Tymora's luck

ACT FOUR SCENE 7

In the realm of Morning Glory, the two goddesses faced their tormentors. Lathander released his hold on Xvim, though whether he meant to hand him over to Tyche's daughters, or was simply preparing to defend himself from attack Joel could not be certain.

Iyachtu Xvim cackled fiendishly in the face of the wrath of Beshaba and Tymora. "The paladin's foolish act has come too late to save you," he gloated. "You cannot stop the fusion once it has begun. See how the chaos matter comes to bind you!"

Xvim's words appeared to be true. A wisp of the chaos matter drifted out of the fusion chamber and wrapped itself around both goddesses. As the others watched, transfixed, more chaos matter swirled out into the tent and began to weave a cocoon around Beshaba and Tymora.

The goddesses' bodies grew translucent and fluid like melting wax. Their torsos joined, then merged, until there was only one torso between the two of them. They had become a misshapen creature with four arms and legs struggling against the bonds of the chaos matter and two heads screaming in rage and pain.

Tymora's head cried out, "Lathander, help me, please!"

"Lathander, do something!" Finder shouted. "Can't you see they're in agony?" he demanded.

"Xvim is right," Lathander said. "Once the spell has begun, there is no stopping it."

"There must be something you can do, my lord," Holly said with a tone of desperation.

"No," Lathander answered. "The fusion chamber will not stop until it has united something that had previously been separated," he insisted.

"What if we threw a whole bunch of broken eggs into it?" Emilo asked.

Lathander shook his head. "It must be something of power," the god explained.

"The finder's stone?" Joel asked Finder excitedly.

"It's worth a try," Finder agreed. He pulled his half of the stone from his boot, and Joel pulled his out from his shirt.

"Ready… set… go!" Finder shouted.

Together both halves of the finder's stone arced through the air and into the portal. The portal flashed with a brilliant light. Immediately the chaos matter around Tymora and Beshaba fell away and streamed back into the fusion chamber like a river running into the sea.

The partially merged Tymora and Beshaba squirmed and wriggled until they lost their balance and toppled onto the ground. The torso ripped in two, dripping chaos matter like ichor until Tymora and Beshaba emerged as two separate individuals.

Beshaba stood and shook herself like a dog. From Joel's hand, she grabbed the pink rose that held her power and disappeared.

Tymora sat up and shook her head sadly at Lathander. Jas knelt beside the goddess and handed her the ancient coin from Myth Drannor. Tymora slid the coin down her shirt and sighed.

"You know, I think there's something wrong with the fusion chamber," Emilo said. "I'm not sure, mind you, but I don't think it's supposed to look like that."

The others looked back at the portal to the fusion chamber. It had begun to glow with a brilliant white light.

"It's not properly calibrated to join the stone," Xvim screamed. "It's going to explode! Run!"

"Grab Emilo!" Finder ordered Jas as he scooped up Joel.

Tymora disappeared. Jas flew from the tent, with Finder close behind her.

Last of all, Lathander snatched up Holly and fled.

The blast from the fusion chamber expanded outward like a blossoming flower of solid light. The shock wave caught the fleeing Morninglord and his disobedient paladin and tossed them about like corks on a raging sea, propelling them across the god's realm. Then a blast of sound shook their bodies. As Joel looked back, Lathander and Holly appeared to Joel as two black specks. Then the specks were gone.

Slowly, but inexorably, the brilliant light faded. When the dust finally settled, a crater the size of a small town had appeared where there once had been a meadow.