The Cyclops slowly began walking toward him. The flames and Caleb’s hacks had slowed it, but it still lived. A large piece of the tunic fell to the ground, exposing the creature’s midriff. Patches of yellowish-brown skin had melted away, exposing wires and metal underneath. “It’s a cyborg!” Spence exclaimed. “Run to the river!”

Spence turned and began sprinting. His staff had returned to normal, and he knew it would be at least several minutes before he could use it again. He was not a good runner and had little endurance but hoped the monster was slowed enough so he could reach the river first. He didn’t have a plan yet, but if they could somehow knock it into the water, hopefully it would short-circuit and die.

Morgan quickly caught him, and they ran side by side. Spence didn’t dare look back at the Cyclops. He was all too aware of the rumbling and ground shaking behind him. The river wasn’t visible yet but was only a hundred yards away. The cyborg sounded to be around thirty yards behind. Spence didn’t know if Caleb was still alive. Hopefully, he was and would follow them. He was the only one who could mount a melee attack against it. If Caleb didn’t come, the only hope was the staff recharging in time.

“Do you have a plan?” Morgan panted.

Spence’s chest hurt from the exertion, and his legs were leaden. He feared he would tumble to the ground at any moment and be squashed by a foot or crushed with the club. “No. We…have to…make it…to the river.” He gulped air as fast as he could inhale. “Then…we have…to…get it…in.”

At fifty yards, the ground shaking intensified. The Cyclops was closing the distance. “No matter what, keep running!” Morgan shouted.

“Huh?”

Morgan suddenly veered off to the right. Spence risked a glance and saw her nocking an arrow as she ran. He then turned around to focus on the ground ahead of him. His legs were burning, his chest tight, and an asthma attack was possible. The ground shaking intensified. At any moment, he would be within club range. The trees at the edge of the riverbank were close now, though. He was so close.

The steady thumping behind him paused as if the beast did a stutter step and then slowed. Morgan must have done some damage with an arrow. Spence reached deep inside for one last burst. He remembered grade-school gym class and trying to finish with a kick at the end of the six-hundred-yard dash. He always had one of the slowest times but usually finished strong. He ran at the brink of losing control, as if he were running downhill faster than his legs could move.

The thumping started again behind Spence, but Morgan had given him the distance he needed. He scampered into the trees and down the riverbank. He frantically decelerated, reaching out to grab and release several trees to slow his descent. Spence grabbed and held onto one of the last trees before reaching the water and swung himself around, facing up the bank.

The large shadow of the beast appeared just before he saw its monstrous head. It roared at the edge of the line of trees and swung its club into the nearest one. It used two swings and a shove to fell the tree. Spence jumped to the side as the tree crashed close to him, the upper half splashing into the river.

His mind raced, trying to figure out how he could get the monster into the water or at least survive the attack. He glanced behind him. The river flowed swiftly, and the water appeared deep. He considered wading into it, but the current would instantly sweep him away. He also had no reason to doubt Titus’s stories of monsters swimming beneath the surface. But those were the two reasons he had to get the Cyclops into it.

The Cyclops descended the bank, smashing and shoving trees in all directions. Without thinking, Spence ran and leaped onto the felled tree trunk now sticking out over the river. The tree was around two feet wide at the bank and narrowed as it stretched out over the water. The tree limbs beneath the surface kept most of the trunk above the water. He turned around and backed down it, holding his staff with both hands to help him balance.

The monster had reached the bottom of the bank, only ten yards away. Its eye glared at him, with the arrow still protruding from it. It swung its club backhanded into the last tree standing between them. The tree fell sideways, landing at the water's edge, parallel to the river. The Cyclops paused momentarily and then straightened. Spence glanced past it to see Morgan at the top of the bank, nocking another arrow. Then the monster moved forward to the edge of the water and stopped at the base of the tree Spence stood upon.

Spence retreated further, wobbling and nearly losing his balance. The river rushed all around him, and the tree didn’t feel stable in the strong current. The first branches were just behind him. He knew with one kick of the giant’s foot or swipe of its club, he and the tree would be sailing down the river. He turned his staff vertical and struck the base against the tree trunk. Nothing happened. It was over. He retreated until his back pressed against the limb behind him. He wrapped his right arm around it and held his staff with his left hand. Maybe he could stay afloat…somehow.

