Chapter 5: The Dolls of Fate

A second that felt like an eternity passed as the three watched the cyclops enter from the violet magic formation. 

“Cyclops…”

That word echoed throughout the quiet hall under Solomon’s muttered breath, striking a resounding sound much like a drum at the back of everyone’s minds. And with the cyclops’ bellowed roar, immediately, the twins wiped their shocked expressions from their faces, and they made a run for it.

“Run!” Shouted Solomon. 

From the direction of the statue, Farah made a run for the right staircase, while Sarah instinctively made a run for the left, being closer to it. Then realizing that she had run opposite her sister, she stopped and turned the other way.

“Sis-“

“Idio-“

*Boom!

Sarah’s call for Farah was met with a rebuke for its lack of insight, but it was too late as the cyclops was already in midair, having leapt as soon as its roar had ceased. At its descent, proof of its weight echoed a resounding boom, and clouds of dust and air scattered about as the cyclops landed on the seemingly proportionate, giant, stair rails, right next to Sarah.

*Roar!!

With its mouth wide open, the cyclops bellowed out another great roar. 

“*Gasp...”

The cyclops’ figure right in-front of her, Sarah let out an audible gasp. After which, the Cyclops’ earthshaking roar immediately came blasting at her at full sound. And as each drop of its saliva came splattering at her, the world seemed to come to a slow. The surrounding sounds faded and at the same time, her sight grew hazy, the colors of the world appearing to have dulled. Her fate decided, she closed her eyes. 

“Sarah!” 

Now, a captive of fear, her feet remained still, unmoving. The yell of that voice unable to wake her from her stupor as the cyclops raised its fist and smashed it towards her. 

*Boom!

A resounding boom exploded, and countless bits of the shattered floor flew into the air accompanied by thick clouds of dust as the Cyclops’ fist met with the ground. The world slowed to almost a still, and Sarah’s body slowly flew across the air in Solomon’s embrace. With a thud the two fell to the ground. And Sarah was still alive. 

Her eyes unfocused, her ears deaf, she looked up while lying down, still somewhat dazed. Slowly, the world came back, the time, the sound, the colors… until eventually her eyes regained its focus. Having snapped out of her trance, she saw Solomon in front of her, saying something.

“Get up!”

Those words jolted the rest of her awake, reminding her of the predicament they were in. Quickly she stood up, and the image of the cyclops retreating its fist from the ground as it gazed at it, grinning, entered her eye. “Twisted bastard,” she thought. But not planning to wait for the Cyclops to snap out of its sadistic trance, Sarah quickly turned around and ran with Solomon behind her. At that moment, the cyclops noticed the two mice scurrying away. But without hurrying, it instead took its time, slowly posturing itself as it locked its gaze onto the two children. As soon as the two were about to reach one of the doors in the upper floors, it hopped onto the giant, stair rails, and tilting itself towards the two’s direction, it kicked itself off like a rocket. 

“Ahhh!”

Not once had Solomon’s eyes left the monster, and as soon as he saw it position itself towards them, he dived for Sarah, pushing her out of the way and tucking her into him as they rolled onto the ground. 

*Boom!

With the two having dodged the cyclops’ attack, the cyclops rocketed by with nothing to hit, causing another loud boom to resonate as its feet got stuck into the ground as it landed. Then the cyclops forcibly lifted its leg free, sending shattered bits and clouds of dust and air flying with it. 

“Babababababa!”

It beat its chest like an ape, and yelled incomprehensible mutterings before starting its way towards the two again. Seeing that, the two immediately picked themselves up and ran the other direction. But with another boom, the ground towards Farah’s direction shattered as the Cyclops landed. The path blocked, the two made way for the other direction. But the cyclops picked up one of the larger shattered bits of the ground and threw it at the two. The two separated and the larger bit passed by them, crashing into a wall. 

“It’s toying with us,” thought Sarah as she angrily clicked her tongue.

