The Howling Delve - Jaleigh Johnson [30]
"Varan- " but as soon as Meisha spoke, the dwarf vanished.
Varan smiled. "Didyou see something?"
Meisha kept her eyes on the tunnel, but the apparition did not reappear. "Who is he?"she asked, her voice hushed.
"You'veseen him before?"
"He watches me," said Meisha. She suppressed a shudder. "I didn't know he was… that he wasn't…"
"Alive? " Varan supplied. "I believe he is one of the Howlings." "Howlings?"
"This place was called the Howling Delve, longago. TheHowlings were dwarves-adventurers who made these caves a secret home. They rode on the backs of giant wolves and amassed quite a fortune beneath the earth, or so the dwarven olorns-magic stories-tell."
"What happened to them? "Meisha asked.
"Obviously, they died," said Varan, with a careless shrug, "as adventurers often do."
"Then why are they still here?" The sense of unease tucked around Meisha like an ill-fitting cloak. How could Varan live amongghosts?
"They are only echoes of the past, child, "said Varan, "Lingering memories and nothing to fear. My magic can create similar effects."
"How?" Meisha asked curiously. "Wouldyou like to see? To learn?"
Meisha heard the challenge in the question. She nodded slowly.
Varan reached into a small sack tied around his neck. "You'll see these again when we begin your testing," he said, pulling forth a small, square crystal. "They help me to gauge your progress." He touched one clear surface, spoke a word, and suddenly there were two more figures in the room. The man and child were perfect doubles of Varan and Meisha.
Meisha stared as her mirror image raised a hand and brought it down in a chopping motion. A jet of water rose from the ground and slapped the image of Varan, soaking his robes. The real Varan chuckled and spoke another command. The images shrank and returned to the crystal.
Meisha looked at her teacher. "How long can you keep the memories?"
"As long as I wish," Varan said. "Though perhaps I might erase that one, if you'd care to begin anew? "
Meisha stayed silent, so Varan continued, "I don't expect you to trust me yet, but you can trust this: I am a selfish old man, too curious about magic for my own good. I like to experiment, and I know the value in rearing a fire elementalist, a true savant. You may have a home here as long as you wish, no matter how many hurts you attempt to inflict upon me. I will not send you away. When your training is done, you may go back into the sunlight, if that is what you want." He removed another object from his sack, a small ring, which he handed to her. "When you leave, should you ever wish to return, all you need do is speak the command word on the band. The ring will bring you to the Delve." He leaned closer, so close to the pit she wondered how he stood the heat. "What say you, firebird?" He stretched his bare hand over the flames and met her gaze in another challenge.
Without hesitation, Meisha reached across and touched his wrinkled palm. Pain scalded her arm, but if he wouldn't back down, neither would she.
Varan's eyes shone with approval. "There will always be flame in you, child, for the whole of your life. But it will not always hurt so. Trust me."
Meisha nodded, bearing the pain. She looked over Varan's shoulder and saw the ghost again, watching her from the tunnel mouth. A large pendant hung around his neck with the figure of a mountain inscribed upon its surface. A hole sat in the center where once a charm or gem might have nestled.
What do you want from me? Meisha wondered. If the dwarf was beyond pain, why did he look so afraid?
As if in answer, the memories faded. The child Meisha had gone, and the sleeping Meisha found herself in a place she'd never been in her waking life. Only in her dreams had she been trapped in the stone chamber.
Meisha felt the surge of the campfire in time with her accelerating heartbeat. She knew what was coming, but she didn't want to face it.
This time, the fire was no friend. It held a living presence, awesome and terrifying and buried deep