Kall put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed, fighting the temptation to throttle her. "I said, you're a stubborn, arrogant wench."
And you're a blind pig's arse, Cesira threw back, if you think I'm running away to hide.
"I can't have him get to you." Kall tried to steady his voice. "I won't let it happen."
Kall.. Her anger gone, she seemed as much at a loss as he.
If anything happened to her, Kall realized, it would be the end of everything. He'd begun to build a new life the night he'd been hurtled through the portal to Garavin's camp. Now the ashes of his old life threatened to destroy everything he'd come to cherish.
Kall stepped back, kneeling before Cesira. He lifted a hand toward her. "Come here. I want to show you something."
Hesitantly, Cesira placed her hand in his palm. His fingers wrapped securely around hers. He guided her to the floor, splaying her hand beneath his against the rough wood. "Do you feel that-that catch?" he asked.
Cesira nodded and pressed. The false floor slid back to reveal a slender nook, no wider than their two arms but just as long. Arrows filled the pocket. Dust covered their fletching, but the points were still sharp enough to kill.
"My father feared attackers from every direction, even before Balram's magic took his mind," said Kall. He felt calmer now, and oddly detached as he spoke of the past. "He had dozens of these caches hidden throughout the estate. I don't think I've managed to find them all, but there are weapons and traps-some of them wickedly ingenious. I've written the locations down, along with instructions for how to set the traps. Morgan and Laerin were very helpful in that area, as I'm sure you can imagine. You'll want to go through everything step by step so you can remember where they are without looking for them."
Cesira watched his face as he spoke. You knew I would insist on staying, she said.
"Yes."
The druid forced a smile. Perhaps, she said, after all this is over, you'll return to Mir with me? Unless, after you pull off your heroic rescue, Meisha decides to make you a Harper.
Kall groaned, a little of his old humor returning. "Gods forbid. Being a merchant was difficult enough."
"Ye don't need to be harping, anyway," echoed Garavin's voice from the stairwell. He appeared at the door, grinning. Morgan, Laerin, and Dantane trailed behind in the stairwell. "I've seen ye dig, and that's fine enough work for any man."
"I didn't think I'd ever be able to stand upright again, after that first day," Kall said with a mock wince.
"Ah, well, that was all part of my plan. Bent over, ye could hear me better. Young people are too tall for their own good-makes it harder for them to listen."
Did you find what you needed? Cesira asked the dwarf.
"Aye, but it came at a high price." He wagged a finger at Kall. "This little adventure had better hold my interest, young one," he warned.
"Trust me," said Kall, clapping the dwarf on the shoulder. "If Meisha's message is any indication, it's long past time the Delve's secrets were brought to light. Dumathoin will approve."
"And Abbathor's fury will be unleashed," said Garavin.
"What do you mean?" asked Dantane.
"Meisha's Howling Delve is named for a dozen or so dwarf venturers who fell to the sway of the god Abbathor," said Garavin. "The Howlings worshipped Dumathoin first, but greed corrupted them. They were banished from their clan and went into exile."
"Into the Delve," said Kall, "and into business with Amn. According to Dantane's information, the ancestors of the current Bladesmiles made a substantial and secret fortune buying magic weapons and item components from the Howlings. They made the exchanges through a portal that connected the Bladesmile estate with the Delve."
"Until the day the portal went dark on dwarf heels and never lit again," said Dantane. "The Howlings disappeared and so did the supply of magic. Subsequent Bladesmile generations locked away the portal and removed its keys. If they couldn't make money off it, they didn't want their name associated with arcane magic. Except now the portal's been reactivated."
"By the Shadow Thieves," Kall said, "in a quiet, no-questions-asked arrangement with the Bladesmiles." He looked at Garavin. "We hoped you could tell us what this 'beast' is."
"I couldn't say, but Abbathor and Dumathoin have long been enemies. One is forever trying to draw faithful away from the other. Abbathor won a plump victory with The Howlings, yet this ghost ye spoke of wore Dumathoin's symbol-with the gem sundered from the mountain. I'm suspecting the two gods are still at war over the Howlings. It could be on account of the beast the sorcerous lass hinted at-a prize for Abbathor, surely, and a secret Dumathoin wants bound to the earth. When we go down there, we'll be caught in the middle of the fight."