The cyclops bellowed out another howl, its cheeks swaying wildly as its saliva messily splattered all over. Then it leapt again, and landing on the ground right in front of the two children, clouds of dust and air descended as it towered over them. Gulping, the two felt their hearts sink as despair began to take hold of them. Then the cyclops, far bigger than the two, brought its huge head close to theirs, and grinned. And then it grasped Solomon’s two arms, and gently lifted him up.

“Solomon!”

The twins, powerless, could only watch. And even Solomon’s desperate struggles to free himself were to no effect. Slowly, the cyclops began to pull Solomon apart from opposite sides, causing the young boy to let out anguished grunts. 

“You barbaric freak!”

With the cyclops’ towering height, Sarah could kick no other place but its leg. And to her dismay, it proved no effect as the cyclops continued to slowly pull Solomon apart while grinning.

“No!”

Unable to watch the ensuing gore, Sarah turned her head away while an audible gulp could be heard from Farah’s direction. But where they expected Solomon’s anguished scream to come, they heard something else altogether.

“Ahhhhhh!”

The one who screamed wasn’t Solomon but the cyclops! Pain jolting through the monster, it failed to keep its grasp on Solomon letting him drop. With a thud Solomon fell to the ground, confused and relieved. The trio, befuddled, looked for the reason why, and down there, in between the monster’s thighs, on its crotch, was Grumpy hanging, his teeth firmly clenched onto the monster’s jewels through its red stained pants.

“Ahhhhhh!”

In great pain, the monster let out anguished screams as it wildly flailed about, turning its surroundings into thick clouds of dust and air while shattered bits of the ground scattered. Taking the opportunity, Farah took the risk and ran to were Solomon and Sarah was.

The twins hugged, and turning to Grumpy, they slightly bowed as they thanked him in their hearts. Then after a second, the three made a run for it, taking the left most door from the doors lined up. 

But then, it suddenly dawned on them that the twins, who were tallest amongst the three of them, were only five and three, while Solomon was barely four and a half feet tall. In comparison, the doors in the castle were easily over fifteen feet in height, making the knobs unreachable. However, unwilling to give up, the three tried to jump for the knob to open it. But instead, as soon as their fingers touched the door, the door faded. 

The three’s eyes opened wide at the sudden disappearance of the giant door before them, but recalling the situation they were in, they quickly shook their shock away, and they began to run again. 

Seeing the mice about to escape, the cyclops steeled itself as it forcefully pulled the dog away from its body. An ear-piercing, anguished scream involuntarily erupted as a fountain of blood spurted from that desperate act. Then as the cyclops threw the dog aside, it bellowed out a roar, and made a run for the children. 

With the booming steps resounding from behind them, the children knew that the cyclops had started towards them again. So in response, the children exerted every fiber of muscle they had in their body as they pushed their legs to its limits, running as fast as they could. All in a desperate attempt to get away from the cyclops. 

That mad chase continued for some time. The children at the front, and a cloud of dust, air, and shattered pieces of the ground, trailing from behind. Normally, the cyclops would have already taken the children by now, but with the incessant bleeding dripping from in between its legs and the excruciating pain, both physical and emotional, of having lost something important, the cyclops moved far slower than normal. 

Eventually the chase led the children high up the castle and into a room. The room wasn’t a dead end, but with the cyclops still some distance away from them, Solomon thought to try something. “You know, since everything in this castle seems to be so big. Suppose there were a ledge right beneath the windows of this castle, then it’ll probably be big enough for us to edge our way through. We have some time, so we can take a peek out the window here and check to see if there’s some path we can use that the Cyclops can’t,” suggested Solomon. “After which, the only question then would be whether there’s some place we could reach from there that’d be completely out of the cyclops’ reach.” 

At his suggestion, the children stuck their heads out of the window. And just as Solomon had mentioned, the ledge was indeed big enough to allow them to comfortably edge their way. Moreover, there was fortunately a platform that could be reached at the end of the ledge. 

