The Tikbalang charged.
The forest blurred.
Its hooves tore through the earth, scattering soil behind it like an explosion.
Thomas didn't blink.
"Hold!"
The monster closed the distance.
Twenty meters.
Ten.
Five.
Then—
Its body leaned sharply.
Instead of crashing into their formation...
It swept around them.
"It's circling!" Jack shouted.
"Outward!" Thomas barked immediately.
The four moved as one.
Without breaking the diamond, each of them pivoted away from the center.
Thomas guarded the front.
Oliver watched the left.
Mia covered the right.
Jack turned toward their rear.
Back to back.
Four students.
Four directions.
The Tikbalang never completed the circle.
Halfway around...
It abruptly changed direction.
Its massive frame pivoted with impossible precision.
One moment it thundered toward Jack's side.
The next...
It sprinted toward Mia.
Before reaching her...
It veered away again.
Then Thomas.
Then Oliver.
Its path was impossible to predict.
It wasn't running circles.
It was constantly changing its angle of attack.
The pounding of hooves echoed from every direction.
Then—
The Tikbalang exploded from Thomas's side.
A claw swept toward his neck.
CLANG!
Thomas intercepted it.
The impact reverberated through his arm.
Before he could even think about counterattacking—
The creature had already retreated into the trees.
Another blur.
Mia's side.
CLANG!
She barely managed to intercept the swipe.
The force pushed her back half a step.
Again...
The Tikbalang disappeared.
Jack's side.
A claw shot toward his ribs.
CLANG!
His sword caught it.
The impact forced him backward.
By the time he recovered...
Nothing.
Only the sound of retreating hooves.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Oliver frowned.
"...Again."
The pattern repeated.
Another swipe.
Another retreat.
Another direction.
Thomas.
Mia.
Jack.
Oliver.
Always one attack.
Always one retreat.
Never giving them the chance to pursue.
Never lingering long enough for another sword to reach it.
The students began adapting.
Not consciously.
Instinctively.
The moment the claw struck...
They expected it to withdraw.
Again.
Thomas blocked.
The Tikbalang retreated.
Again.
Jack blocked.
The Tikbalang retreated.
Again.
Mia blocked.
The Tikbalang vanished into the forest.
Oliver tightened his grip.
His injured nerves screamed each time steel collided with claw.
Don't panic.
Wait.
Don't swing early.
The burning eyes found him again.
Watching.
Measuring.
Another blur.
Straight toward him.
Oliver steadied his breathing.
Closer...
The claw flashed.
Now.
CLANG!
Steel met claw.
The impact numbed both of his hands.
The Tikbalang landed.
Then...
Just like every attack before...
It turned around.
Its broad back faced the students.
Oliver watched it take a stride into the forest.
It's retreating.
His shoulders loosened.
Only slightly.
The Tikbalang's torso suddenly twisted.
Not its legs.
Not its feet.
Only its upper body.
Its spine bent with impossible flexibility.
A second claw whipped backward.
"What—?!"
CLANG!
The strike slammed directly into Oliver's sword.
The impact tore the weapon from his grasp.
The academy sword spun high into the air.
The Tikbalang continued running into the forest.
It didn't even glance back.
"Oliver!"
Thomas shouted.
The sword was still falling.
The Tikbalang had retreated before the weapon touched the ground.
Oliver's instincts took over.
He lunged.
One step.
Two—
A shadow erupted from above.
The Tikbalang burst from the canopy.
It had never fled.
It had merely changed its route.
Its body cut diagonally through the air.
One claw caught the falling sword before gravity could reclaim it.
Without landing...
It twisted once.
And threw.
The academy sword became a silver streak.
THUNK!
The blade buried itself deep into the trunk of a tree roughly ten meters away.
The hilt trembled violently.
Silence.
Oliver slowly lowered his outstretched hand.
His sword stood embedded in the tree.
Close enough to see.
Close enough to reach...
Only if the Tikbalang wasn't standing between him and it.
The creature landed softly.
Its burning eyes remained fixed on Oliver.
Almost amused.
Oliver stared at his empty hand.
Then sighed.
"...Well."
Nobody spoke.
He forced a crooked smile.
"I guess I'm the designated rider."
Nobody laughed.
