“SIYA!” It was like time stopped, I opened my eyes and I could see everything frozen in place. Each individual raindrop was sitting still in the air. My father was soaring through the sky on his horse wielding a massive double-edged ax, swinging it towards the monster.

It was like a switch flipped in my mind as the pounding in my head worsened. I could see the monster's movements like a pattern and calculate everything from speed and trajectory to power. I could even see I would land if a strike hit me. I could read the entire situation as if everything had already happened.

In a split second, time began moving again and I felt a massive surge of adrenaline. My brain began thinking so fast that I couldn't even catch up with it. My father jumped off his horse and swung his ax again, cutting off several vines, but they grew back almost immediately. “Siya! RUN” he yelled.

I tried to stand up but my feet were so numb that when I did I tripped and rolled my ankle. As I hit the ground I began looking around to try and find a boulder, or something I could hide behind, but it was an open field.

In reality, all I had to do was take a step back, after all, bitterweeds can't move, but in a panic, I forgot all about that. Its arms were so long it felt like they would catch me no matter how far away I was. “RUN WHERE!” I screamed, only a sliver of rational thought remained as more calculations filled my head.

I couldn't run towards the castle, as the monster was directly between us, but if I ran backward I'd probably freeze to death. As I looked down at my hands I could already see my fingers turned white. Even the smaller monsters wouldn't die easily until the rain stopped. Besides, what if there were more of them? I knew the fight wouldn't be over quickly.

He slashed at it again but its vines continued to regrow. “TOWARDS THE CASTLE. TAKE THE HORSE”

I tried to stand on my ankle but the pain and lack of feeling made it difficult. Even under normal circumstances, I had a hard time mounting a horse on my own, so that was out of the question. The size difference was too massive. Besides that, the stirrups were set for my father, and he was easily three times my size. I tried my best to listen nonetheless. limping around the monster and moving toward the castle. ‘If I stick to the outside of its range then I'll be fine’

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

I felt a rush of air as a vine whiffed past me. ‘I'm too close!’ The thought shot through my mind like a bullet, coming with another surge of adrenaline. Time paused again and my eyes opened wide. I knew where every attack was going, where it would move, and how its vines would whip.

“SIYA!” I heard my father scream as time began moving forward again.

Jumping off my one good leg, and using an arm to help me, I vaulted the first vine and jumped away, avoiding another. The tip of the second vine nicked me, drawing blood and forcing me to spin, but I regained my balance in time to duck and roll under the final attack. My father moved to cover me and the monster refocused on him, giving me a much-needed breath of air.

I fell back out of its range as the adrenaline in my body began rushing to my head. I was shivering like crazy. Or maybe shaking from the intensity of the situation. Despite the rain not letting up, the sun broke through the clouds. Somehow, seeing that helped me refocus.

“Come on, think,” I told myself. My father was clearly struggling because of its regeneration. ‘It looks like a giant version of a bitterweed, only it can regenerate much quicker and has more vines. Normally, bitterweeds have a magic crystal inside of their mouths. If it's damaged or separated from their body they instantly die, that's why crushing them is so effective. Of course, the easiest way to fight them is to just rip the crystal out because of how weak the attachment is inside their body… That thing's mouth is big enough for me to fit inside whole, if I reached in it would bite off my arm… Wait but, I could fit inside whole right?‘

I paused for a second considering it. It wasn't exactly a good plan or even a sane plan, but it was a plan nonetheless. I looked at my father battling it head-on, continuing to use the same tactic that wasn't working. He got struck by the vines and began to bleed. I knew he was far too stubborn to fight anything without using a head-on approach, and I knew he was going to get injured worse if he kept that up.

“I have a plan,” I muttered. I was starting to get excited. ‘This is it, the adrenaline, the rush of an intense moment where your tactics determine the outcome.’ “I HAVE A PLAN!” I yelled. Nothing bothered me anymore, it was like I was feeling what it was like to be alive for the very first time.

‘The monster only has one row of teeth, it does have a low level acid and poison in its mouth, but it's not that bad. It mostly digests through its stomach after swallowing. Its mouth is so big even my father could fit inside of it whole. I just have to get to it. If I can, I should be able to rip the crystal out.’

I took a deep breath in. My father didn't say anything, he probably didn't hear me, he was too focused on the battle. “Ok, let's go.” My foot was probably in much worse shape than I thought, but with the new rush of adrenaline combined with the numbness of the cold, I felt almost good enough to run on it. Even if it did hurt, pain was nothing new to me. ‘If it ends up being permanently damaged maybe I'll even get some time off from training.’

I looked around, analyzing my path of approach, and read the monster's movements. ‘Oh, I like this.’ It was almost completely focused on my father but its vines whipped violently all around. Because of this, The safest place close to its mouth was easily behind his back, so I quickly moved next to him and waited. As the monster struck him, forcing him back, I rushed in. I ran as fast as I could and lept straight into its mouth, sliding in between its jaws just before it closed them.