A World Apart The Jake Thomas Trilogy - By Steven A. Tolle Page 0,27

Jake could only look at him with terrified eyes, formless noises in his throat.

"Boy, I asked you what you are running from." The man said sternly. His eyes were hard and not friendly. "I see you have had a rough time of it, but I need to know what trouble you are in." Before Jake could say anything, the two men who had been on guard duty barreled through the bushes into the clearing.

To Jake's surprise and confusion, as soon as the tall man saw the other two, he immediately launched himself towards them. The two men reacted in shock, stumbling back, yelling and reaching for their swords. They apparently were only expecting to find Jake, not an armed warrior. The two men's swords had barely cleared their sheaths when the tall man was on them. His blade flashed as he struck and one man was down, hands grasping his throat, blood pouring from between his fingers. The other man was able to swing his sword, but it was parried and, with a twist of his wrist, the tall man ran him through.

As the tall man kicked the man off his blade, two more of the men who captured Jake came through the bushes, swords bare. The tall man did not hesitate. He closed the distance with them before they had time to set, blade moving, seemingly to blur in the morning light. Faster than Jake could follow, both men were on the ground, dead or dying. The tall man paused, listening, then moved quickly back towards the fire. He stopped and stood there, waiting, like a snake coiled to strike.

The remaining four men came through at once, Matus slightly behind the others. All had their swords out; clearly they had heard the fighting before they got there. Surt saw Jake lying on the ground, hate causing his face to twist into an ugly mask. It was obvious that he did not intend to recapture Jake. At Matus' order, they spread out, trying to surround the tall man.

Despite the odds, the tall man again launched himself at the men. Surt leapt to the side, his sword flying from his hand, dodging a blow as the tall man seemed to move like a ghost among the men. Another was not so lucky and went down. Matus engaged the tall man with his remaining man at his side. The tall man had drawn his long dagger with his left hand as he fought with both men. He moved so fast that Jake could not follow. The other man went down, screaming, as his stomach was opened and Matus and the tall man were left one-on-one.

Surt moved away from the fight, his eyes fixed on Jake. He drew his dagger, the blade curved with a slight hook on the end, and came for Jake. "Time to die, boy." He hissed, eyes crazed. Jake could not move or react, his body frozen from fear and exhaustion. He simply watched as Surt came towards him, too tired to even call out.

Suddenly, Surt's eyes went wide as the blade of a dagger blossomed from his throat. It was the tall man's dagger, thrown at Surt. He fell to his knees, then toppled to his side, his life bubbling away as he frantically clawed at the dagger. Surt gave a strangled gurgle as he breathed his last and went still, eyes open and staring.

The ringing of steel on steel echoed across the clearing as Matus and the tall man fought. At first, they appeared to be evenly matched. Their swords, metal flashing as they caught the light, seemed made of fire as they exchanged attacks and parries.

In the end, though Matus was quick, the tall man was quicker. The tall man's sword suddenly went low, stabbing Matus in the thigh. He gave the sword a slight twist and ripped it out, causing Matus to cry out and fall to one knee. The tall man blocked a counter-stroke from Matus with his armored forearm and brought his sword down. He cut through Matus' arm at the elbow, severing the forearm and hand that held the sword. The tall man spun like a dancer, blade extended, and Matus' head went tumbling to the ground.

Jake lay on the ground, stunned by what he just witnessed. This man just fought and killed eight men by himself. The tall man moved back to Jake, scanning the area for more opponents. "Are there any more, boy?" He asked quietly, eyes never leaving the