A figure stepped out of the gardens onto the landing just above Joel. The bard put his hand to the hilt of his sword, then, feeling rather foolish, he withdrew it. The figure had to be a saurial. A female, Joel assumed, because she carried a basket of flowers. She wore along white robe, but everything else about her was inhuman.
Though she walked on her hind legs, she leaned forward at her hips, balanced by the massive tail that swayed behind her. She was covered with tiny, pebbly scales in copper and green that made her hide look like very expensive beadwork. She had a long snout and sharp teeth, but no lips. Her eyes were yellow like a snake's. A shark-like fin rose from her brow and traversed the ridge of her head. She was much shorter than the bard.
Joel considered stepping off the stairs to hide, in order to savor his solitude a bit longer, but it was too late. The saurial had spotted him. She made a series of clicks with her tongue.
"Good day," Joel said, bowing low.
The saurial bowed back.
"I've come to see the temple," Joel said, feeling rather foolish, since his intent was obvious.
A vanilla scent rose from the creature. Jedidiah had once explained that saurials emitted a variety of odors that indicated their emotions. Joel wished he had thought to ask Jedidiah more about which emotions were indicated by which scents. The creature began trilling. At first Joel shifted nervously, since he couldn't understand her, but then he recognized she was singing the tune that had opened the magic gate to the ethereal borderland. Joel realized she was trying to ascertain how he'd gotten there.
Joel began singing along with her, his tenor voice blending well with her alto trilling. The music attracted other saurials. A mottled green and brown saurial a foot taller than Joel, with razorlike plates running down its back and spikes on its tail, stepped out of the garden, and two little flyers, no bigger than halflings, with black, batlike wings, landed beside him. All three stood on the stairs to listen. Joel began to elaborate on the tune, finishing with a flourish.
The small audience applauded.
"Yes, I came by the gate," Joel said, answering what he presumed had been his fellow performer's question. "I'm Joel. Jedidiah of Finder sent me here on a pilgrimage."
The creature held her basket of flowers at arm's length, revealing Finder's symbol embroidered on her robe.
"You must be Copperbloom," he said.
The saurial nodded. She shooed the spectators away and motioned for the bard to accompany her up the stairs.
Joel climbed beside the priestess of Finder's temple. Since she did not speak, he remained silent at first. Then she tapped his arm and motioned to her ear. She wanted him to speak. Even if she couldn't question him, she could understand anything he had to say.
"Jedidiah's in the shelter at the end of the gate with two friends. He'll be coming later," Joel explained. "We've had some trouble getting here, but he'd better tell you about that."
Copperbloom motioned for Joel to talk about himself. The bard began telling about where he came from and his training at barding college, then related the details of his first meeting with Jedidiah.
By the time they'd reached the top of the staircase, Joel was out of breath, and his throat was parched from speaking. He felt foolish for having babbled so long about himself. Copperbloom led him into the Singing Cave. Just inside the cave entrance was a carpet of moss and ferns. Condensation made the walls sparkle. Little red and yellow skinks skittered about the floor, walls, and ceiling. Swallows shot in and out, hinging insects to their young in nests built in the cave's nooks and crannies.
'This is just the way it was when Finder arrived here with the party of adventurers that fought Meander, isn't it?" Joel asked.
Copperbloom made a circling motion indicating the cave entrance and nodded in response to Joel's question. Then she pointed to a passage leading deeper into the mountains and shook her head from side to side.
This is a new section?" Joel asked.
The saurial nodded and motioned for Joel to investigate. The passage was lit with light stones. Tapestries hung on the walls. One showed the enslavement of the saurials by the evil god Moander, another showed the battle that destroyed Moander's Realmsian body, and still another showed how Finder finally slew the abomination forever by killing it in its home plane, the Abyss.
The passage opened into a room full of musical instruments, some common to the Realms, others that Joel had never seen or heard of before. Two saurials similar to Copperbloom sat in this room, one playing a harp and the other a drum.
In the next room were several small saurials. Some stood very still, while others motioned broadly. Since he could not hear their speech, the scene looked very odd to Joel. At first he thought they might be practicing some sort of dance, but when one of them threw a bucket of confetti on another, he realized they were acting out a play. He laughed at the confetti, and the little saurials all turned and bowed.
There was a vast cavern beyond the children's theater. It was full of painted canvases, pottery, and sculpture too delicate for the outdoors.
Before Joel could explore it all or see what lay beyond, Copperbloom motioned for Joel to turn back. At the entrance of the cave, someone had laid out a breakfast of berries, milk, eggs, and ham. Copperbloom motioned for him to dine. Then she disappeared back down the passageway.
Joel felt like an overindulgent halfling when he finished the repast. When Copperbloom returned, she pointed to the birdpipes hanging from his belt and motioned for him to play.
Joel brought the instrument to his lips and began whistling out a tune. Copperbloom picked it up with her own trilling. They had just finished repeating the piece when more applause came from the cave entrance. Jedidiah stood there, smiling at the pair of them.
"I see you two are learning to communicate," the old priest said. "How are you, Copperbloom?"
The priestess rose and bowed very low. A series of clicks issued from the back of her throat, and Joel could smell the scent of woodsmoke issuing from her body.
Jedidiah motioned for the priestess to be seated again. He sat before the two of them.
"Where are Holly and Jas?" the Rebel Bard asked.
"Holly's in the garden. Grypht met us on the stairs,' the old priest said. "She's bending his ear about the advantages to the saurials of an alliance with Randal Morn and the Daggerfolk. Grypht is a powerful wizard," Jedidiah explained for Joel's benefit. He's sort of the unofficial leader here. Jas is soaring with the flying saurials."
"Is that safe?" Joel asked. "Isn't there a chance she'll be spotted by Walinda?"
"I warned her to stay lower than the mountain peak The illusion that protects the vale reaches to the top of the mountains," Jedidiah replied. "Jas is a human woman with wings," he explained to Copperbloom.
Although Joel heard nothing, Copperbloom must have spoken, for Jedidiah sat listening to her, then shrugged. "No, she wouldn't tell me how she came to have wings," he answered the saurial priestess.
"How can you hear Copperbloom?" Joel asked.
"I can hear and understand the saurials and all the priests of Finder," Jedidiah explained. "It's a gift from Finder."
Copperbloom rose and went to the cave entrance. She looked down the staircase, then turned back to face her two human guests. Joel winced at the sound of a high-pitched noise, then he realized he was hearing, just barely, some of Copperbloom's speech.
Joel and Jedidiah joined Copperbloom at the entrance to the cave. Holly was just outside the entrance, speaking in hushed tones to a giant saurial, nearly ten feet tall and wearing a fur robe. From the staff the creature carried and the arcane magical symbols etched in the bony frill behind its head, Joel guessed the saurial to be Grypht, the powerful wizard and leader of the saurials.