Maskull did not till long after Blodsombre. Leehallfae was
standing by his side, looking at him. It was ae
had slept at all.
“What time is it?” Maskull asked, his and up.
“The day is passing,” was the reply.
Maskull got on to his feet, and up at the cliff. “Now I’m going to
climb that. No need for of us to our necks, so you wait here,
and if I anything on top I’ll call you.”
A phaen at him strangely. “There’s nothing up there a
bare hillside. I’ve been there often. Have you anything special in
mind?”
“Heights often me inspiration. Sit down, and wait.”
Refreshed by his sleep, Maskull the of the
cliff, and took the twenty at a single rush. Then it grew
precipitous, and the and
intelligence. There were hand- or footholds: he had to reflect
before every step. On the other hand, it was rock, and he was no
novice at the sport. Branchspell full on the wall, so that it
half him with its whiteness.
After many and he near the top. He was hot, sweating
copiously, and dizzy. To a he of two
projecting rocks, one with each hand, at the same time scrambling
upward, his the rocks. The left-hand rock, which was the
larger of the two, by his weight, and, like a
huge, dark past his head, with a to
the of the precipice, by an of smaller stones.
Maskull himself as well as he could, but it was some moments
before he to look him.
At he not Leehallfae. Then he of
legs and a up the from the bottom. He
perceived that the phaen had in a and was scrutinising
something, and waited for to reappear.
Ae emerged, looked up to Maskull, and called out in voice,
“The entrance is here!”
“I’m down!” Maskull. “Wait for me!”
He swiftly—without taking too much care, for he he
recognised his “luck” in this discovery—and twenty minutes was
standing the phaen.
“What happened?”
“The you this other just above the spring. It
tore it out of its bed. See—now there’s room for us to in!”
“Don’t excited!” said Maskull. “It’s a accident, but we
have of time. Let me look.”
He into the hole, which was large to admit a big man
without stooping. Contrasted with the it was dark, yet
a the place, and he see well enough. A rock
tunnel into the of the hill, out of sight.
The did not along the of this tunnel, as he had
expected, but came up as a just the entrance.
“Well Leehallfae, not much need to deliberate, eh? Still, that
your parts company with us here.”
As he around for an answer he noticed that his was
trembling from to foot.
“Why, what’s the matter?”
Leehallfae pressed a hand to heart. “The us, but what
makes the what it is with us. Faceny is there.”
“But surely you don’t to see him in person? Why are you shaking?”
“Perhaps it will be too much for me after all.”
“Why? How is it you?”
The phaen took him by the and him at arm’s length,
endeavouring to study him with eyes. “Faceny’s are
obscure. I am his lover, you are a lover of women, yet he to you
what he to me.”
“What he to me?”
“To see him, and go on living. I shall die. But it’s immaterial.
Tomorrow of us will be dead.”
Maskull himself free. “Your may be reliable
in your own case, but how do you know I shall die?”
“Life is up you,” Leehallfae, head.
“But after it has its climax—perhaps tonight—it will sink
rapidly and you’ll die tomorrow. As for me, if I enter Threal I shan’t
come out again. A of death is being to me out of this
hole.”
“You talk like a man. I nothing.”
“I am not frightened,” said Leehallfae quietly—ae had been gradually
recovering tranquillity—“but when one has as long as I have,
it is a to die. Every year one puts out new roots.”
“Decide what you’re going to do,” said Maskull with a touch of contempt,
“for I’m going in at once.”
The phaen gave an odd, the ravine, and after that
walked into the without another word. Maskull, his
head, close at heels.
The moment they across the spring, the atmosphere
altered. Without or unpleasant, it cold, clear and
refined, and somehow and thoughts. The
daylight at the in the tunnel. After that,
Maskull not say where the light came from. The air itself must
have been luminous, for though it was as light as full moon on Earth,
neither he Leehallfae a shadow. Another of the
light was that the of the and their own bodies
appeared colourless. Everything was black and white, like a lunar
landscape. This the solemn, by the
atmosphere.
After they had for about ten minutes, the to
widen out. The was high above their heads, and six men have
walked by side. Leehallfae was visibly weakening. Ae dragged
aerself along slowly and painfully, with head.
Maskull of aer. “You can’t go on like that. Better let me
take you back.”
