Grandma woke up back in Mina’s mind again. The children were still sleeping soundly, and even the foxes were tucked up into cozy balls. She slipped into the golem and reformed the body based on her memory of how it had felt. The golem still couldn't see, which was a serious limitation. In the dungeon, where everything had been brimming with magic, Grandma could rely on her mana to detect obstacles, but outside a dungeon, that would not work nearly so well.
Lying on the ground, Grandma contemplated vision. What components were necessary to enable seeing? Human eyes had various complicated parts to them, a lens, muscles that manipulated the lens, rods and cones that activated when struck by certain wavelengths of light, other bits that she didn’t even remember, all feeding information back to an optical nerve that led directly to the brain.
But this was a golem, with lens, no rods or cones, and no brain, in a world filled with magic. How could she translate that magic into useful vision? Could she create an eye-like object from sheer will, the way she had formed a spike of stone?
To start with, perhaps she could create a glass sphere? Glass was, after all, a kind of specially heated and processed sand. If she could create stone from mana and desire, could she make glass too? It was worth a try. The earth fought her efforts, and Grandma abandoned her attempt after a few minutes, not wanting to pass out again. She made a mental note. Some things were easier to create than others.
Well, what about finding specific minerals that may already exist? Quartz formed naturally in certain conditions and was often translucent. Grandma focused on the idea of quartz, imagined casting her mana wide then slowly drawing it back in, letting go of anything that wasn’t quartz, until she had pulled all the quartz around her into a bundle before her. She felt some resistance here and there as she pulled her magic back, as if there were large catches that were too heavy to move. Finally, she finished drawing her magic all the way back to herself. If only Grandma had eyes to see if that worked or not.
“Mm,” Mina yawned as she sat up. “What’s this?” The girl sent a mental image of the pile of little translucent crystals sitting next to Grandma’s right hand.
[Oh good, that worked!] Grandma sighed in relief. [I’m trying to make eyes so I can see out of this golem. I tried to make a glass ball, but it took too much effort, so I tried a different way. Could you pick out the two biggest, clearest crystals from the pile? And put them in the golem’s eye sockets.]
Mina did as Grandma instructed, then stepped back, sharing her view with Grandma. The two largest quarts pieces were mismatched, but Grandma expected that. She focused her mana, recalling the very first magic she and Mina had ever done, and visualized seeing through the quartz, transforming the light that landed on the quartz into mana, and connecting it to herself.
A dim, hazy image bloomed in her mind, independent of Mina’s view. The girl sitting in front of Grandma was dirt smudged, her hair disheveled and full of tangles. A torn dress of indeterminate color, dark pants that didn’t fit her, and floppy sandals completed the look. [Hello my dear. I can finally see you.] Grandma lifted the corners of the golem’s lips in a smile.
Now that Grandma could see, she decided that she should practice looking at things, and trudged out into the forest to collect firewood. It was also good practice for making the golem move in a variety of ways: squatting, bending, reaching, gripping, and so on. The hazy view through the quartz eyes made it hard to pick out twigs and branches from roots or dirt, but eventually Grandma gathered enough material for a small fire.
Everyone had roused by the time Grandma returned. Tanner was feeding Chestnut; the foxes were off playing in the woods; and Mina was busy slicing and skewering mushrooms the way Grandma had shown her before. Mina looked up and beamed as Grandma dropped the bundle of wood, setting aside the mushroom skewers and switching to building a fire instead.
The children ate ravenously, having skipped dinner the evening before. Grandma stabbed a few beetle legs and held them over the fire until the shell turned bright red and the meat firmed up inside. [You can slice open the shell along the length of the leg with the knife. It will be easier to scoop out the meat that way,] she told Mina.
Tanner groaned at having to eat bug meat again, but accepted a roasted beetle leg anyway, copying Mina’s technique with the knife. “This is pretty good,” he admitted grudgingly, in between bites.
Once they had finished filling their bellies, the children saddled up Chestnut and packed up their belongings. “Where to now?” Tanner asked.
[Back to that first town? We can sell the beetle shells, get some information, maybe buy a map, and then figure out where to go next. I should also get a cloak or something to hide my body.] Grandma poked her earthen flesh with a finger.
Mina relayed Grandma’s words to Tanner. The boy sucked on his teeth, weighing their options, then nodded. “I guess it is better than wandering along the road without any idea of where the next town is.”
