The Howling Delve - Jaleigh Johnson [29]
"Forgive me," he whispered as Dhairr twitched in the throes of some agitated dream. "I failed you, but I won't fail our family. I'll come back. I'll restore everything Balram took away and send him to the Nine Hells for what he did to you."
"My son," his father murmured. Kali froze, but Dhairr's eyes remained shut. His struggles slowed, and he slept on, peacefully.
Kail turned away, and saw Cesira silhouetted in the doorway to the gatden. She said nothing when he moved to join her, and neither looked back as they walked from the house.
Tossing in feverish dreams, Meisha curled unconsciously closer to her campfire. She needed the warmth. She was back in the cold, back in the Delve. Was it calling the fire that had triggered the dream? No, Kail's friend, the dwarf, had done it.
The dream always started the same way-as memory. She could recall every detail with perfect clarity.
The child Meisha huddled in a sullen hall on the floor of the cavern. She stared into the firepit, feeling only a vague sense of unease she could not explain. She'd felt it ever since Varan had brought her to the Delve. It had been three days, but she already felt she'd spent a lifetime out of the sun.
"Areyou so determined to be angry with me?"
Varan's voice echoed from the tunnel, but Meisha did not turn to face her teacher. Flames beat down on her shaved skull; heat from the fire made the mud covering her chest crack and crumble. The heat reminded her ofhighsun in Keczulla, during the markets. The mud had protected her skin from the burning sun, but she didn't need it now-in the dark. She missed Amn, missed the smell and color of the crowds. The Delve seemed unnaturally quiet. Varan preferred it that way.
"Do you imagine, in allFaertin, you are the only child ever to have been deprived of something-a home, loved ones, a dream?"
Varan sat across the pitfrom her, his robes pillowed beneath him on the cold cavern floor. Their hem still dripped wet from the water whip spell she'd used on him. "Though you've been blessed with none of those things, Meisha, you have a great gift slumbering within you. Iam offeringyou a home-food and shelter, education, and power. What child would deny such a dream? "
Meisha met his eyes across the pit. Flames surged up between them, the fire reaching the ceiling. Varan never flinched, though the girl swore his beard was singed.
When the fire shrank away, the wizard sighed. "Very well, I concede the battle. Jonal will study water. Fire shall be your element. I cannot deny that flames match your nature. Fire's inherent power will help you survive, until you embrace it for the right reasons."
"What reason is there for hurling flame, except to kill things?" The little girl sneered.
"When you've completed your studies, you will have the answer to that question, "said Varan.
"And when I've finished, you'll let me go?" Meisha asked, watching him closely.
"Of course. You are not a prisoner here. The apprentices walk around as they please. You may do the same, but there are rules," he cautioned her. "You're not a Wraith anymore. You will wash the mudfrom your body and let your hair grow in, though perhaps you'll wear it short"-he rubbed his bearded chin as he regarded her-"to keep it from being singed. Yes, I think that will do. The Delve is my home as well as my fortress, and the caverns are secure, within the confines I've mapped. For your own safety, I ask you not to venture past my wards into the outer caves."
"What's out there?"
"Things you're not ready to see, little firebird," he said.
Meisha bristled at the childish nickname. "I can take care of myself." She looked away and caught movement from the mouth of one of the tunnels.
A small figure stood watching them-a dwarf in dented plate armor holding a large battle-axe. The handle of the weapon was broken, rendering it useless, but