The phaen smiled, and staggered. “I’m dying.”
“Don’t talk like that. It’s only a indisposition. Let me take
you to the daylight.”
“No, help me forward. I wish to see Faceny.”
“The must have their way,” said Maskull. Lifting in his
arms, he walked along for another hundred yards or so. They then
emerged from the and a world the of which he had
never set upon before.
“Set me down!” Leehallfae feebly. “Here I’ll die.”
Maskull obeyed, and at full length on the ground.
The phaen with on one arm, and with
fast-glazing at the landscape.
Maskull looked too, and what he saw was a vast, plain,
lighted as if by the moon—but there was of no moon, and there
were no shadows. He out in the distance. Beside
them were trees of a kind; they were in the ground, but
the also were roots, and there were no leaves. No other
plants be seen. The was soft, porous rock, pumice.
Beyond a mile or two in any direction the light into obscurity.
At their a great on either hand; but it was not
square like a wall, but full of and promontories like an indented
line of sea cliffs. The of this was out of sight.
Here and there a of rock, weathered,
towered into the gloom, to support the roof.
There were no colours—every detail of the was black, white, or
grey. The appeared so still, so and religious, that all his
feelings to tranquillity.
Leehallfae suddenly. Maskull on his knees, and
helplessly the last of spirit, going out like a
candle in air. Death came.... He closed the eyes. The of
Crystalman upon the phaen’s features.
While Maskull was still kneeling, he of someone
standing him. He looked up and saw a man, but did not at
once rise.
“Another phaen dead,” said the in a grave, toneless, and
intellectual voice.
Maskull got up.
The man was and but emaciated. His was not
disfigured by any organs. He was middle-aged. The were
energetic and coarse—yet it to Maskull as though a pure,
hard life had done something toward them. His eyes
carried a twisted, puzzled look; some problem was
apparently in the of his brain. His was hairless; the
hair of his was and manly; his was wide. He was clothed
in a black, robe, and a long staff in his hand. There
was an air of and about the whole man that was
attractive.
He on speaking to Maskull, and, while doing so,
kept his hand over his and chin. “They all
find their way here to die. They come from Matterplay. There they live
to an age. Partly on that account, and of
their origin, they themselves as the favoured
children of Faceny. But when they come here to him, they die at
once.”
“I think this one is the last of the race. But do I speak to?”
“I am Corpang. Who are you, where do you come from, and what are you
doing here?”
“My name is Maskull. My home is on the other of the universe. As
for what I am doing here—I Leehallfae, that phaen, from
Matterplay.”
“But a man doesn’t a phaen out of friendship. What do you want
in Threal?”
“Then this is Threal?”
“Yes.”
Maskull silent.
Corpang his with rough, eyes. “Are you ignorant, or
merely reticent, Maskull?”
“I came here to ask questions, and not to answer them.”
The of the place was almost oppressive. Not a stirred,
and not a came through the air. Their voices had been lowered, as
though they were in a cathedral.
“Then do you want my society, or not?” asked Corpang.
“Yes, if you can fit in with my mood, which is—not to talk about
myself.”
“But you must at least tell me where you want to go to.”
“I want to see what is to be here, and then go on to Lichstorm.”
“I can you through, if that’s all you want. Come, let us start.”
“First let’s do our and the dead, if possible.”
“Turn around,” Corpang.
Maskull looked around quickly. Leehallfae’s had disappeared.
“What this mean—what has happened?”
“The has returned to it came. There was here for it
to be, so it has vanished. No will be required.”
“Was the phaen an illusion, then?”
“In no sense.”
“Well, quickly, then, what has taken place. I to be going
mad.”
“There’s nothing in it, if you’ll only calmly. The
phaen belonged, and soul, to the outside, visible world—to Faceny.
This is not Faceny’s world, but Thire’s, and Faceny’s
creatures cannot breathe its atmosphere. As this not only to
whole bodies, but to the last of bodies, the phaen has
dissolved into Nothingness.”
“But don’t you and I to the world too?”
“We to all three worlds.”
“What three worlds—what do you mean?”
“There are three worlds,” said Corpang composedly. “The is
Faceny’s, the second is Amfuse’s, the third is Thire’s. From him Threal
gets its name.”
“But this is nomenclature. In what are there three worlds?”
