Brother Thief (Song of the Aura, Book One) by Gregory J. Downs Page B

small wax candle in his hand: the Shrine’s cleric. Gribly had heard he existed, but no one had ever seen him. The other man was Dunelord Ymorio, strong and muscled, wrapped in a silky cloak to hide the effects of his near-assassination. His face still bore scars and his hair was cut shorter to rid it of the parts that had been blackened and shriveled with fire. The Lord of Ymeer wore an expression of amused confidence. He was the supreme power here.
     
       “Hello, little thief,” he smiled confidently. Without thinking, Gribly threw all his power into a flying leap off the marble-sand, using the potent substance to aid his gift and throw him higher. He intended to hit the wall and make an instant escape up the inside wall again.
     
       He never made it. Dunelord Ymorio leaped up to meet him, striking him in the gut with enough force to make him throw up any food he might have eaten in the past week… which was next to nothing, of course.
     
       The thief’s frail body slammed to the ground again, but instead of crumpling on the hard ground, the floor softened and sucked him into itself, wrapping around him like a living thing.
     
       At first Gribly thought the floor itself was attacking him, until he saw the Dunelord’s pleased expression as he landed, molding the marble-sand with perfect skill and throwing it on his prey to encase him.
     
       The Dunelord has sand gifts too! The revelation woke him up just enough to open his mouth in awe.
     
       “Wha…” mumbled the boy, but his body was on fire with pain, begging him to let unconsciousness take control. He tried feebly to fight the Dunelord’s power, but the older man was far too strong. It was if Gribly didn’t have a gift at all.
     
       The sickening, soft-hard substance forced him into the ground and covered his face. Moaning weakly, Gribly stopped fighting and let himself black out.
     
       One last thought pierced his mind. Traveller, help me. Creator, if you’re as real as the things you create… save me.
     

Chapter Ten: The Cleric of Ymeer
     

     

     
       He hadn’t expected to wake up again, but he did. The realization wasn’t encouraging.
     
       Darkness covered him almost absolutely. What little light he had came through a tiny, barred window in a heavy iron door some distance away. The pitiful illumination showed him that he was chained to the ceiling of a dry stone cell with no windows. His arms felt numb and his wrists were purple from lack of blood. His feet dangled a half-foot from the floor, so that he couldn’t touch it any more than he could climb the chains and touch the ceiling.
     
        Slowly, the memory of his painful, sudden capture came back to him. He closed his eyes, trying to shut out the pain in his arms as he remembered.
     
       The Dunelord was like him- he knew that now. The man had the gift of sand, just like him, and was far better at using it. Though Gribly couldn’t think of a reason why the Dunelord had let him live, he thought he now knew why he was in this cell. No sand , he acknowledged, looking around the room in vain. No way out… easily, anyway. He realized that this room was probably built for the sole purpose of caging people like him- why else would it be here, when he’d never seen more than two stones together in the city?
     
       And as he looked closer at the walls around him, another realization dawned that strengthened his assumption: there were no cracks or fissures in the walls. They weren’t stone and mortar- they were solid! The prison cell had been carved straight out of the rock!
     
       I wonder if there really are more people out there like me , Gribly thought. They might all have been hunted down by Dunelord Ymorio, or maybe even other Dunelords before him! Maybe he has these powers like me- like us- and doesn’t want anyone else with them to challenge him!
     
       The thought was frightening. He was still musing over it when the door to his cell