The three walked another few hours in contentious silence. Spence’s legs and feet were numb, and his mind could not focus on anything for long. He sweated profusely beneath his clothing. Caleb finally halted them at midafternoon at a small clump of tall oaks. He leaned against a tree and drank deeply from his wineskin.

Spence leaned against another tree. The land still looked the same, only with a few more trees and bushes dotting it. The rolling hills continued, and the river was still nearby to the east. Several large hills lay parallel to them to the west, blocking the view of anything lying beyond. He peered back the way they had come—still no sign of Trey. Spence wondered if he was following or if he might have returned to Argos.

Spence searched through his pack until he located an apple—he needed a break from the meat and cheese. He then sat beside his backpack, laying his staff on the ground beside him. He sighed out loud with the relief in his feet and legs. He could lie down and fall asleep in minutes. Morgan followed suit and sat against the trunk of the tree beside him.

Caleb fished an apple out of his pack and turned, surveying the surroundings himself, lingering a little longer on the south, and then sat and leaned against the tree. They all ate the apples in silence.

“Morgan, is this world better than ours?” Spence asked, risking another interjection from Caleb.

Morgan had her head leaned against her tree. Her eyes were closed, and she appeared to be asleep. “With a few exceptions, actually, yes.” She didn’t open her eyes.

Spence began to respond when he heard a loud boom in the distance. It sounded like it came from behind the hills to the west. “What was that?”

Caleb put a finger to his lips and moved into a crouching position, facing the hills. Another boom and another. They sounded almost like single thunderclaps. The three wearily stood. Caleb drew his sword and threaded his left forearm through the back of his shield. Morgan grabbed her bow off her back and nocked an arrow. Spence clutched his staff with both hands.

The booms quickened, and the ground began shaking beneath them. Spence’s stomach knotted tightly. Something huge was moving toward them, and it wasn’t a thunderstorm. Without having to communicate, they each attempted to hide behind tree trunks. Spence tried not to breathe, but he wondered if the others could hear his heart pounding and his knees knocking.

An object appeared just over the largest of the hills and steadily grew taller. Spence was horrified to realize it was a giant head. The head rose higher, and then the shoulders appeared, followed by the chest, arms, and the rest of the enormous body. It paused on top of the hill, only some hundred yards away. The face was roughly human, but it only contained one large oval eye in the center of the forehead. It had prominent features, with thick lips, a bulbous nose, and ears that stuck out far to the sides. A few tufts of hair adorned the top of its head. The monster wore a furry, grayish-brown tunic hanging to its knees. Its arms, legs, and feet were bare. It held a massive wooden club or a small tree trunk in its right hand. The creature’s size was hard to determine from this distance, but it was at least twenty feet tall and weighed a massive amount.

“A Cyclops,” Spence whispered. It looked just like the ones in movies and described in books. Dear Lord, please give us a little help with this one too.

The Cyclops slowly rotated its massive head from side to side. It appeared to sniff the air through its deformed nose. Then the black eye landed on their hiding place. It opened its mouth, filled with yellow-stained teeth, and emitted a roar. It then started toward them at a distance-eating trot.

“Back up but stay behind the trees. Morgan, take a shot at its eye when it’s in range. Spence, get ready for the lightning bolt,” Caleb barked.

Morgan retreated a few steps, nearly to Spence’s tree. Spence also backed up and then banged the butt of his staff against the ground. Once again, the staff came alive. His knees still shook, but as he lightly placed his finger over the first button, he was confident he could drop the monster with a single press. He decided to wait, though, and see how the battle progressed.

The Cyclops’ huge strides quickly closed the gap between them. Small tree limbs and twigs dropped on and around them from the intensified ground shaking. When the giant was only thirty yards away, Morgan loosed her first arrow. It sped swiftly toward the monster but just grazed its left ear. She quickly nocked another. The Cyclops was on them in a few more steps. It swung the ten-foot-long club at the tree in front of Morgan. The top half of the tree exploded, sending limbs flying and falling in all directions. The biggest remaining piece of the tree landed twenty feet away.

Spence and Morgan frantically retreated. Caleb darted out from behind his tree and into the open. The Cyclops momentarily stopped and surveyed its prey. It then stepped forward and swung its club down on top of the tree Caleb had been behind. Again, tree limbs exploded all around, and the trunk split in two all the way to the ground. One half fell right before Caleb and the other in front of Spence and Morgan. Caleb held up his shield to deflect a few of the flying tree shards.

