds of trouble so I’d have to stay outside, preferably far away for the nights.”

“That’s fine,” I assured her. “We’ll find a way.”

“What were your parents anyway? You know, as in profession.”

“They were farmers. Tomato farmers to be more precise,” I said after a while as I had trouble recalling things from my early youth, both because the memories hurt, and that I seemed to have forgotten a few things.

“In that case, don’t you think it would make sense if they did the same? I mean, it would make sense to me.”

“Possibly,” I answered.

“If that’s true, we might not even have to enter the village. It might narrow down where we have to look at the same time.”

“I like your optimism,” I said with a sigh. “I hope you’re right.”

“I believe Elysa knows what she’s doing. If it’s any consolation, they’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” I said candidly.

We reached the road leading north and I took a moment to look at the horizon. The dirt road stretched as far as all my eyes could see in a straight line through cornfields with green pastures behind those.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll pick up the pace a bit. I heard the journey is long, so I’ll go as fast as I can without making things uncomfortable for you.”

“Go ahead,” Cellestra said, smiling for the first time since leaving the temple. “I doubt this will be uncomfortable for me. You’re much more comfortable than sitting in my chair at home, in case you were wondering.”

“I was not,” I said with a wide smile on my face. “But that’s still nice to hear.”

I started off with a fast walk and gradually increased my speed while paying attention to Cellestra as I did so. I found out I could easily run at the speed of a horse without causing the elf on my back any problems.

I passed the cornfields quickly, leaving many confused faces behind me as I ran away from the city. I doubted they even had the chance to register what had just passed. The whole situation made me chuckle slightly.

“Won’t you tire like this?” The elf asked after reaching the green pastures beyond the city’s outskirts.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I’ve run at nearly this speed before in the forest, and it didn’t tire me in the slightest. With the terrain more even here, I think it’s going to make things even better.”

“I do hope that things continue to go as smoothly. We have no idea what kind of terrain we’ll have to pass to get to Len Asari,” Cellestra noted.

“We’ll be fine,” I said confidently. “I’m certain we can deal with anything we may come across. I worry about many things, but I don’t recall that being one. I think reaching the province won’t be too much of an issue. The real issue comes after that. We’ll have to prove that we come in good faith and things like that.”

The elf smiled again. “I’m sure we’ll find a way.”