The Howling Delve
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"Gods forbid," came Haroun's voice from the passage.
"Just you keep that in mind while you're clinging to the walls out there!" Talal bellowed.
"Settle down," said Meisha. "I can hear them. Get ready."
"Nets up," Talal called down the tunnel. "Even if you do get them to fly down the right hole," he said, "how do we know they won't just chew through the ropes and get loose, maybe in the warrens?"
"I treated the ropes with poison," said Meisha. "It isn't lethal—not even painful—but it'll taste awful to the bats. Besides, we only need to funnel them to the cavern off the portal room. As long as that net holds, we'll be fine. Get down!" she shouted as black shapes began to pour from the hole near the ceiling.
Talal hit the ground as deep bats filled the chamber. He watched Meisha step back, cross her arms over her chest, and burst into a pillar of flame.
* * * * *
Kall passed through the portal and started to fall. He reached out blindly, his hands sliding down rocks, but there were no handholds. He fell into empty space.
Abruptly, his back and buttocks hit something solid. He flung his arms behind to catch himself, but they kept going, flailing in midair until something else caught his armpits and held him securely.
Panting, Kall looked around. Dull green glows revealed an expanse of hemp net stretched taut across a circular chasm. His legs and arms dangled through gaps in the net. All was quiet but for the swaying and creaking noises made by his weight against the rope. Beyond the chasm lay a large expanse of cavern, with tunnels adjoining either end. The tunnel in front of him was clear, but an identical, crudely fashioned net draped the one behind him.
Kall looked up and saw a mirror of what lay below him; but the shaft in the ceiling was clear of obstruction, lit by green radiances from the active portal. He watched, transfixed by the unusual perspective, as one by one his companions plummeted through the light and down the shaft.
Kall braced himself as they hit the net. Each impact jarred his back and shoulders. The net strained under their weight. Garavin's hound howled as it tried to disentangle its legs from their painful positions.
"We need to get off this," Kall said, noting the frayed ends of the rope looped around three nearby stalagmites. "The rope won't hold all of us."
"Meisha didn't mention a death trap'd be waiting for us," Morgan said.
"This was probably her work." Kall helped Garavin lift Borl out of the tangled ropes. "Without it, we'd be at the bottom of the chasm."
"Still could've warned us," Morgan grumbled.
Kall waited until they were all off the net. Using his sword, he hacked the ropes free from the stalagmites. The net sailed down into the darkness.
"The Shadow Thieves will have ways to avoid the chasm," Dantane pointed out.
"Now they'll have to use them," Kall said. He turned to Garavin. "What about it, old friend? Are we in the right place?"
The dwarf examined the cavern walls, clasping his holy symbol reflexively. "Aye, lad," he said. His voice sounded unnaturally thick. "We're here." He turned to look at Kall earnestly. "Dumathoin is here too."
Kall and Laerin exchanged glances. "What do you mean?" asked the half-elf.
"Where do ye feel most at peace, Laerin—closest to yer god?" asked the dwarf.
"In Erevan's grove or Dugmaren's tunnels," answered Laerin.
"This is Dumathoin's place," said Garavin. "But it's been tainted."
"He's right," said Dantane. The wizard closed his eyes. He appeared to be listening, though Kall detected nothing breaking the stillness but the distant sound of water. "There's some sort of distant aura in effect."
"Meisha's master lived in the Delve," said Kall. "Could it be some latent magic of his?"
"I don't think so," said Dantane, "not unless her master was of another plane."
"Meisha was trained as an elementalist," said Garavin. "Might be there's links to the elemental planes here."
"Kall," Morgan said abruptly, "we're not alone."
Kall turned. A child stood in the opening of the clear tunnel, watching them with wide, fearful eyes. Her face was pale and thin, almost emaciated. Kall took a step toward her, but she darted off down the tunnel.
"The refugees," said Laerin. "Do we follow?"
Kall nodded. "Light two torches. Keep your weapons out but down. We have to find Meisha."
"Kall." Dantane pointed to the other tunnel branching off the chamber. The net strung over its mouth glistened in the torchlight. A thick, mucuslike substance dripped from the ropes, collecting in black puddles on the floor. "Something's coming."
Kall heard it—the sound of air rushing up the too-narrow tunnel. Next to him, Borl growled from the gut, shifting agitatedly. "Get away from the net," he snapped as Dantane bent to examine the black drippings.
The wizard ducked away as a leathery wing swiped at him. Twin lines of needle-teeth bit down directly in front of his face. The bat screamed as the black substance filled its mouth and foamed. It fluttered back against a wall of a dozen or more creatures just like it. Their wings tangled in the small space, causing them to snap indiscriminately at each other.
"The Shadow Thieves?" Laerin said. "Or are these meant for us?"
"I don't know," Kall said. "But we're not going that way. We follow the girl." He looked at Dantane. "You have the portal key?"
Dantane touched a pouch hidden in his robes. Within, he'd placed the oblong stone that activated the portal from this side of the Delve. Rays had kept his word.
"It will be safe," Dantane said.
Kall nodded. He and Laerin led the way down the open tunnel. Dantane, Morgan, and Garavin brought up the rear. Once out of the spell light of the portal room, the tunnel became stygian. The torches cast a glow in front and behind their group but made the air close and smoky. Kall couldn't imagine being trapped in the enclosed space for any length of time, as the refugees had been. It would have driven him mad.