shelter from the rising sands. How often did this phenom-
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Alan Dean Foster
enon take place? The camel and the pack rat hadn’t said,
but it was obviously a regular and predictable occurrence.
“I have to see what’s going on outside,” he told
Roseroar. She nodded, towering above most of the crowd.
Tents had been set up in expectation of the flood of
refugees. Jon-Tom and his companions were among the
last to enter, but they had interests other than shelter.
“This way,” the tigress told him. She took his hand and
pulled him bodily through the milling, swarming crowd, a
striped iceberg breasting a sea of fur. Somehow Mudge
managed to keep up.
Then they found themselves by the city wall, followed
it until they came to stone stairs leading upward. Jon-Tom
let loose of Roseroar’s paw and led the way.
Would the sand wave fill the moat? If so, what would
happen afterward?
A few others already stood watching atop the wall. They
were calm and relaxed, so Jon-Tom assumed there was no
danger. Everyone in the city was handling the situation too
well for there to be any danger.
One blase guard, a tall serval wearing a high turban to
protect his delicate ears, stood aside to let them pass.
“Mind the vibration, visitors,” he warned them
They reached the top and stared out over the desert.
Beyond the moat, the world was turning upside down.
There was no sign of the far mountains they had left
many days ago. No sign of any landmark. Not a rock
protruded from the ground. There was only the sand sea
rising and rushing toward the city in a single wave two