Shaper of Stone (The Shapers Book 1) (7 page)

We resumed our trip in the moonlight.
We passed several buildings with sagging roofs or missing doors. They
were dark and appeared empty. I didn’t look too closely. My
attention was drawn the one building that had a light burning. It
appeared to be our destination. The path we followed led right to it.

“This mine stopped being
productive years ago, but I found it useful for my studies. The old
storehouse has been converted to a modest home. Everything you need
to make yourself comfortable is within, and what is lacking I can
have brought to you.”

Black Tooth reached the door and opened
it for us. As we entered, he and the other guard remained outside.

The room was brightly lit by an oil
lamp resting in the center of a round table. Four padded chairs
circled the table. There were another four chairs, one in each
corner. Directly across from the entrance was a set of double doors,
and a darkened hallway extended to the left while another ran to the
right.

“Sit. Sit. Make yourself
comfortable.”

Vatrale might have appeared friendly
now, but I had seen behind the mask. Talking to him felt like
juggling snakes. It wasn’t about maybe getting bitten. It was
about surviving when it happened.

Vatrale pulled a cord hanging against
the wall closest to us, and I heard the ringing of a bell in the
distance. He then walked to the center of the room and took a seat. I
hesitated to follow, but only for a second before I also crossed the
room and pulled out a chair.

He pointed to the hall on the left.
“Your room will be down that hallway. Mine is down the
opposite. The furnishings are simple, but they are certainly better
than those you encountered last night.”

The double doors opened as a guard held
them for a young woman. She entered carrying a tray with a decanter
and two goblets. She sat them on the edge of the table. Without a
word she poured two glasses of wine from the decanter.

“We have a number of servants
here to take care of your personal needs. Each of the rooms has a
bell. Ring it and a servant will see to your needs immediately.”

Vatrale took his goblet and sipped from
it. Closing his eyes as he did so. “I really must thank you
again. My sense of taste was almost gone, but with the infusion of
your strength I can once again enjoy a fine glass of wine. Please
join me.”

Apparently, this was the carrot to the
stick he had been showing me. I picked up the other glass and took a
sip to humor him.

The servant picked up the tray and
departed silently, leaving the bottle behind. Looking at my own
drink, I wish I had asked her for water.

“Devin, all I need from you is
your cooperation. Do not resist me when I draw from you. Make no
mistake, I will get what I want with or without your cooperation, but
if you assist me I can complete the task that much quicker.”

Vatrale was crazy. Or at least as crazy
as I had ever met. I wanted to say no and throw his wine in his face.
I wanted to stand up to this man who took me from my home and almost
got me killed. Instead I just hung my head and looked at my wine.

“Okay. I won’t fight you.”

Yeah, I’d love to be a hero, but
I wasn’t. I was just some guy way out of my league. Then I had
an idea.

“Vatrale, you said that if I
cooperated with you, I could choose the fate for the people in the
pit.”

“Indeed I did, my boy. What do
you have in mind?”

“Free them. I want you to let
them go.”

“I’m sorry Devin, but that
I cannot do. They, like you, must remain within these walls. Should
you betray me, then I will have no choice but to rely on them once
more. If you wish, I can replace your servants with them. This will
free them from the pit while still keeping them close to us.”

Anything had to be better than that
pit.

“Okay Vatrale, I agree.”

“Excellent. I shall order them
released and readied so that they can enter your service within the
next day. There is one other thing, my boy.”

Vatrale stood up, leaving his goblet
behind and strolled to the entrance, “I expect you to show
proper respect for my authority. From now on you will address me as
Lord Vatrale, or sir. I have made allowances for your lack of
etiquette in the past, but those days are behind us. Do you
understand?”

“Yes, Lord Vatrale.” I
answered, not feeling entirely too proud of myself at the moment.

“Excellent! Then I shall see you
in the morning. Do get a good night’s sleep.”

He closed the door and left me alone.
Again.

There had to be a way out of here. I
just needed to have some time to figure it out.