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The three nodded to each other, and they all went down the ledge through the window. And slowly, they made their way towards the platform. Halfway through, the heavy steps of the cyclops reached their ears. The group turned their heads towards the direction of the window they came from, and lo and behold, the cyclops was there, sticking its giant, one-eyed head out of the window. 

*Roar!

Saliva splattered towards the children as it bellowed out another roar. Clearly none too pleased at having been made to run all the way with its fatal wound. The children did not know how grave its injuries were, but despite the cyclops’ brutish nature that masked whatever weaknesses it had, it still failed to hide the small trace of exhaustion that appeared on its face. Clearly, it was now on it last. Granted, despite being so weak, the children were no match for it in a head-on fight. But being on the ledge that was only big enough for the children to edge their way, the cyclops had no means of reaching them. So without any fear of danger, Sarah puffed out her chest and gloated over the powerless cyclops.

“I don’t know why you’re chasing after us so desperately, but I’d like to see you try and chase us here, you giant bonehead!” 

A look of frustration appeared on the cyclops’ face as it grunted, and as it searched its surroundings, it looked like it was looking for a way. But knowing there was no way for him to reach them, the children only smirked and continued on their way towards the end of the ledge.

When the three reached the edge of the ledge, they carefully reached out to the platform. The first to go up was Farah, who then helped Sarah up. After which was Solomon’s turn, but just as he was about to go up, the cyclops leapt from the window towards them. The twins’ eyes opened wide as they yelled Solomon’s name. They tried to pull him up quickly but the cyclops managed to reach them before they could. As the cyclops landed, its hands barely managed to hold onto the edge of the platform, hanging right behind Solomon with its figure overlapping his. A look of happiness appeared on the cyclops face at its successful attempt. But that elation was short lived as a look of exhaustion soon took its place. The cyclops tried to fumble for the platform, but losing strength, it sole eye closed itself as its hands let go of the platform. Like that, the brutish monster fell quietly to its end.

The three remained speechless for a while, surprise clearly visible on their faces. Just a moment ago, they believed that no matter what the cyclops tried it wouldn’t be able to reach them. But then just as they were about to escape, the cyclops leapt, and all of the sudden it was a hair’s breadth away. At that moment, their breaths had surely stopped. Yet not long after, the monster suddenly lost its remaining strength, and it fell to its last. This roller coaster of events left the three in a whirlpool of emotions, leaving them breathless and dazed. It was not till a few minutes later that their stupor passed, and Farah broke the silence.

“Well… that wasn’t too bad, was it?”

The other two only shook their heads as they chuckled. At that, Farah chuckled too. And not long after, the three of them broke out into full laughter. 

Afterwards, the three made their way through the platform, eventually stumbling upon what looked like violet patterns on the floor, drawn in a circle. Having played plenty of games themselves, the three thought something might happen were they to step over it. So without much expectation, the three nonchalantly stepped inside the circle of violet patterns. 

In the next instant, the children suddenly found themselves standing over a similar pattern on a platform high above the skies. 

“Woaaaah!”

Thoroughly elated, Solomon jumped and darted about in his excitement. The twins couldn’t help but stare blankly at Solomon as this was their first time seeing him so excited since meeting him. After a while, Solomon finally simmered down after realizing that the twins were staring at him. His eyes still continued to sparkle though. 

“W-Well there seems to be a path ahead, so shall we go now, Solomon?” 

A bit unsure on how to approach the overtly excited Solomon, Farah awkwardly suggested that. With a nod, the three made their way through the platform, eventually finding themselves in a large room with several glowing violet patterns here and there, the familiar dragon pattern at the center, a pedestal on top of it, and a colossal double door that was several times bigger than any of the doors they’ve seen so far standing right behind it. 

The three walked up to the pedestal, and on it they saw a glowing violet book shut tight with chains wrapped around it. When the book entered Solomon’s vision, desire flickered within his eyes. And as if in a trance, he immediately went to grab it. 

