Re: Floor 12 - going down the stairs
When she darted out in front of the creature, Diego felt his heart stop. No, that's not what he wanted at all! Blood rushed past his ears as he watched the cyclops begin to lumber towards her, clicking its menacing claws and snapping its jaws together. However, he didn't freeze. He couldn't freeze. Just a moment's pause could mean her death. And he wasn't about to let that happen.
As the cyclops focused its one eye on Cinderella as she kicked the sand and waved her arms in an enormously distracting display, Diego ran out from behind the metal beam, saber held stiffly at his side. The creature didn't see him, its attention focused solely on the young woman. Diego made a beeline for its legs, and though the top of his head reached only three-quarters of the way up its shin, he readied his saber and plunged it between two of the armor-like plates covering its massive foot.
The cyclops let out a tremendous shriek that shook the metal beams of the gutted ship, and for a moment Diego feared that he'd be rendered deaf by the noise. However, he kept his wits enough to pull the saber from the cyclops' foot and run to the other, giving it the same treatment.
Hurt and confused, the creature stumbled forward, buckling as it tried to rest its weight on two injured feet. With a shriek, it fell, swiping through the air as it went. When it had finally fallen, a plume of sand enshrouded the beach. Its feet and hands were waving wildly, dangerous claws clicking and grasping for Diego. He dodged as best he could, though was knocked off his feet several times as he ran about the creature, stabbing it over and over in every place he could reach.
As he moved to stab the creature in the neck, he felt a tremor run up his arms. The saber plunged into its flesh, causing it to scream wildly. Its razor-like claws cut through the air as it reached for him. Diego was taken by surprise and flung through the air, arcing over the beach before skidding to a halt just feet from Cinderella. With a groan, he sat up, feeling the draft left when the creature's claws sliced his shirt - and a portion of his abdomen - in two.
Holding his head, Diego stood shakily, looking over at the girl. "Are you alright?" he asked, cringing as the cyclops let out a final cry. It was full of dread and hate, anger and sadness. And finally, there was nothing. The creature lay in the sand, motionless.
That sick feeling came back again. The world melted and twisted, and within moments, they were standing in Bellum Letale, on the stairwell just outside the eleventh floor. It was as if they had never left.
Gasping, Diego looked around, finding Cinderella and instinctively grabbing onto her arms. "Are you alright?" he demanded, breathless and wheezing. Though he felt as if he had never left the building, his skin was dotted with the same sweat that had risen when he saw the cyclops. Thin rivulets of blood leaked down his abdomen from the slice across it, but he wasn't about to acknowledge his aches and pains yet. "Cinderella, were you hurt?" he asked, shaking her slightly.