"What happened?" Holly asked, shielding her eyes with her hand to observe the pillars.

"Other beings, more powerful than the wizards, marched their armies out of the gate into Netheril to conquer it in their name," Jedidiah replied. After a century or so of warfare, the encroaching desert sand became a blessing-covering the surrounding city, making the land useless to conquering armies, and sealing the gate from detection on either side."

"If the pillars are taller than the Flaming Tower, it's going to take a lot of digging to clear them. They must be buried under fifty feet of sand," Joel estimated.

"More like a hundred feet," Jedidiah corrected.

Joel whistled softly. "How are we going to dig it out? Magic?"

"We're not going to lift a finger," Jedidiah declared "Clearing the gate is the banelich's problem."

Holly nodded and grinned. "Good strategy," she complimented Jedidiah.

"How so?" Joel asked.

"It will test the powers of the banelich, maybe even wear him out some before we pass through the gate," the paladin explained.

They pitched a tarp over the hollow in the sand dune. Joel and Holly slid down to the base of the dune, leaving Jedidiah reclining beneath the tarp, blowing melodies with his glaur. The horn sounded for miles around in the clear air, serving as an anchor for the two young adventurers as they explored the surrounding desert.

After nearly an hour, having discovered nothing but sand, the bard and paladin practiced at swordplay. Holly was more skilled with a blade and offered Joel several pointers. She drilled him until he'd corrected his most glaring errors.

As the sun climbed higher, the air grew baking hot. Jedidiah called Joel and Holly out of the sun. Parched and exhausted, the pair joined the older man beneath the tarp. They ate and drank some of the food and water, then Holly lay down and napped. Once she was sleeping soundly, Jedidiah had Joel review the tulip song he'd taught him the day before. Then they talked together softly, not about the finder's stone or the Hand of Bane or the trials to come, but about Netheril. Jedidiah knew as many tales about the lost kingdom and its fall as he did about the Dalelands.

If he closed his eyes, Joel could still picture Jedidiah as the old priest who'd first befriended him, could almost imagine that they sat by a fire-a very warm fire-in a tavern in Berdusk. Jedidiah's younger appearance might not have bothered the Rebel Bard at all, except that it served as a constant reminder of the loss of the finder's stone. If not for the bargain that hung over them, Joel realized, he would have been comfortable with Jedidiah whatever form he wore.

Holly woke and listened to Jedidiah's tales with obvious pleasure. While she disapproved of the older man's bargain with the banelich, it was obvious she still liked him. Of course, Joel thought, she was unfettered by the knowledge that Jedidiah was not merely serving Finder, but actually was Finder.

The sun westered, and a soft breeze played with the sand around them, bringing with it the promise of a cool night. Jedidiah stood and stretched, then climbed to the top of the dune. Joel and Holly followed. The older priest stood looking eastward, toward the Desertsmouth Mountains, frowning.

"They aren't expecting us to be here until tomorrow,' Joel reminded him.

"Yes," Jedidiah replied, "but I thought they might arrive early to scout out the area, perhaps even set some sort of trap for us. Your Walinda has disappointed me. I expected more treachery from her."

"Maybe they're having trouble finding the gate," Joel suggested.

Jedidiah shook his head, denying that possibility.

"Do you think something happened to them?" Joel asked.

"Wouldn't that be nice," Holly muttered.

Sunset in the desert was magnificent, painting the sky crimson, magenta, and purple. The night sky that succeeded it was no less beautiful; a myriad of stars shimmered and twinkled like gems in the goddess Selune's jewel box.

The air grew chill, and Joel and Holly returned to huddle under the tarp, leaving Jedidiah to maintain his vigil. Using two of the spells Jedidiah had taught him the day before, Joel created more water, then heated the metal flask it was in until the water steamed. He and Holly brewed tea and sipped at it. Then they carried some of the hot beverage up to Jedidiah.

"Come back to the shelter, Jedidiah," Holly coaxed the older man. "I'll sense them long before you see them," she said.

Jedidiah took the tea. "Do you think so?" he asked the paladin with a secretive smile.

Joel wondered just how good the god's eyes were at seeing across the void in the dark. Were they even better when he had all his godly power? Of course, if Jedidiah had all his godly power, he could sense the banelich, too.

When Jedidiah had finished the tea and handed the cup back to Holly, he reached in his boot and pulled out the saurial's half of the finder's stone. The yellow gem glowed in the dark.

Holly gasped. Joel explained quickly that the stone was the sister to the first.

"What happens if you put the two pieces together?" Holly asked.

"Nothing," Jedidiah said. "Finder rent it asunder to get at the paraelemental ice at its core. That's how he destroyed Moander." The older man handed the gem to Joel. "Take this and think of Walinda," he ordered the young bard.

Joel held the stone. He was trying to recall in his mind's eye the priestess's features when he remembered the sensation of her hands about his throat. A thin beacon of light lanced out from the stone and arced across the sky toward the Desertsmouth Mountains. Gently Jedidiah lifted the stone from Joel's hands. The beam of light blinked out.

"Did you do that to signal them?" Holly asked.

"No," Jedidiah replied. "I suspect the banelich always knows exactly where it is. I sent out the light to be sure they're not dead and still in the Realms."

"The light might attract other unwelcome creatures," Holly said.

"Wouldn't that be interesting?" Jedidiah said with a wicked grin.

Holly gave the older man a curious look, then turned away. "Wake me for last watch," she called as she slid toward the shelter. "I want to watch the sun come up."

Jedidiah took the first watch, sitting just outside the shelter. Joel, lying beside Holly in the shelter, quickly fell asleep from exhaustion, but when he awoke, sometime after moonrise, he couldn't fall back asleep. He slipped out of the tarp shelter. The air was so chill now he could see his breath. The new moon had risen over the dunes. Jedidiah sat watching it, softly humming The Tears of Selune," a song the god had written, as a mortal, in honor of the goddess of the moon. "Anything?" Joel asked, sitting down beside his god.

Jedidiah shook his head. "Holly's probably right-she'll sense it long before we see it. You didn't sleep that long," he noted. "If you need more rest, I can stand watch longer."

"Don't you get tired?" Joel asked.

Jedidiah nodded his head. "Without the power I put in the stone, I need sleep to replenish my energies".

Joel felt a wave of protectiveness sweep over him, as if Jedidiah really was an older mortal man. "Let me take the watch now," he insisted. "You'll need all your strength tomorrow for dealing with the banelich."

"You're probably right," the weakened god replied. He reached over and squeezed the young bard's shoulder. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you for everything."

Joel smiled warmly, glad to help his god with so small a task. Jedidiah retired into the shelter. Joel watched the moon, humming "The Tears of Selune" just as Jedidiah had

A shadow crossed the corner of the moon and dived behind a dune, startling. Joel out of his musical reverie, The Rebel Bard stood up. The night sky was cloudless. The shadow might have come from a hunting owl, but it had seemed too large. He shifted uncomfortably, wondering if the finder's stone beacon had attracted some deadly denizen of the sky.