Does The Eye Eat Food?

I cast myself to the side. With a slam, a giant leg embeds itself in the very place where I stood just a moment ago.

"Elizabeth, now!"

Elizabeth's shadow crosses over me as she jumps past me, her sword aimed at the leg. With one fluid motion, she slashes directly through one of its many knuckles.

The greater monster's eye is lifted high into the air. It may be the most obvious weak point I've ever seen, but reaching it is no easy feat. Now that we've been pushed back into close-quarters combat, most of my spells are pointless. Their sheer power would end up injuring Elizabeth, and possibly even myself.

"Ailomolliex!"

Casting the spell, I feel my entire body become light and agile, though there's a slight strain on something deeper. Jumping back as Elizabeth keeps it in check, I scan the monster, getting an overview of its current state.

We've managed to remove quite a few of its legs now, but it's still managing to keep its eye out of our reach. I glance out at the ends of its long limbs.

Hm, there. There. And... there. That one, too.

I point out four legs, which seem to be providing the creature with the most structural integrity.

"Got it," Elizabeth responds, aiming her blade towards the three on the right.

Slicing off one of its knuckles causes the creature to stagger slightly. The massive eye swivels around to face Elizabeth, who's already on her way to the next leg. She raises her blade, but with a sudden movement of its body, one of its legs comes cracking down on her.

Without a moments hesitation, I cast "Equeralliex," and a thick, see-through barrier appears above Elizabeth's head. With a loud snapping sound, the leg slams into the barrier at full speed, causing several of its knuckles to shatter from the impact.

While the many knuckles provide a lot of freedom of movement to the monster, it leaves its individual legs relatively weak. I suppose that's why it has evolved to have so many.

The monster is thrown off balance as Elizabeth dices another leg.

Only two structurally critical legs remaining. One for each of us.

Reaching for my only close-range attack spell, I cast "Suleiynert." I heave a small breath after casting the spell.

Unlike the placement of the barrier spell, the exact placement of the spikes is hard to control. Two legs apart from the one I was aiming for are penetrated. Finally, a particularly long spike goes straight up through its foot, splitting the leg in two.

The remaining legs under the creature start to crumble under its weight. With one swift movement, Elizabeth cuts the last stable leg in half. The greater monster trembles, its massive eye quivering rapidly as it gets closer to the cave floor.

Finally stopping to get a good look at it, I notice that the eye is bloodshot. Red veins stretch across it from the back. It's a weirdly comforting sight.

I realize that my breath is unsteady. And not just because of the high adrenaline. This is something else.

How... many spells did I cast, again? Quite a lot... wasn't it?

Shit, this isn't ideal.

Using this much mana in such a short time is tiring me out. I got so caught up in all this, I forgot that my body is barely 16 now. It might be a hell of a lot better than 14, but having this much mana passing through my body is too demanding.

I brought us into this fight. I can't just pass out now.

Better make my spells count.

"I'll distract it! Once it's focused on me, slice out the iris," I exclaim.

"Got it," Elizabeth shouts back.

I take a breath and cast "Rogsfulnert." Above me, a fireball of immense heat and power begins to form. I've created it above me as I could, but I still feel the area heating up.

As expected, the eye rolls around to face the extreme heat. It was able to block before, but it has lost a lot of legs now, not to mention its stability. The fireball is the most immediate threat to its life. It also happens to be the most immediate threat to my life, as it quickly starts turning the cave into an oven.

If we don't get this done quickly, both Elizabeth and I will be dog food. Or eye food, I guess. Does the eye eat food? How does that work?

Wait, what?? Focus! Shit, the high heat is already getting to me.

I try to remember at what temperature brain function begins to degrade, but I can't. How ironic. Is that what irony is? Stop. It doesn't matter.

"Hurry up, Elizabeth!"

One of my knees buckles and fails. The scorching heat from above seems to carve itself into my scalp. The fireball is supposed to be fired once it reaches full size. It isn't supposed to be kept in place like this.

I seem to be melting, sweat dripping off of me, exhaustion setting in.

I reach for the manacaster to switch spells. Maybe a barrier spell will at least help deflect the direct heat away from me.

"Argh!"

With a jolt of pain, I whip my hand away from it. The metal is white hot. It must be burning me where it's attached to my arm, but I can barely feel it.

I can barely feel anything anymore.

I can barely feel anything.