Tymora's luck

ACT FOUR SCENE 5

Back in the wilderness of the Outlands, Finder nodded to Bors and Kenda. "Give Factol Montgomery my thanks for your timely information." Then he looked at Holly. "We have a report to make to Selune," he said, reaching out and grabbing the paladin's shoulder. He held his other hand out to Jas. The winged woman grabbed Emilo, then took up Finder's hand. The god whispered, "Argentil," and teleported the three adventurers away from the Outlands.

The next moment Jas found herself swimming beneath a bright full moon in a cold sea. She burst from the water, pulling the kender with her. Of Finder and Holly there was no sign. Cradling Emilo in her arms, she fluttered above the surface of the choppy water with huge white mothlike wings, shouting for the god and the paladin. The moonlight glittered along the waves, but Jas was too panic-stricken to appreciate the beauty all about her.

She couldn't understand why Finder had teleported to this place, but she knew that Holly, in her heavy plate armor, would never be able to make it to the water's surface. For a second, she wondered if Finder was still so angry with the paladin that he would allow her to drown, but she dismissed the idea with a shake of her head. She was sure Finder couldn't be so cruel.

After several fearful moments, Finder bobbed to the surface of the water, cradling Holly, coughing and spluttering, in his arms.

"What went wrong?" Jas asked.

"I tried to teleport to Argentil, Selune's hall, but someone has placed a barrier about the Isle of the Gates of the Moon. We slid into the sea when I hit the barrier." "Lathander," Holly whispered. "He knows you know his plan. He's trying to keep Selune from discovering it."

"Can't Selune sense us out in the ocean?" Jas asked.

"Not if Lathander's taken the precaution to shield us magically from her senses. He's much more powerful than I," Finder said. "I can't beat him at this game."

"My presence will give away your every move," Holly said. She held up a small white flower and ripped it in half, whispering, "Morning Glory." The paladin vanished.

"What happened?" Emilo gasped. "Where did Holly go?"

"She returned to Lathander with a piece of magic, like the one I gave you to return to Fermata," Finder explained.

"So what now?" Jas asked. "Back to Fermata?"

"No," Finder said. He set one hand on Jas's head and the other on Emilo's and murmured the word, "Precipice."

Then next moment they stood at the top of a high cliff covered with heather and overlooking a river. The river poured into a lagoon before it plunged over an even higher cliff. Spray from the waterfall rose all the way to the top of the highest cliff, moistening the heather and making the air smell sweet. The sun shone brightly, creating rainbows in the mist.

As Jas set Emilo down beside her, the kender held his hands over his stomach. "I think I'm getting dizzy from all this popping in and out," he said. "Oooh. Jas, your wings look just like the phoenix's wings," the kender added.

Jas looked at the flame-colored feathers sprouting from her back and grimaced. "That's just ducky," she muttered. "Where are we, anyway?"

"Somewhere near Lathander's realm, or at least as near as I dare try to teleport," Finder replied. "If Lathander has a barrier around Selune's realm, he's sure to have one around his own."

"So what now?" Jas asked.

"We make our way toward his realm and hope we can sneak up on him," Finder said.

"How do you sneak up on a god?" Jas asked.

"Well, between maintaining the barrier around Selune's isle, shielding me from Selune's senses, keeping the dark region in his realm from prying eyes, and trying to put Tyche together again, he has a good deal on his mind," Finder said. "We'll have to seize any chance that comes our way and hope he's too distracted to notice."

"Distracted," a quavering voice said behind them. "I get distracted all the time."

The god and his companions whirled around. There stood an ancient old man in gray robes, his face and head covered with long, flowing, white hair.

"Sometimes the least little thing can distract me," the old man said. "I reach for the cheese cutter, and I remember I've left the barn door open. Of course, eventually all the cows come home to roost, but still, if you let them wander in strange corn, they start claiming alien spelljammers took them jumping over the moon. Then I sit down to dinner and realize I've forgotten to bring out not only the cheese cutter but the cheese as well."

"Oh, boy," Jas murmured, having met more than a few senile old men in her life.