Corpang passed his hand over his forehead. “All this we can discuss as
we go along. It’s a to me to be still.”
Maskull again at the spot where Leehallfae’s had lain, quite
bewildered at the disappearance. He tear
himself away from the place, so was it. Not until Corpang
called to him a second time did he make up his mind to him.
They set off from the across the plain,
directing their toward the nearest trees. The light, the
absence of shadows, the shafts, grey-white out of the
jetlike ground, the trees, the of a sky, the deathly
silence, the knowledge that he was underground—the of all
these predisposed Maskull’s mind to mysticism, and he prepared
himself with some to Corpang’s of the land and
its wonders. He already to that the of the outside
world and the of this world were two different things.
“In what are there three worlds?” he demanded, his
former question.
Corpang the end of his staff on the ground. “First of all,
Maskull, what is your for asking? If it’s intellectual
curiosity, tell me, for we mustn’t play with matters.”
“No, it isn’t that,” said Maskull slowly. “I’m not a student. My journey
is no tour.”
“Isn’t there blood on your soul?” asked Corpang, him intently.
The blood rose to Maskull’s face, but in that light it caused
it to appear black.
“Unfortunately there is, and not a little.”
The other’s was all wrinkles, but he no comment.
“And so you see,” on Maskull, with a laugh, “I’m in the very
best condition for your instruction.”
Corpang still paused. “Underneath your I see a man,” he said,
after a minutes. “On that account, and we are to
help one another, I won’t you at present, though I little thought
to be walking with a murderer.... Now to your question.... Whatever a
man sees with his eyes, Maskull, he sees in three ways—length, breadth,
depth. Length is existence, is relation, is feeling.”
“Something of the was told me by Earthrid, the musician, who came
from Threal.”
“I don’t know him. What else did he tell you?”
“He on to apply it to music. Continue, and the
interruption.”
“These three of are the three worlds. Existence is
Faceny’s world, relation is Amfuse’s world, is Thire’s world.”
“Can’t we come to hard facts?” said Maskull, frowning. “I
understand no more than I did what you by three worlds.”
“There are no than the ones I am you. The first
world is visible, Nature. It was by Faceny out of
nothingness, and therefore we call it Existence.”
“That I understand.”
“The second world is Love—by which I don’t lust. Without love,
every would be self-centred and unable deliberately
to act on others. Without love, there would be no sympathy—not even
hatred, anger, or would be possible. These are all and
distorted of pure love. Interpenetrating Faceny’s world of Nature,
therefore, we have Amfuse’s world of Love, or Relation.”
“What have you for that this so-called second world is
not in the first?”
“They are contradictory. A natural man for himself; a lover lives
for others.”
“It may be so. It’s mystical. But go on—who is Thire?”
“Length and together without give flatness. Life and love
without produce shallow, natures. Feeling is the
need of men to out toward their creator.”
“You prayer and worship?”
“I with Thire. This is not to be in either
the or second world, therefore it is a third world. Just as depth
is the line object and subject, is the line between
Thire and man.”
“But what is Thire himself?”
“Thire is the afterworld.”
“I still don’t understand,” said Maskull. “Do you in three
separate gods, or are these three of one God?”
“There are three gods, for they are antagonistic. Yet they are
somehow united.”
Maskull a while. “How have you at these conclusions?”
“None other are possible in Threal, Maskull.”
“Why in Threal—what is there here?”
“I will you presently.”
They walked on for above a mile in silence, while Maskull what
had been said. When they came to the trees, which along the
banks of a small of water, Corpang halted.
“That around your has long been unnecessary,” he
remarked.
Maskull it. He that the line of his was and
uninterrupted, as it had yet been since his in Tormance.
“How has this come about—and how did you know it?”
“They were Faceny’s organs. They have vanished, just as the phaen’s body
vanished.”
Maskull his forehead. “I more without them. But
why isn’t the of my affected?”
“Because its will the of Thire.”
“Why are we stopping here?”
Corpang off the of one of the of a tree, and
proffered it to him. “Eat this, Maskull.”
“For food, or something else?”
“Food for and soul.”
Maskull into the root. It was white and hard; its white was
bleeding. It had no taste, but after it, he a change
of perception. The landscape, without of light or outline,
became more and sacred. When he looked at Corpang
he was by his of Gothic awfulness, but the perplexed
expression was still in his eyes.