"Standing between two dwarf gods is not the most appealing place to be," Kall conceded.
"While we're speaking of that," Garavin said, "have ye given any thought to what ye'll do when ye encounter yer friend?"
"I don't know." Kall had avoided thinking about what he would do if Aazen came down into the Delve after him.
If he's made his choice, Cesira put in, You won't dissuade him, not after he's spent so long under Balram's hand. He won't be the friend you remember.
Come with me! Kall remembered shouting, in vain. He had escaped and was given a new life with comrades to walk beside him and to protect him when needed it, because they counted him as a friend. Aazen had had nothing but pain.
Kall couldn't forget that ultimately, without Aazen's help, he never would have had the chance at the life he enjoyed now. Balram would have killed him before it all began, if not for Aazen. Kall would never know how much that small betrayal cost his childhood friend, but he'd seen the scars on the boy as early as seven years old. He knew Balram's fury was immeasurable.
"He gave me a chance," Kall decided. "I'll give him the same."
Garavin nodded, and something that might have been approval lit his eyes.
Is the magic Rays gave you sound? asked Cesira, changing the subject.
"According to Dantane, it is," replied Kall. He held up a large bloodstone, deeply green in color with red flecks. Rays's item, bought at a high price, would transport them to a similar gem located in the portal room at the Bladesmile estate. All they had to do was take care of whatever guards weren't drawn away by Rays's distraction and get the portal key.
"Once we're in, the Shadow Thieves'll be nipping at our heels." Garavin turned his maul over in his hands. "We'll have to be hoping we're not strolling into a maze to find yer friend."
"Then it's fortunate we have the Sword Coast's foremost expert on caves and tunnels in our party," said Kall, grinning.
"Ah, the flattery of the very young and foolhardy knows no bounds," Garavin sighed. "Here I thought ye brought me along for me battle prowess."
"We'll be needing lots of that too." Kall placed the bloodstone on the floor in the center of the tower. "Dantane, you and I are first," Kall reminded the wizard. "Light spell ready, in case we're headed into the dark?"
"Yes," the wizard replied. Kall hesitated. "Slaying spell ready, in case we're headed into certain doom?" he asked hopefully.
Dantane made a gesture that had Laerin clucking his tongue. "Get on with it," the wizard snapped. Kall put his hand on the gem, leaving room for Dantane to do the same. "The rest of you, wait for a moment, then follow." He looked at each of them in turn, his gaze resting last and lingering on Cesira. "Remember what I told you," he said, all trace of humor gone. "Please."
She nodded, not speaking.
The gem pulsed, veiling the tower in a red haze. Cesira blinked, and Kall was gone.
A moment passed in silence. Laerin tossed a gold danter into the air. A circle of six tiny stars winked on its foreface as it fell. Morgan snatched it out of the air, juggling it with nimble fingers.
"Told you," he said smugly.
Laerin sighed. "No tearful parting, no farewell kiss," he said, putting his hand on the bloodstone. "Cesira, my love, I'm going to have a talk wi
th both of you when we return."
Cesira blew him a kiss as he and Morgan disappeared.
Garavin knelt next to the gem, gripping the mastiff by its thick collar.
Watch over him, Cesira said.
"Like as not, he'll be the one watching me, but I take yer meaning. Ye take yer own care, lass," Garavin said. "The last thing he wants is for ye to be hurt by his enemy's hand. He wouldn't recover from that blow."
Cesira shook her head. Balram is my enemy too. I don't know if killing him will resolve anything for Kall.
"But ye're willing to find out?"
Eager, said the druid.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The Howling Delve
5 Marpenoth, the Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)
"Maybe you killed them all," said Talal hopefully. Meisha stood in the center of the cavern where they'd found Braedrin's body. Her eyes were on the ceiling. Her arms dangled loosely at her sides.
Talal held her shirt and boots. She wore only her leather jerkin, bound tightly at the waist by her belt, and her breeches. Her lips curved as Talal fidgeted. "You're welcome to wait with the others," she offered.
