Finder's Bane - Kate Novak [80]
"Why are the forms so rigid?" Joel asked while he was struggling with the wording of the prayer to locate objects.
"If it comes in the right form," Jedidiah explained, "the power siphons from me without my having to think about it. That way I can keep concentrating on whatever I'm doing when you call for the spell. If you called for something with the wrong wording, I'd have to stop and think about it for a moment. For a god with hundreds of priests, that could get pretty complicated, and he may well end up ignoring them."
"If you were watching me and concentrating, could you grant me something I hadn't learned?" Joel asked.
"It sounds possible," Jedidiah said. "But I'm not sure what the consequences might be. I think that's an experiment we should table for a while."
There was a commotion outside the temple, and Joel heard the sound of saurials twittering. Copperbloom came in and said something to Jedidiah that Joel couldn't hear.
"Let's go see," Jedidiah murmured.
Joel followed his god out of the Singing Cave. In the garden, saurials were watching the sky intently. Joel and Jedidiah looked up.
A few saurial flyers circled the vale lazily. At the party the previous night, Jas had told Joel that most of the flyers hunted for small creatures and birds, but some were scouts on watch for approaching outsiders. Jedidiah pointed to the east. High over the mountain peaks at the eastern edge of the vale flew the spelljammer temple to Bane. The ship flew southward, beyond the southern peaks of the vale, then turned back to the east.
"A square spiral search pattern," Jedidiah said. "Very methodical, your Walinda. I guess she took me literally when I told her she could try to search for the vale."
"But she hasn't seen past the illusion," Joel noted. "Did you cast the spell?" he asked.
Jedidiah shook his head. "That magic was here before I was even born."
"What does it look like from up there?" Joel asked.
"As if the vale is rocky and barren," Jedidiah replied.
"Suppose they fly lower?" he asked.
"They can try," Jedidiah muttered with a sly gin. "Now, what's that?" he asked suddenly, pointing to a speck flying behind the spelljammer.
Joel shrugged. "I can hardly see it."
Jas landed beside the two men. "Did you see?" she asked angrily, whatever calm she achieved disturbed by the sight of her stolen craft.
Jedidiah nodded. "Jas, if you please, would you fly up and ask one of the flyers to see if she can tell what that speck is that's following the ship?"
The winged woman nodded.
Jedidiah held her back for a moment. "Don't try to follow it yourself," he warned. "If they spot a flying saurial, they might mistake it for a bird, but you, on the other hand…"
"Yeah, I know. I stand out like a festhall girl at a funeral," Jas said. She took to the sky, heading to intercept one of the saurial flyers to the east.
"Why are they looking for us?" Joel asked. "We said we'd meet them."
"Because a valeful of hostage saurials would be even more leverage for the banelich to use to ensure I brought him the Hand of Bane," Jedidiah said. "In case the finder's stone isn't enough, or in case he wants to keep the finder's stone for himself."
Jedidiah motioned for Joel to follow him back into the temple. When they'd once more settled in the Singing Cave, the god began to teach Joel a new song. It was an unusual piece of music. The lyrics were about a tulip's cycle of life, and the tune switched from a major chord to a minor halfway through.
Joel couldn't