Clare may have gone into more detail then strictly necessary—as stories go, Beowulf’s was an excellent one, and Kepler was very appreciative. He also had a lot of questions, even after the tale was finished.

  [But, why did they keep partying every night? Didn’t Grendel bursting in and murdering people stop them? It would have stopped me—at least until we’d stopped Grendel in turn.]

  They were Norse.

  [So?]

  Nothing comes between a Norse man and his drunken parties. It’s a lifestyle thing.

  [That…] Kepler mumbled to himself for a bit, trying to sort through the idea. [Is extremely illogical.]

  She shrugged. I mean, they killed Grendel eventually.

  [In the most impractical way they could think of! Who decides to wrestle an enormous, murderous giant, when you have a perfectly good sword?]

  It was pretty badass, though?

  Kepler huffed, grumbling to himself unhappily for another five minutes or so. Clare waited quietly. There was no need to rush.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  [Then,] he finally got over it, returning to their original subject, [Do you wish to create Grendel’s mother?]

  Well, she does live in an underwater cave. And the story never goes into detail about their species, other than that they were big and roughly human-shaped. Gives us a lot of leeway, in terms of design, at least.

  [Is it wise though? She’s a formidable villain.]

  Isn’t that a matter of perspective? Burial rites were a big deal in Nordic—hell, in all cultures of the era—so recovering his arm would have been important to her.

  Clare dimpled her aura in a smile. Damn, she loved moral complexity in a story. There was a reason Beowulf’s was a classic.

  Besides, no matter the context, Grendel was her son. Is it so bad to exact a little vengeance?

  [Hm. Not a villain, but a dutiful mother? Interesting. I think I could craft a soul based on that. But what about the physical design?]

  It was a good question. While Clare now had individual tissues to (probably) build with, using materials from a worm, beetle, and microbe-goo to create something humanoid was… challenging, to say the least.

  I’ll give it a shot.

  [Good. I think I can figure my side out before long. I can’t experiment much beforehand, anyway.]

  Okay. Clare wrinkled her aura anxiously. Heavens, she missed her body, missed human expression.

  Kepler wagged his tail, [I’ll come help you once I’m done.]

  What a good boy. She reached mentally to give him a mocking head pat, Who’s a good boy? You are—

  [Clare. Do you want my help or not?]

  She chuckled. Thanks for being here, Kepler. I think I’d go mad on my own.

  [Well,] he mumbled to himself, ears at an uncertain angle, [Obviously…]

  Her aura wobbled with more laughter, driving an embarrassed Kepler back to his work. After a moment, she followed suit.

  Cave monsters don’t design themselves.