Kate Novak - Finder's bane

Walinda raised her head proudly. "Delude yourself if you wish, priest. Deny that the living Bane is among you. But still he wields his might!" she declared, pointing with her goad toward the Cat's Gate.

The banelich hovered in front of the buried gate with its arms raised, chanting in its ancient tongue. The sand about the gate began to heave and roil as hundreds of skeletal forms, the dead from the army of the wizards of Netheril, pulled themselves from the earth. The banelich commanded them to clear the sand from the gate and they began to dig stiffly, using their own skulls to scoop out the sand.

"All praise and glory to mighty Bane!" Walinda whispered, her eyes riveted on the undead at their work.

"Animate dead," Jedidiah muttered. "Another favorite banelich trick." He turned to Joel. "Go help Holly move Jas under the tarp," he ordered. "I'll keep an eye on this fool woman."

As Joel turned, Jedidiah put a hand on his shoulder. "You'll have to tell Holly that she'll have to stay behind. There's no way the banelich is going to take her aboard after this stunt. But I suspect she knew that."

Joel nodded. "Thank you for your help," he said.

Jedidiah shrugged. He wasn't pleased, but then Joel suspected he would forgive his priest before the banelich forgave Walinda.

Using a cape as a stretcher, Joel helped Holly move Jas up the dune into the tarp shelter. Though a dead weight in her sleep, fortunately the winged woman wasn't very heavy.

"You knew Jas was coming. You gave her that holy water, didn't you?" the bard asked the paladin. "How could you? You promised Jedidiah you wouldn't do anything reckless."

Holly sighed. "When I visited the shrine to Lathander in the Lost Vale, I had another vision of a sunrise. When I came to, there was the holy water, in four little vials. It was a gift from my god. I showed the vials to Jas. She took them from me while I slept. I didn't notice they were missing until after she flew off. I didn't know she planned to follow us and use them."

"But it was a good bet she would," Joel said. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"She might have succeeded. You saw how the water vaporized the banelich's flesh. A few more attacks like that might have destroyed the creature." The paladin looked down on the winged woman with concern and disappointment. "Will she be all right until Grypht gets here?"

"She will if you watch over her," Joel said. "You're not coming with us now." I

Holly bristled. "I have to come with you," she insisted.

"Holly, think. The banelich is never going to agree to your coming after this. It thinks you were responsible for this attack. Jedidiah has used all his influence just to save your life. Besides, Jas needs you. Be reasonable. Please."

Holly looked down at Jas and brushed the woman's hair from her forehead. She looked back up at Joel. "You made Jedidiah stand up to the banelich, just as Grypht asked you to do," she said.

Joel looked down at the ground, unwilling to admit that Jedidiah had not behaved properly without Joel's urging.

"When Jedidiah has the Hand of Bane, can you make him do the right thing again?" she asked.

Joel shrugged, completely uncertain how far he could push his god, the god he had sworn to serve.

"Will you at least try?" Holly asked.

"I'll do what I can," he promised.

When Joel returned to Jedidiah's side, he found the older priest dragging Bear's deformed and mutilated body away from the spelljammer. "I convinced the banelich his figurehead might be considered in poor taste in the Outlands," he explained to the younger bard. "I suggest we cremate the creature."

Joel nodded. Together he and Jedidiah scavenged pieces of wood from the damaged portions of the spelljammer for a funeral pyre. Joel played a dirge as the former dalesman's corpse went up in flames. When the flames died out, the two men spread the dark stalker's ashes on the sand.

Before sunset, the gate was clear. The sight was amazing. Green light shimmered between the pillars, and every so often a bolt of green lightning streaked across the gate.

Joel and Jedidiah went to bid Holly good-bye. Jas was still sleeping. Jedidiah warned Holly, "Don't try to follow us. You'd never keep up with the spelljammer, and you'd be challenged everywhere you went in the Outlands, possibly even enslaved. It's not like the dales where you can simply roam where you please."

"Unless you're traveling with a banelich?" Holly asked sarcastically.

Jedidiah looked pained, but the paladin put him at his ease. "I'm sorry. I won't follow you through the gate," she said. "Take care," she added. She embraced the older priest.

Jedidiah smiled grimly. "It's been an honor traveling with you, Holly Harrowslough," he said and left her alone with his student.

Holly turned to Joel and gave him a quick hug. It occurred to the Rebel Bard that, while she had embraced Jedidiah like a father, she treated him with maidenly modesty. For the first time, the bard thought of her as a pretty girl and not simply a warrior. He smiled shyly and wished her luck. Then he turned to follow Jedidiah down the sand dune.

When Joel and Jedidiah came aboard, the banelich was smiling. It looked exceedingly pleased with itself. Walinda looked at the gate with excitement in her eyes.

"I give you leave to heal my slave's injuries," the banelich said to Joel. "If it pleases you," it added with a smirk. Then it disappeared into the ship's cabin. The spelljammer rose slowly and began to turn toward the gate.

"Should I heal her arm?" Joel asked Jedidiah in a whisper, uncertain how his god would feel about his offering aid to the priestess of Bane.

"I think that would be a good idea," Jedidiah said, but he didn't elaborate.

Joel prayed over Walinda's bandages. Blue healing energy flowed from his hands over the priestess's arm. Carefully he unwrapped the bandages. The healing was perfect. The skin on the priestess's arm was soft and smooth, but there were bruises beneath the skin that were too old to have been caused by Bear. Joel remembered that when she had fought the Xvimists for entry into the Flaming Tower, she had worn bracers. "The banelich did this to you, didn't it?" Joel asked, feeling sympathy for the woman despite himself.

"Yes," the priestess replied. "It is his right," she said with the far-off look and smile of a woman smitten.

Joel turned away in disgust, not wishing to hear a single word more.

Slowly the ship moved toward the Cat's Gate. Joel looked back and caught a glimpse of the paladin watching them leave. He raised his hand to wave good-bye, but in the next instant, the ship was bathed in a green radiance and he could see nothing beyond the light. A dizzy sensation came over him as the ship crossed from the Realms to a new plane.

From the dune above, Holly watched as Jas's spelljammer seemed to be consumed with green fire. As it passed between the gate's pillars, it disappeared. Even as she watched, sand began drifting back into the gate, filling up the space between the pillars.

Holly sighed. There was no sense following them. Jedidiah had been right. She'd never keep up with the spelljammer. She was almost ready to wish she hadn't remained silent about Jas and the holy water. "If only there was another way to follow them," she muttered.

"Well, actually, there is," a melodious voice called out from behind her.

Holly jumped and wheeled about. Perched on the top of the dune was a large bird. As she watched, the bird spread its tail feathers in a magnificent display of yellow, crimson, and magenta. It was a ruby peacock, Lathander's bird.

Holly felt a great blast of hot wind, just as she had in her last two visions. She dropped to one knee and bowed her head.

"I bring word for you from Lathander," the bird chirped. "He is most pleased with your actions in his name. You've done as well as can be expected for someone with your limitations. Lathander has chosen to reward your efforts with a chance to serve him further."