-o-

After a night’s sleep on a real
bed, a bath and clean clothes, I felt like a new man. I wolfed down
breakfast then headed out to explore the area. Talia, the serving
woman from last night, let me know that Lord Vatrale left during the
night and I had the day to myself.

She didn’t need to tell me he
left. Whatever link the bracelet created between us, it must be
affected by distance. The closer we were, the stronger I could feel
his presence. Even now, with no real idea where he was, I could still
sense him. If I had to guess, I would say he was somewhere to the
south. Feeling the direction didn’t seem to be too hard. After
all, he was drawing energy from me, and I just needed to follow the
pull.

Distance was something else. I think he
was out of the mining compound, but I couldn’t say how far. I
pictured the pull as a river with me standing at the mouth of it. I
could tell where it flowed, but not how long it ran.

For now, I had some time to myself. I
might still be a prisoner, but that didn’t mean I had to lock
myself in a room. I left the house and got my first view of my prison
during the light of day.

The compound, at least that was what I
thought of it as, was on a wide plateau. The area was bordered by a
raised ridge to the north and east. There was a steep cliff to the
west. Neither looked like they would be easy to climb, and a fall
from the top would prove deadly. Water cascaded down the ridge into a
pool not far from where I stood. A stream carried the overflow from
the pool behind the house and over the cliff.

Stone walls had been erected where the
natural landscape didn’t create enough of a barrier. They stood
about twenty feet high, and there were walkways along the top. The
stairs that lead up to them were gone leaving only the wooden studs
in the walls to mark where they once stood.

A dirt road circled the interior of the
compound, winding between several long wooden buildings. The road
continued to the south where a wooden gate blocked what appeared to
be the only way in or out. I saw two men over by the gate and another
by the mine shaft that we emerged from last night. All three were
armed and wearing leather armor. They must be the guards.

I stepped off the stairs before the
house and started walking along the road toward the first building on
the left. About a dozen people wearing light gray tunics that draped
to their knees loitered by the doorway. The guard with the bloody
nose was there as well.

He was the one that escorted Vatrale
into the cell during my first night. He seemed to be trying to
organize the people, but was having little luck. When he saw me, he
gave up and ran over to speak.

“Morning to you, m’lord.”

Wow! I didn’t expect one of my
captors to be polite to me. I figured they would all be bullies who
I’d just have to endure.

“I’m trying to get your
servants into their quarters. Master Vatrale said to get them inside,
but they won’t stay inside. They keep wandering off. They
wander too far and they’ll be falling off the edge.”

“My servants?” I asked.
Judging from their condition these must be the people from the pit.
So, Vatrale actually kept his word and let them go.

The captives’ eyes were glazed
over and their mouths hung open. Their shuffling gait was straight
from a zombie movie. Getting them out of the pit wouldn’t be
enough if I wanted to help these people.

Turning to the guard, I asked, “What’s
your name?”

“I’m Garit, m’lord.”

“Well Garit, run back to the main
house, and find Talia. Tell her about these folks and ask her to
help. I’ll take care of them until you come back.”

Garit sprinted toward the main house
leaving me alone. He seemed to be trying to get them into the
building before I got here.

I guessed I would give that a try.

“Excuse me. Hello. Ah...
Everyone, we are going to go inside now.” I tried to get their
attention, but they didn’t even seem to be aware that I was
here. I moved through the small group as I was talking to them. I
thought if I made it to the front door they might follow me inside.
Most didn’t even look at me as I passed, but one did. He was an
older man. His hair was gone and his skin fitted him like a suit that
was too large, but it was his green eyes that drew me in.

He had green eyes. Everyone else had
this glazed over grayish look to their eyes that sucked the color
out, but this one man had eyes that look normal.

“Sir,” I said as I
approached him, “Let me help you.”

He matched each step I took forward
with a step back. This wasn’t going to get us anywhere. I
stopped no closer to him than when I started, but now I had moved
away from the building. I was standing in the middle of the shuffling
crowd.