Not because Oliver's joke wasn't funny.
But because every one of them had arrived at the same conclusion.
Thomas never took his eyes off the Tikbalang.
"Formation change."
The order came immediately.
"Jack, move in."
Jack didn't hesitate.
He stepped toward the center.
Oliver backed away.
Thomas shifted to the point.
Mia mirrored his movement.
Within seconds...
The diamond collapsed.
Three students remained on the perimeter.
Oliver stood behind them.
Protected.
A triangle.
Three swords.
One rider.
Jack glanced at Thomas.
"You sure?"
Thomas nodded once.
"You already gave us everything."
His gaze never left the Tikbalang.
"Now we protect the one who has to use it."
Oliver scratched the back of his head with his uninjured hand.
"...No pressure."
Still...
No one smiled.
Because Thomas wasn't joking.
Jack's role was over.
Oliver's had just begun.
The Tikbalang remained motionless.
Its burning eyes studied the new formation.
Its horse-like ears twitched.
Then...
It lowered itself.
Its unnaturally long legs folded beneath its body.
Even crouching...
Its knees still rose above its head.
Oliver swallowed.
"...Why does it keep doing that?"
No one answered.
The ground exploded.
The Tikbalang vanished.
"There!"
Thomas shouted.
It burst from Mia's side.
CLANG!
She barely intercepted the claw.
The force drove her backward.
Before Thomas could counter—
The creature disappeared again.
Another blur.
Jack's side.
CLANG!
His sword shook violently.
Again.
It withdrew.
Oliver clenched his fists.
Without a weapon...
There was nothing he could do.
His eyes darted toward the sword embedded in the tree.
Ten meters.
It looked so close.
Too close.
He hated it.
The Tikbalang had placed it there deliberately.
A constant reminder.
Another attack.
Thomas blocked.
Another retreat.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Minutes passed.
The rhythm never changed.
Strike.
Disappear.
Strike.
Disappear.
Every defender's arms grew heavier.
Thomas' breathing deepened.
Mia's shoulders slowly dropped lower after each impact.
Jack's wrists ached from absorbing blow after blow.
Meanwhile...
The Tikbalang looked exactly the same.
Its breathing hadn't changed.
Its movements remained perfectly smooth.
Not a single motion was wasted.
Jack gritted his teeth.
"...This isn't good."
Thomas answered between breaths.
"I know."
"We're slowing down."
No one denied it.
They all felt it.
Every block came a little later.
Every recovery took a little longer.
Every heartbeat seemed louder than the last.
Oliver looked from one teammate to another.
They weren't losing because they lacked courage.
They weren't making mistakes.
They were simply...
Getting tired.
His stomach sank.
"...Thomas."
"What?"
"...Can we actually do this?"
Silence.
Thomas didn't answer immediately.
His sword remained raised.
His eyes followed another blur through the trees.
Finally—
"I don't know."
It was the first time.
The first time Thomas had admitted uncertainty.
Jack felt his chest tighten.
Even Thomas...
Had stopped saying "we can win."
The Tikbalang emerged again.
This time...
It didn't attack.
It merely walked.
Slowly.
Almost lazily.
Its burning eyes swept across the four students.
Stopping briefly on each of them.
Thomas.
Mia.
Jack.
Oliver.
Its gaze lingered.
As if memorizing them.
Judging them.
Then...
It took a single step backward.
And vanished into the trees once more.
Oliver frowned.
"...What was that?"
Jack didn't answer.
Something about it...
Felt wrong.
The creature wasn't rushing anymore.
It didn't need to.
For the first time...
Jack realized something that sent a chill down his spine.
The Tikbalang wasn't the one under pressure.
They were.
Every second this continued...
The gap between them only grew wider.
The Tikbalang could keep attacking forever.
They couldn't keep defending forever.
Jack slowly tightened his grip.
"...Thomas."
"...Yeah?"
"...I think..."
Another blur.
The Tikbalang burst from the trees.
Thomas barely caught the strike.
CLANG!
The impact nearly forced him to one knee.
The creature disappeared again.
Jack stared after it.
"...It isn't making an opening."
Thomas looked over.
"What?"
Jack swallowed.
His voice came out barely above a whisper.
"...It's waiting for us to make one."