by Kate Novak
Copperbloom remained behind in the temple as Joel and Jedidiah descended the mountain to the saurial village.
“This staircase and the gardens are really amazing,” Joel said. “Clearing the trees from the slope alone must have been a huge project. Did you have something to do with its creation?” he asked.
Jedidiah shook his head. “This is the path Moander cleared when he climbed the hill to reach my friends hiding in the Singing Cave. Something about the way the abomination moved carved out the steps, which the saurials then paved with stone. The part that took the most work was hauling all this dirt up the mountain in order to plant the gardens. The exotic plants are from the saurials’ home world. Grypht made a trip there and brought them back.”
They found Holly engaging in stick combat with Handful in front of a cottage. Joel explained to Holly why Jedidiah’s appearance was altered. The paladin studied Jedidiah for a few moments, then nodded in acceptance of the old priest’s new younger look.
The odor of vanilla wafted in the air, and the young saurial chittered. Joel realized he was laughing at the story of Jedidiah being disguised to thwart his enemies.
Jedidiah gave Handful a half-threatening, half-amused glower. “Very funny,” he said. “Why don’t you fetch some lunch for our guests?” he suggested.
Handful slipped off into the cottage.
“What did he say?” Holly asked curiously.
“He suggested I disguise myself as the god Lathander instead.”
Holly’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s a stupid little-boy joke,” Jedidiah replied. “I’ll see you two later. Enjoy your meal.”
“Where’s Jas?” Joel asked.
“She’s still up there with the flying saurials,” Holly said, pointing up at a mountain peak. Joel could just make out a pink spot flying in formation with several black dots.
Handful returned with a tray of food and drink, consisting of fresh fruit and vegetables, venison sausage, a dish of heavily spiced ground wheat, and hot tea. They ate seated on tree stumps in the cottage garden. A short time later Jas landed. Her face was flushed and she was smiling broadly.
Once again Joel explained that Jedidiah was in disguise to avoid his enemies in the Outlands.
“You sure you weren’t in disguise before to avoid your enemies in the Realms, and this is how you really look?” Jas asked Jedidiah, a sly grin on her face.
Jedidiah grinned back at the winged woman. “Don’t you think I’d prefer to convince people I was a much younger man with such a beautiful and clever young woman present?” he asked.
Jas flushed and turned her attention to the meal. Locustlike, she polished off all the remaining food before lying down in the sun for a nap.
“She looks happy for a change,” Joel noted.
Holly shrugged. “She’s found an activity to temporarily take her mind off the death of her friends,” the paladin said. “It will be a long time before she’s at peace, let alone happy.”
Joel looked down into his teacup, feeling insensitive. Holly, he realized, was speaking from her own experience of losing her family to the Zhents.
Handful tugged Holly off to show the young paladin around the vale. Jedidiah sat with Joel in the garden, telling him tales about the saurials and the death of Moander.
That evening the saurials held a feast for their guests. They served roasted boar and good, strong ale. Jedidiah and Joel were called upon to sing and play. Joel was asked to tell the tale of his journey north. Holly sang a Daggerdale haying song. Prompted by the flying saurials, even Jas sang a strange song about traveling between the spheres that not even Jedidiah had heard before. The saurials sang, too. It was eerie watching the saurials listen to sounds the humans couldn’t hear, but Grypht and Jedidiah translated the words. The saurials also played musical instruments, but these the humans could hear. Copperbloom and two of her students accompanied Joel on several tunes. The young saurials performed a skit, the play Joel had watched them rehearse in the temple. It was about a pact the tribe had once made with a dragon back on their home world.
It was past midnight when the saurials finally began drifting homeward and released their guests from the celebration. Copperbloom led Jas and Holly off, and Handful showed Joel and Jedidiah to a small cottage. Joel pulled off his boots and flopped down on one of the two beds with a sigh of genuine pleasure. It was the first real bed he’d been in since Anathar’s Dell, and he expected the night to be just as restful.
