Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [155]
“Hang in there, we’re coming for you!” Kee Keema shouted, bounding down the rocks with surprising agility for his size. The black cyclops pulled the spear out of its arm, and heaved it back toward the waterkin. Kutz reacted quickly and knocked the spear to the ground with a crack of her whip. Trone threw a second spear, which successfully grazed the monster’s giant eye.
“Hah! We’ll cut you down to size!”
Kee Keema dashed up to Wataru, and covered him with his arms. He then swung his axe like a hammer thrower in the Olympics, and scattered the cloud of tiny attacking hands.
“H-how did you know where I was?” Wataru asked, dizzy with relief and excitement.
“You don’t think I can’t second-guess what you’re up to?” Kutz snapped. She jumped from her rocky perch, and knocking aside one of the creature’s giant fins, she did a flip in midair to land by the side of the lake. Without even looking, she sensed the floating white arm lurching through the air for her throat. A flick of her whip, and it was knocked aside.
“What is this thing? Something Cactus Vira was worshiping down here?”
“Or maybe it’s what Cactus Vira himself became,” Trone said, slowly moving into position, his third throwing spear aimed at the giant eye.
“Who cares? Let’s take it down,” Kutz spat, wrapping her whip around the black hand this time, flinging it against the wall. The arm made a distinct splat and fell to the ground limp as a discarded rag.
The edge of the lake was now littered with hands—victims of Wataru’s sword and Kee Keema’s axe. There were so many of them, in fact, that it was hard to walk without stepping on one. Kutz and Trone stood alert, facing the towering black creature by the side of the lake.
The creature’s eye, red and bloodshot, rolled back and forth. Then, with great effort, it blinked.
When the eye opened, the water of the lake began to stir. The monster’s robes fell from his body and into the water. Wataru and the others could do nothing but stand and stare.
Now totally exposed, the creature looked like something not quite man and not quite fish. Armor-like scales covered its torso, and giant fins protruded from its side.
With its good arm, the one-eyed giant tore the remains of the robe from its head, revealing two long horns. Wataru instantly thought of the image he had seen painted on the wall of the tunnel.
Then the skin beneath that great eye split into a hideous maw. The creature pursed its lips as though to whistle, puffed out its cheeks, and spat a great ball of fire.
“Look out!”
Trone and Kutz dodged to the side. The flaming balls smacked into the wall, sending rocks crumbling to the ground. That thing exploded like a missile! Wataru tried to run to help Kutz, but the shockwave knocked him off his feet.
The second fireball flew toward Kee Keema. He dodged just in the nick of time, shouting, “Yowch! That’s hot!” despite himself.
“Enough of this!” Trone roared, fixing his aim—when another fireball flew straight at him.
“Gah! What is this thing?”
As they ran, they did their best to avoid all the fireballs and falling rocks. The creature lunged at them, using its sharp fins as weapons. Kee Keema lifted his axe to block one, and the head of his weapon was sliced clean off. It was like fighting a flying guillotine.
Now on the defensive, the small team secured its position, and began fighting back. Robbed of his weapon, Kee Keema picked up chunks of rock and hurled them at the giant’s eye.
The creature’s weak point was obviously its eye. Wataru’s friends had realized this early on. Every one of their attacks had been aimed at that single unblinking sphere. Unfortunately, the creature triumphantly knocked aside every frontal attack they threw at him. Wataru, for his part, tried to distract the monster so his friends could score a decisive blow.
But the creature never looked at him. Its fins continued to lash out, often slicing through the air inches above Wataru’s head, but the eye never turned away. Instead, it remained fixed on the rocks at the edge of the lake—right where the Highlanders stood.