Shaper of Stone (The Shapers Book 1) (17 page)

It reminded me of a war movie where a
machine gun shoots through a building. Stone and dust flew up in a
cloud. The gargoyle halted and began flailing its arms trying to
strike the bullets out of the air. It wasn’t any more effective
than I would have been if I was trying to swat away a swarm of angry
bees. As soon as it blocked one, five others made contact.

Tibron rushed in with his hammer. He
smashed into the thing’s lower legs. He drew the creature’s
attention like a wolf snapping at the back of a bear, working to
distract it from the rest of the pack. The gargoyle tried to turn to
face him. It stumbled with a grating noise as it rotated its body.

Duncan had moved to stand beside me. He
had one bloody hand clutching his stomach while the other extends out
in front of him. The stone hammer Garit threw rose into the air and
smashed the gargoyle across the back of the head. The hammer moved in
tune with the motion of Duncan’s hand.

The creature spun to meet this new
attack, but the strain on its weakened body was too much. There was a
grating noise followed by a loud crack that drove us to attack even
harder.

The creature waved its arms one final
time. It tipped from one side to the other, swaying like it had too
much to drink. Then it stopped moving completely. Its arms fell to
its side. The sound of stone grinding against stone was followed by
the torso of the beast sliding forward and falling to the ground. The
barrage of nerafpan pellets had cut through the creature.

I think we won.

-o-

I was wrong. We didn’t win. It
only took a glance around what remained of the camp to realize that.

The wagons were destroyed. Our supplies
were gone, and the horses had run off. That wasn’t the worst of
it though.

There were dead everywhere. Some we
couldn’t recognize. In the final count seven of us remained.
Only Tavi and Shira seemed to escape any sort of injury. My shoulder
was dislocated, but nothing seemed broken. Talamas and Duncan had a
number of cuts and scraps from exploding stone. A piece of stone
struck Duncan’s side that had to be pulled out. Garit and
Tibron were bruised from throwing themselves at the gargoyle. How
they managed not to get themselves killed, I’ll never know.

Garit saw Hahns fall protecting Talia,
then one of the beasts grabbed her and flew off. Jake and Abella were
missing. Both had been outside of the camp when the attack started.
The rest were dead.

It could have been much worse. Duncan
healed Garit’s leg before going to sleep that night. Otherwise
the big guy would have been almost useless in the fight. The greatest
stroke of luck came when Talamas felt the presence of the gargoyles
before they attacked. It gave everyone a few seconds to prepare. They
knew enough to cover their ears until the roar of the beast ended.

As soon as we confirmed Abella wasn’t
in the camp, I raced back to the last place I had seen her. The
ground was a mess from the monster smashing the tree, but there was
no sign of Abella.

“Abella! Abella!” I shouted
into the forest.

There was no answer, but I realized I
wasn’t alone. Tibron had followed me. He was searching the
ground as I yelled for her.

“This way,” he said. He
discovered a trail leading away from the attack. We followed it into
the trees. I continued to call for her while Tibron made sure we
didn’t loose the trail.

He stopped moving and knelt to study
the ground. He looked at me and shook his head.

“Crap! Her trail is gone?”
I asked, hoping that I was wrong.

“It has. There,” he pointed
to a small depression in the soft earth, “Is the last sign of
her passing. She was running this way, then she vanished.”

He looked to the morning sky before
speaking again, “It was like she was plucked from the ground.
My friend, I think the creature took her.”

-o-

Shira finished wrapping my arm in a
sling, but I barely noticed as I stared into the forest. We searched
where we lost the trail, but we could find no sign of Abella. No
blood, body or anything to indicate what had happened to her. I never
should have left her side.

It was Tibron who voiced our thoughts.
“ I fear one of the creatures took here.”

“Like Talia,” whispered
Shira.

No. No. No. Why didn’t I stay
with her? Why didn’t I keep her safe? I was supposed to help
these people not lead them to this.