Jedidiah lay on the bed across the room. He was soon snoring softly. Apparently, without the majority of his godly power to sustain him, the efforts of the past few days had exhausted him as it would any human.
Despite the amusements of the evening, all the ale he’d had to drink, and the softness of the feather bed, Joel had trouble drifting off to sleep. He couldn’t help thinking about Walinda, the banelich, and the consequences of handing over the Hand of Bane to them. Although Jedidiah had invited Joel to ask him any question, the young bard had kept one in reserve. Now the question rustled through his brain like a serpent slithering through dried leaves.
Wouldn’t it be better, he thought, just to forget the power in the finder’s stone? Was the power so important to Jedidiah that he was prepared to assist in the resurrection of so evil a god as Bane, earning the enmity of all good people in the Realms? If Jedidiah would forgo the power rather than aid Bane’s followers, he would still have his immortality, without forfeiting any of the love and respect Joel and many of the saurials obviously felt for him. Of course, Joel realized, Copperbloom might not see it that way. She had been instrumental in getting Finder to start his church, and the power in the stolen finder’s stone would help that church to grow.
Wishing he had the courage to ask Jedidiah these questions, the bard finally fell into a restless sleep.
Late the next morning, after a large brunch, Jas took again to air to soar with the flyers. Holly set out with Handful to visit a shrine to Lathander in the mountains to the east of the vale. When both women had gone, Jedidiah led Joel back up to the Singing Cave. There the god taught his follower how to call on him for several other magical spells. First they worked on the spells Joel had witnessed in the past few days: a spell to heat metal and a command spell like the ones Walinda had used on Jas, faerie fire like the one cast on the stone marking the entrance to Giant’s Craw Valley, and a spell to create food and water the way Jedidiah had done during their journey through the mountains. Jedidiah threw in a spell to locate objects, in case, the god joked, Joel mislaid his birdpipes again.
“Why are the forms so rigid?” Joel asked while he was struggling with the wording of the prayer to locate objects.
“If it comes in the right form,” Jedidiah explained, “the power siphons from me without my having to think about it. That way I can keep concentrating on whatever I’m doing when you call for the spell. If you called for something with the wrong wording, I’d have to stop and think about it for a moment. For a god with hundreds of priests, that could get pretty complicated, and he may well end up ignoring them.”
“If you were watching me and concentrating, could you grant me something I hadn’t learned?” Joel asked.
“It sounds possible,” Jedidiah said. “But I’m not sure what the consequences might be. I think that’s an experiment we should table for a while.”
There was a commotion outside the temple, and Joel heard the sound of saurials twittering. Copperbloom came in and said something to Jedidiah that Joel couldn’t hear.
“Let’s go see,” Jedidiah murmured.
Joel followed his god out of the Singing Cave. In the garden, saurials were watching the sky intently. Joel and Jedidiah looked up.
A few saurial flyers circled the vale lazily. At the party the previous night, Jas had told Joel that most of the flyers hunted for small creatures and birds, but some were scouts on watch for approaching outsiders. Jedidiah pointed to the east. High over the mountain peaks at the east
ern edge of the vale flew the spelljammer temple to Bane. The ship flew southward, beyond the southern peaks of the vale, then turned back to the east.
“A square spiral search pattern,” Jedidiah said. “Very methodical, your Walinda. I guess she took me literally when I told her she could try to search for the vale.”
“But she hasn’t seen past the illusion,” Joel noted. “Did you cast the spell?” he asked.
Jedidiah shook his head. “That magic was here before I was even born.”
“What does it look like from up there?” Joel asked.
“As if the vale is rocky and barren,” Jedidiah replied.
“Suppose they fly lower?” he asked.
“They can try,” Jedidiah muttered with a sly gin. “Now, what’s that?” he asked suddenly, pointing to a speck flying behind the spelljammer.
Joel shrugged. “I can hardly see it.”
Jas landed beside the two men. “Did you see?” she asked angrily, whatever calm she achieved disturbed by the sight of her stolen craft.
