Chương 41: 41 loop 1 Part 21

I needed a body for Flag. Sadly, that meant losing one of my already constructed golems. But it was a small price to pay for whatever a soul-tethered golem could bring. And besides, it was Flag. It would've been nice to have someone in my corner. I picked the back-left golem and got to work. I knelt down next to it, found the seam of its chest casing, pressed my fingers into it, and the plate gave way, swinging open. The battery sat inside. I lifted it out and it hummed against my palm. It was hot.

I almost dropped it. I didn't think mana batteries were supposed to be this warm, but I was hoping it was a moot point since I was removing it. I had absolutely no plan for what to do with a foot-long cylinder of stored mana radiating heat into my hand. I knew they could explode, given what had happened with Theron. But it was exactly the kind of backup plan I needed, especially with what I was about to face. I set it on my chair and figured I'd come up with something soon enough.

I used [Move] to pick Flag up off the floor and placed him into the open chest cavity. He fit easier than I expected. The cradle had clearly been built for mana batteries, not stones, but it was close enough that he sat snug against the copper mechanism. I closed the plate over him and stepped back. I'd cast this spell only one time before, and I'd passed out before I could see it work. So this was the first time I'd actually experience casting [Soul Tether].

I pulled up the spell info and braced for the same insane number I'd seen when I'd tried to cast it on my uncle. [Soul Tether — Soul] Cost: Variable. 40 mana. I stared, mouth agape. Only 40 mana. God, I'd been ripped off. But I guess that was the difference between a grown man and a flagstone. I cast the spell. A golden thread spun from my chest, crossed three feet of air, and sank into the golem's core—and presumably caught Flag. His soul settled down on the other end of the line, anchoring there. And I felt…

well, not a heartbeat, because flagstones didn't have heartbeats, but a steady rhythm connecting our souls. Then my mana pool ticked down and kept ticking. [Soul Tether] mana reserved. -8% maximum mana. There it was. The 40 mana had only been the down payment. Corwen's tether ate about 25% off the top. Flag's was only 8. I tried to be grateful, but I was still annoyed at losing a third of my mana. I guess that was the price I paid to keep my uncle alive. And to finally have what I'd always dreamed about. Minions.

Oh, said Flag. Whoa, this is different. The golem moved. Flag was a natural. Despite the jerky movements, he was already moving more naturally than the soulless golems. Laz. Laz, I have a front. Do you see this? I have a front and a back. I've never had a back before. I've only ever had a top and a bottom. Oh, this is new. I like this. I tried not to laugh. His enthusiasm was infectious.

"I see it," I said. He lifted a hand in front of his face and turned it over. Then he turned it back. Then he did it again, slower. Then he pressed two stone fingers against the seam of his mouth, like he was checking whether it opened. It has a texture. Oh, I like this. Oh, the inside has a texture, too. Everything has a texture, Lazlo. Did you know that? He took the fingers away and laid the whole hand flat against his own chest. He opened the front panel and pressed one finger against the slab of flagstone.

Is this me? This feels like me. But it's weird. It's part of me, but not at the same time.

"That's stone. It's just what you're made of." Oh, I know, he said, delighted. That's the strange part. He opened his mouth. Shut it and then opened it again. A weird, strangled cry escaped his lips. He repeated the process a couple of times before looking at me for help. My mouth opens, but the sounds don't come out right. I thought mouths were for talking. Do you know how to talk out loud?

"Yes. I'm talking to you right now," I said.

"I think the problem we're experiencing is that golems don't have voice boxes." Oh. He kept trying anyway. The third attempt came out less a cry and more an almost-word—rough and slow, like gravel settling. He tried a few more times, and then finally: You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Oh," he said aloud.

"Is that my voice?" His voice was deep and dry and not quite what I expected. It sounded different from the internal voice I'd always had for him.

"That's… oh," He touched his mouth, and then looked around as if trying to find another source for the sound.

"That's me…"

"Yes, that's you."

"Oh, I like this," His mouth opened again, wider this time, the gravelly voice scraping out with obvious delight.

"I really like this." There was a window on the wall. He found it on his own, his head swiveling back and forth, double-checking that it was what he thought it was.

"Laz? Laz, it's a window. I can just look at it." He went still and did just that. Outside, it was dark, the early morning sun hidden behind storm clouds.

