The mountain got a little more rain that night, but everyone seemed to be dry in their lairs or shelters or whatever they used. Fred looked around his domain thoroughly before spending some down time with Shelley. He was used to busy days, but this one had seemed particularly packed, and he was still recovering from the magic attack he`d suffered.

　　One of Shelley`s packmates had had a litter of kits, and had taken over one of the antechambers of the nest for them. Fred couldn`t help but ooh and ahh at the cute little squirmers. Groundhogs, or whatever Shelley was, were cute, but newborns took it to a new level. So Fred just sat and watched them all night.

　　In the morning, he reached out to Jim.

　　"Jim. Good morning. You there?"

　　Yes, Fred. Good morning.

　　"Look! Some of these critturs had babies. Aren`t they cute?"

　　Huh. Yes. I suppose they are. Very curious.

　　"What`s wrong?"

　　Nothing`s wrong. But your creatures aren`t supposed to have babies. Your magic makes them immortal, so they`re supposed to stop breeding, so they don`t overrun your domain.

　　"Oh. Well, was the groundhog pregnant before she came here?"

　　That does seem the logical thing to assume. Still, I`ll ask the other Earth Spirits if they`ve seen anything like this.

　　"Okay. Hey, there`s something else I want to talk about."

　　Anything.

　　"Okay. So, the tree has magical healing powers. Or health powers. Or something like that. But I`ve looked, and the tree`s magic doesn`t reach all the way to the big building. And I was watching the wounded knight the other day, and& "

　　Fred. You said you LOOKED at the magic?

　　"Yeah. Oh, yeah. Martin showed me how. Mana sight, he calls it."

　　You have Mana Sight now?

　　"Yes. Am I supposed to?"

　　Of course. I think. Honestly, we designed the Earth Spirits to `feel` their magic. There wasn`t supposed to be a need. I mean, you don`t even have eyes.

　　"That`s exactly what I told Martin!"

　　Okay. Don`t keep me in suspense. Please tell me how it works. How do you do it?

　　"Well, Martin gave me lots of mambo jambo about ducking my head and gathering energy behind my eyes. But that didn`t work at all. But I remember that I see things when I want to make a new lair for something. So I just stared at Martin and said `Show me your magic`, ya know, like a real wizard, and suddenly he lit up with colors. So now I can look at anything, and I say the magic words, `Show me your magic`, and I see the colors of its magic."

　　Show me your magic. And it works. And you see colors.

　　"Well, it was hard the first couple times. But then it got easy."

　　You`re amazing, my friend. Do you mind if I teach this to others?

　　"Sure, why not? Oh, but I could tell them now, I guess. But you could do it much easier. So yeah, go ahead."

　　And you saw the magic of the tree?

　　"Oh, yeah. It`s actually really bright. All gold and silver. And it covers a wide area. But it doesn`t reach the big building."

　　That`s still quite large. And almost useless, since your own magic takes care of your creatures very well.

　　"I know, but what about the humans? I mean, if the tree keeps them healthy, won`t they learn to fight faster?"

　　Yes, that makes sense.

　　"Well, like I was saying, the wounded knight was taken back to the building, but it was out of range of the tree. So he would have had better healing, I think, if he was closer. So, I was thinking about a temple or shrine or something, something closer to the tree, where the humans could bring their wounded. Like that."

　　You& You have such a big heart, Fred. You amaze me every day.

　　"Martin said I shouldn`t coddle the humans. And he`s right, I think. They are supposed to get tougher, to fight demons, right?"

　　Exactly right. But you`re also right that, when humans are recovering from grievous wounds, they aren`t getting stronger, or better at fighting. And if they know they can recover quicker, more reliably, they`ll be bolder in their training.

　　I like your healing shrine idea. It`s no secret to the humans that you exist, that you grow and think, that you want them to fight your creatures. If you built it correctly, the humans would get the right idea.

　　"Okay. How do I do it? I mean, if it`s a temple to Aeru, what would she like it to look like?"Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

　　Well, I can tell you now that she doesn`t need or want the humans to worship her. So she doesn`t have a special likeness, that you can make a statue of.

　　"Okay, good, cause I`m not good with statues. I can barely make a column. Don`t ask me to make actual art."

　　You make art all the time, Fred. Don`t limit your imagination. You are very good with geometry; the new main entrance is very beautiful, very clean. That`s art, trust me.

　　"So, no statues. What should I do, then?"

