forehead and carving thin rivulets down his dusty face. I really could use a light, he thought.
Then he remembered. He could make light. Jedidiah had taught him how. He'd never needed to use it before. Now was probably a good time. The bard composed himself and began the prayers that would bring him the gift of spells from his god. When he had finished, he ran his hand over the wall until he'd broken off another chunk of rock. Joel focused on the rock as he hummed a scale in C-sharp. The rock lit up like a lantern wick, and Joel leaned back with a sigh of relief.
A few moments later he was on his way down the staircase, continuing roughly in the direction Holly had been taken. There were other intersections, but the corridor he was in now was larger than the corridors that connected to it, and Joel sensed they were merely tributaries. If he didn't find some sort of room or exit, he could always go down one of the smaller corridors when he reached the opposite side of the temple. With a grin, the bard imagined himself pushing open another secret door into a cell containing Holly.
The tunnel ended in a cavern that Joel guessed must have once served as a temple to Bane. Within, rows of benches faced an altar on the left-hand wall. On the opposite wall was another corridor leading away from the temple.
Joel moved down the center aisle of benches up to the altar. There were rings set in the four corners of the altar stone and troughs running to a hole at one end of the stone. Even in the dim light, Joel could see bloodstains in the stone.
Behind the altar, carved into the rock wall, was a giant bas-relief of a man's face. Unlike the rough-hewn statue of Iyachtu Xvim below, this figure was the work of a skilled artisan. The face's smooth, sharp features were handsome but hostile, a traditional representation of the god Bane. There were two divots in the eye sockets that traditionally would hold giant red gems to represent the icon's eyes. No doubt someone had looted this icon's eyes.
Thinking of people who might have the nerve to desecrate a temple to Bane, Joel was reminded of Holly. It occurred to him he'd better continue searching for her before the night wore away. The bard gave the icon of Bane a little slap on its rocky cheek and turned to leave. Just as he was stepping off the altar, he heard a sneeze behind him.
Joel started and then froze. He could hear his own heart pounding in his chest. It was several moments before he gathered his wits about him and reacted. Pocketing his magically lit rock, he ducked behind the altar and listened.
A few moments later he heard two more sneezes. They probably were soft and stifled, but in the echoing rock chamber they might as well have been thunder. On his hands and knees, Joel crept around the altar in the direction of the sounds.
To the right of the altar was a curtained alcove. Light slipped out from beneath the curtain and through rotted holes in the fabric. He'd missed it before because his own light stone had outshone it. This light was not as bright as the magical light that lit the corridors used by the cultists, nor was it the flickering light of a torch or a lantern. Rather, it was a soft, constantly glowing luminescence, like his own light stone but even less bright. Someone else was down here, someone with magic.
Joel crawled up to the curtain and put his eye to one of the holes. Beyond the curtain was a small alcove housing a massive tome chained to an iron stand. Leaning over the book was the familiar form of Walinda of Bane. Using a gemstone enchanted with a light spell for illumination, the priestess skimmed page after page with an impatient look on her face.
Joel was just about to back away when a waft of breeze brushed the curtain up against his face. The priestess's head jerked up, and she turned to stare straight at Joel just as she had twice before. Joel froze. She's in the light; I'm in the dark. She can't possibly see me, the bard thought.
The priestess leapt toward the curtain with a curse on her lips. Still on his hands and knees, Joel tried rolling sideways into the darkness, but to no avail. Carrying her light with her, the priestess cornered him against the altar. With a curse on her lips, she held out her right hand. A blue flame flickered in her palm.
'Hey, take it easy,' Joel cried out. 'I was just looking. No harm done.'
'Oh, it's only you,' the priestess replied. The hostile look on her face was replaced with one of cool indifference, and the flame in her hand died out. 'I thought you'd be dead by now,' she added.
'Who, me?' Joel asked, feigning nonchalance. 'Whatever gave you that idea, Walinda of Bane?'
Walinda's eyes narrowed suspiciously. 'It occurs to me you have the advantage of knowing my name. Might know yours?'
The bard stood up and brushed the dirt from his hands. 'I'm Joel,' he said, offering his hand. 'Joel of Finder.'
The priestess ignored the bard's hand. 'Finder,' she said with a nod. 'Ahh… of course. The poppinjay bard who slew Moander to become a petty god.'
The priestess stepped back. 'As a priest of a rival god, albeit a petty one,' she noted, 'you will be sacrificed by the Xvimists in the dark of the moon beside the harpy I offered to them. You may have temporarily escaped your prison cell through these tunnels, but eventually the cultists will find you. Swear fealty to me, and I will help you escape the cultists,' Walinda offered. The expression on her face softened, and her tone of voice was suddenly warm and sincere. Joel was taken aback, not only by the priestess's offer, but by the sudden urge he had to accept it just to please her. Had she tried to ensorcell him with a charm spell? But if Bane was dead, she couldn't cast any spells… unless she had used some sort of magical amulet. But why? Why betray her hosts to help a priest of what she considered to be a minor poppinjay god?
Joel grinned with sudden insight. 'I will if you will,' he retorted.
Walinda glared at him. 'What folly do you speak?' she demanded.
'Well,' Joel replied, 'if you were really a guest of the cultists, you wouldn't need me and my fealty. You'd just give a shout and have them put me in another prison cell. When I sneaked up on you, though, you had no idea I wasn't a cultist, yet you were prepared to attack me. Now that I think about it, the deal you made with the Ruinlord of Xvim only guaranteed you access to this place. Nothing was said about granting you passage back down to the ground. You're a prisoner here, too, Not much of a deal maker, are you?'
'I'm a Dreadmaster of Bane, the Dark One, first among his priests,' Walinda replied haughtily, 'not some merchant scum. You are wrong. I am not a prisoner. I wheeled to attack in case you were some fell beast left wandering these passages as a guardian of this abandoned temple. Now accept my offer, or die soon regretting that you did not.'
Joel chuckled, unable to hide his amusement. She was good at bluffing, but she still had no reason to help him unless she needed his help. 'Thanks, no,' he replied. 'I've seen how little you value those who've sworn fealty to you.'
'My followers,' Walinda said softly. Her lip quivered, and she turned away.
Joel was surprised. He'd expected her to react with contempt for her people, or even anger that he'd raised the subject. Instead, she acted as if she genuinely grieved their loss. Of course, the bard reminded himself, she could simply be a good actress.
After a moment the woman straightened and replied proudly, 'You would not think I sold them so cheap if you knew how great was my goal.' She turned again to face him. 'My god demanded I gain entry to this place, and I obeyed. Even though their sacrifice brought power to Bane's bastard son, they have earned the favor of Bane. Their loyalty and the price they paid for it will not be forgotten.'
Joel shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other. 'I know this must be a sore point, and I really hate to have to bring it up, but isn't Bane, um, dead?'
Walinda smiled. It was a smile of great joy, and it made her face positively lovely. 'Bane is a god. Death can have no power over the gods. He will return.'
'All right,' Joel said slowly, beginning to sense this was not a topic they could sensibly debate.
'You doubt me, Joel of Finder,' Walinda said. 'Tell me, if everyone told you Finder was dead, would you believe it?'
'For me it's different. I have proof Finder lives; he grants my spell prayers.'
'Are you so certain that Bane does not grant mine?'
Joel remembered the blue flame at her palm. 'You probably just have some sort of magical talisman.'
'That is a possibility. At any rate, suppose Finder did not grant you spells, yet still he spoke to you?' Walinda asked.
