'Please, Amberlee,' Gory asked again. 'We could use your help and advice.'
Amberlee glared at her charming cousin, knowing full well his flattery could lead her to her doom. She looked back at Redstone Castle uncertainly. Tavan was right about Uncle Steele. Aunt Dorath was probably snoozing over her knitting as well. There was no one she could rely on. It was up to her. 'All right, I'll go,' Amberlee announced, 'but only to keep you all out of trouble.'
ACT TWO SCENE 5
Joel awoke with a start, feeling alarmed. He'd been having a nightmare. He lay very still, trying to piece together the dream. He'd been traveling with a group of children riding ponies, and they'd ridden into a graveyard. The children dismounted and took him into a large family tomb. It was dark and chill in the tomb, and Joel wanted to leave, but he was afraid to say so because then he would be left behind and the children would be alone. Ordinarily crypts held no fear for Joel. He could, after all, turn the undead and lay them to rest, but in this dream, he sensed he couldn't do that.
More disturbing than the feeling of dread was the sense that he knew the children in the dream. While traveling to Finder's temple in the Lost Vale, Joel had passed through Immersea in Cormyr and been welcomed into the home of Giogi Wyvernspur, a descendant of Finder's brother, Gerrin. Two of the children in the dream had been Giogi's son and daughter.
Joel wondered if the dream had any meaning. Perhaps he'd dreamed of children in crypts because he and Jas and Emilo were like children to the gods venturing in this deadly realm. He may only have dreamed of Giogi Wyvernspur's children because they'd been the last human children he'd seen in the Realms. On the other hand, there was the troubling possibility that he had dreamed of them because Tymora's troubles had directly affected them in some way.
'There, see,' Emilo called out excitedly.
'Yes. I see them,' Jas replied.
The bard rolled over. Emilo and Jas stood outside the tarp. Joel yawned and crawled out to see what they were looking at. They were camped on a little hillock at the foot of a cliff. A talus field, left over from yesterday's earthquake, surrounded the hill. A mild breeze had dispersed most of the fog. The sky far overhead was once again full of black clouds and sheet lightning.
Joel rubbed his eyes and yawned. 'What's up?' he asked.
'See the bats fluttering around down there?' Emilo whispered excitedly, pointing downhill. 'It must mean there's a cave nearby. It could be the entrance to Beshaba's realm. We should go look.'
Joel and Jas agreed it would be worth checking out after breakfast. Jas returned to the tarp and began rummaging through Winnie's knapsack for breakfast. They split a loaf of bread and downed some more magical berries.
They washed breakfast down with water, leaving the second water flask half empty. Realizing he'd probably have to magically create more water soon, Joel began singing a soft prayer to Finder to grant him the spells he would need. He felt curiously empty as he did so. It was then he realized that perhaps he should be holding his power key while he prayed.
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 Emilo's vision.
'We may as well see what's there,' Jas said.
Joel nodded. If there wasn't a cave, or it didn't lead to Beshaba's realm, at least then Emilo would realize he'd been duped.
There was indeed a cave. The opening was at the base of the hillock where they had camped. Overhanging rock had sheltered the cave entrance so it hadn't been blocked by the avalanche. The entrance was wide but very low. Jas and Joel had to duck to enter. They could hear water dripping, and deeper within the cave a shallow pool glittered, reflecting back the light from the cave entrance.
Jas touched Joel's arm and pointed. A human figure sat half hidden in the shadows of the cave, staring into
