The Outcasts

Chapter Four - Erin

Sunday, May 24, 2020 - 6:00 pm

A lot can happen in a lifetime. A lot can also happen in 23 minutes. In Erin's case, she was dealing with the latter.

It was nothing but a regular monster fight. A cyclops was following her and her sister, Danielle, through the forest they were currently residing in. Erin had directed the beast away from her older sibling, calling for it to 'catch me if you can', before dashing through the trees.

Lord knows she could hold her own. Erin was confident she wouldn't get hurt during this small fight; this cyclops wasn't much larger than the average semi-truck. Which, sure he was big, but not the biggest threat she'd faced by a long shot.

The cyclops ran after Erin, making loud grunting noises as he did. Erin did a quick analysis, noting the large, smelly monster's battle tactics and weaknesses. He was moving slowly and incredibly clumsily, but the force and strength he had was much more intense than anything Erin could ever match in hand-to-hand combat. She'd have to think of a different strategy.

"Come on, Zhou. Think, think," Erin muttered to herself.

Taking in her surroundings - which was nothing more than trees and the muddy ground - Erin started acting on instincts. She had no idea what she was doing, but she trusted her body to keep her alive for the time being.

She was racing through the trees, zig-zagging in all different directions. The cyclops did not find this fun and resorted to throwing a massive branch at Erin.

"Stop running, demigod! Let me eat you!" it roared.

Erin sprung out of the way of the oncoming branch, landing on the forest floor. Brushing herself off as fast as she could, she got right back on her feet. She sprinted around a bush, her mind still unsure of what was happening.

Just when Erin was beginning to lose hope, the trees she passed began increasing in size and density, giving the massive cyclops less space to move around, unlike Erin's small frame.

One of the perks of being small, Erin supposed.

When she could no longer hear the pounding footsteps following her, Erin stopped behind a particularly sizable tree trunk to catch her breath.

"Demigod, where did you go? I can still smell you..." the cyclops said, its voice low and gravely. Erin shuddered as she felt the ground tremble slightly beneath its feet.

Climbing up the tree trunk, Erin pulled one of her daggers out. The celestial bronze dagger itself wasn't very impressive but it did the job, having just been sharpened that morning.

She heard the monster uproot another tree, this one close enough for her to feel the branches whip the trunk of the tree she was hiding behind.

As Erin felt the tree she was residing behind start to move from the force of the cyclops' meaty hands, she leaped from one of the tree branches to another, now in sight of the cyclops.

The cyclops grinned, showing his yellow teeth. "I found you, little demigod," he said and made a move to snatch her up, but Erin was quicker.

She jumped, dagger out and ready. The cyclops' eye widened as Erin reached her destination, the blade plunging into the soft tissue. The cyclops roared with pain, Erin still hanging onto her dagger which was fixed in the giant eye for dear life. She pulled the dagger out, landing on the ground ungracefully. The cyclops raised his foot to stomp on her but exploded into golden dust before he could finish Erin off.

Erin took deep heaving breaths. She closed her eyes, still lying on the forest floor. This was the second monster attack in two days. She needed to get somewhere safe.