A World Apart The Jake Thomas Trilogy - By Steven A. Tolle Page 0,23

liquid off. Tears flowed from his eyes, both from the pain and the liquid.

The other men laughed at Jake as the man took a deep swig from the bag and made his way back to the fire. They made crude remarks about his manhood and keeping his liquor down. Through his pain, Jake was surprised that Matus did not say anything, considering how he had treated Surt earlier. Apparently, Surt also took this silence as encouragement to heap cruelty onto Jake.

"He cries like a girl." Surt said, causing some chuckles from the others. Surt moved over to Jake. "Are you sure you are really a boy?"

"Boy or girl, when did that make a difference to you, Surt?" One of the men shouted, causing the others to laugh raucously.

"I think I should check." Surt said, his hand reaching into Jake's crotch. Jake struggled to get away from him, but Surt held him down with his other hand. "What do we have here?" Surt said as he suddenly squeezed down hard.

Jake screamed from the new pain, frantically flailing around, trying to get free. He could hear to the other men laughing at his plight, some shouting crude suggestions to Surt. The humiliation of the situation added to his pain. Jake was trying to kick his leg to dislodge Surt, when he heard a heavy blow and the pressure ceased. Jake opened his eyes as saw Matus moving past him towards Surt, who was stumbling back from Matus' kick.

Surt fell, then rolled and sprang to his feet, hand flashing to his sword. Matus leapt forward, his hand coming down on Surt's wrist, preventing Surt from drawing his sword. As he did that, Matus crashed the elbow of his other arm into Surt's face. Surt staggered back, stunned. Matus immediately followed with a kick to Surt's groin, causing him to double over. Matus grabbed Surt's head and kneed him in the face. Surt fell back, blood flowing from his nose and mouth. Matus quickly knelt, his left knee on Surt's right arm and the other knee in his chest.

"I warned you to leave the boy alone, Surt. You don't listen very well." Matus told the semi-conscious Surt, voice cold and hard. With a deliberate casualness, he reached out and grabbed Surt's right ear. He drew his dagger and, with a quick slash, cut Surt's ear off. Surt cried out, blood spurting from the wound. Matus released him and stood, tossing the severed ear on the ground next to Surt. "Maybe that will teach you to listen next time." He turned to head back to his resting spot, leaving Surt rolling in pain on the ground, the other men delighting in Surt's humiliation.

"Thank you." Jake, who had shifted into a sitting position, said softly to Matus as he passed.

Matus stopped, looking surprised that Jake had spoken. He bent down and slapped Jake across the face, hard. Jake's head spun and he almost fell over.

"Don't thank me, boy." Matus said. "I didn't do that for you. Surt needed a lesson to remember who the Master placed in charge."

"Master?" Jake asked, belatedly realizing that he should have kept quiet.

"Our Master. He sent us out on this hunt." Matus replied, slapping Jake again. "Don't worry, you will meet him soon. I would stop talking and rest, if I were you. You are going to need your strength." Matus smiled cruelly as he said it, then picked Jake up, carried him a short distance and shoved him down with his back to a tree. "Are you going to be smart and stay put or do I need to tie you up?" Jake nodded nervously as he stared into those cold eyes.

"Good boy." Matus said with a smirk, patting Jake on the head like a dog. "Despite our Master's command, everything you have experienced so far will pale in comparison if I have to track you down." Matus turned and walked away; the others chuckling, grinning evilly at Jake.

Jake closed his eyes, stretching his legs out in front of him, leaning against the tree. He tried to take slow breaths, searching for calm, but feeling fear, pain, despair and, surprisingly, anger. He tried to channel that anger into strength, straining against the bindings on his hands. As he flexed his arms and twisted his hands against the bonds, his fingers slid along the ground, the dirt cool and coarse.

He did not recognize it at first, but as he moved his hand again, he realized he was feeling a small rock,