Chapter 748: A Knight’s Pride (Part Two)
"Coward," Sir Rain mocked as he unleashed another powerful punch, aiming to circle around Ollie’s guard and strike his head. As soon as he did, however, the instant he deviated from direct punches to the young knight’s forearms, Ollie struck out at Sir Rain’s arm, delivering a punishing blow of his own and forcing Sir Rain to back up and shake out his arm before rushing back in.
"Enough of this game, boy," Sir Rain spat as he shifted his focus, dropping low to pummel the young man’s exposed stomach in the hopes of breaking his stance and knocking the wind out of him.
Still, Ollie measured his response, slapping the punches aside before delivering a pair of blows to Sir Rain’s stomach and lower ribs. This time, however, as Sir Rain gasped for air, Ollie didn’t step back. Instead, he stepped even closer in, raining down punch after punch on Sir Rain’s chest and abdomen, as though he was pounding a sack of oats instead of a living, breathing knight.
The force of Ollie’s blows stunned Sir Rain, and he struggled to draw breath or find the strength to shove the young man away from him. Finally, in a desperate bid to escape, he tucked his chin to his collar and charged forward, throwing his arms out wide in an attempt to wrestle the young knight to the ground.
For a moment, the crowd went silent as it looked like Sir Rain’s desperate move might actually work, but when he slammed into Ollie, two things happened that he didn’t expect. First, the young knight’s feet didn’t even move. Even though Sir Rain outweighed the flame-haired youth by at least one or two stone, he felt like he’d slammed into a tree instead of a man!
Second, while Ollie’s feet didn’t move, Sir Rain’s did, sliding on the wet flagstones of the training yard and sending him crashing to the ground. Ollie barely had to touch him, shoving Rain’s shoulders down as his feet began to slide in order to ensure that Rain fell too quickly to get his arms back under himself to break the fall.
-THUMP-
All across the training yard, the crowd held their breath, waiting to see if the fallen knight would rise. Ollie himself stepped back, raising his hands again in case Sir Rain made a move. After several heartbeats, however, the other man still hadn’t moved a single muscle. Moreover, water pooling around his head began to turn a faint shade of pink as blood spilled from a wound to Sir Rain’s head.
"Sir Ollie, victory!" Sir Carwyn shouted in a clear, ringing voice that broke the silence of the yard, unleashing a stream of wild cheers accompanied by excited shouts from those who had won a wager.
For Ollie, however, the moment felt... Hollow.