A World Apart The Jake Thomas Trilogy - By Steven A. Tolle Page 0,75
into a clean set of underwear, leaving his dirty clothes and equipment scattered around the room.
Exhausted from the day's efforts, Jake fell back onto the bed and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
...
The ruddy light of the torches carried by the four half-men escorting him gave his white hair an orange cast as Martis moved slowly and cautiously into the clearing. He felt very exposed as his guards were emphatically told to stay with the wagon. He could hear the low laughter and taunts from the several dozen half-men lining the edge of the clearing, many carrying torches, lighting the area. With this many half-men in one place not trying to kill each other could only mean that a demon was present. Though he had been a spy for the demons for the last twenty years, he still hated having to deal directly with them.
It was several years ago that the demons that he served had ordered all their followers to immediately bring them word of any stranger that did not seem to be from this world. Martis had no idea why they issued such an order, since he had never encountered anything like that in his travels, but he learned early on not to ask too many questions. Over the years, he had almost forgotten about it.
So, it had been a complete shock to him when he had seen that boy, with his strange clothes and devices, sitting on the back of the warrior's horse three days ago. Knowing the warrior's reputation, he had waited until they were out of sight before he ordered his guards to turn south and head into the Forest. He had dispatched Frader and Nothes on their horses to seek out the groups of demon followers he knew were operating in the Forest while fat Ranech stayed with him at his camp. Frader had returned late on the second night to let him know that he found a group. They had made their way here, with Nothes catching up to them on the road. Night had fallen when they reached this spot. The half-men were clear in their instructions: Only Martis was allowed into the clearing.
The half-men voices suddenly faded as one called out - "A Master comes!" A short, stocky figure stepped into the clearing, the half-men sinking to their knees. Martis was shoved forward into the clearing where he immediately copied the half-men by dropping to both knees.
The figure, wrapped in a hooded robe, made its way over to Martis, slowly and deliberately. The hair stood up on the back of Martis' neck and his body began to tremble as he could feel the evil and darkness radiating off the figure. Martis attempted to stay motionless and kept his eyes locked on the ground as the figure stopped a few feet in front of him.
"You have information for me?" A cold voice came from the cowl, chilling Martis further. There was nothing human about the voice.
"Yes, Master." Martis replied, desperately trying to suppress his body's overwhelming urge to leap up and run. "I ran into a stranger like the one we were told to watch for. A boy, dressed in strange clothing."
Martis involuntarily flinched as the figure suddenly moved right up to him. "Look at me, worm." The figure commanded. Martis fearfully glanced up as two human-looking hands reached up to lower the cowl on the robe. Human-looking, except for the brown scales in place of skin and the dark claws at the end of each fingertip, hooked and shaped into sharp points. The figure was not much taller than Martis, even though he was on his knees. This was a demon that foolish men called an Imp, because of its height. As such, he was almost at eye level when the cowl fell back and he found himself face to face with the demon.
The demon's head was smooth and hairless, covered in the same brown scales as the rest of its body. It has long pointed ears that lay back along its head. It had a wide nose that was surmounted by two large eyes. Those eyes were the darkest black, no iris or white visible, only pits of stygian night. Below the nose was a wide mouth with thin lips, two rows of sharp, gleaming white teeth visible when the mouth opened.
"Where did you see this boy?" The Imp hissed.
"At the crossroads north of the forest road, three days ago." Martis replied.