Kage lunged for Finn, grabbing a fistful of his hair.
Agony and desperation pulsed through Finn as he desperately searched for something to defend himself with. His fingers closed around the rotting branch of a tree. As Kage dragged him to his feet, Finn swung the branch through the air with fierce determination, connecting with Kage’s cheek.
Kage released him, and Finn staggered back, brandishing the branch.
“Owww!” Kage howled, his hands clasping his jaw.
Finn ran around him toward Ari, stretching his hand out for her, but one of Kage’s friends shoved him away from her.
Kage whirled on him, rage burning in his eyes. Blood dripped from his jaw as he gaped at the red staining his fingers. “You knocked my tooth out!”
Finn held the branch before him like a shield, and when Kage approached, he swung it.
Kage retreated and circled Finn like a predatory wolf.
Finn arced the branch before him so Kage would keep his distance, but Kage grabbed the branch, ripping it from his grasp and tossing it across the glade. “You little dalcop.” He arced his fist, but Finn stepped back just in time, barely avoiding the blow. Finn’s foot caught on the exposed root of a tree, and he crashed to the ground.
Kage kicked him. Pain erupted from Finn’s side.
“Leave him alone!” Ari shouted and struggled to twist her arm from the boy’s hold.
Kage and one friend closed in on Finn like vultures around a carcass, while Kage’s other friend held Ari.
As they attacked, Finn curled his body into a small, tight ball and covered the back of his neck with his hands to dull the blows of Kage’s boots. Finn’s body tensed in anticipation of each impact as Kage continued his onslaught.
“Stop it!” Ari screamed. “You’ll kill him!”
Kage straightened and spat on the ground. “Had enough yet, smithy?”
Finn clutched his side as it screamed in agony. He felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. How he hated Kage. Being the son of a blacksmith did not make him inferior to a squire. It was not your lineage that determined how good a person you were; it was your character and actions that made you truly better. And Finn would never let Kage win. Even to the point of stupidity. “Not even close.”
“Finn,” Ari gasped.
Kage narrowed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. He reared back his arm before delivering another blow to Finn’s cheek.
“What’s going on?” a voice asked from behind Ari.
Finn’s world spun, and he blinked the darkness away. His older brother, Conrad, ducked beneath a branch and stepped into the glade.
Ari yanked her arm from the boy’s grip and rushed to Conrad’s side. “Three against one,” she explained quickly.
Finn loved his brother. But it seemed Conrad was always coming to his aid, especially when it came to Kage. Just once, Finn would like to show his brother he didn’t need to be rescued.
Kage straightened and held up his hands with a twisted smile on his lips. “We were simply having fun.”
Conrad glanced at Finn and then Kage. Conrad was four years Kage’s senior. His arms were strong from working at the forge. “Seems like an unfair fight.”
Kage scratched his head and spit a wad of blood on the ground. “He wouldn’t back down.”
Ari pushed her way through Kage and his friends, dropping to her knees at Finn’s side. They locked eyes for a moment before Finn looked away in embarrassment, wiping blood from his lip.
Conrad’s gaze moved over Kage and his friends, who had attacked Finn. “Three against one.” His glare slammed back to Kage. “You’re too weak to fight him yourself?”
Finn grinned at that. Although Finn was smaller and thinner than Kage, who was honing his skills to become a knight, Finn was confident he could beat him one on one.
“He knocked out my tooth!” Kage objected, holding his bloodied jaw.
“Good,” Conrad muttered and shoved past him toward Finn, knocking into Kage’s shoulder.
