1 Chapter 1

'What the hell is happening!' Lucas went from staggering on the damp floor to a full sprint, trying as hard as he possibly could to get to that slither of light that acted as a beacon for him.

Ahead of him stood a thin stream of light, which he hoped, led to the outside world, where the hulking behemoth behind him could no longer chase him. Just as he was about to reach it, he felt a coarse hand aggressively tug his shoulder backwards, grabbing him in the process and lifting him off of his feet.

Lucas stared straight at his pursuer, hoping that he masked his fear as well as he thought he had, but what stared back was not what he was expecting. Instead of the dull, lifeless eyes he was expecting from an allegedly heartless monster, glistening blue eyes stared back, full of understanding and even what seemed to be pity for it's victim.

His pursuer, or now identified as what he believed to be a cyclops of some kind, was a large and aggressive looking entity, with legs as large as tree trunks, and a torso of an average build on top of the massive-looking legs, and finally was the head, possibly the most frightening factor of this believed to be heartless creature. The cyclops' head was round, with a face that would make children cry. It's face only had one, unblinking eye, it looked as though it was staring into Lucas' soul. It had a weak jaw and a small beard, with a short but scruffy 'hairstyle', if you could call it that.

The cyclops stared straight back at him, almost as if expecting something from him, and Lucas felt bewildered for the 100th time that day. "Well, aren't you going to beg for your life or something, you humans usually do?" Lucas was utterly shocked, he stared at the cyclops in disbelief, "Y-you can talk." Lucas couldn't help but state the obvious when face to face with a talking centaur.

"Typical humans, assuming they are the only race on this planet that is smart enough to talk," Lucas, immediately regretting his words, tried to appease the agitated cyclops, who seemed to have a slight prejudice against humans. "Th..Th..That's not what I meant" he pathetically wheezed out, hoping that would do something to help his situation. "I'm sure you're just as smart as any human, I mean you are basically human after all!" Lucas rushed to explain himself. "So you just assume that because I'm similar to a human, I have modern intelligence, how do you know it's not my cyclops blood?" Lucas stared at him, befuddled. "Exactly, you never even considered it, you moron."

Lucas knew it was a bad idea to explore this cave, but the bounty for the cyclops' head was too enticing. He knew he shouldn't have listened to the King's decree, that 'fortune beyond the common man's imagination would be given to those who slay the cyclops.' What utter rubbish!

'I should have known better than to be a noble's errand boy!' Lucas couldn't help but shout at himself in self-loathing for his own stupidity.

"I-I'm not a moron! I just didn't know that cyclops' were so smart" Lucas rushed to defend himself, pushing aside his own idiocy for another time in favour of dealing with his current... predicament. "Even if you're not stupid, what are you doing in my cave?" The cyclops interrogated, using his malicious looks to his advantage. "T-the King... H-he sent out a royal decree a few days ago, saying that people would be well rewarded for proof of your death." By the time Lucas finished, he was officially terrified of the, apparently intelligent, cyclops before him.

Before the cyclops could reply, the sounds of footsteps and heavy breathing could be heard, along with the scraping and clanging of metal armour and weapons. As time progressed, the sounds got louder, making it clear that the noises were coming closer.

Lucas, still in the cyclops' grasp, strained to turn his head to look at the new arrival, and as soon as he did, relief flooded through him. It was a company of mercenaries! As soon as they appeared, Lucas felt the cyclops' grip significantly tighten.