Terrific! Now that I was at the end of my rope, our eternal pessimist thought things were going great.
“Okay,” I said, rubbing my forehead with one finger, “we haven’t got much information to go on, and what we do know is bad. According to Vilhelm, Aahz is being held in the most escape-proof cell they have, which is the top floor of the highest tower in town. If we try to take him from the inside, we’re going to have to fool or fight every guard on the way up and down. To me, that means our best bet is to spring him from the outside.”
My assistants nodded vigorously, their faces as enthusiastic as if I had just said something startlingly original and clever.
“Now, with my powers at low ebb. I don’t think I can levitate that far and spring the cell. Massha, do you have anything in your jewelry collection that would work for rope and climbing hooks?”
“N-no,” she said hesitantly, which surprised me. She usually had a complete inventory of her nasty pretties on the tip of her tongue.
“I saw a coil of rope hangin’ just inside the door,” Guido supplied.
“I noticed it, too,” I acknowledged, “but it isn’t nearly long enough. We’ll just have to use up my power getting up to the cell and figure some other way of opening the window.”
“Ummm . . . you don’t have to do that. High Roller,” Massha said with a sigh. “I’ve got something we can use.”
“What’s that?”
“The belt I’m wearing with all my gear hung on it. It’s a levitation belt. The controls aren’t horribly reliable, but it should do to get us to the top of the tower.”