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“I ca the smile on the woman?

??s face, she understood It was her accent The Watcher was talking about how far she had traveled on her Journey with Jondalar, and before that, from her home with the Clan, and perhaps even before that “You could be right,” she said, “but Jondalar may have traveled even farther He Journeyed all the way from his home to the end of the Great Mother River far to the east, and beyond, where he found ain before we started on this Donier Tour”

Jondalar stepped closer at the sound of his narinned when he heard Ayla describe his travels The woh so that she had the wisdoe he used to like women before he met Ayla

“Greetings, respected Watcher of the Most Ancient Sacred Site,” he said, holding out his hands “I am Jondalar of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, Flint-Knapper of the Ninth Cave Mated to Ayla of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, who is acolyte of the First Son of Marthona, former leader of the Ninth Cave; brother of Joharran, leader of the Ninth Cave Born to the Hearth of Dalanar, leader and founder of the Lanzadonii”

He recounted his i for members of the zelandonia to simply state their primary affiliations, but it would seem too casual and not very courteous for him to be so brief in a formal introduction, especially to a Zelandoni

“You are welcome here, Jondalar of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii,” she said, taking his hands and looking into eyes of an incredibly vivid shade of blue, eyes that seemed to see inside her very spirit, and cause her woain her internal balance No wonder she’s not ready to give up her naht She’sa Mother Festival for these visitors fro as Watcher is not up yet If soo to Mother Festivals

Willa to introduce himself to the Watcher, ducked his head to s that Jondalar hardly seeht, and as perceptive as she was, Ayla seeed, he knew that jealousy still lived in the hearts of many

“I am called Willamar, Master Trader of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii,” he said, when his turn came, “mated to Marthona, the for h he was not born to my hearth, he was raised there so I think of him as the son of my heart I feel the same about Ayla and her little one, Jonayla”

She’s not only ht How can she even think of beco a Zelandoni? Much less as an acolyte to the the most powerful Zelandoni on earth? The First must see a lot of potential in her, but inside she must be pulled so many ways

Only these five visitors would be going into the cave at this tiht not see as much The Caves that watched over the Sacred Site didn’t like too o in at one time There were torches and lamps near the fireplace That was part of the Watcher’s job, to gather and prepare them so they would be on hand when needed Everyone took a torch The Watcher handed out extras, put more of them in a pack, and added some stone lamps and sht the way, the Watcher started in

There was enough daylight coe size of the cave, and a first ianized character A chaotic landscape of stone formations filled the space Colu and their stalagh the floor had fallen out from under them, some tipped over, some collapsed, some shattered There was a sense of i was so frozen in ti stalag

The Watcher started hu close to the wall The rest followed in single file, with the First next in line, then Ayla, followed by Jonokol and Willah to see over the heads of the rest and thought of hih he had no idea from what they needed to be protected

Even well into the cave there was still enough light co in from the entrance that it was not entirely dark Instead the cave was suffused with a kind of deep twilight, especially once eyes became accustomed to the shadowed ambience As they moved inside and passed by with their laht illuray stu froe, red, and white Shining lights of crystal caught the eye, reflecting and a off the floor covered by a white film of calcite They saw fantastical sculptures that kindled the iloith translucent mystery It was an utterly beautiful cave

In the vague light they reached a place where the space seemed to open out The sides of the cha white disk, the eo on and on Ayla felt that they had entered another area that was even larger than the entrance chanificent stalactites that rese white hair, the floor was unusually level, like the cale chamber was cluttered with skulls and bones and teeth, and the shallow depressions that had been the beds of hibernating cave bears

The Watcher, who had been hu the volu was louder than Ayla, as standing beside her, would have thought possible for anyone to make, but there was no reverberation The noise ed by the immensity of the empty space inside the stone cliff Next the One Who Was First started singing the Mother’s Song in her deep, rich operatic contralto