Finder's Bane - Kate Novak [86]
"The light might attract other unwelcome creatures," Holly said.
"Wouldn't that be interesting?" Jedidiah said with a wicked grin.
Holly gave the older man a curious look, then turned away. "Wake me for last watch," she called as she slid toward the shelter. "I want to watch the sun come up."
Jedidiah took the first watch, sitting just outside the shelter. Joel, lying beside Holly in the shelter, quickly fell asleep from exhaustion, but when he awoke, sometime after moonrise, he couldn't fall back asleep. He slipped out of the tarp shelter. The air was so chill now he could see his breath. The new moon had risen over the dunes. Jedidiah sat watching it, softly humming The Tears of Selune," a song the god had written, as a mortal, in honor of the goddess of the moon. "Anything?" Joel asked, sitting down beside his god.
Jedidiah shook his head. "Holly's probably right-she'll sense it long before we see it. You didn't sleep that long," he noted. "If you need more rest, I can stand watch longer."
"Don't you get tired?" Joel asked.
Jedidiah nodded his head. "Without the power I put in the stone, I need sleep to replenish my energies".
Joel felt a wave of protectiveness sweep over him, as if Jedidiah really was an older mortal man. "Let me take the watch now," he insisted. "You'll need all your strength tomorrow for dealing with the banelich."
"You're probably right," the weakened god replied. He reached over and squeezed the young bard's shoulder. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you for everything."
Joel smiled warmly, glad to help his god with so small a task. Jedidiah retired into the shelter. Joel watched the moon, humming "The Tears of Selune" just as Jedidiah had
A shadow crossed the corner of the moon and dived behind a dune, startling. Joel out of his musical reverie, The Rebel Bard stood up. The night sky was cloudless. The shadow might have come from a hunting owl, but it had seemed too large. He shifted uncomfortably, wondering if the finder's stone beacon had attracted some deadly denizen of the sky.
The bard stood up and paced in order to stay more alert, singing softly to himself. No other sight or sound disturbed the night scene. By the time Holly came out to relieve him, the breeze had died and the young priest of Finder had grown bored with the stillness of the night. He tumbled off to sleep without another thought. When Joel awoke, the sun had risen. Jedidiah was sitting outside the tarp, sipping some tea and enjoying the warm sunlight on his face. Holly was atop the dune, praying to her god. She came down and joined the others for breakfast. The paladin was just biting into a piece of dried fruit when she froze. "They're coming!" the girl cried out loudly.
Joel and Jedidiah climbed to the top of the dune. A blot appeared on the disk of the rising sun. The blot grew larger, until Joel could make out the features of the spelljammer. The ship approached the dune on which they stood and circled around them. Walinda stood on the deck, looking down on them. She had a new figurehead chained to the bow, a deformed, fire-blackened creature with batlike wings beneath its arms and a steel patch covering its right eye.
"It's Bear," Joel whispered to Jedidiah. "What's that around his neck?" he asked, noticing a glowing red band fastened about the dark stalker's throat.
"Something to keep him from regenerating," Jedidiah replied. "A metal torque, heated by magic. It burns the wearer to a crisp. How does she stand the smell?" the god wondered aloud.
Joel felt his stomach churn.
"Looks like Bear got his licks in, though," Jedidiah muttered. "Your priestess has taken some serious damage."
Joel looked toward Walinda. Her left arm was wrapped in bloodstained bandages and set in a sling.
The flying shrine settled downward until it rested before the pillars of the gate.
Holly Joel, and Jedidiah made their way down the dune. By the time they'd reached the bottom, the banelich stood on the deck.
Joel felt his stomach churn once again at the sight of the creature.