　　What do you need? A safe place, enclosed, near the tree. Big enough for several wounded humans and their helpers, but not exposed. Certainly not a place that Martin could get inside.

　　If you want human priests to come live, you`d want quarters for them. Food. Lots of clean water.

　　"That all makes sense. I can work with that."

　　May I watch, while you get started?

　　"Sure. I`d like that."

　　Fred thought. Where to place this new room? Nearest the tree would be out in the shaft, around the tree, but with dragons and nagas and vicious fairies all close by, Fred thought better of it. There was one big empty room, next to the naga and dragon rooms, but Fred just knew that was already going to be used by a creature. So, up the ramp? Yeah, that was where humans naturally retreated to, and the ramp had access to the Maze, and up to the rest of the domain.

　　So, nearly at the bottom of the ramp, below the back entrance to the Maze, he dug out a tunnel, barely more than a span wide (so the creatures couldn`t get in at all). He also made it with a jog in the middle, so it wasn`t straight. But after 20 spans, he opened it out into a big dome, 70 spans wide, and 35 spans at the peak of the ceiling. He then transmuted every span of the whole dome to smooth, shiny white marble. Somehow he thought that places of healing should be white.

　　Then he made side rooms, ten on each side (from the entrance). A short one-span tunnel leading to a four-span square room. This left a space in the dome, opposite the entrance, and Fred knew he wanted to put the water there. He shaped the marble into a raised, rounded basin, about two spans wide. Then he stepped back, and looked at the water supply in his domain, as a whole.

　　The best water supply (Fred thought) was coming from the drum room, but it wasn`t any higher than the temple room, so Fred felt forced to split the water supply, some going to the temple room, some continuing to the drum room. It was already full of water, and pretty sealed, so Fred felt some of the water could be safely redirected. He plumbed a new ceramic pipe over to the temple room, and had the water drip down the wall into the basin.

　　Then he had a better idea, and split the basin into two parts, one higher than the other. He reasoned that the water in the lower basin could be fouled by washing, but the upper basin could be kept clean for drinking. Then he started to make a pipe for the run-off of the lower basin, and had to stop and think about where he was gonna send the waste water. Thinking about waste water made him think about waste.

　　He knew that the humans in the Big Square Building had taken to digging latrines and using them, outside of the building. He hadn`t made any indoor plumbing in that building, except for the water in the basement, and he`d assumed correctly that the humans wouldn`t want to foul that. But this temple needed something. So he went to the side room that was closest to the lower basin. He made it longer, dug a big cistern underneath it, and connected the two rooms with several holes.

　　He let the runoff from the lower basin run into the "toilet" room, where it ran across the floor (along the back wall) and poured into the holes that led to the cistern underneath. Now where would the cistern lead to?

　　"Hey, Jim. You still here?"

　　Yes, Fred. Your temple room is lovely already.

　　"Well, I made plumbing, but it doesn`t go anywhere."

　　The lower chamber you made is very large. This problem isn`t one you have to solve right now. Does that help?

　　Fred hadn`t expected Jim to leave problems for later. "Um, yeah, I guess so. I mean, I like solving problems, but you`re right, it`s not an emergency. I have time to think."

　　Okay, so back to the main domed white room. Which was pitch dark. Fred wanted a soft, friendly glow, but he also assumed doctors would want plenty of light to see what they were doing. So he made the peak of the dome shine with a bright white light, almost like a spotlight, focused on the floor beneath it. The rest of the dome was infused with a dimmer, warmer glow.

　　Fred liked what he`d done. "What do you think, Jim?"

　　Very good. Do you have some medicinal herbs? Perhaps they could grow in this place? And how about food?

　　"Oh, yeah, good idea!"

　　Fred went to the side room opposite the latrine room, made the floor into growing dirt, and quickly transplanted some of his trusty onions and potatoes. Then he thought about the herbs he owned that were medicinal. There were five (that had been donated by the humans) that were supposed to be good in potions, though he only had a fuzzy idea of what that meant. He also had a weed/herb that he`d planted in the main hallway of his domain from the beginning. So that made six plants. He made a stone planter, up against the wall, between each of the side room doorways.

　　This looked good, but the walls above each planter seemed like a waste of space, so over each floor planter, he made two "shelf" planters, jutting out from the wall, one above the other. He filled each planter with growing dirt, and planted the six herb varieties in half the planters.

　　Oh, Fred, it`s brilliant. You want the humans to come in here, long term, and grow the medicines they need, and more.

　　"Yes, is that okay?"

