Voxyn fought for his life. When he heard that the Cyclops had been roused, he immediately called for his brothers to assist him. Two mermen clung to the beast’s arms, hoping to keep them occupied while Voxyn attacked the midriff. The Cyclops was stronger but they fought with a passion previously unseen. One merman screamed as the beast cast him away into the pool. The other gnawed at the flesh of the right arm. Voxyn continued to harangue the torso, riddling it with blows, strong enough to kill a man. But this was no man they were up against. The others attacked again, from behind this time, one grasping the neck and squeezing with all of his might. The other succeeded with the arm, biting through to the bone. The monster reared up on his legs and fell back onto the eastern shore, crushing one of the mermen underneath him as he fell. Voxyn’s anger grew to rage as he saw his brother lying broken at the edge of the pool. Voxyn made a decision and went for the eye. Climbing onto the body of the disoriented beast, he placed his hand on the eye and dug his fingers into the flesh around it. The Cyclops screamed an almighty roar, flailing at the two mermen on top of him. Voxyn wouldn’t let go. He clutched at the eyeball, straining to pull it free of its socket. The Cyclops managed to get his left hand on the other’s neck. With one giant twist, he snapped it, leaving the body to flop into the water, dead. Voxyn had little time left. Placing his other hand on the eyeball, he pulled with a massive strength. The tendons ripped as the eye came loose from the head. The force threw him against the river bank. It was huge, fitting neatly into his two palms. Then he felt hands gripping his shoulders, pulling him upwards onto the shore. The castle guards had rushed to the pool edge and hauled him to safety. The right hand of the merman was clenched tightly to the eye, the fingers and thumb sunken into the membrane. But Voxyn felt something inside – something hard. Ripping at the disgusting flesh that still clung to the organ, he tore at it, looking for the core. What he found astonished everyone. Inside the Cyclops’s eye was a massive, glistening diamond!