Some of the attacking plants had flowers with moon-blade petals. Once the sky titan was lower, the other plants pounced and launched their vines. The flowers dug into the beast to pull it down with the others.
Amazed, the muse floated out of the water. The forest had helped in the past, but never like this. After ruling the forest for weeks, it was amazing to watch the beast be pulled down into it. The muse had not even lifted a finger to help.
The titan was not going to go down easily. The free tentacles wrapped around the plants, gripping and squeezing them. A large mass bulged from its skin. An arm reached out of it. Then from the ooze burst a massive spider with the torso and arms of a muscular man and the head of a dragon. The beast breathed fire and brought its huge fists down upon the flytraps like hammers. One by one, the flytraps released their grip with a pained squeal.
Weapons and armor on, the muse zoomed toward the beast before it had even decided to help. Without a plan, the muse found itself between the huge beast and a flytrap. It held up its shield to block an attack.
Swoosh!
A swipe of the muse’s spear drove the creature back. The monster knocked the muse away to fight the plants. That was when the muse saw the rest of the battle. The other vines were also under attack. New tentacles delivered more monsters to other locations. Some of the plants tried eating them, but the monsters were winning.
The muse needed to help the human, not fight the titan’s monsters. It shot to the forest floor and found the plant with the largest thorns. Then, it hurried to one of the flytrap plants in the battle. It poked a hole in its trunk and then pressed the back of the thorn into it. After a few seconds, the thorn sank into the oversized plant. A few moments later, long, sharp thorns sprouted from all over its trunk. Within a few breaths, the other flytraps also sprouted thorns. Now armed with thorns, the battle shifted back in the forest’s favor.
Flying to the top of the creature before it could catch its breath, the muse looked for where it could be helpful. More of the spider-legged dragon-men were fighting off the moon-bladed plants. The flowers fought to defend themselves, but the monsters poured out endlessly. Hurrying to the forest, the muse slammed into a cliff and placed its hand on the rock. Rising to its feet, the muse pulled the rock with it. A winged rock lion sprouted from the muse’s hand and followed it back up to the titan. It needed no direction from the muse and attacked the beasts all on its own. Soon, more winged rock lions flew in to aid in the battle.
What had been days in the human world had, this time, passed like hours. The beast had been pulled down to the forest floor. It roared and thrashed, desperately trying to escape. The wild winds had died down to a breeze.
Electricity swirled in the muse’s lungs as it took deep breaths. It shot into the sky, but was smacked back down. A tentacle had formed behind it and attacked again before the muse could tell what was going on.
The muse was not crushed. Instead, it opened its eyes. A flytrap had come to its rescue. Flying stone lions joined the fight to defend the muse. With the forest protecting it, the muse flew into the sky again. A plant blocked another attack from the titan. The muse rose into the swirling clouds.
With its teeth gritted, the muse rocketed toward the sky titan. It ripped through the wind. Eyes sparkling with electricity, it left a trail of light behind it. Fist tight, it crashed into the beast with a bolt of lightning. A howl echoed through the forest. The beast’s altitude dropped more, but not enough.
Again, the muse took a deep breath, then flew into the sky. Eyes closed, it gathered the power it needed, trusting the human to keep it safe. Wind and crashing came from all around it. Sometimes, the roar of a lion swept by. When its eyes opened, there were more tentacles and plants in its wake. The muse dropped like a comet for the second time. This time, it smashed into the creature further down its body. Two was not enough.
The muse was now surrounded by a small army of plants and stone lions. Gathering up all the power it could, the muse shot into the air one more time. The third strike brought the beast crashing to the forest floor, whimpering. The forest plants coiled around it and held it down, slowly wrapping it in a cocoon.
It took years for that idea to be reborn and fly away. It turned out the titan was an epic story.
That was the first sky titan to fall at the combined force of the muse and its human. Word spread of a mighty muse with a strong connection to its human. Young muses sought out the mighty muse they had heard could teach them so much. Sometimes, the muse found them exploring the forests. It would greet them all the same way.
“Blessings, little muse.”