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Authors: Elliott Kay
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let the wind blow her further away from the tower. She came to land well outside the walls, finding herself on the roof of a two-story building nearby.
She had a good view of the window to Yaol’s laboratory, high above her at a point halfway up the tower. Taking another deep breath, Amanda pulled the haversack down from her shoulder, drew from it a wand different from the one she’d used in her fight, and pointed it toward the window. She steadied her aim and recited the words to the spell over and over again. Unlike her fall, she had more than one shot at this, but it was a long shot just the same.
Amanda barked the key word of invocation. A streak of lightning burst from the wand up to the tower, striking against the stone near the window. She cast again, coming closer. A third attempt struck a bit high.
She heard shouts from the street below. Her activity naturally caught the attention of the many people out late that night. Amanda put it out of her head. Wizardry required nothing if not concentration. Once more, she fired.
Her blast struck home, smashing into the rack of alchemical solutions and concoctions she had arrayed near the window. Most were dangerous enough in and of themselves. Many of them were never meant to be mixed, let alone set off together.
The explosion pulverized great stone blocks from above and below the window and blasted loose still many more. Even from her spot many stories down, Amanda felt the shockwave as it passed with a thunderous boom that was heard for miles. She was forced to look away for a moment, closing her eyes, but when she looked back she saw that the damage was even more dramatic than she expected. Shouts and cries of terror erupted all around. Amanda saw the guards at the wall wisely fling open the gate to save themselves. Everyone from Bel-Danab and Randast’s concubines to the lowliest slaves ran for their lives.
Amanda felt a sharp pang of relief at that. It was no less than she expected, but just the same she had worried. Looking back up as more and more debris fell from the tower, Amanda felt herself taking instinctive steps backward along her rooftop. The hole she had made was huge. Further explosions ripped through the tower as more of Yaol’s raw materials reacted. In a room near Yaol’s laboratory were his acid vats, now surely overturned and spilling everywhere.
Loud, frightening cracking sounds split the air. An awful grinding followed. The tower buckled around the gaping hole at its center. Amanda’s heart raced as the top of the structure began to collapse under its own weight. The impact of so much mass falling from above was too much for the floors and walls below. Like so many others in the city that night, Amanda watched in awe as the Tower of Bel-Danab came crashing down within the high walls that marked the sorcerer’s territory.
The cloud of dust created such destruction was predictably immense. Amanda turned away, pulling up the hood of her cloak as she fled. She needed to take advantage of the chaos and all the eyes focused on the massive distraction.
Amanda hopped down from her perch onto the roof of the next building over, fled across it and climbed up to the next. Eventually she found a place to climb down and shadows in which to hide. While others ran to see what was going on, Amanda moved further away, putting as much distance as she could between herself and the disaster she caused. She slipped into dark, empty streets, hiding under the hood of her cloak.
She found the temple shortly before dawn. Torches mounted to either side illuminated the steps from the street to the tall pillars marking the temple entrance. With her head still enshrouded by the hood of her cloak, Amanda walked up the steps to the small shrine within the pillars and knelt. The shrine itself was a simple white lion statue under a white marble arch. Upon the lion sat a dusky-hued woman wearing little more than jewelry and beads who watched serenely until Amanda bowed
She had a good view of the window to Yaol’s laboratory, high above her at a point halfway up the tower. Taking another deep breath, Amanda pulled the haversack down from her shoulder, drew from it a wand different from the one she’d used in her fight, and pointed it toward the window. She steadied her aim and recited the words to the spell over and over again. Unlike her fall, she had more than one shot at this, but it was a long shot just the same.
Amanda barked the key word of invocation. A streak of lightning burst from the wand up to the tower, striking against the stone near the window. She cast again, coming closer. A third attempt struck a bit high.
She heard shouts from the street below. Her activity naturally caught the attention of the many people out late that night. Amanda put it out of her head. Wizardry required nothing if not concentration. Once more, she fired.
Her blast struck home, smashing into the rack of alchemical solutions and concoctions she had arrayed near the window. Most were dangerous enough in and of themselves. Many of them were never meant to be mixed, let alone set off together.
The explosion pulverized great stone blocks from above and below the window and blasted loose still many more. Even from her spot many stories down, Amanda felt the shockwave as it passed with a thunderous boom that was heard for miles. She was forced to look away for a moment, closing her eyes, but when she looked back she saw that the damage was even more dramatic than she expected. Shouts and cries of terror erupted all around. Amanda saw the guards at the wall wisely fling open the gate to save themselves. Everyone from Bel-Danab and Randast’s concubines to the lowliest slaves ran for their lives.
Amanda felt a sharp pang of relief at that. It was no less than she expected, but just the same she had worried. Looking back up as more and more debris fell from the tower, Amanda felt herself taking instinctive steps backward along her rooftop. The hole she had made was huge. Further explosions ripped through the tower as more of Yaol’s raw materials reacted. In a room near Yaol’s laboratory were his acid vats, now surely overturned and spilling everywhere.
Loud, frightening cracking sounds split the air. An awful grinding followed. The tower buckled around the gaping hole at its center. Amanda’s heart raced as the top of the structure began to collapse under its own weight. The impact of so much mass falling from above was too much for the floors and walls below. Like so many others in the city that night, Amanda watched in awe as the Tower of Bel-Danab came crashing down within the high walls that marked the sorcerer’s territory.
The cloud of dust created such destruction was predictably immense. Amanda turned away, pulling up the hood of her cloak as she fled. She needed to take advantage of the chaos and all the eyes focused on the massive distraction.
Amanda hopped down from her perch onto the roof of the next building over, fled across it and climbed up to the next. Eventually she found a place to climb down and shadows in which to hide. While others ran to see what was going on, Amanda moved further away, putting as much distance as she could between herself and the disaster she caused. She slipped into dark, empty streets, hiding under the hood of her cloak.
She found the temple shortly before dawn. Torches mounted to either side illuminated the steps from the street to the tall pillars marking the temple entrance. With her head still enshrouded by the hood of her cloak, Amanda walked up the steps to the small shrine within the pillars and knelt. The shrine itself was a simple white lion statue under a white marble arch. Upon the lion sat a dusky-hued woman wearing little more than jewelry and beads who watched serenely until Amanda bowed
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