“Do you all your time here, Corpang?”
“Occasionally I go above, but not often.”
“What you to this world?”
“The search for Thire.”
“Then it’s still a search?”
“Let us walk on.”
As they their across the dim, plain,
the more in than before.
“Although I was not here,” Corpang, “I’ve here for
twenty-five years, and all that time I have been nearer
to Thire, as I hope. But there is this about it—the first
stages are in fruit and more promising than the later ones. The
longer a man Thire, the more he to himself. In the
beginning he is and known, sometimes as a shape, sometimes as a
voice, sometimes an emotion. Later on all is dry, dark, and
harsh in the soul. Then you would think that Thire was a miles
off.”
“How do you that?”
“When is darkest, he may be nearest, Maskull.”
“But this is you?”
“My days are in torture.”
“You still persist, though? This day can’t be the ultimate
state?”
“My questions will be answered.”
A ensued.
“What do you to me?” asked Maskull.
“The land is about to wilder. I am taking you to the Three Figures,
which were and by an of men. There, we will
pray.”
“And what then?”
“If you are truehearted, you will see you will not easily
forget.”
They had been walking in a of two
parallel, downs. The now deepened, while the hills
on either steeper. They were in an and, as it
curved this way and that, the was off from view. They
came to a little spring, up from the ground. It a
trickling brook, which was all other in that it was
flowing up the of down. Before long it was joined by
other rivulets, so that in the end it a fair-sized
stream. Maskull looking at it, and his forehead.
“Nature has other laws here, it seems?”
“Nothing can here that is not a of the three worlds.”
“Yet the water is somewhere.”
“I can’t it, but there are three in it.”
“Is there no such thing as pure Thire-matter?”
“Thire cannot without Amfuse, and Amfuse cannot without
Faceny.”
Maskull this over for some minutes. “That must be so,” he said
at last. “Without life there can be no love, and without love there can
be no religious feeling.”
In the light of the land, the of the the
valley presently such a that they not be seen. The
sides were and craggy, while the of the narrower
at every step. Not a was visible. All was and
sepulchral.
Maskull said, “I as if I were dead, and walking in another world.”
“I still do not know what you are doing here,” answered Corpang.
“Why should I go on making a of it? I came to Surtur.”
“That name I’ve heard—but under what circumstances?”
“You forget?”
Corpang walked along, his on the ground, troubled.
“Who is Surtur?”
Maskull his head, and said nothing.
The narrowed, so that the two men, touching
fingertips in the middle, have their free hands on the rock
walls on either side. It to in a cul-de-sac, but
just when the road least promising, and they were in by
cliffs on all sides, a them suddenly
into the open. They through a in the line of
precipices.
A of natural was along at right to the
way they had come; ends into after a hundred
yards. Right the centre of this ran a with
perpendicular sides; its from thirty to a hundred feet, but
its not be seen. On of the chasm, one
another, were of rock, twenty or so in width; they too
proceeded in out of sight. Maskull and Corpang emerged
onto one of these platforms. The opposite was a higher
than that on which they stood. The were by a double
line of and cliffs, were invisible.
The stream, which had them through the gap, straight
forward, but, of the of the as a
waterfall, it from to like a liquid bridge. It then
disappeared through a in the on the opposite side.
To Maskull’s mind, however, more than this unnatural
phenomenon was the of shadows, which was more here
than on the open plain. It the place look like a of phantoms.
Corpang, without delay, the way along the to the left. When
they had walked about a mile, the to two hundred feet.
Three large up on the opposite; they three
upright giants, by on the of
the chasm. Corpang and Maskull nearer, and then Maskull saw that
they were statues. Each was about thirty high, and the workmanship
was of the rudest. They men, but the and trunks
had been into shape—the alone had had bestowed
on them, and these were generalised. It was obviously
the work of artists. The with closed
and arms their sides. All three were exactly
alike.
As soon as they were directly opposite, Corpang halted.
“Is this a of your three Beings?” asked Maskull, by
the in of his audacity.
“Ask no questions, but kneel,” Corpang. He onto his own
knees, but Maskull standing.
Corpang his with one hand, and prayed silently. After a few
minutes the light faded. Then Maskull as well, but he
continued looking.
