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Each donier chose a sound, a tone with a pitch and timbre each one was comfortable with on a sustained level When they wanted to in to ht not be harot out of breath, another voice would join in, and then another, and another at randoue of tones that could go on indefinitely, if there were enough people to provide sufficient rest for those people who had to stop for a while
For Ayla, it was a co sound that was there, but that tended to fade into the background as her mind observed scenes only she could see behind her closed eyelids, visions with the lucid incoherence of vivid drea At first, she kept gaining speed in the black space; she knew it though the void rely alone There were no sensations, no taste, no sh none ever existed or ever would, just her conscious, screa mind
An eternity passed Then, at a great distance, barely discernible, a faint gli, anything at all was better than nothing Her striving pulled her faster, the light expanded into an amorphous, barely perceptible blur, and for a ht have any other effects on the state she was in The indistinct light thickened to a cloudiness and darkened with colors, alien colors with unknown names
She was sinking into the cloud, falling through it, faster and faster, and then she fell out the bottoely faeo, filled with light, repeating, cliht, sharp shapes existed in her faround in this strange place, reaching straight into the distance, with strange ani it
As she drew closer, she saw people, ers at her “Yoooou, yooou, yooou,” they were saying; it was al alone It was a ht he looked faht it was Echozar, but then it see, “Yooou, yooou did it, yooou brought the Knowledge, you did it”
“No!” her e Where’s the Mother?”
“The Mother is gone Only the Son remains,” the people said “You did it” She looked at the h his face was in shadow and she couldn’t see him clearly
“I couldn’t help it I was cursed I had to leave o,” her soundless voice cried out
“The Mother is gone Only the Son remains”
In her thoughts, Ayla frowned What did it mean? Suddenly the world below took on different dimension, but still oe geometric shapes It was an empty, desolate, windblown prairie Two uess were brothers One was tall and blond like Jondalar, the other, older one, she kneas Durc though his face was still shadowed The two brothers approached each other froh so she had to prevent With a shock of terror, she was sure one of her sons would kill the other With arh to strike, they drew closer She strained to reach them
Suddenly Ma her back “It is not what you think It is a sye,” he said “Watch and wait”
A thirdat her with a glare of pure hatred The first two men reached each other, then both turned to face Broud
“Curse him, curse him, curse him with death,” Durc motioned
“But he is your father, Durc,” Ayla thought with silent apprehension “You should not be the one to curse him”
“He is cursed already,” her other son said “You did it, you kept the black stone They are all cursed”