sage, 'ye alone have the power to complete this task. Mystra believed in ye. It's about time ye did the same and justified her trust. Now, force away thy fears and concentrate on saving this city.'
With those words, the old sage turned and left the tower. Midnight stared up at the bell and imagined it ringing. For a moment she could almost see the bell swinging back and forth in the tower, its rich tones filling her ears. She closed her eyes and the image remained. In that instant, Midnight finally understood the reason for the magical silence that gripped the tower before the bell was rung. Only by blocking out all distraction, by concentrating fully on the task of ringing the bell, could a mage hope to make it sound.
For a moment, Midnight did not think. She did not feel. For an instant, she didn't even breathe.
Then, the raven-haired mage pulled the rope, and the Bell of Aylen Attricus sang out again, its song of power so loud that it nearly deafened her. The bell tower glowed with a bright amber light, and a terrifying chill flowed down and engulfed Midnight. Amber waves of energy and black lightning flashed in the tower then leaped from the high windows to the dome that protected the heroes. The walls of the shield quickly spread outward, and the huddled Tantrasans suddenly found themselves safe within its confines.
Midnight ran to the tower's door and watched as the dome continued to expand. She gasped, though, as she saw that the shield was slowing as it moved across the southern hill. She raced back inside and grabbed the rope once more. The mage pulled with all her strength, ignoring the blasts of cold and the maddening sound of the bell tolling. She pulled on the rope again and again, with no regard for herself. All that mattered was the city.
Still, Midnight was only human, and after a time that seemed like an eternity to her, the mage felt her arms grow limp, her hands slide from the rope, and her legs buckle beneath her. She collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. When Midnight opened her eyes again, only a moment had passed, but Elminster, Kelemvor, and Adon were now inside the tower with her.
The green-eyed fighter fell to his knees and threw his arms around Midnight. 'The shield is over the city,' Kelemvor said. 'It's over.'
'I don't think so,' Adon whispered as he turned back to the door.
The cleric saw that the shield was still expanding, although it had not yet reached the citadel and the Temple of Torm. Suddenly there was an explosion that made the sound of the bell tolling seem like a small child clapping his hands. A massive, night-black form rose over the north hill of the city. The shape was amorphous, and a blood-red spiral of energy curled within its center. A second shape rose behind the ebon blob, but it was sky blue with an amber core that looked not unlike a shining sun.
The unprotected part of the city, which contained both the Temple of Torm and the citadel, was covered by a wave of searing flame. The land turned black, and the waters of the Dragon Reach bubbled and changed to vapor under the intense heat. The Zhentish ships exploded as the waves of flame struck them. Bane's troops died instantly.
On the shore to the north of the city, the discarded bodies of the avatars lay upon the rocks, charred and brittle. Bane's obsidian giant was shattered in a dozen places, and its head lay yards from its body. The golden- skinned avatar of the God of Duty had been ripped to shreds, and its proud lion's head lay twisted, its soulless eyes staring up toward the essences of the rival gods that hung over the coast.
In the sky, the pulsating essences of Bane and Torm were dragged upward, caught in the pull of the vortex created by the freed souls of their followers. The vortex swallowed the shimmering, swirling masses that had once been gods, and a blinding white flash filled the air. The crimson spiral, the heart of what had once been Lord Bane, the God of Strife and Tyranny, and the amber soul of Lord Torm, the God of Duty and Loyalty, met in the whirlwind. A high-pitched shriek, the final cries of both gods, filled the air. The vortex swallowed the deities and the screams stopped. Both gods were dead.
At the Tower of Aylen Attricus, Kelemvor and Adon helped Midnight to her feet. Together, they walked from the stone obelisk, Elminster trailing behind them. A group of Tantrasans had gathered around the tower, and the crowd was suddenly silent as the heroes stepped outside.
Midnight smiled when she saw the people gathered around, safe from the destruction that had savaged the northern shoreline, but when she looked closer and saw the awe in their faces, she shuddered. Their expressions were composed of the same look of fear mixed with adoration that the mage had seen on the faces of those who'd given their lives for Torm.
Softly, she asked Adon and Kelemvor to give her a moment alone with the old sage. As soon as her friends had walked away, Midnight turned to Elminster and asked, 'What do you know about my powers?'
'I have suspected many things since the first day ye arrived at my doorstep in Shadowdale. As for the true nature of your talents or what grand schemes ye may use them to pursue, I cannot help ye.' Elminster paused and smiled. 'Mystra has blessed ye, I think. Perhaps the Council of Wizards in Waterdeep may be willing to hear your tale and offer some guidance. I could put in a word for ye, if ye like…'
Midnight sighed and shook her head. 'Why do you feel it necessary to taunt and tantalize and drive us to fits of near-insanity just to get us to follow your suggestions, Elminster?' the raven-haired mage asked. 'If the second Tablet of Fate is in Waterdeep, then we'll go to Waterdeep. Just tell me the truth: Do you know where in Waterdeep the tablet has been hidden?'
The sage shook his head. 'Sadly, I do not.'
'That will make the task difficult,' Midnight noted sadly. 'But probably no more so than finding the first of the pair.' The mage hefted the bag containing the tablet and slung it over her shoulder.
'Aye,' Elminster laughed. 'Difficult, but not impossible.' He turned away from the mage and looked out over the city. 'But we can discuss this later. There are more pressing matters that call for our attention at the moment.'
Elminster pointed to the refugees that had been wounded by the meteor earlier. Kelemvor and Adon were already moving through the ranks of the injured, trying to give whatever aid they could. Midnight smiled as she watched her lover and the scarred cleric.
After a moment, the raven-haired mage looked up at the sky. The vortex was gone, and sunlight streamed through the amber shield that still hung over the city. Midnight gasped slightly when she noticed that the position of the sun was changing. The sky was actually getting dark. By eveningfeast, the eternal light that had graced Tantras since the time of Arrival would only be a memory. They'll be better off without it, Midnight decided and walked with Elminster toward the refugees.
Epilogue
The death of Torm and Bane had forged a crater at the northern end of Tantras, where the citadel and the Temple of Torm once stood. The rocky shore of the Dragon Reach north of the city was now as slick as glass, and a large section of the cliff leading down to the shore had been vaporized in the blast. Strands of amber, red, black, blue, and silver were woven in beautiful designs in the rocks of the glassy shore and blasted cliffs. Fragments of the shattered avatars lay in the surf at the edge of the glass beach.
In the hours after the shield had finally faded and disappeared, Midnight and Elminster journeyed to the ruins caused by the gods' battle. But as they approached the crater, a sudden fatigue overwhelmed the raven-haired mage and she fell to her knees. 'Elminster,' she cried. The world seemed to spin for an instant then Midnight dropped to the ground, unconscious. The white-haired sage was feeling a strange weakness, too. He called out to a young man with short-cropped red hair who was prowling through the wreckage of Torm's temple.
'Ye there!' The sage cried and gestured for the man to come closer. 'Help me carry the woman.'
The young man seemed ill-at-ease, but he did as the sage requested. Elminster and the red-haired man carried Midnight back to the edge of the ruins. They gently put her down upon a patch of bare ground. The young man stood staring at the raven-haired woman. 'Off with ye now!' Elminster snapped. 'Thank ye for thy help, but I'll take care of her from here.'
'What?' the young man asked. 'You're not going to pay me for my help?'
The sage grumbled, flipped a gold piece at the red-haired man then turned back to Midnight. When the young man had moved on, Elminster stroked his beard for a moment and considered the situation. 'Something is amiss here,' he muttered and took out his pipe.
In a few minutes, Midnight awoke to the smell of the old sage's pipeweed. She coughed twice then