Except now they weren’t
shuffling. Most of them stopped moving and turned to watch me, or us.
I wasn’t really sure. Their eyes were clearer now too. I could
see the color return even as I watched them, and with the return of
the color they seemed to become more aware of their surroundings.

I raised my hands with my palms open
and facing them. Slowly I turned around so that they could all see
that I was not a threat.

“I’d like to help. I’m
a friend.”

A woman behind me shouted, “Where
are we?” I turned to answer when another voice asked, “Who
are you?” and then, “When can we go home?”

Within seconds they all started
talking at once. I couldn’t make out any single voice as they
all crowded around me. I could hear the anger and pain in their
questions.

Someone grabbed my shirt from behind. I
pulled away with a jerk. Perhaps that wasn’t the best idea I’ve
had. I was boxed in with no where to go. If they turned on me, I
wouldn’t stand a chance.

A woman announced with a clear voice
that carried over the noise of the crowd, “The man before you
is Sir Devin Symms, and he is your protector.”

It was Talia. Garit was with her. He
was carrying two huge baskets, one in each hand. He placed them on
the ground as the crowd turned to face the two of them.

“I heard him last night,”
she continued. “He will only help Master Vatrale if you are
safe. He bargained his life for yours. You are free because of the
man before you.”

Hey, maybe this would work out after
all. Talia had their attention, and they were listening to her.

I didn’t even see it coming. My
head rocked back from the impact of a rock. I staggered forward and
raised my hand to my scalp. It was covered in blood.

“He serves the Dark Lord!”
Another rock flew at me and struck my shoulder. A third caught me in
the middle of the back.

“NO!” screamed Garit as he
rushed to my aid.

The guard was armed and these people
weren’t.

I yelled, “Garit! Stop! Don’t
hurt anyone!”

To my surprise, Garit ran right through
the crowd and tackled me. I collapsed under his weight while he
covered me with his body. He grunted as he took each blow meant for
me. I could barely move beneath him.

The blows continued to rain down on us.
A few reached me but most struck the guard. With my head trapped
under the guard’s armpit, I couldn’t make out the muffled
shouts coming from the crowd, but I knew immediately when they
stopped. In the silence that followed there were a few more attacks
on us but they didn’t continue for long.

The attack couldn’t have lasted
more than a minute.

Garit rolled off of me and I gasped for
fresh air. The big guy just laid there, panting like a dog. I got to
my knees when I realized that someone was sobbing.

I climbed to my feet and looked around.
The prisoners were backed against the building. A trio of armed
guards faced them. Their swords were drawn. A pair of bodies sprawled
on the ground at their feet.

Talia cowered behind the guards. A dark
skinned, bald man was holding her as she cried into his shoulder.

“Stop!” I shouted, although
it came out more as a gasp. I stumbled forward, the world spun around
me as my eyes struggled to focus.

I got between the guards and those they
were holding at bay and said, “They’ve suffered enough.
Leave them be.”

The closest guard spat on the ground
and said to me, “They’re animals. They would have killed
you and that fat oaf if we hadn’t jumped in.”

“They are people!” I
snapped back. “And you will never hurt them again!”

“Or what?” replied the
guard. “We don’t answer to you. Get in my way boy and
I’ll stick you like a pig.”

The guard might have wanted to say
more, but a rock like fist slammed into his jaw. The guard collapsed
without a sound. Garit kicked him when he was down to make sure he
didn’t get back up.

“Master Vatrale said they aren’t
to be hurt,” growled Garit as he looked down at the two bodies
then at the remaining two guards, “Do you have a problem with
that?”

The armed men wouldn’t make eye
contact with Garit. Instead they knelt down, grabbed their
unconscious spokesman, then dragged him away. Garit never took his
eyes off of them as they slunk off.

Talia and the man with her rushed to my
side, but I waved them off. I turned to the people who attacked me.
The ones who might have killed me if Garit hadn’t stepped in.