Jerah paused, considering. “That certainly seems possible. The only question is why the beast would have gone beyond the boundary, where it knew it was protected.”
“There's more coming,” Kade interrupted, quickly moving his sword up into a ready stance. “Four or five. Hear them?”
Florian could hear them now that he'd pointed them out: hisses and yowls that were steadily growing louder. He reached for his sword, but Jerah grabbed him by the wrist.
“Stay back,” Jerah said, stepping in front of him. “There, Kade!” He pointed, and Florian saw the creatures emerging from the rocks around them, a group of five large feline forms. One, bigger than the rest, was hissing and spitting as it took a few more steps toward them, the others following. Now that he could see their fur—and it was fur, not the thick hides of the other creatures he'd seen in the Blight—they did look very much like bobcats, only larger and the same shade of reddish-brown all over.
For a moment they all stood perfectly still, both groups seeming to wait and see what the other would do—then with a screech the largest cat leapt toward them, and the others followed. With a shout Kade swung at the closest one. It screamed as he cleaved into its side, swiping at him with its claws glinting in the light; but the sword knocked it back before it could make contact, and it collapsed in the dirt. Two more were right behind, and they turned to rush at Jerah.
Florian drew his sword—Jerah unable to stop him this time—and ran up to meet one of the attackers.
“I told you to stay back!” Jerah snapped, but he was already bringing his own sword down on the other cat.
“I can help!” Florian exclaimed in response, slashing wildly at his own foe. It lunged to bite him, but he jumped back just before its flashing teeth caught his leg—its claws surged forward even quicker, though, catching him near his ankle. He yelped in pain, but brought his sword down hard on the cat, driving the point several inches into the top of its neck. With a gurgled screech, it fell limply away. He kicked it further from him, wincing at the sting in his leg—already he could feel blood seeping through his pants.
“What did I tell you?” Jerah chided, kneeling next to him to inspect the wound. Scowling, Florian was silent as he pulled the cloth up. “We're trying to protect you, Florian, but you won't make it easy by running into the fray.”
“Then what was all the training for? I can fight,” he muttered. Jerah sighed, but did not respond, instead pressing his hand to the three thick slash marks that curved from the back of his calf down almost to the top of his foot. He muttered softly under his breath, and Florian felt the familiar, tingling magic touch his skin, soothing away most of the sting as the skin started to knit back together.
“I know you can,” Jerah finally replied, standing back up with a sigh. “But not as well as us. That's just the truth. I need you to be able to defend yourself, but that's only if something happens that makes me or Kade unable to protect you.” A sterner expression crossed his face. “So you need tolistenwhen I tell you to stay back, alright?”
He wanted to protest that he could fight, that hewantedto fight, that he could take care of himself. But across from them Kade, wholly unscathed, had already sheathed his sword, having killed the three cat creatures in the time it took him to handle one.
“Fine,” he muttered, sheathing his own sword and turning away. He could feel his father's gaze linger on him for a moment, but Jerah didn't press. He sheathed his weapon and started walking toward Kade.
“All set?” he asked, and Kade must have nodded in his usual way because Jerah immediately called out to him, “Come on, Florian. Let's find the Arrow and get out of here, alright?”
He followed, and they walked away from the creatures, heading further down the path until they reached the crumbling walls of the ruined city.
