Argax and Palis hadn’t moved from their position on the ground. Jake found himself wondering once again what he must look like to Alexcyn’s brothers, who must have had the image of a scared, weak boy ingrained in their mind for so long it seemed impossible to erase it. But he did.
Now stood before them was a boy growing into a man standing taller than they had witnessed him ever standing, with a hand petting the large head of a wolf, whose teeth- they tried not to look too long- was still dripping with the blood of the bandit it and Jake had immobilized together.
Seeing their weakling little brother fight hand-in-hand with one of the ferocious beasts their mother and father had warned them about- and winning- had shocked them to their core.
Argax’s hand still burned with pain, and Palis tried to use his system to cast healing water over it, but the sting of shame burnt brighter in the pit of his stomach than the pain of his sliced hand.