“Those things must have been what
brought back the other runaways,” said Garit. “I’ve
never seen anything like it and I hope I never will again. We got
lucky killing one of them, and we wouldn’t have even done that
if Talamas hadn’t warned us. Even then it took all of us to
stop it.”

“They may be back,” said
Talamas as he stomped toward us. “Devin, you still have much to
learn about controlling your powers. I have the skill, but my ability
to channel pales against even Duncan’s which is a fraction of
yours. If we don’t work together, we may not be as lucky next
time.”

I glared at Talamas. “You need to
just give up on that. There is no way I’m letting anyone drain
me like that again. You are right we need to work together, but we’ll
find another way.”

Talamas threw his arms up in disgust
and walked away.

“Where do you think you are
going?” I shouted after him. “If you know anything about
these things, I want to know what it is. What are they going to do
with Abella and Talia?” I paused for a moment, and then asked
the question I really wanted the answer to, “Is there any
chance they are still alive?”

Talamas stopped. His back was still to
us, but at least he wasn’t walking away. Without turning he
started to speak. “I think Vatrale sent the constructs to find
Abella. They lack more than a basic intelligence which makes giving
them complex instructions difficult. They most likely only understood
they needed to bring back a woman.”

Talamas turned around and faced me, “I
think Abella is alive. If Talia still lives it is only because
Vatrale hasn’t turned his attention to her. Abella is the one
he needs.”

“Wait? You know what he is going
to do? What does Abella have to do with it? We are way past the time
for secrets old man. If you want to help, you can start by telling us
what you know.”

“Indeed Talamas,” added
Tibron. “I have traveled with you for some time and have not
questioned you, but I too am curious about what secret you hold so
close.”

“This is an old story. Older than
many of you,” began Talamas. “Vatrale and I studied
together when we were younger. There was an accident and someone we
both cared deeply for was killed. I blamed him. He blamed me. We have
been enemies ever since.”

“And what does that have to do
with Abella or what is going on now?” I asked,

“The woman who died was named
Irena. I’m not sure, but I believe she may be a distant
relative to Abella. The similarities between the two women are too
numerous for it to be otherwise. As I said, Vatrale cared greatly for
her, and he was willing to do anything to save her. He refused to
accept her death. He believed that with the right rituals and
sufficient power he could open a door to the spirit realm and restore
her to life.”

Tibron spoke when Talamas paused, “That
is why Carvis took the Soul Stone from my village. Vatrale needed it
for this ritual.”

“He did. With the Soul Stone, the
dracomen could speak to their ancestors. In Vatrale’s hands it
would serve as a compass that can guide him to Irena’s spirit.
It would not be enough. He would also needs a vessel to hold her
spirit, else it will return from where it came. Abella is that
vessel. Any person would suffice, but Vatrale believes that a blood
relative with similar features will make the transition easier for
the returning spirit.”

“What about Abella?” I
asked. “Her spirit will be lost, won’t it?”

Talamas nodded. “The body will
only house one soul.”

“Can we stop him?”

“Maybe. We continue to the ruins
where Irena died. Vatrale believes it is the perfect place to restore
her to life. If we get there in time, we can disrupt his plans.
Burdened with their captives, the constructs will travel little
better than us. They may move faster, but they will need to stop
frequently.”

Garit approached and dropped a pack at
my feet. “I salvaged what I could from the wreckage. It isn’t
much but it should be enough.”

He handed a second pack to Duncan.
“This is for you. I figure your family still needs to reach
Ironholt.”

Duncan took the pack but shook his
head. “I should be going with you. You saved me and my family.
I don’t want to abandon you now. Not when you’ll need all
of the help you can get.”

“Duncan, you aren’t
abandoning anyone,” I told him. “Go to Ironholt and get
help. Make sure they know what Vatrale has done. If we fail, it will
be up to you to bring him down.”

He reached out and took my arm, “You
will not fail.”

