My goodbyes with the beastmen only take a few minutes, then I groom and saddle Lizzy. In all the sun has only just cleared the horizon by the time I am mounted and Lizzy is running. It feels good to finally be heading back to Illium, but at the same time I am a little worried.

After all, I've been gone a little over three months, a month longer than planned. Not only are the girls going to be pissed at me but other things are sure to have been happening. While I want to find out how my plans are progressing I can't help worrying about what might have gone wrong.

To take my mind off it I stop Lizzy when I spot a tree on the horizon. I climb down and wait until she has caught her breath before suggesting a race. She seems excited so I set the distant tree as the goal and then count down from five.

When I hit zero I throw myself into the air recklessly and start flapping my wings as hard as I can. Lizzy is faster off the line but I soon catch up to her and for most of the race we are neck and neck. I am surprised that even flying as fast as I can, I barely have an edge over her.

When I reach the tree I am only about a foot ahead of Lizzy, but it doesn't feel like a win. I may have gotten to the tree faster, but I am huffing and puffing while Lizzy seems fine. It seems like she could run at that speed all day long, her endurance is insane.

Lizzy 'You made that hard on yourself. Why aren't you letting the wind help you?'

"Because I don't know how. I am totally new to all this."

Lizzy 'It's not about knowing how, just relax. The wind recognizes you and wants to help but you keep fighting it.'

"It's hard to relax when I am constantly scared I am going to fall."

Lizzy 'If you are scared then you need to keep flying until the fear fades.'

"Well, I can't argue that I need more practice."

Lizzy 'I would help if I could.'

"Actually, I have an idea."

A few minutes later Lizzy is cruising along with a rope tied to her saddle. At the other end of the rope is me, gliding along in the air behind her, letting her tow me. This way I can practice flying without exhausting myself, a few days of this should cure my fear.

There are other ways I could practice, but all of them would delay our arrival at Illium. This way I get practice without slowing us down any, Lizzy isn't bothered by it in the least. The only time there is an issue is when Lizzy makes a sudden change in direction to go after something.

Unfortunately, when she is after prey nothing else really matters, so she doesn't think about going around a tree. She just runs under the branches and then I end up crashing into the tree. Of course when she is done eating she comes back and apologizes to me.

Other than those few instances, everything turns out fine and by the time night falls we have it figured out. That night Lizzy shows off a new ability, instead of searching for shelter she just makes one. She digs into the ground and makes us a comfortable little cave in just a couple of minutes.

Watching her, it isn't so much digging as she is pushing the earth aside. Any doubts I had about her being able to absorb the earth temple orb vanish. Although, I am a little disappointed since this means I don't get to use the nifty tent Yui gave me.

Since she is handling the shelter I build a small fire and start making some food. She hunted several times during the day but I make enough for her to have some as well. After all, I know she likes cooked food, and Yui gave me plenty of food for the trip back.

After we eat we get some sleep and in the morning I once again find myself trapped. Lizzy is cuddling with one of my wings yet again, so I have to wake her up before I can move. She doesn't seem sorry at all so I guess I am just going to have to get used to it.

Hopefully, this is just something she likes, if all the girls have the same reaction to my wings it could be a problem. While I am cooking some breakfast Lizzy gets rid of our little cave, it is like she erases it. Once she is done it is impossible to tell that there was ever anything there.

Once we are done eating we resume our trek, with Lizzy running along and towing me behind her. Throughout the day we pass the occasional group of beastmen, but we don't stop. While I am tempted to stop and talk to them I do not think it would be wise to delay my return anymore.

Besides, I can just imagine how we must look to them, with me being towed along behind Lizzy. The beastmen do not make any attempt to stop us or approach us so we just continue on. The two weeks it takes to reach Illium pass quickly and by the time the city comes into sight I am really nervous.

The city looks great, especially from the air, but what is waiting for me worries me. With a few flaps I catch up to Lizzy and land in the saddle, two weeks of flying has made me more comfortable with it. I wouldn't say my fear is completely gone but it is a lot less, flying feels almost natural now.

Of course, as Lizzy walks into the city we cause quite the stir and I see several people go running off as soon as they see me. Word of my return will spread quickly it seems, but that is to be expected I guess. I had planned to ride straight to the inn but when I am passing the church I am forced to stop.

That is because Black and White come out to greet me with a crowd of followers behind them. As Black and White bow to me everyone behind them drops to their knees. The surrounding crowd is shocked by this, and so am I.

White says "Welcome Back, Lord Ash!"

Black says "We welcome the return of the Goddesses Champion!"

"Greetings High Priestesses!"

Seeing them both wink at me as they bow I realize we are putting on a show for the crowd. So I jump from Lizzy's saddle and land gracefully with a flutter of my wings before bowing to them. They put on a show of being subservient to me, even going so far as to kiss my hand.

With my hearing I can hear the whispers going through the crowd, shock is something of an understatement. While I find it embarrassing to be seen like this, I understand what the two of them are doing. After all, I am the first crusader of the twins and the church wants everyone to know it.

After promising to visit later for a chat I jump back into Lizzy's saddle and head for the inn. If I don't show up in person before the rumors reach the inn I will be in even worse trouble. As I reach my street I am pleasantly surprised by the crowds and the signs of prosperity.

All eyes are on me as I ride down the street to the inn, and my guards all stop whatever they are doing to salute me. I return the salutes and the waves of people I know, but it is still a relief to ride into the stable and out of sight. Being on my own so long I had forgotten just how much I dislike having everyone staring at me.

Before I can even get Lizzy unsaddled I hear the door open behind me and then a gasp. Turning around I find Sarah standing there with one hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes. The next thing I know she is hugging me and crying into my chest.

"Hi, Sarah!"

Sarah says "Oh, I can't believe you are finally back! We had started to think you were dead!"

"No, I'm perfectly fine. Just a lot of things happened that I hadn't planned for."

Sarah says "I can see that. Oh, so soft!"

After brushing a hand down one of my wings she shifts to hugging my wing and rubbing her face against it. Not one to miss an opportunity Lizzy starts rubbing her face against my other wing. It seems it isn't just Lizzy, my worst fears are coming true.

"Alright, can you let me go now?"

Sarah says "Oh, sorry!"

Lizzy 'Not sorry!'

"Is everyone okay?"

Sarah says "Yeah, everyone is fine, just worried and upset. Most of them are upstairs. Why don't you go on up, I will take care of Lizzy and then join you."

"Alright, guess it is time to face the music."