The hulking Cyclops stopped a step or two away and roared, low and slow, in the clearing. It spotted Androx, screamed loudly, and struck the ground with its fists. A
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Okles mustered up all his courage and rushed forward, aiming at its belly with a knife.
His aim was correct, and the tip struck, but did not penetrate. Cyclops stretched out his arms to grab him, but he ducked between Cyclops' legs and stabbed the monster again in the back of the thigh. Its skin felt as hard as solid wood, though it seemed to slide and move whenever he stabbed it.
The brute turned around and tried to knock him down with his fists, but he jumped back and rolled away. It came towards him, slapping the ground with its open palm three times, trying to crush him, but each time he backed away or sideways, stabbing him at every opportunity.
The Cyclops clenched his hands into fists and swung them downward with incredible power. A
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Okles just walked up to the side and poked up from under its chin. Its skin slides and a spear cannot penetrate it.
The Cyclops stood erect, stomping forward heavily one foot after another, trying to crush him to death. A
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Okles jumped back and dodged. When the monster saw that this didn't work, it tried to grab him with open arms. He ran forward, ducked between its legs, and struck its thigh again, but this time it jumped and fell backwards toward him. Although it barely left the ground, the giant thing stretched out its arms, making itself wider. The move almost succeeded, but Androx had time to emerge from under the tree.
Seeing that it missed, it rolled after him, much like the boulder it had first appeared to be. However, A
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Okles beat it to the punch, running faster, and when it stopped rolling, he jumped forward and stabbed it in the eye. The monster closed its eyelids to prevent him from any harm, and then hit him with its fists, which he dodged.
Now, the task of killing it seems truly impossible. Anger and frustration mixed with a fear he couldn't quite banish threatened his focus, and the strange pressure in his tired legs told him he was running out of time. But if he couldn't even stab it in the eye, where could he stab it to hurt it? How on earth did the thrice-cursed woodcutter young man get his spear into its back?
His momentary distraction cost him; the monster suddenly backhanded him and sent him flying. He fell hard to the ground, but managed to catch the spear. He rolled over and stood up, but found himself dizzy and struggling to keep his balance.
The Cyclops immediately overtook him, and again and again stretched out his hand to seize him. Androx could only avoid it by jumping backwards as fast as he could. At this rate, he'll fall down in the bushes and die with a bunch of thorns stuck in his butt. He had to...
Then he smiled evilly, realizing he could find weak spots in his skin. That thing ate, didn't it? He pulled himself together and approached the Cyclops, dodging punch after punch. When it tried to trample him, he saw his opportunity. He ducked under the Cyclops' legs and thrust the spear shaft straight into his anus with all his strength, driving the spear shaft into its guts.
The monster howled in agony, whirled, and backed away, and Anklex let out a roar of victory. He left the spear in place, dodging another round of hammer blows, then ducked between its legs, pulled the spear halfway out, and thrust it upward in the other direction, this time driving the spear further in. The beast stumbled, fell forward, and swung his legs, nearly catching him.
It got up on its hands and knees, then tried to stand up, but couldn't. It fell to its knees, breathing heavily. The Cyclops's howl grew weaker each time, and Androx knew victory was in sight. Androcles ran over to twist the spear again, but as he got behind it the Cyclops kicked back like a mule, seized him by the torso, and knocked him down. He landed on his back, slightly dazed but uninjured. He smiled; its movement diminished visibly.
The Cyclops rolled over and carefully drew out his spear. There was a long stream of blood, and the monster screamed again, but it was weak. It wanted to stand up again, but the blood did not flow down and flowed out of the wound like wine from a faucet. It stumbled, fell again, and lay on its side, panting and snorting.
A
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Okles picked up the spear, which was covered in blood and entrails. The monster made no more effort to stand up or swing at him. With a sense of relief, he realized that it was really over. He walked over and stood before his fallen suitor, and for a moment they looked at each other in almost silence. Finally, he shouted: "Who dares resist Andro?!" and kicked it in the eye. It blinked and he dodged its feeble attempt to hit him. He shouted, "Androx the Giant-Slayer!" Then he threw back his head and shouted with glee.
Wolf Sca
, seeing that it was safe, flew over to examine the dying Cyclops. Anklex left him there and walked toward Gabi, hoping she was still there. He was surprised that the fight had taken him so far, but he found her sitting quietly, staring at nothing.
Scar the Wolf flew back to greet them and asked, "Is it going to die? Why don't you kill it?"
"Oh, it's going to die. Painfully, after hours of agony, its guts split open and filled with blood. That's fine with me." "Though..."
He picked up his spear and kicked the Cyclops in the eye again. As expected, it closed its eyelids, but when it opened them again, Androchus had his spear ready. He buried the tip of his spear at arm's length in the soft eye of the Cyclops. When he pulled the tip of the gun out, the eye suddenly deflated and spurted out a stream of clear fluid, much like a punctured bladder. The monster didn't howl, but whimpered and twitched. Taking away its eyes was certainly not fatal, but now its long, slow death would be even more horrific, its life reduced to nothing, locked in blindness.
A
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Okles spat at it again, thinking of the people it had eaten alive. Let it suffer. "Androx the giant-slayer, son of Palamonos of Decaea," he said in a strong voice.
