The forest fell silent.
Then—
The Tikbalang prepared to moved.
Its massive left leg shifted forward.
Jack's eyes widened.
Instinct took over.
Both of his arms tightened.
At the same time, his legs snapped around the Tikbalang's leg, locking himself against it.
Across from him—
Thomas reacted just as quickly.
The instant the Tikbalang's other leg pushed off the ground, both of his legs wrapped tightly around it.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither of them planned it.
Their bodies simply understood.
If they didn't clamp themselves to the Tikbalang...
They would be left behind, or worse, get dragged.
Above them…
Mia tightened both her arms and both her legs around the Tikbalang's upper arm.
The muscles beneath her tensed.
Then—
The Tikbalang exploded forward.
Oliver pushed himself off the ground.
His ribs hurt.
His arms ached.
For a few seconds, he was lost in thoughts.
Wondering where it all went wrong.
His leap.
His timing.
The opening he thought he saw.
It had all been perfect.
Except for one thing.
A memory suddenly hit him.
The crouch.
The impossible, unnatural crouch.
The way the Tikbalang had lowered its entire body far beyond what any normal creature should have been able to do.
Oliver's eyes widened.
"...I forgot."
He hadn't been outsped.
He hadn't been blocked.
The Tikbalang hadn't even needed to watch him.
It had simply known.
Jack and Thomas climbing its legs.
Mia reaching for its upper body.
Oliver using them as a springboard.
The entire plan had a predictable final step.
And the Tikbalang had remembered the one thing they hadn't.
It could crouch.
The realization left a bitter taste in Oliver's mouth.
Their plan wasn't bad.
Their timing wasn't bad.
They had simply underestimated the creature they were trying to tame.
The Tikbalang didn't just have speed.
It had intelligence.
It had the body to do things no human could.
He looked up.
Only to watch the forest erupt into motion.
The Tikbalang wasn't simply running.
It was weaving.
One moment it sprinted straight ahead.
The next, it carved into an impossibly sharp turn.
Jack and Thomas were thrown nearly horizontal.
Mia slammed against the Tikbalang's shoulder.
Before any of them could recover; the Tikbalang planted a hoof.
Twisted.
Then burst off in another direction.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Every turn sharper than the last.
The world became a blur.
Trees streaked past.
Leaves exploded into the air.
The wind roared against their faces.
Jack couldn't focus on anything except the leg beneath him.
Thomas' vision bounced violently with every stride.
Above them—
Mia felt as though the entire forest had become one continuous streak of green.
She wasn't hanging on to attack anymore.
She was hanging on simply to stay attached.
Another violent turn.
Her body lurched.
She squeezed tighter.
Then—
She saw it.
The Tikbalang's dark mane whipped wildly behind its neck.
Hidden among the countless black strands...
A few thin hairs shimmered like gold beneath the sunlight.
Her heart skipped.
They're right there...
Barely an arm's length away.
She slowly loosened one hand.
Just a little.
The Tikbalang suddenly changed direction again.
The force slammed into her.
Her body swung violently away from its arm.
Her remaining hand screamed under the strain.
Her legs slipped.
For one horrifying moment—
She felt herself falling.
Mia immediately grabbed the Tikbalang with both hands again.
Her breathing became uneven.
"..."
She couldn't.
Not while it was moving like this.
She stared at the few golden strands dancing through the dark mane.
So close.
Close enough to touch.
Yet completely out of reach.
Then...
Everything clicked.
The stories never said to exhaust a Tikbalang because it would stop fighting.
They said to exhaust it, before you can take a golden strand.
Because only an exhausted Tikbalang would slow down enough for someone to reach the golden strands.
It had never been about strength.
It had always been about speed.
The realization had barely settled into Mia's mind—
When the Tikbalang accelerated again.
Its powerful legs dug into the earth.
The surrounding trees blurred even further.
The few golden strands vanished behind a curtain of whipping black hair.
Mia buried her face against its shoulder.
She no longer dared to free a hand.
Not yet.
Below—
Jack's fingers were beginning to fail him.
Every violent turn stretched his arms to their limit.
Every sudden burst of speed felt like it was trying to peel him away from the Tikbalang's leg.
His forearms burned.
His shoulders screamed.
His grip slipped.
He tightened it again.
Across from him, Thomas wasn't in any better condition.
His knees ached from squeezing so tightly.
His breathing had become ragged.
His hands trembled uncontrollably.
Another sharp turn.
His fingers nearly came loose.
He forced them back into place.
I... can't...
Then—
Jack looked upward.
Mia.
She was still there.
Still wrapped around the Tikbalang's upper arm.
Still dangerously close to the few golden strands hidden within its dark mane.
Thomas also instinctively looked upward.
He saw it too.
She was closer than any of them had ever been.
For a brief moment...
Neither of them thought about themselves.
If they let go—
The Tikbalang would lose two people.
It would become lighter.
It would become faster.
And Mia...
Might never get another chance to reach those golden strands.
Jack tightened his grip.
Thomas locked both legs harder around the Tikbalang's leg.
No words were exchanged.
None were needed.
Their role had changed.
They weren't trying to climb anymore.
They weren't trying to attack.
They were simply trying to become weight.
Every extra kilogram the Tikbalang had to carry...
Every extra burst of speed it had to maintain...
Every extra turn while dragging all three of them...
Would cost it stamina.
It wasn't much.
But it was all they could give Mia.
Jack gritted his teeth.
Thomas closed his eyes for a split second.
Neither of them let go.
Meanwhile, Oliver sprinted across the forest floor.
His eyes swept over the battlefield.
Jack's sword.
Only a few strides away.
Oliver scooped it up without slowing.
Just beside it, Mia's sword rested among crushed ferns where she had abandoned it before leaping onto the Tikbalang.
Oliver grabbed it with his free hand.
Two down.
Farther ahead—
Thomas' sword still stood embedded in the ground.
Exactly where the Tikbalang had driven it earlier.
Oliver wrapped both hands around the hilt.
With a sharp pull—
The blade came free.
He immediately slid it into the empty scabbard hanging from his belt.
His own scabbard.
Its rightful owner still remained buried in the distant tree.
Oliver glanced toward it.
His sword was still lodged deep in the trunk.
"..."
"...You'll have to wait."
He tightened his grip on Jack's sword in one hand...
Mia's sword in the other...
He Checked that Thomas' sword was secure at his waist...
Then broke into another sprint after the Tikbalang.
He wasn't chasing it to fight.
He wasn't chasing it for another chance to become the designated rider.
His teammates had entrusted everything to the plan.
The least he could do...
Was make sure they had their swords back if they fell to the ground.