The Howling Delve - Jaleigh Johnson [74]
Kali looked across at Dantane but couldn't tell if the wizard still breathed. Kali started to rise but fell back again as the light from the cupboatd shot across the room, seeking release in what was left of the confined space. It struck the tower wall but did no discernible damage. Kail gave silent thanks. If the light had punctured the wall, the resulting explosion would have caved in their skulls and buried them in stone. Instead, the beam thickened and began to take shape-a humanoid shape, to Kail's eyes. He could make out little else in the dust-choked room.
Cesira raised a hand and clasped his shoulder. Dantane, she said, and Kail nodded, keeping his eyes on the shape.
Kneeling beside the wizatd, the druid probed his wounds with careful fingers. At het touch, Dantane blinked his eyes open, focusing on her blearily. He seemed beyond speech.
Kali positioned himself in front of the pair as a dwarf figure stepped out of the dust and into the sunlight that now poured through the roofless towet. He was half Kail's height but easily his equal in gir th and stride-length. The dwarf carried a broken battle-axe and a visage completely devoid of expression. His body passed through furniture and debris as easily as if he walked through dust. His boots made no sound, and left no footprints on the stone.
"Greetings, Kail."
Kali stattled so badly at the sound of the voice he neatly dropped his blade. The ghost's lips fotmed the greeting, but the voice that came from the dwarf's throat was not the deep grating of the mountain folk, not at all like Garavin's steady rumble.
The voice was female. The voice was Meisha's.
Kail turned, daring to take his eyes off the spirit to look at the cupboard. Cesira followed his gaze, and her eyes widened.
The magical light had incinerated his mother's pouch. It had also consumed any mundane items the pouch might have contained. All that remained was Alytia's silver Harper badge, standing up on end. The light emanating from it shone straight out to the dwarFs form like a banner in a high breeze.
Kali looked back at the specter. "Meisha?" he asked. He couldn't believe it. "What is this?"
There was a long pause, but just as Kali started to ask another question, the dwarf spoke again. "I don't have long, and I can't answer the questions crowding your tongue, so listen well to what I can tell you.
"I need your aid, Kail," the ghost continued with Meisha's voice. "I'm trapped in the Howling Delve with a group of Esmeltaran refugees. They escaped the siege, the same one that drove your father out of the city those years ago.
"The Delve is a stronghold long inhabited by my master, Varan Ivshar. Its location is underground roughly twenty miles southwest of Keczulla, but that information will do you little good. The entrance to the Delve has been hidden and sealed magically, by agents of the Shadow Thieves."
Cesira caught her breath in surprise, and Kali muttered a curse.
"The only way in or out now is a portal used by the Shadow Thieves, a portal that leads to somewhere within Amn. I'm asking you to find the door in, if you can, and come to get me. The Shadow Thieves are after magical items. There's a warehouse worth stored in the Delve, and they're putting considerable manpower behind removing and selling them on the black market."
The message paused. "There's something else down here, a beast of fire. I haven't seen it, except in nightmares, but my friend the ghost says it's worse than the Shadow Thieves. I think… I think it might have done something to Vatan, as well-changed him. I can't be sute.
"The only thing I can tell you about the portal is that the dwarves probably used it when they were still alive. Vaian's markings aren't on it. The dwarves used the Delve as a stronghold, so they must have had the portal connect to a major city, a place to sell what treasure they collected. Keczulla is closest, but it could just as easily be Athkatla or Murann, gods forbid." There was another short pause. "If you receive this