Grandfather climbed down, holding the monkey in his arms, and sat beside Sayleigh.
"You startled me and woke me up," he said with a sigh. "What brought you here in such a rush?"
Sayleigh replied, "Grandpa, the magic sword has disappeared among the weeds."
Grandfather nodded. "Come on then, show me where you were training."
Sayleigh pointed toward the tall weeds. "There."
Grandfather walked ahead, pushing through the thick grass. After a while, he pulled out a red handkerchief and tied it over his eyes. Then he called out,
"Sayleigh, look down. Do you see anything?"
Sayleigh peered carefully. "Yes! I found the sword… but it's stuck to something strange."
Grandfather quickly removed the handkerchief. "Step back. Don't touch it. That could be a mine."
He took a long stick and began nudging the sword carefully in every direction. When no vibration or explosion occurred, he reached down and pulled the sword free. But suddenly, he froze—the blade was attached to a small dwarf robot.
Sayleigh's eyes sparkled with joy. "Grandpa, give it to me! What a wonderful toy!"
But Grandfather frowned. "It might hold something dangerous. Let's take this sword away first."
On their way back to the cottage, Grandpa's thoughts weighed heavily. He had never seen such a thing in all the books he had studied, nor among the ancient stone carvings. A suspicion grew in his mind—this object might not belong to their world at all.
He recalled legends he had once read, tales of strange beings that had invaded Earth long ago… and might one day return for revenge.
Grandpa turned to Sayleigh. "Tell me, what do you think this object is?"
Sayleigh hesitated, then said, "Could it be our cats—the ones we had at home when we were little—turned into an iron monster? Mother Sola always warned me about them. She said they weren't real cats."
Grandpa's eyes widened. "Remarkable… transformation."