Tymora's Luck - Kate Novak [85]
The beacon of light shot out toward the outer edge of the canyon. Joel waited several anxious moments before Jas came shooting out of the darkness and landed beside him. Her eyes were glowing like an owl's, and there was a tuft of feathers sticking out behind her ears and over her eyebrows.
"What's going on?" the winged woman asked, jerking her head toward the crowd of tanar'ri.
"Holly's fighting a marilith," Joel said. He grabbed Jas's arm before she could race to the paladin's aid. "It's Holly's choice. It's some sort of test. I brought you here in case-" Joel hesitated, not wanting to suggest Jas couldn't look out for herself.
"In case what?" Jas asked.
"Emilo spotted the hydroloth who was sent to bring you back to Xvim. The hydroloth's dead now, but there could be others around. I want you to stay in camp until the attack. You won't have to see or speak to Walinda. You can stay right here. If Xvim's minions know you're here, it won't be safe for you to be alone out there."
"Joel, what difference does it make?" Jas growled. "Look at me. The dark stalker is taking over again. I don't know if it's because I'm close to Xvim's realm or because I can't stop thinking about Walinda, but it doesn't matter.
It's going to get me in the end."
Joel put his hands on Jas's shoulders. "It does matter," he insisted. "Gods, if Holly can bring herself to ally with Walinda and a marilith to bring about a greater good, you can at least try. You can fight this thing."
"I'm tired of fighting it," Jas said with a sigh. "Since the fetch weakened me, it's harder to resist. I'm turning into a creature of darkness. You shouldn't trust me anymore."
"I won't accept that," the bard said. "You have to fight this. Too much depends on us, on you. If Xvim has found a way to steal Tymora's luck and Beshaba's misfortune, think what he can do with it. Think what Realmspace will be like when his priests have all the luck and his enemies are beset with misfortune."
"I can't stop that either," Jas snarled. "I can't stop anything. I'm useless."
"No, you aren't," Joel argued. He wracked his brains for something he could say that would convince Jas to at least make the attempt to hang on to her humanity. Finder would know what to say, the bard thought. Finder would give her a reason even if he had to make it up. Then an idea struck him. "We need you to make our plan work. There's no one else who can get us into the Bastion of Hate."
"What are you talking about?" Jas demanded.
"If they think you're a dark stalker, they'll let you into the bastion. I need Walinda to get us some more information from the hydroloth that was after you in Sigil."
"I thought you said he was dead," Jas argued.
"That shouldn't be a problem for Walinda," Joel said. "Will you wait here? Please?" the bard pleaded.
Jas shrugged, and her wings stiffened. Joel was afraid she was going to launch into flight. Then she nodded.
Joel turned around. The bar-lgura Walinda had assigned to escort him were standing behind him, watching curiously. Joel wondered just how much they understood, and how much they would report back to Walinda. The bard pointed to two of the apelike creatures and ordered, "Make sure no one bothers her." Then he headed back toward Walinda. The bar-lgura he'd appointed as Jas's guardians remained behind. Joel felt a secret twinge of amusement that he'd actually ordered a tanar'ri to do his bidding. He wondered what Finder would say about that. He'd probably tell his priest not to let it go to his head.
With the help of his remaining bar-lgura escort, the bard squeezed his way through the bulezau and returned to Walinda's side. Emilo stood beside the priestess, hopping from foot to foot, silently cheering for Holly.
Holly was still battling the marilith, but even Joel could see she wasn't doing