Free Shaper of Stone (The Shapers Book 1) by Keith Keffer Page A

them.
Throw yourself on the pyre if you must, but know that their suffering
will be far greater than yours.”
    My mouth suddenly went dry and I could
feel my heart beating against my chest. No one here deserved to be be
punished.
    “I will count to three, then the
choice will be mine,” said Vatrale. “I didn’t
witness the event, so to be fair I’ll just punish all of them.”
    “One.”
    What was he going to do to them? He’s
psychotic. I didn’t want to even think about what he would do.
A guard walked behind the crowd. He carried a whip. It dragged on the
ground behind him whispering a promise of pain.
    “Two.”
    The guard snapped the whip, an
exclamation point to Vatrale’s count down.
    When did I start sweating? I wiped my
forehead and noticed that Shira has stepped away from the group. Her
eyes locked on me. As soon as our eyes met, she nodded her head. Was
she volunteering?
    “Thr...”
    “Stop!” I yelled. “I
pick her!”
    I pointed to Shira. She didn’t
flinch as I made my choice. I did. I turned away, unable to face her.
    There were gasps from the people
gathered around. They didn’t know I had no choice. That it was
going to be one of them or all of them. I hoped Shira knew, not that
it would make it any better if she did.
    I should have found a way to stand up
to him.
    “Her? You pick her? So be it,”
said Vatrale.
    He raised his arm and a column of stone
erupted from the ground. The force of the stone breaking through the
surface projected bits of dirt and grass into the air. The prisoners
closest to the column were struck by the falling debris.
    There were a few cries, but they were
from surprise. No one seemed to be hurt by the display.
    “Carvis, secure her to the stone.
She is not to be touched or spoken to until I return.”
    “As you command, Lord Vatrale,”
answered Carvis as he stepped forward to do as he was ordered.
    “And, for the rest of them, get
them out of my sight.”
    Garit appeared at my side and
whispered, “I’ll keep them safe.” He began to herd
everyone back into their quarters before the other guards could
become involved. He spoke softly to the prisoners and they followed
his directions. The few who hesitated fell into line when Shira
motioned for them to follow him. It looked like I wasn’t the
only one who thought of her as the leader of the weary group.
    Carvis turned Shira away from the
others. When she faced the stone he pulled her forward until she was
leaning over it. He then tied her hands and feet together so that she
could neither stand nor move from her position. When he was done, he
drew his dagger, slit her dress and pulled it from her shoulders. Her
back and shoulders were left bare.
    A few of the prisoners glanced at Shira
while Garit lead them away, but not one looked in my direction. He
kept them moving, gently nudging any who might be tempted to get out
of line.
    The guard with the whip approached and
snapped it in the air. The crack echoed through the compound. This
time Shira did flinch. I wanted to turn away, but this was my fault.
I needed to face the consequences of my choices.
    “Hold!” ordered Vatrale,
“Leave her. As long as there are no further problems today, we
may spare the lash.”
    He spun and headed to the mine entrance
without looking back. Over his shoulder, he waved for me to follow,
and like a lost puppy, I fell into step beside him. It took a few
seconds before I felt steady on my feet and my pulse was under
control. At first I thought he might be playing a cruel joke, but as
we moved further away I realized that nothing more would happen to
Shira.
    “You aren’t their savior
boy, and now they know that. I trust there won’t be a need for
a second lesson this evening.”
    I considered telling him he was crazy,
but kept my mouth shut instead. He made his point and for now I
needed to play along.
    -o-
    Carvis joined us as we descended into
the mine. He lead the way through the tunnels until we reached a room
carved