The fourth street-boy to join the fight grabbed a handful of Alderic's shirt collar and yanked him backward, putting him off his balance. He tumbled and hit the dirt on an elbow, grimacing with pain from the fall, but as the boy came at him again to try to kick him Alderic kicked back twice, first deflecting the blow and then connecting solidly with the ruffian's knee. The boy bellowed and clutched at his leg by reflex, giving Ric a slim chance to scramble to his feet as the first surly kid, the ringleader, came back at him swinging.
"Kid, run home!" he yelled in dismay right before getting the wind knocked out of him by a punch that landed just below his ribs, distracted when he noticed the little girl toddling right back into the fight. He wheezed, but blocked the next hit by grabbing the boy's arm as it came at him and twisting it upward and backward, hard. It forced the boy to lean to his side to relieve the pressure; he clawed at Alderic's hand, but Ric twisted harder until he dropped to a knee and cried out in pain, "Let go, asshole!"
Blood oozed from a nasty scrape on Alderic's elbow where he'd landed earlier, and he was winded from being struck, but overall he was still okay. Good thing, because the boy he'd kicked would probably be back any second.