The cyclops did not scream. It did not roar. It simply opened its eye – large, red, bloodshot – and stood up.
It was enormous. The top of its head scraped the cavern ceiling. Its hands were the size of my chest. Its skin was grey, wrinkled, covered with old scars.
It looked at us. The single eye moved slowly, from Ana to me, from me to Zirinos, from Zirinos to the others. It did not look angry. It looked tired. As if it had already seen many intruders. As if it had already killed many.
"Stand back," Ana repeated.
The mark of Anorys glowed on her chest – a red, urgent, pulsing light. Divine energy concentrated in her right hand. Her palm began to shine.
The cyclops took a step. The ground trembled.
"Behind me," Zirinos ordered, retreating. "Let Ana deal with this."
"Alone?" asked Sara, her voice high.
"Alone."
Ana did not wait. She launched the first blast of energy at the cyclops's chest. The red glow hit the grey skin – and spread, like water on dry sand. The cyclops stepped back, grunted, but did not fall. Its skin was marked, burned, but not pierced.
"It's resistant," Ariny murmured. "Its skin absorbs divine power."
"Then don't use divine power," Zirinos replied, his voice calm. "Use swords. Kill it the old‑fashioned way."
"Will you fight too?" I asked.
"No."
"Why?"
He did not answer. He just looked at the cyclops. And I saw. I saw something in his eyes that I could not name. It was not fear. It was recognition.
*He knows that creature*, I thought. *Or he knows someone who looks like it.*
---
Ana advanced again, but without divine power. Sword in hand, her strikes fast, precise. The cyclops blocked with its arm. The blade cut the skin – blood flowed, dark, thick. But the wound was not deep.
"It's too big," Sara shouted. "We can't do it!"
"We can," I said.
I stepped forward.
The iron sword weighed on my arms. The first strike hit the cyclops's leg. The second, its belly. The third, the arm that tried to grab me. The cyclops retreated. Its red eye fixed on me.
"Ethan, look out!" Luna shouted.
The cyclops's fist came down on me like a hammer. I rolled. The fist hit the ground, shattered the stone. Shards flew, cutting my face.
I stood up. Blood on my lip. The taste of iron.
"Again," Zirinos said behind me. "Get up and attack again."
"You're doing nothing!"
"I do what is necessary. So will you."
I bit back my anger. I stepped forward again.
---
The cyclops was beginning to tire.
Its blows were slower, its breathing heavier. The red eye no longer shone with the same intensity. Ana cut the tendon of its right leg. The creature fell to its knees.
"Now!" she shouted.
We all attacked at once. Sara and Ariny on the flanks. Luna and Néris at the rear, casting fire and ice spells. I was in front, sword raised.
The cyclops fell.
The noise was enormous – a thunderclap inside the cavern. Dust rose, covering us all.
The red eye went dark.
Silence.
"It's dead," Néris whispered.
"It is," Zirinos confirmed, behind us.
Luna approached the body. She touched the grey skin.
"It looked sad," she said softly.
"What?"
"Its eye. Before it died. It looked sad."
No one answered.
---
The treasure was scattered across the room.
Gold coins, jewels, ancient weapons, rolled‑up scrolls. And a chest of dark wood with silver fittings, just like the one in the previous chamber.
"I'm not touching this one," Luna said with a shy smile.
Zirinos approached the chest. He knelt. He examined the fittings.
"There's no lock."
"Then open it," said Ana.
He pushed the lid. The chest creaked.
Inside, there was no gold. There was a thick scroll, sealed with red wax. And a black, polished stone, the size of a fist.
Zirinos picked up the scroll. He read in silence.
"What does it say?" I asked.
"It says this dungeon was built by the dwarves of the second world. To guard a relic." He raised the black stone. "This is a fragment of a Decetuarius."
"A Decetuarius?" Sara's eyes widened. "The object that detects corruption?"
"The same." Zirinos put the stone in his pocket. "It will be useful."
"Useful for what?"
"To find Trussum, if he comes near."
The name hung in the air like a black cloud.
---
We left the dungeon with our pockets full of gold and our hands empty of blood.
The sun outside was dazzling. The light hurt our eyes after so many hours in the darkness. The blue pines swayed in the wind. The smell of earth and resin was almost sweet.
Gregorius Grémul was waiting for us at the entrance, arms crossed, his bald head shining.
"How many dead?" he asked.
"None," Zirinos replied.
"Injured?"
"Ethan took a stone to the face. Nothing serious."
Gregorius looked at me. His small dark eyes assessed the cut on my lip.
"You survived. That's what matters."
"Thank you, professor."
"Don't thank me. Thank your luck." He looked at the others. "Tomorrow there will be a written report. I want details. All the details."
The students groaned. Gregorius didn't care.
---
On the way back to the academy, the groups scattered.
Sara and Ariny walked ahead, arguing about the report. Ana separated without a word, her face pale, the mark of Anorys glowing faintly. Luna and Néris walked together, talking quietly.
Zirinos walked beside me.
"You knew what that cyclops was," I said, not looking at him.
"I knew."
"What was it?"
"Nothing. Just a monster."
"Lie."
He stopped. His eyes fixed on mine.
"Believe what you want, Ethan. I killed the right monster."
"You didn't kill anything. You were the one leaning against the wall."
"I killed when it was necessary." His voice was low, cold. "And you will kill when it is necessary. The difference is that I will not hesitate."
"I'm not afraid to kill."
"You are. And that's good. Fear keeps us alive." He resumed walking. "But don't confuse fear with weakness. They are different things."
I walked behind him.
The setting sun painted the sky orange and purple. The academy, in the distance, looked like an impregnable fortress.
'Will I ever understand what goes on in that man's head?', I thought.
'Or is it better not to understand?'