A World Apart The Jake Thomas Trilogy - By Steven A. Tolle Page 0,93

Once he was confident that Jake had his parries down, Dominic began to teach him attacks. Jake never touched Dominic in their sparring, but Dominic seemed pleased with his progress.

One day, Jake was surprised to see Dominic standing under the trees, as he always did, but this time he was bare-chested, his armor and sword next to the tree. As Jake joined him, Dominic was wrapping some thick cloth around his hands, his muscles cording as he tightened the cloth. Dominic gave a slight smile at Jake's confused look.

"There may be times when you don't have your weapons handy." Dominic said. "You need to learn to use your hands and feet, as well as a sword, to defend yourself. Take off your armor and sword and wrap up." Dominic tossed him some strips of the heavy cloth.

"Are you kidding?" Jake asked in dismay. He shook his head; Dominic overmatched him in every way. "You'll kill me!"

"Don't worry. I've invested too much time just to kill you off, boy." Dominic replied, smile fading as he adjusted his wraps. "Let's go, we are wasting time."

Once Jake was ready, Dominic showed him a variety of punches, kicks and grappling holds. When Dominic was satisfied that Jake had them down, they began sparring. Jake was trying his best, unsuccessfully for the most part, to defend himself against Dominic's attacks. While he was not using his full strength, Dominic did not pull his punches. Jake was soon feeling like a punching bag, as he had blood trickling from his lips and new bruises to his arms and body.

During a short rest break, Jake noticed that Hailyn had arrived. He felt a little self-conscious at first as he did not have his shirt on, but that was quickly forgotten when Dominic resumed their sparring. Tired of defending, he tried to attack, throwing himself at Dominic, trying to get close enough to land a blow, but always having to retreat from Dominic's counters.

Frustrated, he feinted once, backed off, then stepped in to throw a punch. Unfortunately, Dominic had already began a counter and his fist crashed into Jake's nose, sending him tumbling back onto the ground, blood flying.

Jake landed on his backside, his head ringing, pain radiating from his nose. He howled in frustration, as much as in pain. He glared up at Dominic. "This is bullshit, you know!"

Dominic knelt down, his hands holding Jake's head while his finger ran down Jake's nose, feeling for a break. "In what way?" He asked, calm and detached, unaffected by Jake's temper. Jake gritted his teeth, growling softly as the light pressure made the pain worse. Dominic pulled an extra cloth from his pants and pressed it against Jake's nose.

"You're bigger and stronger than me. I don't have a chance." Jake said through his clenched teeth.

"You expect to always face someone smaller and weaker than you?" Dominic asked sardonically. "Should I have the girl take my place, so you can feel you have a better chance?" He had Jake hold the cloth, waved Hailyn over and stepped back.

Hailyn rushed over to Jake, kneeling and taking his head into her hands. He felt the warmth and heat of her healing, the heat growing intense at his nose as the pain faded. Once it was over, he wiped the blood away, thanked Hailyn, standing and helping her up.

Dominic was standing there, arms crossed as usual. As soon as Jake was standing, he spoke. "Boy, you need to understand that I'm not training you to get in fistfights with other boys. I'm trying to teach you to defend your life. Know that it is not always strength or size that determines who lives; it is who has the strongest will to survive. You may have to fight on through pain and against tough odds. If you give up because it is too hard, then you will be dead and the other person will walk away."

"But how can I hope to win if I had to fight someone like you?" Jake asked, somewhat plaintively.

"You have to find a way; you don't have any other option." Dominic replied simply. "A smart fighter knows what he can do and adjusts his strategy to compensate for what he cannot." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Take Norlan, for example. I may have some height and reach on him, but do you think I could out-muscle him if we got tangled up?" He asked.

"Maybe." Jake responded.

Dominic gave a short laugh. "You give me too much credit, boy. Norlan