How could we fail? We only had to
travel non stop for two days to face a horde of dracomen, a pair of
gargoyles, and who knows what else so we can stop a madman from
sacrificing my friend. I didn’t say any of that. Instead I
simply said, “It’s time we get moving.”

-o-

Abella screamed. She was dangling in
the claws of the stone demon. Its wings outstretched as it glided
above the trees. She squirmed in its grip, but she could no more
break its hold then she could move a mountain.

She looked for signs of the others, but
she was alone. Even the fire from the camp was missing. She had no
idea how long she had been unconscious while the creature fled with
her.

After an hour they dove to the ground.
In a clearing a second beast stood with a woman nearby. Abella and
her captor hit the ground with a bone shaking jolt. The monster
stumbled to a stop, dropping her.

Before she could hit the ground, Abella
twisted and landed on her feet in a crouch. She leaped forward and
took off in a run toward the cover of trees. She made it only a few
yards before she was struck in the back.

The force knocked her forward. Off
balance, she tried to roll with it. Before she could regain her feet
one of the creatures grasped her ankle in its fist. It drug her back
while she kicked at its grip with no effect.

“Let her go!” cried Talia
as she rushed to Abella’s side.

As if on command, the creature dropped
Abella into the dirt then took a step back placing the two women
between it and its companion. Talia started crying as soon as she
wrapped her arms around Abella, hugging her tightly. Her body shook
with each sob.

Abella struggled to her feet with Talia
in her arms. “Did it hurt you?” she asked as she looked
back and forth between the two constructs.

“Hahns,” she cried, “It
killed Hahns. It killed him. I couldn’t... He’s dead.”

Abella fought back tears of her own.
The thing was chasing Devin before it came for her. She didn’t
know if he got away or if he too was dead. They might be the only two
left alive.

They stood together until Talia stopped
crying. The constructs neither moved nor made a sound the entire
time.

“What are they waiting for?”
asked Abella.

“I think it is waiting for the
others. I saw one more attacking the camp. It was attacking Shira and
Duncan.”

“Did you see what happened?”

“No. As soon as it grabbed me it
jumped into the air and flew off. I never got a chance to look back.”

Abella brushed the hair away from the
face of the other woman. Talia was covered in dirt and blood. She
must have been right next to Hahns when he died for so much blood to
have splattered onto her. Abella had barely met her, but she knew
that Talia and Hahns had helped Devin. It was enough. They were in
this together.

Abella said, “They don’t
seem to be watching us. Maybe we can walk out of here.”

Talia shook her head. “They only
move if we try to run. I got about ten feet before they dragged me
back.”

Both constructs suddenly turned their
head as if they heard something. Then, without warning they stepped
forward and each grabbed a woman. Talia screamed.

Abella tried to break free, but the
creature’s grip was too strong.

The constructs flexed their legs and
leaped into the air, spreading their wings and flapping them to get
even greater lift. In seconds they were soaring once more above the
forest.

-o-

Once there was enough light that we
could see where we were walking, we headed out. Shira, Duncan and
Tavi left for the safety of Ironholt, the nearest stronghold. We
watched them go until they vanished from sight into the trees.

We left in the opposite direction with
Tibron leading the way and Garit trailing behind. Talamas and I
walked side by side. The old man was still mad that I refused to let
him draw power from me, but at least he didn’t bring it up
again. What he did do was test the extent of my own shaping ability.

He started by having me mold the
nerafpan into different shapes. I did the things that came easy for
me. I started with the simple wrist blades and shield, then I let it
change to the floating balls that circled around my head. I was
careful to make sure I never uncovered the bracelet Vatrale tricked
me into wearing. The nerafpan barrier I wrapped around it was all
that kept him from drawing my strength to him. Without the shield he
would have no problem finding me.

Talamas had me do different tricks for
the first hour of our journey. I didn’t mind. It helped to pass
the time and to keep my mind off of what we were doing. When we
crossed a narrow stream, he stopped and plucked a stone from the
water’s edge. It was just the right size to skip across a pond,
flat and smooth.