"Cowards, all of em," Talal said, pitching his voice to carry down the passage where Haroun and the others stood ready.
"One step at a time," Meisha said, closing her eyes. "They're taking their fates in hand. They're already terrified to be defying the Shadow Thieves."
"Terror?" Talal sniffed. "Terror will be when my clothes fall apart or get burned up standing too close to fire-crazed sorcerers. I'll be tromping around here naked before I beg that bastard Balram for more clothes."
"Gods forbid," came Haroun's voice from the passage.
"Just you keep that in mind while you're clinging to the walls out there!" Talal bellowed.
"Settle down," said Meisha. "I can hear them. Get ready."
"Nets up," Talal called down the tunnel. "Even if you do get them to fly down the right hole," he said, "how do we know they won't just chew through the ropes and get loose, maybe in the warrens?"
"I treated the ropes with poison," said Meisha. "It isn't lethal-not even painful-but it'll taste awful to the bats. Besides, we only need to funnel them to the cavern off the portal room. As long as that net holds, we'll be fine. Get down!" she shouted as black shapes began to pour from the hole near the ceiling.
Talal hit the ground as deep bats filled the chamber. He watched Meisha step back, cross her arms over her chest, and burst into a pillar of flame.
Kall passed through the portal and started to fall. He reached out blindly, his hands sliding down rocks, but there were no handholds. He fell into empty space.
Abruptly, his back and buttocks hit something solid. He flung his arms behind to catch himself, but they kept going, flailing in midair until something else caught his armpits and held him securely.
Panting, Kall looked around. Dull green glows revealed an expanse of hemp net stretched taut across a circular chasm. His legs and arms dangled through gaps in the net. All was quiet but for the swaying and creaking noises made by his weight against the rope. Beyond the chasm lay a large expanse of cavern, with tunnels adjoining either end. The tunnel in front of him was clear, but an identical, crudely fashioned net draped the one behind him.
Kall looked up and saw a mirror of what lay below him; but the shaft in the ceiling was clear of obstruction, lit by green radiances from the active portal. He watched, transfixed by the unusual perspective, as one by one his companions plummeted through the light and down the shaft.
Kall braced himself as they hit the net. Each impact jarred his back and shoulders. The net strained under their weight. Garavin's hound howled as it tried to disentangle its legs from their painful positions.
"We need to get off this," Kall said, noting the frayed ends of the rope looped around three nearby stalagmites. "The rope won't hold all of us."
"Meisha didn't mention a death trap'd be waiting for us," Morgan said.
"This was probably her work." Kall helped Garavin lift Borl out of the tangled ropes. "Without it, we'd be at the bottom of the chasm."
"Still could've warned us," Morgan grumbled.
Kall waited until they were all off the net. Using his sword, he hacked the ropes free from the stalagmites. The net sailed down into the darkness.
"The Shadow Thieves will have ways to avoid the chasm," Dantane pointed out.
"Now they'll have to use them," Kall said. He turned to Garavin. "What about it, old friend? Are we in the right place?"
The dwarf examined the cavern walls, clasping his holy symbol reflexively. "Aye, lad," he said. His voice sounded unnaturally thick. "We're here." He turned to look at Kall earnestly. "Dumathoin is here too."
Kall and Laerin exchanged glances. "What do you mean?" asked the half-elf.
"Where do ye feel most at peace, Laerin-closest to yer god?" asked the dwarf.
"In Erevan's grove or Dugmaren's tunnels," answered Laerin.
"This is Dumathoin's place," said Garavin. "But it's been tainted."
"He's right," said Dantane. The wizard closed his eyes. He appeared to be listening, though Kall detected nothing breaking the stillness but the distant sound of water. "There's some sort of distant aura in effect."
"Meisha's master lived in the Delve," said Kall. "Could it be some latent magic of his?"
"I don't think so," said Dantane, "not unless her master was of another plane."
"Meisha was trained as an elementalist," said Garavin. "Might be there's links to the elemental planes here."
"Kall," Morgan said abruptly, "we're not alone."
Kall turned. A child stood in the opening of the clear tunnel, watching them with wide, fearful eyes. Her face was pale and thin, almost emaciated. Kall took a step toward her, but she darted off down the tunnel.
