A Beast Among Gods (The Mac Tire Chronicles) Garnet Davenport (books to read for 12 year olds .TXT) 📖

“Ah, my boy, I see you are already making friends,” he said with pride.

I narrowed my eye on him.

He made a great big belly laughing sound and then looked around at all the boys that had started toward me. “You are,” he paused dramatically while looking at everyone, “the lost heir.”

Indistinct chattering started in the background.

“I will never be your heir.” I spat at him.

“You will. I guess it will just take time for you to see it,” he said then looked toward the men who surrounded him. “Take him to the chains.”

The men came at me all at once. Grabbing and gripping at me to hold me down. My heart started to pound, and the next thing I knew, I was stumbling toward the door, and all of the men that had come at me were lying in the floor, beaten to a pulp and barely breathing. The boys in the dining room were all watching me with their mouths agape and a fear I had never seen from anyone.

➣ Chapter 9

Trial or Tribute

The guards ushered us out of the dining hall. A group of older boys looked like they knew exactly what they needed to be doing. They took the lead. A smaller group of boys looked hesitant but were followers to the first group. Then there was the smallest group of boys that looked weaker than the rest. The one boy I gave the slop to at the very back, alone, kept further away from the rest. I followed him. Watching the different groups of boys with their interactions was interesting. The first group of boys, eager, ready to do whatever it might be that we were going to do.

We came to an edge of a ravine and looked down to see some sort of crazy military training obstacle course. I wasn’t going to shrink back from it, but I wasn’t ready to go head first and be the first one to attempt it. I watched as the first group of boys looked at it; they were laughing and smirking with arrogance and pushing on each other.

“Listen up!” One of the head enforcers snapped toward our group, “Fastest run time is two-thirty-six. Average run time is three-twenty-four. If you are anywhere past that, you will be released of your duties.”

What the hell does that mean? I couldn’t believe how cavalier they were being with lives. Would they actually kill us? I looked into the lead guard’s eyes and could see a killer behind his dark pulls. I knew then that I had to do everything possible to make it through so I could survive to get out of this hellhole.

I watched as the first group of eager boys jumped down from the edge of the short cliff and started running at full speed. The next group started with the instructor’s indication to go, and then the last group, the group I was now with, was the last to go. When the instructor indicated for us to go, I caught a look at the younger, smaller, weaker boy that wanted a little more food. He was already struggling. Someone had tripped him, and he got started with a late jump off the cliff compared to the others in our group. I kept an eye on him as I moved my way through the course. He wasn’t going to make it. He’s so much smaller and can’t keep up.

I turned around and went back to him. “You’ve got to get up,” I ordered him.

He looked at me, ready to give up.

“NOW!” I shouted.

He got up, stumbling, and made his way next to me. I figured if I could do anything in this life, I would make sure this boy knew he had someone in his corner. Even though I hadn’t been raised with other kids around, I knew how to be a decent person. I jogged with him as he pushed himself through at my side. I made him keep up with me.

We were the last to cross the finish line. I wasn’t even exhausted, but the boy next to me was barely able to breathe. I knew he would develop more and be able to handle the physical exertion. He still looked younger than everyone else. Probably the youngest of the lot. As we passed the guards and the instructor, the looks on their faces were pure disgust. I wanted to tear them apart. I hated how they looked at us. Especially me, they looked at me as if I actually did something wrong.

As the day continued, we were forced through more tests and exhausted by the time they let us sit down to eat anything. I watched the weak boy the entire day. Stuck by his side, I wasn’t going to let anything happen to him. I could see it in his eyes every time he looked at me. He was thankful and scared.

He sat across from me, not eating. I looked up to find him watching me. Everything I was doing.

“What?” I asked, feeling irritated.

“Nothing,” he said quickly and looked away.

I sighed. “What’s your name?” I asked.

Startled by my question, he flinched and then said, “Jamie.”

“I’m William,” I said as I took another bite of the Salisbury steak type of meat and mixed it with potatoes.

“I know. You’ve been talked about for the last five years.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re his son.”

“I don’t claim him.”

“You should. He’ll help you survive this. He’d never want to see his own son fail.”

“I don’t care if I fail. He’s killed everyone I’ve ever cared about. My mother. My grandmother. The people who had cared for me for nearly a decade.”

Jamie hadn’t made a sound until I looked up and saw tears in his eyes. I wouldn’t let the kindness of this small boy wriggle into my conscious.

“Stop that,” I snapped.

“I’m not doing anything.” He sniffled.

A chair scraped across the room, and the boy that had come up to us this morning was headed toward