"Besides, that still doesn't solve the problem that the banelich might break the stone if he's confronted," Jedidiah added.
Joel sighed. "Do you-" he began, then hesitated.
"Do I what?" Jedidiah asked. "Ask whatever you want. Please."
Nervously, for he was uncertain what the god's reaction might be, Joel asked, "Do you really need the power in the stone?"
"When I put my power into the other half of the finder's stone," Jedidiah explained, "I lost more of my godly abilities than I intended-my ability to sense what's going on around me, and around my priests, my ability to teleport and to cast powerful magic. I wasn't even able to shapeshift to my real form until I took back the little bit of the power I left in this stone." Jedidiah held up the saurial's half of the finder's stone. "If my church grows, I'll gain power from my worshipers and gain back some of those abilities, but that will take time."
"How much time?" Joel asked.
"A long time. Centuries, I suspect. You see, in order to gain power from my mortal followers, I have to give power to them, but I don't really have that much to give. I have just enough right now to grant you and Copperbloom some simple priestly spells-if I concentrate hard. I'm not even sure I could actually handle any more priests just now. So it will be kind of hard for the church to grow."
Joel sat quietly for a few moments, examining his feelings. He was pleased his god saw fit to trust him with plans and secrets. He wasn't even too upset about being deceived for so long. Since he'd become a priest, he had hoped he would have a chance to prove himself worthy of the honor Jedidiah had bestowed upon him, and now the opportunity had presented itself. He was uncertain, however, about having anything to do with retrieving the Hand of Bane for Walinda and the banelich. Yet his god needed his help now more than ever.
He looked up at Jedidiah's face. "I'll do everything in my power to help you get your stone back," he said.
Jedidiah smiled with relief. "I appreciate it," he said. "I have a feeling I'm going to need your help where we're going." Jedidiah slapped his hands on his knees. "Well, now that that's been taken care of, I think we're entitled to a break. Shall we join your friends?"
"Are you going to remain in your present form?" Joel asked.
"Yes. It's a little handier should we get into any physical combat. I'll tell Holly and Jas I'm traveling to the Outlands in disguise to avoid my enemies there. The saurials don't really care. They've seen me in both forms."
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. "Ill 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.