A World Apart The Jake Thomas Trilogy - By Steven A. Tolle Page 0,164

some hills and twisted around others. He rode on for what he believed was an hour, the trail staying on the road, then stopped where he had a clear view of the road ahead and waited for the rest to catch up.

The weather was nice, not too hot, though the sun was out. He took in the surrounding land. The trees were starting to change, with more evergreens beginning to mix in with the other trees. The ground was getting rockier, with the hills rising more sharply. He could see the Gray Ridges pushing into the sky in the eastern distance. They were clearly moving towards the mountains.

After the rest caught up, Jake took off again, riding ahead. For most of the morning, that was their routine. By the early afternoon, the terrain became steeper and the road became more hard-packed, making the trail harder to follow. At the mid-day meal break, Jonas decided to send both Marcus and Jake ahead, Marcus being the better tracker, but Jake could provide the needed defense against the demons.

Jake protested. "What if you are attacked?" He asked. "You need to have Marcus here to deal with the physical threats."

"Jake, we are only four." Jonas said. "Everything we are doing is a risk. Aside for bows, the half-men have to get within sword distance to harm either Hailyn or myself. With us working together, they will never get that close. It will take more than a group of half-men and a demon or two to defeat us. If we are attacked by something larger, then it may not matter if you and Marcus were here anyway."

Jake finally agreed, though he was not happy about it as he and Marcus left, riding on. After they were back on the trail, however, Jake saw the wisdom of it. He lost it several times, though Marcus seemed confident, continuing on. Jake, realizing that he was not helping with the trail, began to focus on the surrounding area, looking for threats. They continued like this for another half hour, when Marcus suddenly stopped.

As Jake watched, Marcus got off his horse, looking closely at the ground. He walked slowly around the area, then started off towards the trees to the southeast. He stopped just inside the tree line, kneeling to examine something, then came back.

"They turned off here and rode into the trees." Marcus said quietly. He pointed back towards where he had been. "The trail is clear in the soil."

"I guess we wait here for Jonas and Hailyn." Jake said, sliding off of Dontas and leading him into the shade of the trees. Marcus did the same with his horse.

They waited there, not speaking, watching and listening for any signs of movement. Soon, they could hear the sound of the wagon approaching. When it rounded the corner, they came out to greet them. They quickly explained what they had found and Jonas looked around, frowning.

"We will have to leave the wagon; it won't make it through the trees." He said. "We should find a place where it can be hidden."

They were able to find a gap in the trees where they could push the wagon, sheltering it from anyone on the road. They grabbed some fallen tree limbs and other items to help camouflage it. After Jonas unhooked the horses, Jake and Marcus did what they could to erase their tracks to the wagon as they returned to Jonas and Hailyn.

Jonas and Hailyn were on the wagon horses, with only a blanket as a saddle and the bridles and reins from the wagon. Jake and Marcus loaded the extra food and water they brought from the wagon into their saddlebags.

Once they were all mounted, Jonas signaled Marcus to lead them. He went ahead, followed by Jonas, Hailyn and Jake bringing up the rear. They rode slowly, moving through the trees. The forest, made up mostly of tall pines, seemed too quiet as they rode, making Jake nervous. He constantly looked behind them, as well as to the sides. He saw nothing, but that did not make him feel better.

They rode for another two to three hours, moving up and down along the hills, not seeing anything, but Marcus was sure they were on the trail. The sun angled to the west, its light filtering through the trees, deepening the shadows.

Without warning, they came across a large forest trail, almost a road, heading east-west. Marcus stopped, dismounted and examined the trail closely. "They went east along the trail." He