"It's true, Lady Tymora," the bard cried out. "It was Lord Lathander's paladin who summoned the phoenix that abducted Lady Beshaba. It must have brought us back to his realm."
Tymora jerked her head back and rolled away from Beshaba. "If it is true that Lathander abducted Beshaba, then he did so to make her return my power," Lady Luck declared.
"So how have you come to be in the same prison with Lady Beshaba?" Joel asked. "Lady Selune and Lord Finder wouldn't tell us where you were, but they wouldn't have delivered you to Lady Beshaba. They would have entrusted you to Lord Lathander's care."
Tymora hesitated before she answered. "Perhaps I must be near her to regain my power," she said, though her voice was uncertain.
"But Lady Beshaba is as weakened as you are," Joel pointed out. "When you fought, you were evenly matched. Neither of you could defeat the other. Someone has drained both of you."
Tymora and Beshaba both stood up, keeping a wary eye on one another.
"Beshaba must be faking her weakness to confuse you," Tymora said.
"Lady Beshaba's church and faithful are also weakened. Her bad luck has leaked out across the Realms just as yours has."
"It's a trick," Tymora said.
"Could such a trick fool Lady Selune?" Joel asked. "For it was she who told us this news."
Tymora said nothing for several moments.
"Why did you say that I had allied myself with Xvim?" she asked Beshaba.
"Because Lathander is your ally, and he appears to have allied with Xvim," Beshaba explained.
"That's impossible. What proof do you have that Xvim is involved in any of this?" Tymora demanded.
"Xvim sent creatures to attack me in my realm," Beshaba said. "He must have been trying to force me to use my power," Beshaba said. "I went to confront him in his realm, but he was nowhere to be found. I sent the Bastion of Hate tumbling down Mount Chamada, and still the little weasel did not appear."
"Is this true?" Tymora asked Joel.
"Lord Finder and Lady Selune sensed the attack, my lady," Joel confirmed. "And I witnessed the destruction of Xvim's fortress. Xvim seems to be missing or perhaps in hiding."
"You must be mistaken about Lathander," Tymora insisted.
"I know the stench of Lathander's paladins," Beshaba growled.
"It's possible that Holly was misled somehow," Joel said softly.
"Misled? How?" Beshaba asked.
"Perhaps someone like Xvim sent her a false vision, or he found a neutral minion to impersonate one of Lathander's servants," Joel suggested.
It was Beshaba's turn to appear thoughtful. Joel took advantage of the moment to ask Tymora, "Could you please let me down, my lady?"
Tymora stepped forward, but Beshaba moved to block her. "I still have no proof that you are not faking your loss of power. I cannot trust this slave, since he is priest of your lackey. The two of you together might overpower me."
"Lady Beshaba," Joel said. "You and Lady Tymora are trapped in this place together, put here by some common enemy. If you do not ally at least temporarily, you will no doubt fall to this enemy. Undoubtedly this enemy, whoever he is, is counting on you two to distrust each other while he finishes draining off your power."
"Perhaps," Beshaba said. "But that is still no reason to release you."
"I was hidden in your pocket when we arrived. I don't think whoever locked you in here realizes I'm here. I could be your secret weapon," Joel suggested.
Beshaba tilted her head and smiled. It was obvious Joel had chosen the just the right words. "Secret weapon." The Maid of Misfortune laughed. "Very well," she said, giving Tymora a nod.
Lady Luck released Joel from his bonds and removed the goad piercing his thigh. As quickly as possible, she healed the wounds Beshaba had inflicted on his body. Her touch not only removed his pain, but left him feeling mildly refreshed.
"Thank you," the bard whispered to Tymora.
"Well, what now?" Beshaba asked. "You say you have been here for days. How might we escape this place?"
Tymora shrugged. "I was unconscious all the while. I only awoke a short time ago. I was surrounded by chaos, matter without order, which, like that from the plane of Limbo, I could shape with my mind. When I heard your voices, I imagined a hallway and a door to reach you."
"When we first arrived here," Joel said, "I heard someone order someone else to put Lady Beshaba into the fusion chamber. What's a fusion chamber?"
Tymora and Beshaba looked at one another with a puzzled expression.
"I don't know," Tymora admitted. "Nor I," Beshaba said. "I, too, was surrounded by chaos when I first awoke," Beshaba said, "but I, too, found I could arrange it about me. I expected to be in a prison. Perhaps that is why it looked like my dungeon in the Blood Tor, even down to the detail of the bones and scepter of the wizard Zorn."
The Maid of Misfortune closed her eyes for a moment. Instantly the room transformed into an underground temple dedicated to Beshaba, lit by two braziers. Joel felt a breeze from a slanted shaft near the ceiling.
Something white beside the stag's antlers on the altar caught Joel's eyes. He reached out and picked it up. "Lady Beshaba," he asked curiously, "why did you imagine an egg was here?"
"I did not imagine any such thing," Beshaba replied.
Joel examined the egg by the light of the brazier.
"What do you see?" Tymora asked.
"The shell is covered with fine lines, but it doesn't seem to be cracked," Joel said. He tapped and broke the egg on the side of the brazier and let its contents slide into the burning fire.
"How odd. There are two yolks," Tymora noted.
ACT FOUR SCENE 3
Guilt-ridden that she had endangered Joel and faced with Finder's wrath, Holly lowered her head and sobbed like a child.
The paladin's tears did not soften the god's mood. "No tears," Finder snapped. "Like a desert will your eyes and heart be until my priest is returned."
Holly looked up fearfully. Finder's curse removed the tears from her cheeks and the corners of her eyes.
"Now tell me why you summoned the phoenix," Finder ordered.
"Dawnbringer Aurora told me I was to collect whatever materials Sirrion of the Flowing Flame needed for the spell he was casting with Lord Lathander," the paladin explained.
"Sirrion?" Jas asked. "Would this be Emilo's Sirrion, the one who nearly got us killed in the fetch's lair?" "I don't know," Holly whispered. "Who's Dawnbringer Aurora?" Emilo asked. "Lathander's proxy," Finder said. "A very powerful priestess. Go on, paladin," he instructed Holly.
"Dawnbringer Aurora and Lord Sirrion said the spell would right an ancient wrong. Lord Sirrion sent me to fetch an odd assortment of things, symbols of bad luck and good, including chickens and an old coin from Myth Drannor and a rose from the Desertsmouth Mountains and a blue crystal ball that Dawnbringer Aurora kept in a locked box in the temple in Morning Glory. He set them on an altar. Then Lord Sirrion sent me to fetch Lady Beshaba. He didn't think I could do it, but Dawnbringer Aurora said Lord Lathander had every confidence in me. I didn't think I could do it either, so I asked Dawnbringer Aurora how. She gave me the holy symbol made of red glass and told me it would summon a phoenix, who would grab Lady Beshaba and bring her to Lord Sirrion. She told me not to be afraid for myself or the phoenix because Lady Beshaba would be very weak when I stepped through the gate to the Abyss."
"But when you stepped through the gate, Beshaba wasn't there," Finder said. "She'd already fled."
Holly nodded. "So I went with Joel and Jas and Emilo to find her in Gehenna, and Lord Lathander sent me a vision telling me to help Walinda so I could reach Beshaba. I didn't summon the phoenix right away because Walinda said nothing could get in or out of the Bastion of Hate except through the gate."