Jake was in a squalid yard. He could see a castle on the head of the mountain with the Mongol flag flying. The smell of blood was everywhere; the heads of people and everything were covered in blood. Jake saw all this and lost control; he began to tremble.
A man close to him looked at him and said, "Be strong, kid. This is hell. Do not lose control of yourself."
At that time Mongol knights came and opened the lock of the squalid yard. Jake and all the prisoners were forced down. As they marched down, one of the prisoners tried to run. He did not get far — an arrow pierced his body. The other prisoners watched, and the knights sat down. Jake stood frozen.
The man beside him said, "Sit, boy. That is the grandson of Halko — Temurjin Arghal. He will be the next king of the Mongols."
Temurjin came down from the castle wall and walked toward the Mongol knights. He took the hand of one knight and said, with a pleasant tone, "Why have you fallen, weak dog?"
The knight replied, "My lord, I am sorry. I did not see it, Temurjin."
"No problem," Temurjin said. He stepped back, drew his sword quickly, and cut both eyes from the Mongol knight. The knight screamed, "My eyes! I can't see!" Temurjin said, "I do not need soldiers that cannot see. Commander, kill this animal."
Then Temurjin looked at the prisoners and said, "Wow — all of you are here. This is very good. My dogs are hungry. Now that all of you are here, let's play a game. If you win, you may live."
All the prisoners became hopeful and said, "We will do everything, our lord."
Temurjin smiled. "This is a good game. One of you will become food for my dogs, and another may leave. I will choose. But he must do it himself." He smiled wickedly.
The prisoners looked at each other. There were five prisoners. The first one said, "I have a wife and children. I do not want to kill another."
Another said, "I am sorry, but I am alone and will fight only for myself."
Another said, "I have a sick mother; I must take care of her."
No one wanted to die for another. In that moment Jake said, "I will do it for all of you. I have no one left in my life. I am sure if I die it will be good for me."
All the prisoners looked at him and became happy. They said, "Yes, please do it. We will remember your help all our lives."
Jake went ahead and said, "I am ready to die."
Temurjin looked at Jake and said, "Good young boy. Are you sure you want to do this?"
Jake said, "Yes, I am."
Temurjin threw his sword and said to the guards, "Bind the hands of all prisoners." The prisoners cried, "What? Why? What is wrong? You told us you will leave you should kill the boy."
Temurjin laughed . and throw sword and and said boy "Take the sword and kill them all. You will become a knight with honor."
Jake looked at the sword, took it in his hand, and looked at Temurjin. He stared at him, then threw the sword on the ground and said, "I am Jake, son of Leon. I will never kill any of these people, and I will never become your dog."
Temurjin looked at him with an angry face and said, "Son of Leon, now this is good." Then the soldiers seized Jake, took him to the edge of the wall, and bound his hands, but they made sure he could see everything. The soldiers tied Jake's hands and led him to the head of the wall.
Temurjin said, "Now open the door for my dogs."
Six big dogs came and the soldiers set them loose. The dogs started eating the prisoners. Jake shouted, "No, stop! Do not do it!" but one of the guards opened his eyes wide to watch. Jake begged, "No, please don't!" The dogs tore the prisoners to pieces; all of them were dead. The dogs ate them.
Temurjin said, "This is all because of you. You are the reason my dogs eat them alive. You made them suffer. Now the show is over. Take this boy inside the prison and clear this place."
They took Jake to a jail and shut the door of his room. Jake sat alone as if the whole world had ended. An old, weak man was also there. Jake saw him but was afraid to speak. Jake sat quietly; the old man did not speak either.
Night came. Jake was very hungry. A Mongol guard opened the door and gave him some bread. "This is your food," the guard said, and then left. Jake looked at the hard bread and sighed. He looked at the old man and went close to him. He gave half of his bread to the old man and said, "Please eat it."
The old man looked at Jake and said, "Thank you, boy." He reached into his bag and took out some cheese. "I have had this for a long time," he said. "Eat it with the bread; it will taste good."
Jake smiled and the two ate bread together. Jake asked the old man, "Why are you here?"
The old man said, "I can't remember. I have been here for the last ten years. Now I remember I am here." Then he asked Jake why he was here. Jake told him his story — what had happened to him. The old man said, "You have a very bad story, boy. I am sorry. My name is Arsen."
At that moment a Mongol guard came and said, "Jake, come out of the room. The lord wants to see you."
Arsen told Jake, "If you come back alive we will talk, boy."
Jake was taken to a room. He sat on one of the chairs. His hands were bound and a soldier stood guard while the others left.
Then Temurjin entered the room and said, "Wow, boy — you are alive. Now we will play with each other. You know, Leon was a great man. When I attacked your village, I killed all of them, but your dad was a monster. He killed more than a hundred of my soldiers alone. When I saw him, I wanted to take him and play with him, but my soldiers killed him. Now I will play with you."
He grabbed a horn and pressed it to Jake's hand, burning Jake's fingers. Jake screamed.