Ma-ah had been too surprised to do anything. Now she looked to see if some kind of incline could possibly account for the rock’s movements. Perhaps her eyes had tricked her; the rock didn’t really fly, but only seemed to … because of some peculiar aspect of the ground. Her eyes widened with triumph—there was a very gentle incline leading to the area where Rampa and Orona stood. Ma-ah relaxed for a moment, then frowned. The incline just wasn’t enough to account for what had happened.

She was used to Sumpter’s strange land, with its peculiar characteristics like the fountains. Sumpter had explained how water could be made to flow up from the ground. But … rocks flying above the ground like unwieldy, clumsy birds? Some deep part of her was outraged and threatened; and angry. How could you do anything, if the rules kept changing?

Again, Ma-ah’s thoughts broke off. For the last few moments the air itself had been developing an unaccustomed feel to it that she’d half-ignored. Now some barrier seemed to break, some hidden but powerful intensity was suddenly released. A dozen rocks lifted at once. Ma-ah’s hand flew to her throat. She felt as if a million vowels and syllables rose into the air, all glittering, all … alive; like … animals of sound, moving beneath the rocks then and moving them, flying with them, supporting them. Instinctively she looked over at Rampa. He stared as unbelievingly as she. But again he followed Orona’s example and never budged.

Well, neither would she, then! The rocks lined up, inches from the ground, then gently moved to the bare spot and fell softly. Now the air seemed saturated with sound, but Ma-ah heard nothing. How could that be? Silent sound? Her fingers tingled once more. Then she noticed that her right hand, in Sumpter’s, felt different from her other hand … lighter, strangely empty yet moving. This frightened her most of all—her hand was involved. She was just about to pull away when two things happened almost at once.

First, whole stacks of rocks moved, this time even quicker than before. Without a wobble they whooshed into the air. But even more amazing to Ma-ah was the placement of the rocks. They fell to the ground in such a way that a pattern was obvious. Before her eyes a tall center pyramid came into being, with a half-circle room on either side. Yet no one moved or spoke. Now the rocks piled one on top of the other. No eyes followed their flight but hers. And Rampa’s. Again, she thought: they still shared that—they were outsiders.