Gar pushed through the panic as people streamed south, trying to get away from the Obsidians. The warriors were trapped in the center of the village with the bride and groom, and Gar swore an oath to Eoin that if he found Obsid alive he would kill the man. It was treacherous to gather the tribe in one place for a treaty of peace and then slaughter them.
He saw Monk first, holding his own against two Obsidians, trying to back towards the fire circle and…Pike? Gar’s stomach plummeted. How’d his brother get here? Why was he fighting for the Obsidians?
A flash of memory came to him, of his brother, freshly whipped, standing before the whipping rock. “I saw the Obsidians bowing down to me, as their chief.” Surely the Obsidians couldn’t be fighting for him?
Pike advanced on Kindra with a wild swing. She stepped back and Gar watched the change in her face as she lost her balance. His heart stopped as she turned and caught his eye for a brief moment before her head hit the hearthstones and she went limp.
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“No!” Gar lunged forward to stop his brother’s sword from finishing her.
“Stay out of this,” Pike growled, “and I might let you live.”
Gar was the better, stronger warrior, and forced his brother away from Kindra.
Pike smiled. “You won't kill me. You’ve already lost.”
Gar narrowed his eyes. “I will if I must.”
Pike swung and their swords clashed. “You chose her again, over your own flesh and blood.”
Gar slammed his shoulder into Pike, knocking him further away from Kindra. “Flesh and blood means nothing. She is my heart and soul.”
A shadow passed over them and Pike smiled. “There goes your heart and soul, brother.”
Gar turned in time to watch Bryant fly away with Kindra in his arms. He breathed a sigh of relief for her safety, but it was cut short by searing pain in his lower back. He gasped as his leg went numb and he dropped to the ground. His brother had stabbed him in the back with the sword Gar had given him at his naming.
In one sweep of his gaze, he saw warriors scattered around the ground, bleeding, and Monk’s weaponless hands in the air in surrender. Fie Eoin had lost.