Jedidiah nodded. “Jas, if you please, would you fly up and ask one of the flyers to see if she can tell what that speck is that’s following the ship?”
The winged woman nodded.
Jedidiah held her back for a moment. “Don’t try to follow it yourself,” he warned. “If they spot a flying saurial, they might mistake it for a bird, but you, on the other hand …”
“Yeah, I know. I stand out like a festhall girl at a funeral,” Jas said. She took to the sky, heading to intercept one of the saurial flyers to the east.
“Why are they looking for us?” Joel asked. “We said we’d meet them.”
“Because a valeful of hostage saurials would be even more leverage for the banelich to use to ensure I brought him the Hand of Bane,” Jedidiah said. “In case the finder’s stone isn’t enough, or in case he wants to keep the finder’s stone for himself.”
Jedidiah motioned for Joel to follow him back into the temple. When they’d once more settled in the Singing Cave, the god began to teach Joel a new song. It was an unusual piece of music. The lyrics were about a tulip’s cycle of life, and the tune switched from a major chord to a minor halfway through.
Joel couldn’t really think of any occasion when he would want to sing the song, and he had trouble committing it to memory. His mind kept straying to thoughts of Bane and Jedidiah’s agreement to help the banelich.
After Joel’s third failed attempt to master the fourth verse of the song, Jedidiah called a halt to the work. “Let’s get some air,” he suggested.
They strolled through the gardens side by side for several minutes without speaking. Finally Jedidiah asked, “Why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?”
Joel took a deep breath. All in a rush, he spoke of all the worries that had dogged his sleep the night before. When he finished, he looked down at the flowers, unable to meet Jedidiah’s unwavering gaze.
Jedidiah sighed. “Yes,” he said. “I could forget the finder’s stone. I know several acquaintances who would tell me that was the proper course. Of course, it would also be the fool’s course,” he said.
Joel flushed with anger, and he found the courage to look back up at his god.
“Joel, think of the consequences of that action. Do you think Walinda and the banelich will abandon their quest because I choose not to help them?”
A new blush rose to Joel’s face, this one of embarrassment. “No,” he admitted softly, feeling like a complete idiot.
“Naturally my help will make the quest easier for Walinda,” Jedidiah said, “saving her a great deal of time and keeping her from a good deal of danger. If she were lost, the banelich would have to find another worshiper of Bane capable of succeeding her, which wouldn’t be easy.”
Joel looked startled. “You weren’t thinking of—”
“Killing Walinda?” Jedidiah finished Joel’s question. “Not really. I’m trying to avoid making the banelich angry. Remember, I don’t want to risk him crushing the finder’s stone under his armored foot just to get even with me. Besides it would only delay the inevitable. He’s going to get someone to retrieve the Hand of Bane regardless. I want it to be us. It gives us time to learn more about him and Walinda, their weaknesses and strengths. It gives us leverage. It gives us options. I’m not sure which option I’ll choose, but I want to have them.”
Joel nodded in agreement. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“For what?” Jedidiah asked. “Being a good person with the courage to question a god? That’s one of the reasons I chose you for a priest. Of course,” Jedidiah added, his eyes twinkling with mischief, “this is the point where my good friend Olive Ruskettle would point out that I always have some justification for my actions, whether I’m right or wrong.”
Jas landed beside them in the garden. “You’ll never guess,” she said excitedly.
“What?” Joel asked.
“The figure following the spelljammer,” the winged woman said. “The flyers said it’s a human, all deformed by magic so that it’s arms have become wings. Guess what it’s wearing?”
Joel shook his head, completely clueless.
“An eye patch,” Jas announced.
Joel gasped. “Bear?” he asked incredulously.
“That would be my guess,” the winged woman replied.
“Now he’s chasing the banelich’s power,” Jedidiah said with a grin.
“Go get ’em, Bear,” Jas said. She flew off toward the village.
Joel looked at Jedidiah. “What do you think? Can Bear hurt them?”
“He can certainly annoy them,” Jedidiah replied, then changed the subject. “Do you think you’re ready to try that song again now?” he asked.
