Finder's Bane - Kate Novak [116]
Joel thought for a moment. Once they'd taken care of their business with the banelich, Finder's identity would no longer be at risk. The god would once again possess all his powers. "When I get back from the astral plane, I'll tell you what I've left out," he promised Dits.
"Ah. Time-sensitive material. I understand," the bariaur said. "Don't die on me," he said as he blotted the ink on his scroll dry. The parchment he rolled into two halves, the part that held Joel's story and the part that would hold the story's ending and Jedidiah's secret. "Please try to come back alive. I hate it when I have to change narrative voice in the middle of a manuscript. It's very disruptive."
Joel shuddered. It was certainly possible that he might die, he realized. They would have to contend with the banelich in the astral plane. And the banelich wasn't his only worry. Some other fearsome monster must protect the Hand of Bane. Jedidiah might die, too. The bard tried to mentally shake the notion from his head.
The sharp slam of the shop's front door brought Joel and Dits to their feet. Walinda was shouting his name. Her voice sounded terrified.
Jedidiah came running up the steps as Joel and Dits arrived in the front room. Walinda stood at the counter, bent over, gasping for air. She dropped a huge sledgehammer on the floor.
"What's wrong?" Joel asked.
"We were attacked," the priestess said without looking up.
"Who attacked you?" Jedidiah demanded.
Walinda shook her head. "I don't know," she gasped. "It happened in a dark street. Something fell on me from above and clawed at my throat. Holly hit it with her pickax, and it turned on her. I ran here."
"You left Holly behind in the street?" Joel said angrily.
"There was nothing I could do," Walinda protested. "I have no spells."
"You could have hit whatever it was with this sledgehammer," Joel growled, kicking at the tool she'd dropped at her feet.
"It's too heavy to wield accurately. Whatever attacked us was fast and huge. There may have been more than one. It was too dark to tell. I ran all the way here for help," Walinda shouted back.
"Show us where," Jedidiah said grimly. "We'll be back," he told Bits.
The priestess led them to a dark spot in a narrow lane several blocks from the bookshop.
There was no one around. Jedidiah bent over and retrieved a large pickax that lay in the street, the only indication that Holly had ever been there.
"It's taken her!" Joel exclaimed.
"Use the stone," Jedidiah said calmly.
Joel nodded. He pulled out the finder's stone and thought of the paladin. The beacon shone in the direction of the ward where the Sensate safe house was located.
"She's still alive," Jedidiah declared.
They followed the beacon. It led them right to the Sensate safe house.
Joel dashed inside, shouting the paladin's name.
Holly lay on the white carpet, staining the wool red with her blood. Bors knelt beside her, sewing closed a great gash in the girl's stomach. He used a glowing golden needle that, although unthreaded, left a trace of golden stitches in Holly's flesh. It was a magic Joel had never seen before. Some sort of magic from Sigil, or perhaps from Bors's homeworld, Joel guessed.
The three waited anxiously for the Sensate paladin to finish. When he looked up, Jedidiah asked, "What happened?
"I heard Holly scream," Bors said. "I saw this one run off" He pointed at Walinda. "Then I found Holly in the street, left for dead."
"You were following us," Walinda declared in an accusatory tone.
"Lucky I was," Bors replied coldly.
"Did you see what attacked them?" Joel asked.
Bors shook his head.
Joel gave the priestess of Bane a suspicious glare.
Sensing what the bard must be thinking, Walinda went on the defensive. "It was not I," she declared. "Look." She showed them claw marks streaking