The Howling Delve
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"I'd care to go back to the warrens!" he complained, handing her the brand. "I showed you the wizard. Haroun says that's enough, and she doesn't even know he tried to kill you."
"You told me your people explore these caves constantly, looking for ways to escape."
"I told you we draw lots for the pleasure," Talal argued. "Stain one stone with berry juice, put the rest in a sack, and choose. Tymora's lucky whipping boy gets a torch, a weapon, and a trip down the tunnel to have his wits smashed all over the place. That's what happened to Gadi."
"He was killed?" Meisha shone the torch down a side passage and listened. She heard nothing but the distant, constant drip of water. When she'd lived here, Varan had always made his apprentices safe, no matter how dangerous the Delve could be. Now the apprentices were dead, and Varan ...
Meisha suppressed a shudder. Varan had become one of the threats in the dark.
"Smashed, I said. By whatever roams the tunnels outside your wizard's shields," said Talal.
"Varan warned us not to venture outside the wards. Even I don't know what lies at the end of many of these tunnels," Meisha admitted. "You say you've sent someone out already?"
"Braedrin," Talal said, nodding. "Hasn't come back yet. Smash," he murmured under his breath.
"What are these marks?" Meisha pointed to the walls.
"Tells us where people have been," Talal explained. "Means no traps, either."
"Traps," Meisha echoed. A mask of blood and a dead apprentice's face flashed before her eyes.
"Don't know who strung 'em, but they're all over the place. We lost two that way when we first started going out. Pressure spears. Hit you square, one'll take your head clean off. More of Lady Luck's favor, the well-meaning bitch."
Meisha raised an eyebrow. "You've a ready insult for all the gods. Which one do you actually like?"
The boy shrugged, dislodging a scuttling beetle from his clothing. "None of them—easier that way."
"You don't believe in the gods?"
"Believe, yes. But I leave them be, and I wish they'd return the favor." He flicked away the beetle. "Not so much to ask."
"What about after this life? Don't you worry for your soul?"
"Hells, no. I'm aiming to live forever. See how I avoid prancing down dark tunnels with death-seeking sorcerers? I get along fine, Lady; it's the rest of Faer?n that wants to muck me up."
"How many of you are there in the warrens?" Meisha asked, shifting the topic.
The boy spent a moment figuring. "Thirty-eight. We took count of everyone, after the first death, so we'd know names. Forty-nine came into the caves, not counting that bastard Balram and his son."
Meisha stopped short. "The man who trapped you here was Balram?"
"Him and his son, Aazen—not so twitchy as his father, but quiet, scary quiet," Talal said. "Never said more than a few words to any of us."
Aazen. She remembered the name from the cave. The leader who'd stabbed her was Balram's son. Meisha tried to take it all in. She pressed her hand against the crystal hidden in her jerkin. She'd almost forgotten it, but now its presence in the hands of Balram's man made perfect, terrible sense.
"I never knew there was a son," Meisha said. "I only knew Kortrun."
Talal's eyes widened. "You knew 'em?"
"I've been searching for Balram Kortrun on behalf of a friend." Meisha resumed walking, and after a moment Talal ran to catch up. "They were refugees with you?" Meisha asked.
"We fled Esmeltaran together," said Talal. "When we took up here, Balram—like I said, he was always twitchy—didn't like the Delve or the crazy wizard. We couldn't figure out why he kept going back to the wizard's room, though, if he was so afraid. He'd come out some nights, looking almost sick with whatever he'd seen. Finally, he took his son, said he'd go for help to Keczulla. We all thought he was crazy, but we let him go. No one said so, but we hoped they might make it. We were too damn scared to go with them." Talal stared off into the darkness, thinking. "I guess we're paying for that, too. If we hadn't been cowards, we wouldn't still be here. If we'd've woken up and seen how it wasn't the wizard but the wizard's toys he was interested in . . ."
"But they did make it to Keczulla," Meisha prompted.
"And came back with the Shadow Thieves. What a rescue," said Talal sourly. "They made us take the wizard's toys from his room while he slept, then they sealed the entrance to the Delve, trapped us inside. Told us if we took care of the old man, let him be to make his magic toys, they'd come back to collect them. When they came, they'd bring food—meat to butcher, chickens for eggs—clothing, maybe some weapons, if we didn't try to escape—everything we'd need to live."
"So you care for Varan, keep him fed and strong enough to make magic items, and in exchange they give you this existence." Meisha marveled at the complexity of the system, but in reality, the risks and costs to the Shadow Thieves were minimal. What was feeding forty people when compared to the worth of magic weapons, amulets, rings ... whatever Varan could conceive of in his current state? "You're certain it's the Shadow Thieves?"
"They didn't bother hiding it," Talal said. "We didn't know how they even got in at first, until Gadi tracked them to the doorways. We tried to work them. Gadi said they used some type of key that wasn't a key—he got close enough to see that much."
"Gadi was very brave," Meisha observed.
"My brother." Pride swelled in Talal's eyes, and Meisha's heart twisted. "Runs in the family: brave, stupid—pick one."
They entered a large chamber. Meisha shone the torch high, but the light refused to penetrate to the ceiling.
"I'm going to cast a spell," Meisha said. When Talal didn't answer, she looked at him questioningly. "Is that a problem?"
"No, just. . . not used to being asked, is all." Talal barked a laugh, but Meisha could sense the unease behind his bravado.