Tymora's Luck - Kate Novak [52]
When he couldn't find the stone in his rolled-up shirt, Joel searched beneath the tarp. Then he began unpacking the backpacks. His searching grew more frantic. He began searching up and down the slope, fearing the stone had rolled downhill in the mist.
Jas joined the search, going through the backpacks again, more carefully this time. She felt in every fold of the tarp and crawled around among the boulders that held the tarp line, in case the stone had become lodged beneath one of them.
Emilo pretended he was joining in the search, but he felt too foolish.
"Why don't we check out the cave?" he asked.
Joel glared at the kender and continued to stalk about the campsite.
"You don't really need the stone now, do you?" Emilo asked. Joel whirled about, barely concealing his panic and anger. The kender's earnest expression softened him somewhat. He proceeded to explain patiently. "Emilo, the power key is a link to Finder's heart. I can't just leave it lying around on a mountainside in the Abyss. You heard Selune. It could be used against Finder. And it wouldn't be the first time, either. I would have failed him after all the trust he's placed in me."
"I don't think anything like that will happen," Emilo said calmly.
"How would you know?" Joel snapped angrily.
It was Jas who suddenly gained insight into Emilo's strange statement. "Emilo, do you know where the stone is?" the winged woman asked.
Emilo looked down at the ground, then at the humans, then back down at the ground. Slowly he pulled the stone from his knapsack.
A tiny sob escaped Joel's lips and he sighed with relief. He snatched the stone from the kender's hands.
"I'm sorry," the kender said. "I tried to explain to Sirrion how important it was to you, but he said it was cursed. I was only trying to protect you." The kender's voice cracked with emotion. "I'm really sorry," he added.
Joel slid the finder's stone into his shirt and pressed the cool crystal into the flesh over his heart. He began breathing more deeply, and his pulse slowed to normal.
"Who the heck is Sirrion?" Jas asked.
"He's a god on Krynn. Lord of the Flowing Flame. He said I should take the finder's stone because it was cursed. He's a god, so I thought he must be right."
"He said the stone was cursed? When?" Jas asked. "When did Sirrion say this?"
"Before you woke up," Emilo explained. "He appeared as a flame not far from here and told me about the cave. He said you wouldn't need the finder's stone, and I should take it so it didn't lead us to our doom."
"Why would a god from another world…" Jas started to ask. "You don't think it was her, do you?" she asked, referring obliquely to Beshaba. "An illusion she sent?"
Joel shook his head. "If she's noticed us, she could, and probably would, crush us like fruit flies. Maybe it's some other evil creature causing mischief."
"No," Emilo insisted. "It felt like a god. It was Sirrion. I'm sure. The flame was very beautiful, and it felt…" The kender struggled to find the words to describe his awe and excitement upon speaking with the flame. "It felt godlike," he concluded.
"So what sort of god is this Sirrion?" Jas asked.
"He controls fire so that it's useful and beautiful, not destructive," Emilo explained. "He said he came to be sure I was safe."
Joel looked up at the sky in disbelief.
"Why don't you pray for your spells," Jas said, "while Emilo and I pack up the gear?"
Joel knelt beside the boulder and sang a prayer to his god. With the finder's stone once again in his possession, the prayer left him feeling strong and certain that his spells would be granted.
"Are we going to look for the cave where the bats went?" Emilo asked anxiously. "Sirrion said it was the way into Beshaba's realm."
Joel and Jas exchanged glances, not certain they trusted