Finder's Bane - Kate Novak [9]
Joel crawled back through the grass to the wash where Holly and the horses were hidden. He was rehearsing what he would say-"I'm not just a bard. I'm a priest, too. Of Finder. I don't expect you've heard of him"-when he spied Holly by the wash. The bard froze in place and stared.
Holly sat cross-legged in the grass, her arms raised over her head, softly singing a chant to Lathander Morninglord, god of the dawn. Her singing was off-key, but apparently that was no impediment to her prayer being answered. An aura as rosy as the dawn sky gathered about her head and upraised arms. She lowered her arms and wrapped them about herself. The aura contracted about her as if it were sinking into her flesh, then vanished. The cuts on her arms were now nothing more than pale lines scarring her dark brown skin.
So much for my usefulness as a priest, Joel thought Now, though, he understood this girl who wielded a sword with the skill of a veteran mercenary, who sensed Banites approaching, who could heal her wounds with a prayer.
"You're a paladin, aren't you?" he asked Holly, though he was quite sure of it already.
Holly looked up at him and nodded. "Order of the Aster," she explained, "protectors of Lathander’s church."
It felt odd meeting someone with such great responsibilities and so skilled who was even younger than he, For a moment Joel had the unpleasant sensation that he was growing old at twenty.
"Um, I hadn't mentioned it, but I'm a priest of Finder.”
"I know," Holly replied.
"My real name's Joel. Joel of Finder," the bard admitted, then realized what Holly had just said. "How did you know?" he asked with surprise.
“That you were a priest? I watched you cast a blessing on us before we fought the second patrol of Zhents."
"Oh. Right. I only mentioned it because I wasn't sure if there was any problem with you helping a priest of a different god."
Holly shook her head. "Not with Finder's folk."
"Finder's folk?" Joel asked. "You know some of his followers in Daggerdale?"
"Not in Daggerdale, no. But some of the creatures in Tarkhaldale are supposed to follow him. There's a priestess and a temple there."
"Tarkhaldale?" Joel asked. He'd never heard of the place. Jedidiah had certainly never mentioned it.
Tarkhaldale. It's up in the mountains on the edge of the Great Desert."
"You mean the Lost Vale?" Joel asked.
"Well, I guess that's what outsiders call it. We've always called it Tarkhaldale. You can hardly go on calling it the Lost Vale now that its been found and people live there and all," the girl pointed out.
"I suppose not. That's where I'm headed, actually, to the Lost-uh, Tarkhaldale."
"How are you going to get there? There's no path into the mountains. They say Alias the sellsword only gets in and out with the magic of a wizard that lives there."
"I have a map a friend gave me. How do you know so much about the people of Tarkhaldale?"
"Elminster talks about them," Holly explained. "Elminster talks about everything, actually. He's so interesting. I could sit and listen to him for hours."
"I've heard he has quite a reputation with the ladies," Joel noted.
Holly snorted. "Honestly! You sound just like Brother Robin. That's the priest who teaches me. Elminster is old enough to be my grandfather."
"Elminster is old enough to be the grandfather of quite a few women-probably is, for that matter," Joel replied. "Well, he's always treated me like a lady," Holly said, defending the wizard's honor.
"That's his secret, is it?" Joel teased.
Holly bent her head, and even through her dark skin, Joel could see the blush rising to the surface. Not wanting her to feel awkward, he hastily changed the subject
"You were right about getting off the trail and hiding. Did you know there was a herd of Banites coming or did you just sense evil?" the bard asked.
"I sensed a great evil. I thought it might be Cyriciste or the Xvimists, or some evil beast, but I never