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"Praise her," the others responded ritualistically, also kneeling "Her glory is revealed to us"

"Worship her"

Garion glanced back once as he followed Aunt Pol toward the shattered door Salmissra lay upon her throne with her mottled coils redundantly piled and her hooded head turned toward the olden crown sat atop her head, and her flat, serpent eyes regarded her reflection in the glass There was no expression on her reptile face, so it was i

Chapter Thirty

THE CORRIDORS AND VAULTED HALLS Of the palace were empty as Aunt Pol led the their praises to the Serpent Queen Sword in hand, Barak stalked grie thatman's face was pale, and he frequently averted his eyes froely ed, they found the streets of Sthiss Tor darker than night and filled with hysterical croailing in terror Barak, with a torch he had taken froe sword in the other, led them into the street Even in their panic the Nyissans rowled over his shoulder, waving the torch slightly as if to brush the darkness away "Is it some kind of sorcery?"

"No," she answered "It's not sorcery"

Tiny flecks of gray were falling through the torchlight "Snow?" Barak asked incredulously

"No," she said "Ashes"

"What's burning?"

"A et back to the ship as quickly as we can There's er froht cloak about Garion's shoulders and pointed down a street where a few torches bobbed here and there "Let's go that way"

The ash began to falldown through the sodden air, and there was a dreadful, sulfurous stink to it

By the tiun to pale The ash continued to drift down, seeping into the cracks between the cobblestones and gathering in little windrows along the edges of the buildings Though it was growing lighter, the falling ash, like fog, blotted out everything more than ten feet away

The wharves were total chaos Crowds of Nyissans, shrieking and wailing, were trying to cli ash that sifted with deadly silence down through the damp air Mad with terror, many even leaped into the deadly waters of the river

"We're not going to be able to get through that ara," Barak said "Stay here a e of a low roof He pulled himself up and stood outlined die voice that carried even over the noise of the crowd

"Barak!" Greldik's voice came back "Where are you?"

"At the foot of the pier," Barak shouted "We can't get through the crowd"