away from the moat and the naked desert to face the center
of the city. Jon-Tom and his companions turned with them.
In the exact center of Redrock a peculiar glassy tower
stood apart from the sandstone buildings. All eyes focused
on the slim spire. There was a feeling of expectation.
He was about to give in to curiosity and ask the guard
what was going to happen when he heard something
nimble. The stone under his feet commenced quivering. It
was a different tremor this time, as though the planet itself
were in motion. The rumbling deepened, became a roar-
ing, then a constant thunder. Something was happening
deep inside the earth.
“What is it, what’s going on?” Roseroar yelled at him.
He did not reply and could not have made himself heard
had he tried.
218
Alan Dean Foster
Sudden, violent wind blew hats from heads and veils
from faces. Jon-Tom’s cape stretched out straight behind
him like an iridescent flag. He staggered, leaned into the
unexpected hurricane as he tried to see the tower.
The sands of the Timeful Desert erupted skyward from
the open mouth of the glass pillar, climbing thousands of
feet toward the moon. Reaching some predetermined height,
the silica geyser started to spread out beneath the clouds.
Jon-Tom instinctively turned to seek shelter, but stopped
when he saw that none of the other pilgrims had moved.
As though sliding down an invisible roof, the sand did
not fall anywhere within the city walls. Instead, it spread
out like a cloud, to fall as yellow rain across the desert. It
continued to fall for hours as the tower blasted it into the