The Cyclops raised its club overhead. It paused for what seemed like an eternity. Then Spence heard a yell and caught a glimpse of movement rushing toward the Cyclops. A silver blur streaked from behind and crashed with a dull thud into the back of the Cyclops’s right leg. The blow knocked the Cyclops off balance. Its feet struck the tree it had felled just seconds before. It teetered on the edge of falling, its arms waving to regain its balance.

Spence realized Trey was the object that had crashed into the monster, running into it with his shoulder lowered as if he was making a tackle. In a blur, he tore his ax off his back and struck the Cyclops’ lower back. The monster tumbled over the tree and fell face-first into the river. It thrashed its arms and legs, trying to fight the current. But the water was too swift and deep even for it. The strong current slowly pulled the Cyclops away from the bank and carried it downstream.

Its torso rose once, looking like it might regain its feet, then it suddenly lurched to the side. Something had struck it underwater. Then an unseen force rocked the Cyclops in the other direction. A flurry of splashes erupted around the beast, and multiple objects broke the surface. The club slapped at the water several times and then disappeared. After a moment, the Cyclops vanished too. Different body parts reappeared and disappeared as it moved too far away to see the remainder of the struggle.

“And the crowd goes wild!” Trey shouted, holding both arms above his head, his ax in his right hand. “Damn, no body for my selfie, though.”

Thank you, Lord. Spence let go of his death grip on the limb and slowly shuffled up the trunk to the shore. Morgan had made her way down the bank to greet him.

“Wow, I never thought I would be glad to see you,” Spence said.

“Well, you saved me from the first one. I saved you from this one. I guess we’re even now,” Trey said, slinging his ax over his shoulder.

“Well, there was the thing this morning when you tried to steal my staff….”

Trey’s face stayed neutral. He stared at the ground and absently scratched his head. “Look, Spence. I just want to say—”

“This doesn’t change anything, Trey,” a voice said from behind them.

They all turned to see Caleb at the top of the bank. A tear stretched across his black pants on his right thigh. Blood was visible on the skin beneath, and the leather was wet down to his red-stained boot. The grass around his foot was also crimson. He was pale and leaned against a tree for support.

“Caleb, are you OK?” Morgan exclaimed, rushing up the bank toward him.

“I’m fine…it’s only a scratch. Now, Trey, we still don’t need you with us, despite you helping for some reason. So, you can just disappear again.”

Spence observed Trey, waiting for him to erupt. In Caleb’s condition, it wouldn’t be a fair fight. But Trey didn’t get angry. In fact, his face looked sad.

“You would have all died if I hadn’t shown up, Caleb.”

“Do you want a trophy? I think I’m all out,” Caleb replied. Morgan stood close to him now, bending over and examining his mangled leg.

“I’m just saying we all need to stick together. We don’t have to braid each other’s hair and paint our toenails, but let’s just get through this stupid quest and back to Earth.”

“Caleb, you can’t even travel like this. I dislike Trey as bad as you, but we need all the help we can get,” Morgan said to Caleb.

Caleb looked down at her and opened his mouth to speak. Then his eyes rolled up into his head, and he let go of the tree and collapsed to the ground.

“Both of you, get up here!” Morgan screamed.

***

“A cyborg was your new creation?” Odin asked.

“Very careless,” Artemis added.

“The fireball did more damage than I anticipated. I gave the cyborg extra-strong skin, and the tunic was like armor,” Ra replied.

“Now they know all is not as it appears,” Enki said.

“No matter. Gods can create technology too. We know the wizard realizes his staff is not magical,” Ra said.

“Still, careless. This group is more intelligent and perceptive than the others,” Odin replied.

“There is nothing to worry about, brothers and sister. If they do not figure out how to heal him, their leader will be gone,” Ra said.

“I think we should proceed with setting the wheels into motion for phase two before we lose them all,” Artemis replied. “They’re already the strongest candidates we’ve had and may provide our last chance.”

“I agree, and we have already sown the seeds with all the races. Odin, do you want to start with your barbarian while he is still an outcast?” Enki asked.

Odin grinned. “This might be interesting.”