“They’re just golems. They won’t hurt you, I promise.”
“They’re creepy is what they are! And they won’t stop staring at me…I can’t even poke my head out without them giving me the stink eye.” He shivered. He’d been hesitant to leave the tent since his last escape attempt, if it could even be called that. But cooped up the black confines of this huge, fabric prison were tortuous. It had only been a week and he felt like he was losing his mind. “I’m not going out there.” He fell back in his bed and stared at the ceiling, which was nothing more than the pointy top of a tent, held by a thick, wooden pole.
The clown sighed. “Maybe some perspective will help you.” She tapped the end of her cigar into the ashtray in front of her vanity mirror before making her way to the foot of the bed. There sat a chest, easily big enough for the little panda to climb inside. It was almost as tall as he was. The clown didn’t search for long before pulling out a small pouch. The color was hard to discern. The tent was always somewhat dim, lit only by the unnatural, orange glow of the lantern hanging from the pole in the center.
From the pouch she pulled a ball of…something. “Here.” She tossed to the little panda sitting only a few feet away. “Hold it in both hands, like this.” She clasped her hands together leaving the smallest cup in the center for the object.
“What is it?” It felt soft in the panda’s hands. Squishy. Light blue in hue.
“Sovereign Clay. You’re going to make a golem with it.”
“What? Me? Oh, right. I’ll just casually create life. Sounds easy.” He couldn’t hide the sarcasm dripping from his words if he tried.
“You’re doing nothing of the sort. You’re drawing energy into an object for later use. This is first year Life Magic. Anyone can do it.” The clown took another ball of clay from the bag. She held it in a closed fist briefly, and then held it on her outstretched palm. As she did, long tendrils sprouted from the clay, flailing in random directions like a octopus fighting for its life.
The panda was in awe. He hadn’t noticed his mouth agape as he stared. Magic? Him? He hadn’t even considered the possibility. It didn’t even exist in his own world. This was some egghead stuff. The panda didn’t think of himself as dumb but surely this would take a million years of practice…right?
“Close your eyes,” The clown instructed.
Hesitantly the panda complied. Before he knew it her hands were over his eyes. “Hey!”
“Trust me. It needs to be dark. Now focus. What do you see?”
“The color black and a nutjob’s hand.”
“Funny. Don’t move your eyes. Just focus.”
The panda sighed. “This is dumb. There’s no way…” He waited.
And waited.
And waited.
The sounds of work outside were the only thing filling the tent now. Footsteps. Someone shouting commands. “Lift.” “Pull.” Mostly unintelligible sounds. Eventually it all faded away, leaving nothing but darkness and clay. How long had it been? Minutes already? Couldn’t have been, but it sure felt like it. Doing nothing but ‘focusing’ and trying to find…something wasn’t the most engaging of activities.
The panda sighed again. “I told you, this isn’t going t-” He paused. His captor smiled.
“Do you see them?”
“...The green things?” Ever so faintly he could see green balls of light floating in the darkness. Were they far away? Or were they just dim? They were so faint, and left long, green trails and they traveled, which slowly faded behind them.
“They’re called Motes. Or ‘Life Energy’ depending on where you’re from. Now, move them into the clay and you have your golem.” The clown abruptly removed her hand and walked back to her seat in front of the vanity. As quickly as they appeared, the ‘motes’ were gone.
“Wha? What do you mean ‘move them?’ How?”
“You’ll figure it out.” The clown turned away, as she always did. She took another long drag of her cigar as she began fiddling with something on her desk.
“Son of a…” The panda rolled his eyes. “Get my hopes up for nothing…” He stared at the ball of clay again. It looked slightly more egg shaped than before. He’d probably just lost focus and crushed it a little. Probably… “Fine.” He closed his eyes and held it in both hands again. It was probably a load of crap, but it would keep him occupied at least.
The clown smiled. If the panda’s musical skills were any indication, he knew what hard work was. She was confident in his abilities. She did however feel a little guilty for lying about the third year Life Magic exercise.