　　Now that I think of it, it hasn`t been done before. After all, you and your peer Earth Spirits are the best gardeners. And the humans are too busy killing and taking to do any nurturing. Normally.

　　But no other Earth Spirit has the magic tree, and no other Earth Spirit has tried to make a temple of healing. Many others have provided safe spaces within their domains, and many have created spaces that humans can live inside long term. But this is new.

　　"Well, even if no priest or doctor comes to set up shop, it`ll still be a safe, healing place. So humans can get back in the fight faster?"

　　Yes, exactly. You`re learning about yourself, and also about humans. And you`re teaching me. And us. I`m so proud of you, Fred.

　　"Thanks. But we haven`t helped any humans yet."

　　Like you said, even in the worst case, it`ll be a place for the wounded to rest and recuperate. Now, I`ve got to go. I can`t wait to teach your Mana Sight technique to the others.

　　"Okay, Bye."

　　Fred looked at the room again, wondering what he was missing. But he couldn`t think of anything, except for the waste cistern, which he`d firmly decided was a tomorrow problem.

　　So he zoomed out, and surveyed his whole domain.

　　It was morning, and the place was bustling. Fred knew that the Three Kings` group had left, but it still seemed like there were more humans than ever, in the big building, and also in the domain, battling his creatures. The merchant stalls were now happy to set up on the new marble steps under the new stone roof. The gaily colored stalls against the smooth stone looked amazing, and Fred felt the energy of so many humans working and talking and eating and laughing and crying.

　　In the big building, there again seemed to be more humans than ever. The outside town hadn`t grown any, and the half-finished buildings were still unfinished, so Fred assumed the building was just what everyone needed. In the kid`s garden and pool rooms, several children were splashing and laughing in the water.

　　"Win!" thought Fred, and watched them slide and splash and dunk. Once again he thought of soap, and how to make or get it. That led him to think about the humans in the big building again. He looked into the bottom floor, where the water channels were. Plenty of people were bathing, and washing clothes and other items. And after a bit, he spied what looked like bars of soap being used. "Ah hah!"

　　In one corner, there was a stack of the waxy bars, so he grabbed and tried to drag it underground, like he`d done with plants and items before. "They won`t miss one, will they?" Fred thought with a smile. This worked, but as he did so, he felt the bar become more "his", as though his magic was taking control over it. After a few moments, the bar he had "grabbed" came apart into its components, and he became aware of it in a new, more complex way.

　　"Huh. Cold, hard animal grease, mixed with sodium hydroxide. I wonder what this stuff smells like&" But the bar was gone, or at least not in the shape and consistency of a bar. In fact, it only seemed to exist now as an idea, but Fred felt confident it wasn`t lost. To prove that to himself, he asked his magic to make a copy, replacing the one he`d stolen. And it happened. The bar he`d taken was replaced by a new one, which neatly stacked on top of the others. It was slightly discolored, but otherwise looked exactly like the others.

　　So he made a dozen, and dropped them into a corner of the kid`s pool room. The playing kids jumped and froze at the sound, but Fred wanted them to notice what he`d given them. He didn`t trust the kids to enjoy the soap right away, but he expected them to take the bars home, and learn what they were good for there. As he watched, the kids carefully investigated, picked up, and even tried to chew the bars. That kid spit out the soap and flung it away. "Guess it`s not tasty," Fred chuckled.

　　He had a sudden idea, and made another dozen soap bars next to the water basin in the temple room. "Even more proof to the humans that I want them to be there, and use the room," Fred thought. He realized his sudden soap creation had startled a few humans that were even now investigating the new temple. Looking around, he saw humans in practically every room of his domain, except for Martin`s lair.

　　He saw a group of people (most in robes) carefully battling the Jinpa. They kept together, and kept casting magical shield spells around them, while the human wizards and the Jinpa kept throwing big blasts of magic at each other. After a minute, the humans seemed to lose hope, because they shouted and retreated in good order, with no one dead. The Jinpa let them go, and Fred heard it hiss and spit at them, as if to say, "Good riddance, filthy humans."

　　Filthy? Fred wondered if he could make some soap into Treasure Sprites. "This is probably super automatic, for me, right?" Fred mused. So he created a few bars (right in the hallway) and willed them to be Treasure Sprites. This didn`t work until Fred visualized them inside the little blue bubbles, and then it happened, just like that. Fred giggled as he imagined a human killing a creature, then saying, "Aw! I just got some soap!"