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have,” she said. Her voice wavered. Facing Yaol had been frightening, but in the end, he was only a man. They were all only men. This was something else.
    “You have a plan beyond this?”
    “I do,” she said. “I need to ask you something. A couple of things. Will you tell me?”
    “That depends on your questions.”
    “If the tower is destroyed...will that free you from Bel-Danab?”
    The voice answered after a long pause. “The collected treasure and power of Bel-Danab’s unnaturally long life is held in this tower. If it is destroyed, Bel-Danab will not be able to call upon me...until he rebuilds. It will free me for a time, yes. To truly free me, Bel-Danab must die.”
    “Yeah. Well. I’m gonna work on that,” Amanda said. “He left, though. He went away. I don’t think I’ll have another chance to do this, so I’m gonna take what I can get.”
    “You haven’t the power to destroy a building such as this.”
    “I have a plan . Can you tell me who else is inside? Is it all still just guards? Are there slaves still in the tower?”
    Again there was a silent pause. “The slaves and some of the guards have left the tower. They hide among the walls, near the gate. They have heard sounds of your battle and seek refuge. None remain within.”
    She nodded. “Can you tell me how to find Eric?”
    “He remains in the mines. He is safe. Amanda,” the voice said deeply, “Eric has only just begun to find his strength. He is no longer alone. Worry not about him. Let him find you. Look to yourself. If your plan succeeds, I will have no further need of payment. I will, in fact, owe you, yet if you succeed I will have no way to balance the scales. Will you accept my last guidance?”
    She started to shake. Warm winds blew all around her, yet Amanda felt herself shiver. “If I’ve already paid,” she said, “then yes.”
    Wind blew over the tower again, from behind Amanda and across the water. “You are not yet ready to face Bel-Danab, Amanda. Nor is Eric. You both need time. You must hide from our enemy. You must study and grow.”
    “How long?”
    “Bel-Danab’s plans must not be allowed to culminate. When he returns, he will likely rush to finish them. Until that time, you must hide. Without the resources of this tower, his ability to find you will be limited, yet he is still a powerful sorcerer and the chosen servant of a god.”
    Amanda grimaced. She had hoped knocking out the tower would be enough. In hindsight, she realized that was foolish. “How do I hide from him, then?”
    “The only thing that can shield you from the eyes of a god is another god,” the water explained. “Seek refuge in the temple of Deyallah, the harvest goddess.”
    “Won’t there be a price for that?”
    “Nothing is ever free,” the water answered. “Yet you have already found one ally whose price was in your own interests. Even some of the gods of this age can be dealt with thusly.”
    Amanda nodded. She looked out over the city, then over the tower, making sure she had her directions straight. “Thank you,” she said.
    Nothing further came from the bowl. She heard only the whistle of the wind.
    For all the lightning and flame of her battle with Yaol, her next step offered the truest test of her power and confidence. The spell was short and simple, yet precise. The cost of failure was dire. Amanda breathed in deeply. She reminded herself that screwing up anything else along her way here would have cost her life just the same. Tracing a simple pattern in the air, Amanda let out her breath, inhaled again, and stepped over the parapet into the night air.
    Her heart was in her throat for the first moment of her descent, but then her spirits soared. She fell, but only slowly, buoyed along by the wind. To be sure, she cou ldn’t fly, but she fell at the speed of a casual walk.
    Laughing for the first time in weeks, Amanda made an effort at steering herself. She had little control, but she managed to at least turn to