Trust no one

"Quiet!" said Raja to Zain's father, "You speak only when you're spoken to".

Munt got so infuriated by what he heard, he sprang up from his seat, and yelled at them,

"Nonsense!" he said, "You try to intimidate me at my house? I can't let that happen, I'm not a coward, so you can't say that to me!"

Zain came to where her father was, and calmed him down, helping him sit down back. She was worried about his bad blood pressure.

"You said it's me you came for, so don't disrespect my father," she said to them.

"You're Zain Potter right?" asked Raja.

"I am," replied Zain.

Raja took her arm immediately and checked it, there was no scar. He also recalled that he had already inspected her earlier that day.

"Zain Potter, we got news that somehow you know a bit of a top-secret, mind telling us how you do?" asked Raja.

Zain was so shocked to hear this. She began to wonder, how did they know, who told them? Then she remembered she only told priest Benedict. Does that mean he's one of them? She thought.

"I don't know what you are talking about," said Zain, "I don't know any top secret," she said, keeping a straight face.

"I'd advise you not to lie Zain," said Raja, "Lest you face the wrath of the mighty one".

"Honestly I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't want to face any wrath," insisted Zain.

"You heard the girl loud and clear, she knows nothing about your claims," said Zain's father.

"She's lying, why wouldn't she stop lying," said the big one.

"I'm not lying, I'm telling the truth," protested Zain.

"Were you anywhere around the temple last night, by midnight?" asked Raja.

"No I wasn't," said Zain, "Although I study at the temple every day, I don't remain out there that late," said Zain, she looked so serious like she was saying the truth.

"Yes she's saying the truth, she told me the same thing earlier today," said her father, "My daughter doesn't lie to me."

"That's what you think. When you find out that she lies to you, you're going to be sorry," said the big one.

Somehow Zain felt guilty, her father had trusted her so much, not knowing that she lied to him. He had trusted her to be honest to him, but she knew deep down, that she wasn't. But she didn't feel that bad, she did what any other person in her shoes would have done, and she knew that he'll understand.

"I'm gonna ask you one more time, how come you know about that secret?" asked Raja.

"This ain't right," protested Zain, "You're asking how I know about a secret that I don't even know."

"Lier!" yelled the big one, "Raja, I say we take her crippled brother, and blind father with us, that way she will say the truth."

"No!" exclaimed Zain, "You wanted my attention, so leave them out of this."

"We won't take them, we're going to give you the rest of the day, to reconsider, and finally say the truth. We'll be back by this time tomorrow, to check out on you," said Raja, they both left.

Zain was relieved now that they were gone, but she was worried about what would happen the next day.

Tobin was taken to the southern mountains the next day, to join in the excavation. There was a large number of men, both young and old, breaking through the strong rock with their axes and sketch hammers. He was chained to the ankle, with a long chain, linked also to the ankles of three other men. He recognized one of them, a member of the supreme. It was Janzo he saw. He wondered what a harmless fellow like Janzo had done to be in such a punishing ground. He remembered that his mother said they took his father to the excavation site. He began to search through for him.

"Hay rookie," said one of the guards, handing him an axe.

"Better get to work," he told Tobin, who still search anxiously, "Trust me, you don't want to know what Raja would do to you, if he sees you standing there, doing nothing at all."

Tobin picked up the axe handed to him.

Clank! Clank!

He began to strike against the hard Rock. As he did he watched the pain these men have been suffering, how they were mercilessly flogged and battered. He wondered when he'll get to leave there, also wondering what it was that they were digging for. He couldn't set his eye off a certain old man, shaky joints already, but still working. One of the guards approached this old man, where he lingered on lifting his weapon. The guard was holding a spiky whip. He gave the man a heavy sucker punch, right at the bridge of the nose, sending him to the floor.

"Get up grandpa!" he roared, "No messing around."

Tobin couldn't bear it any longer. He wanted to go there and confront the guard, but the chain linked to his ankles prevented his move.

"Why?!" he yelled angrily, from where he stood, "That's an old man, he shouldn't be here. Why did you do that?!"

Everyone else paused to see what was going on, surprised by how Tobin shouted angrily.

This got the attention of the guard, who approached Tobin.

"We're you referring to me?" he asked Tobin,

"Yes I was," replied Tobin, he was so enraged.

"You see, there's a clear difference between being gutsy, and being stupid," said the guard.

"How stupid are you to talk to me that way," added the guard.

He turned around in an attempt to leave, but then he turned back quickly, and gave Tobin a left hook to the side of the face, taking him unawares. Tobin didn't hesitate to return a punch of his own. Everyone was astonished at what Tobin did.

"How dare you!?" yelled the guard, with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

He punched Tobin again, and like the first time, Tobin retaliated without any hesitation. And like that, they both began to exchange blows. All the prisoners left the work they were doing and watched on in astonishment. Soon, the other guards who were at the far end, noticed what was going on, due to the noise made by the prisoners, watching in excitement. They rushed to separate the two fighters, being Tobin and the guard, but they were stopped by Raja.

"Let them be," he said, "I'm watching too."

As the prisoners that were watching the fight saw Raja coming, they all went back to their work. Tobin wasn't in a good balancing position, he skipped some punches, allowing the guard to gain some advantage. Wisely, Tobin smashed the guard with a strong headbutt at the forehead, sending him straight flat to the floor. Tobin came upon him, right there on the floor, and continued feeding him with punches upon punches. The face of the guard was already a mess, swollen and bruised, and smeared with blood. Tobin was relentlessly battering the guard. Right now he wasn't even thinking straight, he was acting on instincts, like an animal fighting for survival. Seeing that the fight was now a one-sided one, Raja quickly ordered some other guards to stop Tobin. About five men rushed to him and dragged him away from the guard he had on the floor. They chained his hands, and unchained his ankles, so that they can take him with them, without dragging the others along.

"Let me go!" yelled Tobin furiously, breathing heavily.

"You're lucky you bastard, you're lucky!" he roared.

The injured guard was led away, to be treated. They bounded Tobin to an oak tree, that stood by the side of the mountain, and stripped off his clothes, exposing his bare back.

"How foolish you were to do that to my man," said Raja.

"But I take part of the blame, for not telling you how things are being done around here. You didn't figure out that there are consequences for such actions," he said to Tobin.

"Carry on boys, make him feel it in his spine," ordered Raja.

Five of them were with long whips, which bore metal spikes, and sharp pieces of bones, attached to them. They all began to flog Tobin at his bare back, so mercilessly and brutally. They were all lashing him at the same time, he was receiving all the pain at the same time.

"Ahhh!!!" he screamed out loud, in agony.

"Please... Plea... ahhhh, god my back, it hurts!" screamed Tobin.

"Harder!" commanded Raja to the guards, and they increased their efforts, whipping hard, on his already blood-painted back of Tobin.

Tobin was further taken up to a harder ground to dig. He was given a difficult portion of the labor.

After the heavy work that day, Tobin was still searching around for his father, who was nowhere to be found.