It took them most of the day to get back to the little town where they had stayed before. In the setting sun, Grandma didn’t look so out of place, wrapped in a horse blanket that hid most of her head and body. They garnered a few stares as they trudged down the central street, but nobody accosted them or asked them any difficult questions.
The pest control shop was just closing, the burly man stepping out to turn the sign and lock the door, when Mina called out to him.
“Oh, the young miss. How can I help you today?” he asked, smiling.
“I found more beetles,” she said.
“More corpse beetles?”
“No, these were green. They’re –”
[Boring beetles,] Grandma supplied.
[Really? I thought they were pretty neat,] Mina said, confused.
[No, not boring like dull, but boring like makes holes.] Grandma chuckled. [Remember how they burst out of holes in the trees?]
Mina let out an [Ohhhh] of understanding. “--boring beetles.”
The burly shopkeeper looked slightly bemused by Mina’s long pause, but pulled open the door to let her inside. She and Tanner pulled out the bundles of beetle wings, leaving Grandma standing outside holding Chestnut. Grandma didn’t mind. Mina sent everything she saw and heard back to Grandma so that they could haggle together.
The shopkeeper handed over many more coins than before, saying, “These have great color! I bet artisans would pay a pretty penny for’em.” They traded the wings for coins, and the man bundled the wings back up and set them on a shelf. “If you run into any more of these, do come visit me again, little miss.”
Mina smiled and nodded, then asked, “Where can we get a map of the area?”
The man scratched his head. “The town hall should have some, but it’ll be closed this time of night. You could stay at the inn and try tomorrow morning.”
[I think that will be fine. I’ll settle the horse and put the golem in the stall, then come back with you. Ask if any soldiers have come through looking for anyone.]
Mina relayed the question.
“Oh, yes, the Duke’s men came by a few days ago, madder than wet hens, roughing up all the locals asking about a little girl with blue hair.” The man winked at her. “Of course, nobody had seen anyone like that, and they had no choice but to keep on their way.”
[The Duke must not be well liked in his lands,] Grandma said with a snort. [That’s good for us.]
“Thank you sir,” Mina grinned back at the man.
They returned to the inn, where the stableboy was awake and on duty this time. “You again,” he greeted them sourly. “No freebies this time, all right?”
Grandma stepped forward with the horse, and the boy fell back in alarm. “Can my – um, friend – stay with the horse?” Mina asked, peeking around Grandma. She held out a small thin coin.
The stableboy swiped the coin from Mina’s palm and agreed with a grunt of disgust. He led the way to an empty stall, and they all worked in silence to remove the saddle, rub down Chestnut, feed her, and make sure she was comfortable. Then, Grandma sat the golem down in a corner, and flowed back into Mina’s mind.
[Grandma! I missed you!] Mina hugged Grandma in her mind.
[I’m back, dear heart,] Grandma answered with a laugh, hugging the girl back. [Now let’s go get a room inside.]
Grandma took over the negotiations, and got them one room, two dinners, two breakfasts the next morning, and best of all, baths. It cost quite a few coins, but Grandma deemed it well worth the expenditure to be clean, fed, and comfortable. The common room was bustling with customers, and the two children squeezed themselves into an empty table in the corner. A bar worker plopped down two bowls of stew and a hunk of bread, which they tore into hungrily. It had been many days since they had had a good meal, and the simple food tasted absolutely heavenly compared to withered horse apples and plain boiled beetle meat.
[We should definitely buy some salt before we move on,] Grandma sighed as she ate.
After their meal, the children brought their belongings up to the room and took turns bathing. Grandma left Mina alone to give her privacy, returning to the golem until Mina finished and called her back. She found the girl sitting wrapped in a towel, her clothes scrubbed and hanging up to dry. [Good idea.] Grandma nodded in approval.
Tanner returned in a similar state, a towel wrapped around his hips and his wet clothes in a bundle under his arm. Mina moved to help him hang his clothes, but he slapped her hands away and growled at her, so she shrugged and sat back on the bed.
“Do you want to share the bed?” Mina asked.
“You take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.” Tanner didn’t look at Mina.
[Aww, that’s adorable,] Grandma laughed. [Well, there’s no point arguing. Let’s get some rest.]
Mina had never slept in such a comfortable bed in her life. As soon as she laid down, she was asleep.
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