The Howling Delve - Jaleigh Johnson [35]
"Show me," Meisha pleaded. She didn't like the prospect of spending several nights alone in her room, with only the other apprentices for company. "I could go with you, aid you."
"You could, and I'd be glad of a watm fire, so deep in the earth, but you need to rest. When you've regained your strength, I'll show you the way in, and I'll be glad of your aid."
He touched her shoulder, and Meisha, weary but flush with her small victoty in the Art, forgot to push him away.
Varan's prediction held true. Meisha slept all through the next day and night, rising only to take small meals. Gradually, her energy returned and with it the brush of power, just out of her reach. She left it alone, as Varan had instructed, but she was eager, fot the first time, to tell her teacher what she felt.
When she knocked on his door the third day, there came no answer, nor was there on the fourth or fifth. Meisha returned eveiy night, and during the day, when their watet supply ran" low, she collected bucketfuls from the newly vacant pool.
After a tenday, they began to worry, not just for Varan's safety, but fot their own continued survival. None of them knew how to get to the surface without Vatan's magic, and they were quickly running out of food.
Meisha and Prieces ventured out into the Delve seeking fresh meat, while Shaera and the test returned to the training tunnels to search for the wizard and the secret cavern enttance.
When Meisha returned to her chamber, empty-handed and hungry, she saw the green light coming from Varan's workroom.
Running to the door, she felt the same burst of electrical heat, but this time she ignored it and tried to force the door. The spell lock sizzled along her fingers, hot but not burning. The door was sealed tight.
"Master!" she shouted, pounding on the door. "Are you in there?"
She heard glass breaking and what sounded like Varan's workbench being dragged across the floor. The wizard's voice rang out above the din.
"I'm all right, firebird," he called. "Go back to yout room."
"Where have you been?" she persisted, banging harder on the door. "We've been searching the tunnels for you. The food is almost gone."
"I apologize for that, little one, and I've corrected the oversight. You'll find the larder filled, and the next time I leave, you will not be left without provisions."
"The next time?" Meisha cried. "We thought you dead; now you're leaving again? Varan, open the door!"
"Calm yourself," Varan said soothingly. "We will continue your lessons as I promised. I will not be leaving for some time. The objects I brought back will occupy all of my attention for a while."
"What are they?" Meisha asked. "What did you find?" "Amazing things," Vatan said excitedly. His voice drifted away from the door, and she heard more objects being moved around the room.
"Varan," she called. "Varan!"
Light flared through the door, blinding her. When her vision cleared, Meisha heard nothing mote from the room. She sensed, without knowing how, that Varan had gone.
She slumped to the floor, wondering what it all meant. Her stomach growled loudly, and Meisha recalled their most ptessing need. She headed to the larder, hoping that Varan had indeed stocked it well.
Perhaps, when Varan had sorted out whatever it was he'd found in the caverns, he would show her where he'd been.
CHAPTER 10
The Howling Delve 11 Uktar, the Year
of the Serpent (1359 DR)
She's run off!" Jonal cried. Meisha opened her eyes, her meditation ruined. Annoyed, she turned to glare at the watet apprentice. "What?"
"Shaera," Jonal said. "She's gone beyond the wards, seeking the master's tunnels. She wants to know where he goes."
"Don't we all," Meisha muttered. She began pulling on her boots. "Does Varan know?"
Jonal shook his head. "He hasn't come out-" "Of the workroom," Meisha finished disgustedly. In the three years since finding the secret tunnels, Varan had squirreled away an unknown number of treasures. He barely left his chambeis anymore, for toying