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“Only once Zelandoni showed it tofor an artist like Jonokol to look at a cave wall, see the figure that is in it, and bring it to the surface for everyone to see But this was here just as it is The added color only makes it a little easier to see”

“There is one more place I want to show you,” Jonokol said

He went back the way they had coed area where everyone aiting, he hurried past and turned right, back into the main corridor At what appeared to be the end, on the left was a circular enclosure, and on the ere concave depressions, the reverse of rounded-out bumps In some of these, mammoths had been painted in a way that created an unusual illusion At first glance, they didn’t appear to be depressions; instead, they took on the characteristic of a mammoth’s stomach, rounded outward Ayla had to look twice, then reach to touch to convince herself that they actually were concave, not convex, dips and not bumps

“They are remarkable!” Ayla said “They are painted so that they seem to be opposite of what they are!”

“These are new, aren’t they? I don’t recall seeing them before,” Jondalar said “Did you paint them, Jonokol?”

“No, but I’m sure you’ll meet the woman who did,” he said

“Everyone agrees, she is exceptional,” the woman acolyte said “As is Jonokol, of course We are lucky to have two artists who are so talented”

“A few s at Ayla, “a woolly rhinoceros, a cave lion, an engraved horse, but it’s a very narrow passage and hard to reach A series of lines marks the end”

“They are probably ready for us I think we should go back,” the woman said

As they turned around and were heading back, Ayla glanced up on the right wall, opposite the chapel-like enclosure with the e feeling of uneasiness ca She had felt it before The first rime hen she -urs Iza had told her it was too sacred to be wasted, so she wasn’t allowed to practiceit

She had already beco the roots to soften the that night of special ceremony and celebration When she noticed that there was some liquid left in the ancient bowl, she drank it so it wouldn’t be wasted The potent concoction had beco, and the effect on her was devastating In her confused state, she had followed the light of the fires into the honeycombed depths of the cave, and when she’d coo back

Creb was changed after that night, and she was never the same, either That hen the e feelings and enigmatic visions that took her to sos They had been stronger and more prevalent on their Journey

And now, as she stared up at the wall, the solid stone suddenly felt tenuous, as though she could see through it or into it Instead of the firelights barely glinting off the hard surface, the as soft and deep and utterly black And she was there, inside that , nebulous space, and couldn’t find her way out She felt exhausted and weak, and she hurt deep inside Then suddenly Wolf appeared He was running through the tall grass, racing toto find her

“Ayla! Ayla! Are you all right?” Jondalar said

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