Tymora's Luck - Kate Novak [89]
Joel looked inside it. It was filled with small but rare gems. "Illusions?" he asked, slipping the sack into his shirt beside the finder's stone.
"You learn quickly, Poppin," the priestess said, stroking the bard's scaly cheek with a look of fascination.
"I'll be leaving now," Joel said, stepping backward.
"Give my regards to the pigeon girl," Walinda said.
"I don't think so," Joel said. "Good luck with your attack," he wished the priestess and the marilith.
"Misfortune take our enemies," Walinda responded.
Joel turned and hurried back to his companions. He embraced Holly. "Be careful," he warned the paladin. Remembering the incident with the barghests, he reminded her, "Make sure you keep the little harp Finder gave each of us handy."
“You make sure you do, too," Holly replied. Leaving the paladin behind in the camp of tanar'ri, Jas, Joel, and Emilo made their way up the canyon's slope. Just before they reached the crest, they turned and waved good-bye one last time.
Holly waved back.
The bar-lgura who'd accompanied them up the slope suddenly disappeared. They'd become invisible, no doubt planning on following the bard and the winged woman as long as they could.
The three adventurers made their way up to a high point on the ridge to skirt around the lava flow between the canyon ridge and the Bastion of Hate. It was the first time they'd traveled by foot in Gehenna, and it was far more difficult than Joel had imagined. It took them nearly an hour to get down to the ledge where Xvim's fortress was located.
They regrouped behind a boulder that shielded them from view. Joel handed Emilo the fake gems and explained Walinda's suggestion to leave them lying about where they might cause discord among the yugoloths. After a moment's thought, he also gave the kender the finder's stone. If the tyrannar had him searched, the high priest might demand the stone to give to Iyachtu Xvim. In addition, the kender could use it to find Joel and Jas should they become separated. Jas gave the kender the lucky sword Winnie had given her. Since Joel was supposedly bringing her in as a prisoner, she had to be disarmed. With a short length of rope from Winnie's backpack, Joel bound Jas's hands in front of her so she looked like prisoner. Then he tied a lead rope to the bindings.
Before the three adventurers could continue, Emilo said, "I don't get it. If Iyachtu Xvim is like the other gods, he can sense what's going on with nearby followers, right? Then he must sense us. He must sense Walinda. You don't suppose this is all a trap, do you?"
"I've thought about that," Joel admitted. "I have another theory. If Xvim is stealing Tymora's luck and Beshaba's misfortune, he has more than enough power to seize some other realm, perhaps in some less unpleasant place. He could have already abandoned his fortress here and is only leaving it operating as a distraction for us." "I don't know which would be worse," Jas muttered. They marched in near silence to the gate of Iyachtu Xvim's fortress. The Bastion of Hate towered over them. Its walls were encased in plates of iron as thick as Joel's thumb. The air shimmered with heat around the iron plates, and the rivets joining the plates together glowed like coal. Horn-shaped iron spikes decorated the parapets. The closed gate was an iron grid, bristling with spikes meant to keep visitors away.
Joel could see no signs of life. He shouted out, "Hello the gate!"
A voice from the wall called down, "Who goes there?"
"My name is Marin the Red," Joel shouted. "I've come to collect the bounty on Jasmine the Dark Stalker-that is, if Tyrannar Neri still wants her. Otherwise I have another buyer."
They waited several minutes, but there was no reply. Joel glanced over at Jas. Black feathers had regrown about her neck. The dark stalker's presence was growing more and more prominent. It helped their story, but it was unsettling nonetheless.
Joel moved close to Jas and