Tymora's Luck - Kate Novak [132]
She couldn't understand why Finder had teleported to this place, but she knew that Holly, in her heavy plate armor, would never be able to make it to the water's surface. For a second, she wondered if Finder was still so angry with the paladin that he would allow her to drown, but she dismissed the idea with a shake of her head. She was sure Finder couldn't be so cruel.
After several fearful moments, Finder bobbed to the surface of the water, cradling Holly, coughing and spluttering, in his arms.
"What went wrong?" Jas asked.
"I tried to teleport to Argentil, Selune's hall, but someone has placed a barrier about the Isle of the Gates of the Moon. We slid into the sea when I hit the barrier." "Lathander," Holly whispered. "He knows you know his plan. He's trying to keep Selune from discovering it."
"Can't Selune sense us out in the ocean?" Jas asked.
"Not if Lathander's taken the precaution to shield us magically from her senses. He's much more powerful than I," Finder said. "I can't beat him at this game."
"My presence will give away your every move," Holly said. She held up a small white flower and ripped it in half, whispering, "Morning Glory." The paladin vanished.
"What happened?" Emilo gasped. "Where did Holly go?"
"She returned to Lathander with a piece of magic, like the one I gave you to return to Fermata," Finder explained.
"So what now?" Jas asked. "Back to Fermata?"
"No," Finder said. He set one hand on Jas's head and the other on Emilo's and murmured the word, "Precipice."
Then next moment they stood at the top of a high cliff covered with heather and overlooking a river. The river poured into a lagoon before it plunged over an even higher cliff. Spray from the waterfall rose all the way to the top of the highest cliff, moistening the heather and making the air smell sweet. The sun shone brightly, creating rainbows in the mist.
As Jas set Emilo down beside her, the kender held his hands over his stomach. "I think I'm getting dizzy from all this popping in and out," he said. "Oooh. Jas, your wings look just like the phoenix's wings," the kender added.
Jas looked at the flame-colored feathers sprouting from her back and grimaced. "That's just ducky," she muttered. "Where are we, anyway?"
"Somewhere near Lathander's realm, or at least as near as I dare try to teleport," Finder replied. "If Lathander has a barrier around Selune's realm, he's sure to have one around his own."
"So what now?" Jas asked.
"We make our way toward his realm and hope we can sneak up on him," Finder said.
"How do you sneak up on a god?" Jas asked.
"Well, between maintaining the barrier around Selune's isle, shielding me from Selune's senses, keeping the dark region in his realm from prying eyes, and trying to put Tyche together again, he has a good deal on his mind," Finder said. "We'll have to seize any chance that comes our way and hope he's too distracted to notice."
"Distracted," a quavering voice said behind them. "I get distracted all the time."
The god and his companions whirled around. There stood an ancient old man in gray robes, his face and head covered with long, flowing, white hair.
"Sometimes the least little thing can distract me," the old man said. "I reach for the cheese cutter, and I remember I've left the barn door open. Of course, eventually all the cows come home to roost, but still, if you let them wander in strange corn, they start claiming alien spelljammers took them jumping over the moon. Then I sit down to dinner and realize I've forgotten to bring out not only the cheese cutter but the cheese as well."
"Oh, boy," Jas murmured, having met more than a few senile old men in her life.
In spite of the dire nature of his quest, Finder was so amused by the old man's ramblings that he chuckled in spite of himself. "Sir, I know just how you feel," Finder answered the old man. "Allow