Finally, satisfied, he sat next to the girl and raised her chin to look at her. Her eyes seemed completely blank and distant, and she did not meet his gaze. His victory did not bring her back, nor did he expect it.
"Look at me, girl. Ga
bi. Look at me," he said, sounding as calm as possible. She turned to look at him, but her eyes were blank and unfocused. He sighed, sat down, and tried to think about him Had he seen anything like this before? After countless wars, he had seen many blank, empty stares, but never one with no reaction at all. He had heard of it in epic poems, but he had never doubted that they were Literally - it seems to have been a poetic indulgence.
Wolf Scar flew in front of her several times; she reacted, but only to the brightness of the light. He tried calling her name, even landing on her shoulder and yelling into her ear, until Andro stopped him.
"It's no use, little one. She's a wreck. Maybe one day she'll wake up, maybe not. And even if she does, she'll probably never be the same again. All we can do is like I promise Take her to a safe place."
The fairy looked desperately at Androx, lingering a few feet in front of him. "Is she broken? Can someone cure her? Can she get better on her own?"
"Little kids like her are weak. Some things hurt physically, some things hurt mentally. It was all too much for her and part of her snapped like a twig," he said.
The fairy was confused for a moment, then asked: "What do you mean?"
"If I bend your arm too far, it will break. The bones will break. The same goes for humans in other ways. If I make a man too afraid, his courage will break and he will become a coward. "She was pushed so far that parts of her body collapsed." He glanced at Galbi, who sat in the field in the dark night, looking even smaller than she had been in the pit. He sighed and said, "It's a shame, though. She's such a lovely little thing."
The fairy flew over, looked at her ears, looked at her eyes, and then listened to her breasts. He tried listening to other parts of her: head, shoulders, legs... Finally he gave up and sat on her lap with a blank expression on his face.
Androcles considered whether he dared to risk sleeping in the fields, since he had rotted away from the pit. Nikon would do it, but Nikon is dead and A
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Okles certainly didn't want to be eaten by a wolf after killing the Cyclops. No one will know of his victory or remember him. But he also didn't want to wander around in the dark with his kids all night long. He's done this before. Recently, in fact.
"Wolfsca
, can you fly up and see if you can find a way?"
The fairy looked at Androx as if he had just been awakened from his reverie. "Why?"
"Because there are huts and huts for us to sleep on along the way. You don't want her to be eaten by wolves, right?"
The fairy flew into the air and looked around. "Are there wolves?" he asked nervously.
"might have."
“Will the wolves eat us? Even though she’s broken, will they eat her?”
"They would if I let them. The wolves only care if we are made of meat, and we are."
"But she's my only friend!"
"Then let's find a way." Androx said, pointing to the sky.
"I turned into a boy so that I could be her hero, you know. Because she is a princess," said the fairy. He looked down at his crotch and said, "I don't know what that does, though."
Androx felt himself amused. "What did you do before?"
"I was just a fairy. But now I'm a little fairy," he answered, as if it was obvious.
"I understand. Where's the road?"
The fairy looked at him for a while and thought about it. Then he said resolutely: "I'm going to find that way. I'm not even afraid of the owl."
"You are so brave. I will protect her for you until you come back."
The fairy gave him a cold but firm nod and flew into the sky. He looked a bit like a bright, wandering star that didn't know where it should land in the sky.
As he waited, Androcles watched the girl, wondering if the life she once filled would suddenly return as if nothing had happened. She just started hanging her head; her body was probably tired. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt about her; he wanted to help her recover, just like he did the two boys, but it was impossible. It made him feel a little helpless, which was unusual for him.
Wolf Sca
Came back sooner than expected. "I found the way! It's..." Then he flew back into the sky and down again, "Over there!" he said, pointing to the west.
"Is it far?" Androx asked, standing up and picking up the girl.
"This is...um, oh..." The fairy scratched her chin and thought for a while. "About this far," he said, holding his hands inches apart.
Well, that didn't work. No doubt, if he were here, his friend Athanasius would be furious and start cursing. Androcks figured it was easier to just get started than to explain how far a mile was. He sat the girl on his shoulders and put a hand on the small of her back to prevent her from falling off. Oddly, she didn't limp; she would sit or stand as directed. She just didn't respond.
He picked up his spear and headed west. The fairy sits on Gabby's head and emits enough light to prevent him from stumbling and falling. It turned out that they were indeed very close to the main road, not even half a mile.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for them to find a cozy-looking cabin. There was nothing in it, not even a blanket, but there was fairly fresh hay at the bottom. Since the roof was only a few feet high, he had to climb in, but it kept air flowing and helped keep them warm. He laid the girl down next to him and put his arms around her, partly to keep them both warm and partly to wake him if she tried to escape. The fairy landed on her chest, crawled on her hands and knees and kissed her chin, then curled up on her chest and fell asleep.
After a while, the light from the fairy dimmed noticeably, which Ankerex guessed meant he was asleep. However, Androx was too preoccupied to sleep. Even though he was exhausted, he was still too nervous from the fight and everything that had happened before to relax himself into sleep.
"Della," he whispered angrily, "may the gods curse you more than mine. This is your fault."
The last question kept lingering in his mind, and he fell into an uneasy sleep. If the gods were really involved, did they send a cyclops, a girl, or a spear?
