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foot carefully off the ground, and another was cut about the knees. "We would have lost those also, had it not been
for Bohan's strength to hold them back when they slipped."
Eliizar cheered up at Anvar's approach, and Nereni, her face bloodied and bruised, gave a squeal of delight and
hugged him. Aurian, examining the injured horses, left it to Nereni to plaster salve on his hurts and find him some dry
clothing, and took no further notice of him at all.
The descent through the deep-piled snow at the foot of the defile was as grueling as the climb to the pass had been,
and it took the companions a long time to plough their way through the congested drifts as they came down into the
valley. The sky began to darken as they struggled on, whether with dusk or another storm, Anvar had no ideas for he
had lost track of time in the blizzard.
In fact, it proved to be both.
The tower was situated at the far end or the Valley, perched atop a craggy, tree-clad hill. By the time they reached the
clump of twisted pines and saw the sturdy shape of the building looming above them, snowflakes were thickening the
air once more. Thinking of the freezing peril of the night, everyone worked to gather broken boughs, which they
loaded on weary horses for the last ascent of the steep, slippery path.
The squat, crumbling silhouette of the ancient tower loomed black against the sky. The door was frozen shut, and
Bohan had to exert all the strength of his mighty muscles before the heavy slab of wood finally shuddered open with a
grating complaint. The interior was pitch-dark, and the companions, not knowing what to expect within, hung back,
reluctant to enter. Yazour tugged at Anvar's sleeve. "Anvar, can you make a light?"
Chilled and exhausted as he was, with his mind still numbed by the shock of his headlong fall, Anvar had to force
himself to focus on the warrior's words. Eventually he nodded, and tried to summon the strength to create a fireball.
Nothing happened. He cursed and tried again, closing his eyes and concentrating so hard that sweat sprung out to
freeze on his brow, but still nothing happened. His tired mind simply refused to obey his will.
"Here "
Anvar opened his eyes to see Aurian holding out the Staff of Earth. After his recent mishap, and her coolness toward
him afterward, he was astonished that she would trust him again with the precious artifact. "Are you sure?" Behind his
question were a thousand others. The Mage simply nodded, and thrust the Staff into his hand. Once again, Anvar felt
its power running through him like molten fire, as unquenchable hope rekindled in his heart. He lifted the Staff, and
heard muffled gasps from the others as its tip burst into sizzling flame, lighting the way into the darkened maw of the
building.
The companions surged into the tower behind Anvar, and into the single, circular chamber that they found within.
Bohan snatched a bundle of wood from the back.of one of the horses and. hurled, it into the gaping fireplace. Anvar
thrust the blazing Staff into the heart of the kindling, and everyone cheered as the wet wood smoldered, sparked, and
burst into flame. Only then did he allow the fire of the Staff to die. It was hard to surrender such glory. When he went,
reluctantly, to return the artifact to Aurian, she grimaced and shook her head.
"Keep it," she muttered, "for now at least. It's no good to me while I'm in this state."
Oh, he was tempted to accept her offer, but . . . "No," Anvar told her. "You found it. You re-created it by rights it
belongs to you. You'll be able to use it again in no time ..." But she had already turned away. Sighing, Anvar carefully
propped the Staff against the wall in a shadowy corner, where it would be out of harm's way.
The bare tower room soon warmed with the roaring blaze and the steaming heat from the bodies of the horses and
companions that were packed inside. While Nereni, who seemed to have drawn a new reserve of energy from the
presence of secure walls and a fireside, raided their provisions to produce one of her heartening stews, and Yazour
doctored the injured horses, Eliizar and Bohan made torches and went to explore. They returned after a short time with
the news that the tower consisted of three stories. Above the rough stone chamber was another circular room with a
flimsy ladder leading up through a trapdoor to the flat roof above. Below the ground-floor chamber, down a narrow
flight of steps, a damp but solid dungeon had been hewn out of the tower's foundations.
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