“What are you doing?” asked Sarah.

“Trying to get it, obviously. A book locked deep inside a castle at the bottom of an abyss filled with monsters is bound to be something amazing,” replied Solomon as he continued to try to get the book.

The twins just looked at each other, one raising her eyebrow, the other shaking her head, while Solomon struggled with the book that wouldn’t budge. And in the continuing struggle between Solomon and the book, the pressure he exerted eventually bit him back as his hands ended up grazing against the chains as his hands slipped, cutting him, and causing blood to drip onto the book and the chains. 

“Great! Now you’re bleeding. Why’re you so fixated with it anyway?” 

Solomon pouted at Sarah’s admonishment, and he shrunk back a little. But at that moment, the blood stained book and chain suddenly erupted into a violet aura. 

“Huh?”

The three muttered that out in unison as the strange behavior of the book came to their attention. 

As the violet glow of the book grew brighter, the book began to float in midair. Then the chains surrounding it began to uncoil itself, scattering the chains in the air. The seemingly infinite chains floated along with the book as it continued to uncoil itself. At the same time, the little blood that had been shed on it, quickly crawled through all the chains, dying it all in red. Then at the flicker of its violet aura, the blood began to burn a hue of crimson. As that flame slowly burned away, it slowly turned violet until eventually it faded, and the chains turned into chains of violet light, glowing brightly along with the book. Then in an instant, half the chains of light shattered like glass while the rest retreated into the book, disappearing as if it had never existed. As the glowing violet patterns in the room dimmed, a look of glee and excitement appeared on Solomon’s face, and he immediately went to grab the now unchained book that’s still floating in the air. When his fingers met with it, the colossal door suddenly began to open. And at the same time, an ancient voice resounded from behind them.

“That went better than expected.” 

With the book in his hands, Solomon turned around along with the twins. Greeting them was that familiar canine figure, standing there by the entrance. 

The dog had courageously fought for its masters. It had toiled, it had bled, and now it returns, safe and alive, a hero. A noble story of courage, sacrifice, and love. One for the storybooks to be told for ages to come. Yet not one word of laud was uttered, not one verse of praise was sung, only the children’s cautious gazes greeted it. 

The moment the children saw him, a look of surprise had appeared on their faces. Then quickly, that changed to happiness. But not long after, their expressions turned to bewilderment with a hint of caution. And Solomon’s gaze in particular was conspicuously apprehensive.

When the children had reached the bottom of the abyss it was thanks to that light that protected them, allowing them to safely fall down. But what about Grumpy? When the group was falling, Solomon had only spoken out of optimism for Grumpy’s welfare, not truly knowing the dog’s fate. But when they woke up, Grumpy was somehow safe and unharmed, barking about in front of the giant door. Solomon noticed the dog as soon as he had woken up, but almost immediately after, his attention was taken by the giant door. Then when the twins woke up, they only patted Grumpy, a little surprised that he managed to make it down. But without having thought much of it, they went to Solomon who was standing in front of the open door, dazed. After which, the rest of their attention was then taken by the castle and the ensuing events. In other words, aside from a passing thought of, “Oh, you’re alive!” none of them had bothered to think deeply on Grumpy reaching the bottom! 

Granted, the three never truly had the luxury to do so as they were thrust into one thing after another. Their attentions were taken time and time again by all the unusual events, and before they knew it, they were being chased by a one-eyed monster. With barely any time to catch their breaths, they can’t really be faulted for not suspecting their canine friend. Besides, who would suspect such a harmless looking fellow? However, the situation now was quite different. Because right now the dog standing before them that looked very much like Grumpy had just spoken. And its expression was not a friendly one. 

Gulping, Farah asked, “Grumpy?” doubt in her words, she continued, “D-Did you just talk?”

Then suddenly, the dog opened its mouth. And out of it came flying a shadowy, burning skeleton, rocketing towards Solomon. As clouds of black shadow trailed behind it, an ancient voice echoed, “Now, give me your body!”