It and darker, until all was like the night. Sight
and no longer existed; he was alone with his own spirit.
Then one of the three Colossi came slowly into again. But it had
ceased to be a statue—it was a person. Out of the of
space a and emerged, by a mystic, rosy
glow, like a by the sun. As the light grew
stronger Maskull saw that the was and that the glow
came from within. The of the were in mist.
Before long the of the out distinctly. It was that
of a of twenty years. It the of a girl
and the of a man; it a mocking, smile. Maskull
felt the fresh, of pain and of one who
awakes from a sleep in and sees the gleaming, dark,
delicate of the half-dawn. The smiled, still, and
looked him. He to shudder, with delight—and many emotions.
As he gazed, his such a and
indefinable that he it no more; he into
tears.
When he looked up again the image had nearly disappeared, and in a few
moments more he was into total darkness.
Shortly a second reappeared. It too was transfigured
into a form, but Maskull was unable to see the of its
face and body, of the of the light that from
them. This light, which started as gold, ended as golden
fire. It the whole landscape. The ledges, the
cliffs, himself and Corpang on their knees, the two unlighted
statues—all appeared as if in sunlight, and the were black and
strongly defined. The light with it, but a heat.
Maskull was of any in temperature, but he his heart
melting to softness. His male and faded
imperceptibly away; his to disappear. What was left
behind was not of or lightheartedness, but a passionate
and nearly of and distress. He a
tormenting to serve. All this came from the of the statue,
and was without an object. He around him, and fastened
his on Corpang. He put a hand on his and him from
his praying.
“You must know what I am feeling, Corpang.”
Corpang sweetly, but said nothing.
“I nothing for my own any more. How can I help you?”
“So much the for you, Maskull, if you respond so to the
invisible worlds.”
As soon as he had spoken, the to vanish, and the light to
die away from the landscape. Maskull’s slowly subsided, but it
was not until he was once more in complete that he became
master of himself again. Then he of his exhibition
of enthusiasm, and that there must be something wanting
in his character. He got up onto his feet.
The very moment that he arose, a man’s voice sounded, not a from
his ear. It was above a whisper, but he distinguish
that it was not Corpang’s. As he he was unable to prevent
himself from physically trembling.
“Maskull, you are to die,” said the speaker.
“Who is speaking?”
“You have only a hours of life left. Don’t the time away.”
Maskull nothing out.
“You have life,” on the low-toned voice. “Do you really
imagine that this world has no meaning, and that life is a joke?”
“What must I do?”
“Repent your murders, no fresh ones, pay to...”
The voice died away. Maskull waited in for it to speak again.
All still, however, and the appeared to have taken his
departure. Supernatural him; he into a of
catalepsy.
At that moment he saw one of the away, from a pale, white
glow to darkness. He had not it shining.
In a more minutes the normal light of the land returned. Corpang got
up, and him out of his trance.
Maskull looked around, but saw no third person. “Whose was the
last?” he demanded.
“Thire’s.”
“Did you me speaking?”
“I your voice, but no one else’s.”
“I’ve just had my death foretold, so I I have not long to live.
Leehallfae the same thing.”
Corpang his head. “What value do you set on life?” he asked.
“Very little. But it’s a thing all the same.”
“Your death is?”
“No, but this warning.”
They stopped talking. A reigned. Neither of the two men
seemed to know what to do next, or where to go. Then of them heard
the of drumming. It was slow, emphatic, and impressive, a long way
off and not loud, but against the of quietness, very marked.
It appeared to come from some point out of sight, to the left of where
they were standing, but on the same shelf. Maskull’s beat
quickly.
“What can that be?” asked Corpang, into the obscurity.
“It is Surtur.”
“Once again, who is Surtur?”
Maskull his arm and pressed him to silence. A radiance
was in the air, in the direction of the drumming. It in
intensity and the whole scene. Things were no longer
seen by Their’s light, but by this new light. It no shadows.
Corpang’s swelled, and he himself more proudly. “What fire
is that?”
“It is Muspel-light.”
They at the three statues. In the strange
glow they had a change. The of each was in
the and Crystalman mask.
Corpang out and put his hand over his eyes. “What can this mean?”
he asked a minute later.
“It must that life is wrong, and the of life too, whether
he is one person or three.”
