Spellsinger 03 – The Day of the Dissonance by Foster, Alan Dean

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.

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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