A World Apart The Jake Thomas Trilogy - By Steven A. Tolle Page 0,137

a professional and competent soldier. I have had some discussions with him and his men, who all claim he is a great swordsman, so I have a sense of his abilities." He gave a slight smile. "I will tell you privately if I disagree with him."

Like in Sanduas, groups of Deepwood's soldiers would observe Jake's training at a respectful distance. After Dominic and Deepwood had a discussion about it at one of their meals, Deepwood began to task some of his soldiers to come to the training to spar with Jake. Jake found these exciting, especially with the additional padding and armor absorbing most of the blows rather than his body, since he knew he had a better chance against them than Dominic. He did not win many at first, but gradually began to hold his own.

He also continued to get better control of his magic. Tomaris began to instruct him on using it as a weapon. He had him practice attacking imaginary demons around his study. Jake would release bolts of blue fire at various objects, the bolts doing no damage to anything.

"It doesn't seem to do much." He muttered, hoping for more.

"As I told you before, that is because the demons' power is not present. It will only harm someone under a demon's dominion. Here…" Tomaris said, pointing at his chest "…attack me as if I were a demon. Trust me, child, you cannot do any harm."

Jake sent his magic out as he had been taught. It surrounded Tomaris, who simply stared back, smiling. Seeing that it was as Tomaris said, Jake dropped the attack. "Why is that?" He asked.

"Because we are all creatures of the Light." Tomaris replied. "Therefore, the Light cannot harm those not of the Darkness."

"However, you can use it to block other magics, such as the clerics. Try and defend against this, Jake." Jake focused on using it for defense when Tomaris gestured towards him. He felt something press against his power, then slide off like a raindrop on a windshield.

"You see." Tomaris said. "There was no damage done, since they were not in opposition. Try and attack me again."

Jake sent a bolt of power towards Tomaris. He watched as the bolt flowed around Tomaris, not touching him.

Jake was curious on how Tomaris did the things he did. He had never seen an aura around him. When he asked, Tomaris simply smiled and said. "We all have our secrets, Jake."

...

A few days later, as he was heading down to eat dinner, the messenger Tomaris sent to Sanduas returned. Both Tomaris and Dominic received parchments closed with the seal of the Temple. Jake was pleased when the messenger produced two letters for him, from Madalin and Hailyn. He took them with him to the barrack's dining hall.

He got his food and sat down with Dominic and Deepwood. After shoveling in a few bites, he took out his letters and opened Madalin's first. She let him know that both she and Norlan were glad that he was safe, as well as how they missed him. Cherise was improving daily and his friends at the smithy sent their best. She asked that Jake write her as often as he could, so she would not worry about him.

Hailyn's letter also expressed her happiness that he was safe and doing well. She informed him that Jonas told her that she was close to taking her final tests as an apprentice. She closed with a request for more letters and a line that caught his attention. "I miss our rides together. Please come back to me as soon as you can."

He was sitting there, lost in thought as he mulled that over, when Dominic suddenly flicked him on the head with his finger, hard. He gave a little yelp and started from that, grabbing his head. "Are you still here, boy?" Dominic growled. "Moshanna asked you a question."

Rubbing his head, Jake glared at Dominic for a moment, who simply smiled at that, then turned to Deepwood. "I'm sorry, Captain Deepwood. What was your question?"

"I was speaking to Dominic about going into Numaria tomorrow." Deepwood responded, a sympathetic smile on his face. "I want to check on my men stationed there. I asked if you wanted to go along. I will speak with Tomaris, if you like."

"That would be great, Captain Deepwood." Jake said, the pain forgotten for a moment. "It would be nice to get out for a day."

"We will leave after the morning meal." Deepwood said, standing. "I will