Sand of the Soul: Sembia: Gateway to the Realms, Book 6 (Sembia Gateway to the Realms) by Voronica Whitney-Robinson

Author:Voronica Whitney-Robinson [Whitney-Robinson, Voronica]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780786962822
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2012-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

Steorf debated with himself for a few moments before he decided to follow them. He broke into a trot and nearly caught up to Tazi and her guide.

“Tazi,” he called out.

When she didn’t turn around he reached out to grab her shoulder, but his hand passed through thin air.

Both Tazi and the Gray Caller had disappeared.

CHAPTER 9

THE DARK BAZAAR

Tazi couldn’t believe her eyes. The Gray Caller had simply rounded a brief corner in the tunnel, and it opened up into an eerie, twilight market. She stopped in her tracks.

Tazi thought that the cavern was larger than any she had ever seen. Somewhere in the distance she could hear the steady drip of water. Even in her wonder, she realized that her perceptions were somewhat skewed.

The whole area was distorted by a light mist that covered everything. When she looked down at herself, her semi-nude arms had a faint purple tinge to them. The Gray Caller appeared almost black, with a red cast to its cloak. From where they stood, she could hear the low murmur of many voices, but they were indistinct. There were shadowy forms, but she couldn’t make out any people. Tazi knew there was only a fine line between reality and illusion in this place.

“Is this it?” she asked quietly.

The Gray Caller nodded.

Tazi started to pick her way down through the winding stalagmites to the main chamber. She felt strangely apprehensive descending the natural stone staircase, like a young woman making her debut into society when all eyes are upon her. But there was no fanfare and no gawking admirers or even the crueler sort waiting for a slipup.

Slightly disorientated by the muted quality of the place, she could hear her own footsteps, but they seemed very distant. Small rocks gave way under her feet, and she knew the stones fell, but she didn’t quite hear the clatter they made. Tiny pinpricks of light twinkled sporadically around her.

Moving through here is like walking alone in a field of snow, she thought.

When Tazi reached what she assumed was the floor, she could just begin to separate different shapes in the fog. Stalagmites and stalactites formed natural partitions, and the pockets they shaped littered the huge grotto. Tazi could see small groups of figures, made hazy by the halo of candlelight in each that she passed.

There was more.

As she approached the “stalls,” Tazi heard the voices more clearly, but the languages were all different. Having grown up in a city of commerce, she recognized the tone of the various conversations and knew that bargains were being struck, but as she neared a stall close enough to peek in and snatch a glimpse of the occupants, suddenly the language switched to Common and made perfect sense to her. Her eyes grew wide.

“How can that be?” she asked her escort.

The figure walked just a pace behind her down through the cavern as though it was her shadow—and she wasn’t the only one with a shade in her wake.

Many folk wandered around with their own Gray Callers trailing after.

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