"The refugees," said Laerin. "Do we follow?"
Kall nodded. "Light two torches. Keep your weapons out but down. We have to find Meisha."
"Kall." Dantane pointed to the other tunnel branching off the chamber. The net strung over its mouth glistened in the torchlight. A thick, mucuslike substance dripped from the ropes, collecting in black puddles on the floor. "Something's coming."
Kall heard it-the sound of air rushing up the too-narrow tunnel. Next to him, Borl growled from the gut, shifting agitatedly. "Get away from the net," he snapped as Dantane bent to examine the black drippings.
The wizard ducked away as a leathery wing swiped at him. Twin lines of needle-teeth bit down directly in front of his face. The bat screamed as the black substance filled its mouth and foamed. It fluttered back against a wall of a dozen or more creatures just like it. Their wings tangled in the small space, causing them to snap indiscriminately at each other.
"The Shadow Thieves?" Laerin said. "Or are these meant for us?"
"I don't know," Kall said. "But we're not going that way. We follow the girl." He looked at Dantane. "You have the portal key?"
Dantane touched a pouch hidden in his robes. Within, he'd placed the oblong stone that activated the portal from this side of the Delve. Rays had kept his word.
"It will be safe," Dantane said.
Kall nodded. He and Laerin led the way down the open tunnel. Dantane, Morgan, and Garavin brought up the rear. Once out of the spell light of the portal room, the tunnel became stygian. The torches cast a glow in front and behind their group but made the air close and smoky. Kall couldn't imagine being trapped in the enclosed space for any length of time, as the refugees had been. It would have driven him mad.
The passage turned, weaving in a snakelike pattern for several yards without changing direction. Laerin pointed to the ground, where scuffed imprints of bare feet were clearly visible, even in the wavering torch light. "She won't be hard to track."
Frowning, Kall held up a hand for the group to pause. He listened. "Why don't we hear her running?"
"Maybe she's hiding," Laerin suggested. "We won't hurt you, little one," he called out down the tunnel.
Far off, Kall thought he heard a whimper. "Let's go."
The tunnel angled gradually, and at an intersection, Laerin guided them to the right. The tunnel dipped, forcing them to crouch and move single file.
"She's smart," said Morgan. "She knows we'll catch up to her on open ground. She's looking for a mouse hole."
The passage turned again, and finally Kall could stand upright. He shone the torch ahead and stopped, holding back Laerin and the others when he saw the girl.
She stood at the cusp of a second intersection, as if unsure which path to take. She swiveled her head to look back. Her eyes widened when she saw Kall, and she started to dart away.
"Don't!" Laerin shouted, springing forward.
The girl flinched. Kall saw her foot slide forward and heard the pressure plate click. The half-elf's sharper vision had seen the trap even in the shadows.
Laerin snagged the girl by the waist and pulled her to the ground beneath him. Above their heads, a spear burst from a hole in the tunnel wall, shooting across the intersection to ricochet off stone.
"Are you all right?" Kall asked. He started to move forward, but Laerin held out a staying hand.
"Let Morgan check the intersection first," he said.
Kall gave Morgan the torch, waiting while the rogue checked the walls and floor for more spear holes. Laerin kept a protective arm around the girl, but Kall saw him wiggle his eyebrows and whisper something to her that made her laugh. After that, her face lost much of its fear. The scene reminded Kall of how easily the half-elf had drawn him out, when he'd been a frightened boy in Mir.
He turned to Dantane. "We can't take time to check all the walls. We need a barrier."
The wizard considered the tunnel wall where the spear had originated. He touched the stone and began a clipped chant.
A chill breeze funneled down the passage, tugging at Kall's hair. Dantane's breath fogged and the veins on the backs of his hands turned a sickly yellow-blue. The red flesh beneath his fingernails bled white. All of a sudden, he stopped speaking and slapped the wall with his open palm.
The sound was that of an ice-covered branch cracking against stone. Kall half-expected the wizard's hand to shatter, but it did not. A sheet of ice spider-webbed from his fingers, the frozen strands shooting down the tunnel and thickening, filling in the gaps until the entire wall shone white.
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