Joel listened carefully and nodded. "I presume, like the Abyss, the nature of Gehenna will weaken my ability to cast priestly spells."
"He learns fast," a voice said from behind them. It was Tymora's priestess, Winnie, with two human servants carrying a large rolled carpet.
Finder nodded in response to Joel's comment. "I will have to pour more power into the finder's stone," he explained, holding out his hand to take the stone from his priest. Once again he siphoned blue energy into the crystal. He handed the stone back to Joel. "Even now, with the stone as powerful as I dare make it, you will be able to cast only the simplest of your priestly spells."
At Winnie's signal, the human servants set the carpet down on the ground and unrolled it. The carpet was woven into a geometric pattern of red and gold.
"This flying carpet will keep your feet off the burning ground," the priestess of Tymora explained. "These rings," she added as she handed each of the four adventurers a silver ring, "are to help protect you from fire, should you get careless and fall off the flying carpet. The carpet's command word is "Airheart." Once it's off the ground, you need to tell it aloud which way to go, how fast, and how high."
"I would suggest you let Mr. Haversack take command of the carpet," Finder said. "He's less likely to be attacked and will have the best control."
"Why is he less likely to be attacked?" Holly asked. "I've observed that when Mr. Haversack isn't speaking, he tends to go unnoticed," Finder said. "Perhaps he can tell you why."
Holly looked at the kender.
Emilo shrugged. "We can't all stand out in a crowd," he said.
Odd words, Joel thought, coming from someone dressed in blue pants and shirt, a red vest, and an orange cloak. Remembering Finder's observation that Emilo had come to them under highly mysterious circumstances, the bard exchanged a glance with his god. Finder shook his head slightly, warning Joel not to question the kender further. The god still wasn't prepared to interfere with whoever or whatever had sent Emilo their way.
Joel changed the subject before Holly could pursue the subject of Emilo's background. "There was one other thing. I had a dream about Giogi Wyvernspur's children and their cousins," he told Finder. "I think they may be in trouble."
Selune tched. "If it weren't for Tymora's Luck," the goddess murmured, "that whole family would have died out years ago, even with my blessing. Present company included," she added, with a nod toward Finder. "I will look into it. Finder is busy helping Tymora's church."
Winnie loaded fresh water flasks and food into the backpacks, then began pulling out certain scrolls and replacing them with others. "Some of these spells will be useless in Gehenna," the halfling priestess explained, "while others that would not work in the Abyss will be effective in Gehenna."
Finder handed each adventurer a tiny harp carved from wood, "If you snap the harp in half and say 'Fermata,' you'll be returned instantly to my realm. With the harps, all of you do not have to return together, but if one of you is seriously injured or captured, you can escape."
"We have not exaggerated the dangers. None of you has to make this journey," Selune said. "There is no shame in remaining behind."
Jas looked at Holly and asked, "Are you sure Lathander would wish you to take this risk?"
"I was told to find Beshaba," Holly replied. "Just as Finder can sense Joel, Lord Lathander can sense all I do. If he wished me to abandon my quest, he would send a messenger to tell me so. He has not. I will go to Gehenna, whatever the risk."
"Jasmine, you are in the most danger from being in Xvim's realm. He considers you a runaway slave," Selune pointed out.
"Nothing's changed," Jas said. "Realmspace is still in danger of losing Tymora's Luck and Tymora and Beshaba losing control of their power."
"We're all of one mind," Joel said.
"Very well," Selune said. "I can create a portal to the second mount of Gehenna, but it has been some time since any of my followers ventured into Gehenna, so I'm not sure where Iyachtu Xvim's realm is. The portal could be some distance away from the Bastion of Hate. It doesn't matter. Once you have entered Gehenna, I'll be able to sense what is happening in Xvim's realm. Finder will contact you with further instructions after I have assessed the situation."
"You'll want to ride the carpet through the portal," Winnie explained. "Don't fly too high above the sides of the mountain or you could become lost. The mountain is surrounded by a dark, cold void that only the most holy lights or evil eyes can penetrate."
"There's one other thing that might help you," Finder said. "As Selune mentioned, when you arrived at the Blood Tor, Beshaba was listening to a report about the activities of the Sensates of Sigil. The report was given by Beshaba's newest priestess… someone you already know."
"Oh, no," Holly whispered. "Not Walinda?"
Finder nodded.
Jas cursed softly under her breath.
"When Beshaba teleported away, she took Walinda with her," Finder explained. "Since you know Walinda, you could use the finder's stone to track her and, presumably, to discover the whereabouts of her new mistress."
Jas's eyes narrowed. Walinda had tortured and murdered her spacejamming crew. Jas had sworn vengeance on the priestess, but Walinda had been under the protection of a banelich. Now she was under the protection of a goddess. It didn't matter. Jas would look for some way to get at the evil priestess.
"Let's go," the winged woman said in a gruff voice.
The adventurers seated themselves on the magic carpet, their backpacks beside them. Selune motioned with her hand and another portal opened up.
The stench of sulfur and a smell like burnt human hair wafted from the planar opening. Inside the portal, it was very dark. Then suddenly a fountain of burning rock sprayed upward, lighting a barren slope. The Abyss seemed almost cheery compared to Gehenna.
"Airheart," Emilo announced as if the command word had been trying to burst from his lips all this while. The flying carpet rose several feet off the ground. "Forward," the kender ordered.
"Slowly," Joel prompted.
"Slowly," Emilo added with a sigh.
The flying carpet passed from Brightwater through the portal into the darkness of Gehenna.
Joel turned for one last look through the portal at Tymora's garden. The light from the opening shone like a star, then winked out suddenly as the portal closed.
"Back away from the slope five feet," Emilo ordered the carpet, "and remain in place."
The carpet hovered, not actually above the ground, but beside a steep mountain slope glowing with hot magma. It felt as if they were standing beside an open oven. No doubt it would have felt worse were they not wearing the rings Winnie had given them to protect them from fire.
As always in a new plane, Jas's wings had taken on a new form, the most unusual Joel had seen so far. Her wings had joined into a triangular sheet of black flesh, with the apex of the triangle hovering over her head while the other two corners fell downward in loose folds like a bridal train. When Jas stiffened the single wing, it fanned out to either side some ten feet. The flesh glittered with an oozy secretion. Jas let the wing droop about her ankles, then looked at it with disgust and sighed.
Joel pulled out the finder's stone and thought of Walinda. He had no trouble recalling her admittedly attractive features. Joel suspected she was far older than he, but some magic kept her looking young. She had long, silky black hair and dark eyes. Blood-red tattoos decorated her high cheekbones. She wasn't particularly tall, but very slender and very graceful. It was the way Walinda made Joel feel, however, that came more readily to mind.