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. Which way do we go?"
He heard the chill in her voice, knew what she was
thinking as well as if she'd said it.
"Straight ahead. We will come to a large well and,
beyond that, the Temple of Mishakal."
"If it's still standing. . . ."
"It must be," said Michael firmly. "There we will find
the answers to your questions and to mine."
The remnants of what once had been a broad street
took them to an open, paved courtyard. To the east stood
four tall, free-standing columns that supported nothing; the
building lay in ruins around them. A circular stone wall,
rising four feet above the ground, had once been a well. Nikol
stopped, peered down, and shrugged. She could see
nothing but darkness. Michael ran his hand over the low
wall.
"We used to come out of temple classes and sit on this
wall and talk of our plans - how we would go forth and,
with the help of the gods, change the world for the better."
"Obviously, the gods weren't listening." Nikol gazed
around. "Is that the temple?" She pointed.
Now it was Michael who bit his lips on the words that
would have precipitated yet another quarrel.
"Yes," he said instead. "That is the temple."
"I see IT escaped the destruction unscathed," Nikol
stated, her tone bitter.
Michael walked toward the building that was so
familiar - its beautiful white stone shining pure and cold -
and, at the same time, so alien. Perhaps that was because he
missed the sight of the other buildings, now lying in rubble;
missed the crowds of people strolling about the courtyard,
meeting at the well to exchange the latest news
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