Morgan released another arrow. This time it struck just to the right of the eye. The monster used its left hand to scrape the shaft away like a thorn. A third blow from the club destroyed the third tree. Spence lowered his staff and pointed the glowing tip at the Cyclops’ chest. Get some! He braced his arms and legs and pressed the first button. Once again, the bolt of lightning surged forth. The central fork struck the Cyclops in the chest, and dozens of other tendrils enveloped its entire body. A mighty thunderclap knocked Spence and Morgan to the ground.

Spence pushed up on his elbows, wanting to watch the monster topple lifelessly to the ground. But the Cyclops stood frozen as the lightning slowly disappeared. A black hole was in the material on its chest, and smoke rose from several places on its body, including the patches of hair on its head. It didn’t fall, though. Dang it!

“Morgan, now!” Caleb’s voice rang out from a distance.

Morgan sprang to life, regained her feet, drew the string to the corner of her mouth, held a deep breath, and released. The arrow sped straight and true and struck in the middle of the eye. Half of it disappeared into the monster’s head.

The Cyclops roared again and swung its club toward Morgan. She staggered backward and barely managed to avoid the swing. Spence scrambled to his feet. His staff had returned to normal, with the tip no longer glowing and the buttons covered. He struck the bottom on the ground again, but this time nothing happened. Terror suddenly filled him as he stared up at the monster now towering over him and Morgan.

He frantically struck the staff another time, but again nothing happened. It must need time to recharge! He forced his legs to move and retreated further. Morgan released another arrow, this time striking the side of the Cyclops’ nose. The beast turned slightly and swung the club straight down, striking just between Spence and Morgan. The force of the blow sent them both sprawling to the ground.

Spence desperately gripped his staff with both hands and thrust it out in front of his chest. The Cyclops was massive this close. The monster stood right before them, with Morgan lying ten feet to his right. Spence couldn’t determine whether it could see with the arrow in its eye or was just going by sound or smell. It swung its massive head back and forth, either trying to decide who to kill or trying to see who to kill.

It raised the club high above its head. Spence braced for death. Maybe somehow, the staff would absorb the blow, but he doubted it. Or, even if the staff did, his arms and body couldn’t take the force that would be transferred into him. The sole consolation was it would be over quickly. He wondered what would happen if he died in another world. Would there be a heaven or hell? Would his spirit return to Earth or be trapped here? He closed his eyes and waited.

The blow never came. Spence opened his eyes and saw the Cyclops had turned and swung its club at Caleb. Caleb had rushed in and attacked it from behind—a line of blood stretched above its right ankle. Caleb dove out of the way of the swing and scrambled back to his feet. Morgan also climbed to her feet and fired an arrow at the back of the monster’s left knee.

Spence stood but was powerless. His staff wouldn’t work, and his only other weapon was his dagger, which would be useless against a creature that size. He watched helplessly as Caleb rushed in, stabbed at the monster’s right knee, and then darted away, narrowly missing another club swing. Morgan fired another arrow, this time into the back of the right knee. The wounds to its legs appeared to be taking a toll, and it plodded forward with a noticeable limp in the right leg.

But Spence knew the sword and arrows wouldn’t be enough. Eventually, Caleb would get tired or trip, and it would be over. He said another quick prayer and once again struck the butt of the staff onto the ground. The staff vibrated, and the orb illuminated. Instantly, his fear and fatigue melted away. This time, he lowered the staff and placed his finger on the second button. The lightning didn’t kill it, so he had to try something different.

Spence pressed the button. Please! The staff recoiled slightly and sounded like it had launched a Roman candle ball. A small flaming ball shot forth from the orb, also resembling a Roman candle ball. The sphere sailed slowly through the air, trailing a tail of sparks behind it. The monster swung again at Caleb, oblivious to the approaching projectile. Spence and Morgan watched breathlessly. Spence didn’t know if Caleb saw the ball, but he assumed he didn’t since he had just narrowly rolled away from another crushing swing.

Spence’s heart stopped when the Cyclops moved a step to the right to pursue Caleb. Then he watched the flaming ball adjust and continue heading toward it. Caleb lunged and jabbed the monster’s right knee again with his sword. He leaped back as he had been doing, but the Cyclops changed its attack. Instead of taking an overhand swing, it swung the club backhanded in an upward stroke. Caleb tried to spring to the side and extended his shield in defense, but the top corner of the club struck him, sending him twisting into the air. He collapsed heavily on the ground some twenty feet away.

Just as the Cyclops moved forward to finish Caleb, the flaming ball struck him in the middle of the back. The small ball flared into a massive fireball, momentarily engulfing the monster in flames. Spence watched in amazement at the power the small projectile unleashed. Then he stared in horror as the Cyclops turned to face him. The fire still burned its tunic, and the surrounding skin was melting, but the monster still lived. Seriously?