Joel nodded. “Does the song have a purpose?” he asked.
“It might,” Jedidiah answered, “but I’d rather explain that later, after you’ve learned it.”
It still took a lot of work, but by dinner Joel had mastered Jedidiah’s song. The god put off explaining the purpose of the song for another day. Joel accepted the delay.
Dinner that night was a simple affair, a buffet in Grypht’s stone tower with only the wizard and the humans attending.
When they’d all finished eating, they began discussing their plans for the next day. Grypht didn’t cast any magic to enable him to speak with the guests. Instead, he listened quietly and attentively as they talked. On the table before Joel, Jedidiah spread out a map of the Desertsmouth Mountains and the Anauroch Desert. A collection of X’s, drawn like bones, dotted the map.
Holly and Jas leaned over the table to get a better look.
“These were the locations of the cities of the dead empire of Netheril,” Jedidiah explained to Joel. “Not all its wizards together could block the encroaching sand that eventually buried it. There’s nothing left but ruins inhabited by desert nomads and an occasional ancient dark monster. We are here,” the older priest said, pointing to an unmarked spot on the map.
Jedidiah jabbed a finger at one of the X’s. “This is Cat’s Gate. It’s large enough to march an army through. It leads to the Plane of Concordant Opposition, otherwise known as the Outlands. Grypht will teleport Joel and me there.”
“I want to come with you,” Holly said matter-of-factly.
Jedidiah shook his head. “I can’t imagine either the banelich or Walinda will welcome you back aboard,” he pointed out.
“But if you insist on my coming,” Holly said sweetly, “I’m sure you can talk them into it.”
“Don’t you dare!” Jas warned, waving a finger at Jedidiah. “This is too dangerous for her, and you know it!”
Joel agreed completely with the winged woman, but he tried a different tack on the paladin. “Holly, their god is an enemy of your god. They’re going to know you plan to thwart them,” the Rebel Bard pointed out. “Jedidiah and I, though, have no choice but to help them. We can’t allow you to disrupt our plan.”
“On the other hand,” Holly argued, “you don’t r
eally want to help them. If there’s any chance of getting Jedidiah’s stone back without helping Bane’s church, I’m going to find it and make sure you take it. Besides,” the girl added, “you can’t afford to trust Walinda and the banelich. They’ll betray you the first chance they get. Then you’ll really need my help.”
Jedidiah studied the girl with a grim smile. “Very well, paladin,” he said. “I cannot guarantee the banelich will accept you into the party, but I will do my best to convince it that we need your help to find the hand. In turn, you must promise not to try anything rash … at least not without consulting with me first.”
Holly grinned and nodded.
Jas threw her hands up. “Has everyone here taken leave of his senses?” she growled.
Joel shifted uncomfortably. He wanted to argue with Jedidiah about bringing Holly, but not in front of the others.
“I take it you haven’t changed your mind since we talked on the spelljammer. Your goal is still Waterdeep?” Jedidiah asked Jas.
“You bet,” the winged woman replied. “Other spelljammers land in Waterdeep. I’ve got plenty of experience. I won’t have any trouble getting one to take me on as crew. I’d prefer to have my own ship back, but under the circumstances, I think I’d be better off cutting my losses. Just as soon as I see you three off tomorrow, I’m going to take up Grypht’s generous offer to teleport me to Waterdeep.”
Grypht nodded to Jas.
As he rolled his map up, Jedidiah addressed the saurial wizard. “We’ll meet you in the temple tomorrow morning.”
Back in the privacy of the cottage that he shared with Jedidiah, Joel confronted the god with his concern for the paladin. “How can you let Holly come along? She’s in far greater danger from Walinda and the banelich than we are. They may despise us, but they hate her.”
“I imagine Holly feels you are in far more danger because Walinda has taken a liking to you,” Jedidiah replied.
Joel huffed. “This isn’t her problem,” he said. “How can you allow her to take such a risk on our behalf?”