In spite of the dire nature of his quest, Finder was so amused by the old man's ramblings that he chuckled in spite of himself. "Sir, I know just how you feel," Finder answered the old man. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Finder Wyvernspur, and these are my companions, Jasmine and Emilo Haversack."

"Haversack?" the old man asked. "Have we met somewhere?"

"Yes, sir," Emilo said. "A few days ago, in some other place. You made me unnoticeable except to people from Krynn so I could help you discover if someone was an impostor or not."

Jas and Finder exchanged surprised glances.

"See," the old man said, holding a finger up in front of Finder, "you don't have to remember everything. Sometimes you can get other people to do it for you."

"I'll find someone to remember that for me, sir," Finder replied.

"Ha!" the old man laughed. "You are a sharp one, aren't you?" Then he turned to Jas. He put a hand on the woman's cheek. "You've grown to be a lovely young lass," he said. "Why, I remember when you were just a wee tiny baby." "Are you sure you don't have me confused with someone else?" Jas asked in a kindly tone.

"You are Rose and Michael's little girl, aren't you?" he asked.

Jas's jaw dropped. "Those were my parents' names," she said, surprised.

"You look just like your mother," the old man said. "Now, Finder, my boy-"

"Yes, sir?" Finder said.

"This is for you," the old man said, handing Finder an envelope.

Finder turned over the envelope. It was addressed simply to "Our Friend." The god opened the envelope and pulled out a plain white card edged in gold. "It's a wedding invitation," he noted.

"Yes. Someone I know threw it away. Very unlike him. I had to wonder if it was really him."

"But it isn't addressed to us," Finder said.

"It doesn't matter. That's the wonderful thing about weddings. Everyone is welcome. Turning away a guest would be very bad form," the old man said.

"But this invitation is for a wedding that took place last month," Finder pointed out.

"Oh, that doesn't matter," the old man said. "Better late than never to give best wishes to the happy couple. Anyway, it will get you where you want to go. It's a portal key. Just hold it up and say… and say… Oh, dear, I seem to have forgotten. Let me think for a moment. 'Don't leave me in the lurch?' 'Stop on a dime?' Hmmm… That's not it. How about, 'Plant a little birch, make a little rhyme?' No. Oh, now I remember. You say, 'Get me to the church on time,' and you'll be there."

Finder laughed at the irony of the words. "I really appreciate this, sir. Thank you," he said. "But it occurs to me you haven't told me your name."

"My name?" the old man repeated. "My name is Fuzz-bat… No, wait. Fezbutt," he said with less certainty. "Or maybe it's Fizz… Fizz… Fizz Something. I'm quite sure."

"Oh. I thought it might be something else," Finder said. "But I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Fizz Something."

"What did you think my name was?" Fizz Something asked.

"Well, the way you've come to the rescue, completely out of the blue, I thought you might be Ao," Finder replied. "The Overpower of the Cosmos."

Fizz Something laughed hard for several moments until he started to cough and wheeze. When he had recovered, he looked up at Finder. "What an interesting guess," he said. Then he teleported away.

"What was that all about?" Jas asked, completely confused by the exchange between the god and the old man.

"That was Fizz Something," Finder said. "A god from your world, I believe," he said to Emilo.

"No," Emilo replied. "He's just a nice old wizard."

"Right," Finder said. "Just a nice old wizard."

"So the invitation is a portal key?" Jas asked. "It must have been someone pretty important for such a fancy invitation."

"It's for the marriage of Aurora Brightday to Allain Crimson, to be held in the realm of Morning Glory," Finder explained. "And it's high time we wished the happy couple joy." He reached out for Jas's hand. Jas, in turn, took Emilo's hand. Finder held up the wedding invitation and called out, "Get me to the church on time."

The heather-covered precipice over the river disappeared, replaced by an orchard of peach trees. The sun was just rising over a distant mountain ridge. Birds flitted about over their heads, twittering excitedly.

Suddenly a tall, dark girl in plate armor came running toward them.

"It's Holly!" Jas said.

Holly ran straight to Finder. "Hurry!" she begged. "Lady Beshaba is trying to kill Lady Tymora, and Lord Lathander won't do anything to interfere."