"Oh, that's the best thing that's ever happened to me. Windows. Oh, what is that?" He turned away from the window and pointed his face at the wall. Then he angled his nose toward the mana battery on my chair and held very still.

"There's something," he said.

"But I can't quite get it." He sniffed.

"I don't know how to explain it." He pointed his nose at his own arm and sniffed again. Then he marched to the golems and sniffed at each of them in turn, then at me, then back at the battery.

"You have it, too. You smell like something warm. Do you know what it is?" I genuinely didn't know golems could smell.

"I don't know what it is, but it's on you, and on the golems, and on the battery. I didn't smell anything in the classroom. It's strange." He paused.

"It smells blue."

"It smells blue?"

"I don't know how something smells like a color, but that's what it smells like." He bent his legs at the knee. He squatted slowly all the way down, then stood back up. Then down, then up, faster and faster, like he was testing a hinge on a cabinet door he'd never noticed was there.

"Laz, there's a fold in my legs."

"I know. They're called knees."

"I have two?" He stopped and looked down at his legs with enormous satisfaction.

"Flag. I'm glad you're enjoying having a body, but we have stuff to do." He kept his eyes on his knees.

"You know how I said everyone's in trouble?" I continued.

"You did say that. It worried me."

"Well, the problem is there's a dragon. It came down on the school and killed people. It's still out there, asleep. But when it wakes up, it's going to kill more people."

"That's awful," he said.

"What's a dragon?" I almost hesitated, but decided to just indulge him.

"It's a very large, very scary thing that eats people."

"So what do we do against it?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I have a couple of ideas. But first we need to see if there's anybody else alive. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself if Finn is dead."

"Who's Finn?"

"He's my best friend. And a good guy."

"All right. I think I can help you find him. I have legs now. Have you seen these? I love legs." He started moving around the room like someone who had just figured out how to walk. But he stopped short, because he'd frozen in front of the three other golems.

"Though—" he said, looking past me at the three of them.

"Why don't they do anything? They're built like me. Same arms and everything. But they're just standing there."

"That's because they don't have souls. They're golems running on mana. Through a spell, I can command them to carry things or move, but that's about it."

"Oh. Well, that sounds lonely."

"That's just it. They can't feel lonely. Have you ever wondered why you're different from the other flagstones? It's the same thing." Flag went quiet for a second. The warmth on the link felt thoughtful. It was a weird feeling coming from somewhere outside myself.

"That sounds awful. You poor thing, just standing there." He poked one in the chest.

"Hello? Can you hear me in there? You don't have to wait. You can move around if you want to. Look, it's easy. Go on. Move." When Flag said "Move," I felt a tug. A pull of mana sliding down the soul tether toward him. And I got a notification. [Move] cast through tether. Cost: 20 mana. The golem in front of Flag lifted off the ground. It hung there at knee height without moving, exactly the way it would've if I'd cast the spell myself.

"Laz. It's floating. I told it to move and it's floating. Did I do that?"

"Yeah. I think you just cast a spell using my mana." I was still staring at the notification. It was clear that was what had happened, but I didn't quite understand how.

"Can I put it down? I didn't mean to pick it up. It feels rude to just leave the golem hanging in the air."

"Think about it falling back down and the spell will drop." The golem settled back onto its feet with a loud thud. It was time to move on. I walked back to my chair, picked up the spare battery, and held it out to Flag.

"Can you hold onto this for me? I have an idea for using it later, but I know I'm going to drop it if I don't hand it off." He took it in both stone hands carefully and went still.

"Oh, it's warm," he said, a little awed.

"I didn't know I could feel warm. My classroom was never warm, or if it was, I couldn't feel it on account of not having hands or being able to feel things. But now I can feel it. Oh, now it's hot. I don't know if I like that. But don't worry, I'll keep it safe, Lazlo. I won't set it down or knock it about. You can count on me. I'm extremely dependable. Just ask anyone who's ever stood on top of me."

"Wouldn't trust it to anyone else." I sat down in the chair and looked at the three soulless golems. A new way to order them around was due. They were minions, after all. With a dramatic sigh and a wave, I shouted, "Minions, to me." They stepped forward. Two took the back of the chair, the third took the front, and they hoisted me easily into the air.

"Are you a king now?" Flag asked, delighted.

"You look like a king. I mean, I've never seen a king. But I've been placed under enough chairs to know an important one when I see one." I sent Flag and the other golems the picture of where we were headed, and he fell into step beside the chair. We went out into the night together.