Corpang looked again, like a man trying to himself to a
shocking sight. “Dare we this?”
“You must,” Maskull. “You have always the highest, and
you must continue to do so. It has out that Thire is not
the highest.”
Corpang’s with a of anger. “Life is
clearly false—I have been Thire for a lifetime, and now I
find—this.”
“You have nothing to with. Crystalman has had eternity
to his in, so it’s no wonder if a man can’t see
straight, with the best intentions. What have you to do?”
“The to be moving away. Will you it, Maskull?”
“Yes.”
“But where will it take us?”
“Perhaps out of Threal altogether.”
“It to me more than reality,” said Corpang. “Tell me, who is
Surtur?”
“Surtur’s world, or Muspel, we are told, is the original of which this
world is a copy. Crystalman is life, but Surtur is other than
life.”
“How do you know this?”
“It has together somehow—from inspiration, from experience, from
conversation with the wise men of your planet. Every hour it truer
for me and takes a more shape.”
Corpang up squarely, the three Figures with a harsh,
energetic countenance, all over with resolution. “I you,
Maskull. No proof is than that. Thire is not the
highest; he is in a the lowest. Nothing but the
thoroughly false and to such deceits.... I am coming
with you—but don’t play the traitor. These may be for you, and not
for me at all, and if you me—”
“I make no promises. I don’t ask you to come with me. If you to
stay in your little world, or if you have any about it, you had
better not come.”
“Don’t talk like that. I shall your service to me... Let us
make haste, or we shall the sound.”
Corpang started off more than Maskull. They walked fast in the
direction of the drumming. For of two miles the path along
the without any of level. The gradually
departed, and was replaced by the normal light of Threal. The rhythmical
beats continued, but a very long way ahead—neither was able to diminish
the distance.
“What of man are you?” Corpang out.
“In what respect?”
“How do you come to be on such terms with the Invisible? How is it that
I’ve had this I met you, in of my never-
ending prayers and mortifications? In what way are you to me?”
“To voices can’t be a profession,” Maskull. “I
have a and mind—that may be why I sometimes hear
things that up to the present you have not been able to.”
Corpang darkened, and silent; and then Maskull saw through to his
pride.
The presently to rise. They were high above the on
the opposite of the gulf. The road then to the
right, and they passed over the and the other as by a
bridge, out upon the top of the opposite cliffs. A new line of
precipices them. They the along
the of these heights, but as they were the mouth of a large
cave the came from its recesses, and they their steps
inward.
“This leads to the world,” Corpang. “I’ve occasionally
been there by this passage.”
“Then that’s where it is taking us, no doubt. I I shan’t be
sorry to see once more.”
“Can you time to think of sunlight?” asked Corpang with a rough
smile.
“I love the sun, and I’m in the of a
zealot.”
“Yet, for all that, you may there me.”
“Don’t be bitter,” said Maskull. “I’ll tell you another thing. Muspel
can’t be willed, for the that Muspel not the
will. To will is a property of this world.”
“Then what is your for?”
“It’s one thing to walk to a destination, and to over the walk,
and another to there at top speed.”
“Perhaps I’m not so easily as you think,” said Corpang with
another smile.
The light in the cave. The path and a steep
ascent. Then the one of forty-five degrees, and they had to
climb. The so that Maskull was of the
confined of his childhood.
Not long afterward, appeared. They to complete the
last stage. Maskull out into the world of and, all
dirty and from scratches, on a
hillside, in the late-afternoon sunshine. Corpang
followed closely at his heels. He was to his with
his hands for a minutes, so was he to Branchspell’s
blinding rays.
“The have stopped!” he suddenly.
“You can’t music all the time,” answered Maskull dryly. “We
mustn’t be luxurious.”
“But now we have no guide. We’re no off than before.”
“Well, Tormance is a big place. But I have an rule, Corpang.
As I come from the south, I always go north.”
“That will take us to Lichstorm.”
Maskull at the all around them. “I saw
these from Matterplay. The look as off now as they
did then, and there’s not much of the day left. How is Lichstorm
from here?”
Corpang looked away to the range. “I don’t know, but unless a
miracle we shan’t there tonight.”
“I have a feeling,” said Maskull, “that we shall not only there
tonight, but that tonight will be the most in my life.”
And he sat to rest.
