As they got closer, he saw there was about 40 of them to their small troop of seven, and they were dead set on their group.

“Bows.” Commanded Liam, getting ready for battle. Like the rest, Thomas took out his bow and fletched an arrow. “Fire.” He said when they were close enough.

Many of them ducked or batted the arrows away, but a couple got hit. They were now much closer. “Swords.” Came the third command. “Thomas, get to the back.” Thomas reluctantly obeyed, but when he did, he hopped from his horse.

He was going to do at least something. He grabbed his thread, and without being noticed, weaved in between horses’ legs, tying tons of thread around them until he ran out.

He turned around and ran back to his group. “Do you trust me?” He asked Liam. He nodded while fighting. “See if you can get them to split their forces.”

Liam did as he said. He told his men to retreat and split into two groups. When the bandits tried to split and follow them, their horses began to fall, crushing their owners.

Liam looked at Thomas with surprise in his eyes. “What did you…” But he didn’t have time to ask the question, because some of the men had survived from jumping out of the way.

Thomas pulled his own sword from its sheath, but Liam told him to go to the back. Thomas obeyed, but still watched the fighting in case they needed his help.

They had picked off most of the soldiers when Thomas was the only one to notice that a bandit was sneaking up behind Liam.

Thomas ran forward, blocking the bandits path. He struck out with his sword and hit the other man’s sword. “What’s a little kid like you doing out in the desert?” Asked the bandit smirking.

Thomas was going to prove that he wasn’t just some kid. He sliced at the bandit and seemed to have more training with a sword than the bandit, even if he was weaker.

He sliced down and cut the man’s shoulder, as the bandit nicked his own. Thomas barely noticed the pain. He took one last swoop, and it slit the man’s neck.

Out of nowhere came another bandit. Thomas only had time to try and jump out of the way, but he didn’t jump far enough. The sword the bandit held sliced a shallow cut down from his right shoulder to his opposite hip.

Thomas felt this one, and he was getting ready to cut this bandit down when an arrow came out of nowhere and hit the man in the eye. Thomas turned his head to see Liam with a raised bow. He smiled at him.

…

Liam frowned. What was Thomas doing fighting? He had told him to go to the back so that he would keep away from the fights.

As if in slow motion, he watched the little boy’s knees crumble out from under him. What happened? One of his soldiers caught Thomas gently. It was then that Liam saw the blood that coated his tunic. When had he been hurt? Liam thought.

All the other bandits were dead or too injured to get up. Halef, the soldier holding Thomas, laid him gently to the ground, and Liam came over. Thomas had fainted, and they had to find out why his shirt was full of blood. Was it his or another’s?

Other soldiers who had finished fighting gathered around the boy as Liam ripped off the shirt, and they all grimaced to see the long cut he bore down his torso. He also had a small cut in his arm that wasn’t as serious.

One of his men ran over and grabbed one of their medic packs. They cleaned up his cuts and wrapped them in bandages. That was all they’d be able to do until they got to town.

Liam put Thomas up in his saddle, and then jumped up in behind him. Please don’t let this little boy die, He thought. They rode at a gallop so as to get to the city faster. One of the soldiers led Thomas’s horse, and they took off riding.

Halef came up to Liam. “Why do you think all those horses fell over?” He asked him.

“I don’t know, but I bet you anything that Thomas does.”

“What do you mean?” His trusted friend asked.

“Thomas told me before they fell to get them to split up. I don’t know what he did, but when they split up, it took down all those horses. How do you think he got these wounds? I thought he had jumped away in time.”

Halef grinned. “I was too far away to help you, but a bandit was sneaking up behind you, and he jumped in the guy’s way. You should’ve seen him fight. His technique was spot on. The first bandit was the one that gave him the wound on his arm. He cut down that guy. He didn’t get back up. I’m pretty proud of the kid. But then came that other bandit and he tried to jump out of the way, but he wasn’t fast enough. The guy cut him. By then you had finished with your bandit, and I was closer. You shot him, and I got there in time to catch him.”

“I always said he’d make one heck of a knight. Even at 10 he’s stronger than bandits.”

Throughout the long trip, everyone talked of what happened, and soon everyone knew that it was because of Thomas that so many horses fell.

When Anray was in sight, Thomas started to stir in front of him. The Sun had already dropped below view, so it was getting rapidly darker.

He groaned, alerting Liam to his consciousness. “Liam?” He asked hoarsely. “Where are we?”

“Almost to Anray, Thomas.”

“Oh. Okay… But what happened to the bandits?”

“Dead.” Replied Liam. Thomas leaned back into the older man’s chest.

Liam could tell he was awake by his uneven breathing, but knew he was too weak to keep from leaning on his chest. “Liam.” He said. “It hurts.”

“I know, when we get to the town, they’ll be able to get you something to fix that.”

“Okay.”

“You fought well Thomas.”

“Mmhm.” He responded quietly.

After several minutes, they arrived at the gate to Anray. “What’s your business with Anray.” Asked one of the guards.

“Commander Jin invited us to join him. I’m Commander Liam from Thaxon and we have wounded from a run in with bandits.”

“Give us a minute to check with Commander Jin.” After a couple minutes, the gate was opened, and they walked their horses in to meet the commander.

“Liam old friend!” He said excitedly. “It’s been a long time. I heard them say you have wounded.” It was too dark for him to see Thomas in the saddle. “How many bandits did you take on this time?”

“40.” He said hopping down.

“40! How did you guys escape?”

“We’re pretty confused ourselves.” Said Halef as Liam grabbed Thomas from the saddle. He was too weak from blood loss to stand on his own.

“Who’s this greenie? You finally get married and have a kid Liam? He the one that got injured?”

“He’s not my birth son, but he might as well be. We need some of your healers to take a look at him.”

“Alright.” He said then called to a healer. “They’ll take care of him.” He said as a woman took the child from his arms. He was very light because he skipped meals often for training, so it was no trouble for the woman to carry him.