While Maskull sat, Corpang walked to and fro, his
arms. He had his staff. His was with suppressed
impatience, which its natural coarseness. At last he stopped
short in of Maskull and looked at him. “What do you to
do?”
Maskull up and his hand toward the mountains.
“Since we can’t walk, we must wait.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know... How’s this, though? Those have colour,
from red to green.”
“Yes, the wind is this way.”
“The wind?”
“It’s the of Lichstorm. It always to the mountains,
but when the wind from the north it comes as as Threal.”
“It’s a of fog, then?”
“A sort, for they say it the sexual passions.”
“So we are to have lovemaking,” said Maskull, laughing.
“Perhaps you won’t it so joyous,” Corpang a little grimly.
“But tell me—these peaks, how do they their balance?”
Corpang at the distant, summits, which were fast
fading into obscurity.
“Passion them from falling.”
Maskull laughed again; he was a of spirit.
“What, the love of for rock?”
“It is comical, but true.”
“We’ll take a closer at them presently. Beyond the is
Barey, is it not?”
“Yes.”
“And then the Ocean. But what is the name of that Ocean?”
“That is told only to those who die it.”
“Is the so precious, Corpang?”
Branchspell was the in the west; there were more than
two hours of remaining. The air all around them murky.
It was a thin mist, neither cold. The Lichstorm Range now
appeared only as a on the sky. The air was electric and tingling,
and was in its effect. Maskull a of emotional
inflammation, as though a very would to
overturn his self-control. Corpang with a mouth like iron.
Maskull looking toward a high of in the vicinity.
“That to me a good watchtower. Perhaps we shall see something from
the top.”
Without waiting for his companion’s opinion, he to up the
tor, and in a minutes was on the summit. Corpang joined
him.
From their they saw the whole to the
sea, which appeared as a of far-off, water.
Leaving all that, however, Maskull’s fastened
themselves on a small, boat-shaped object, about two miles away, which
was toward them, only a in the
air.
“What do you make of that?” he asked in a of astonishment.
Corpang his and said nothing.
Within two minutes the object, it was, had diminished
the them by one half. It a more and
more, but its was erratic, than smooth; its nose was
continually and downward, and from to side. Maskull
now out a man in the stern, and what looked like a large
dead animal amidships. As the nearer, he
observed a thick, it, and a behind,
but the front, them, was clear.
“Here must be what we are waiting for, Corpang. But what on earth
carries it?”
He his contemplatively, and then, that they had
not been seen, onto the rock, loudly, and made
wild with his arm. The flying-boat, which was only a hundred
yards distant, its course, now toward them in a
way that left no that the had their presence.
The speed until it was no than a
walking man, but the of its movements continued. It was
shaped queerly. About twenty long, its sides
tapered off from a bow, four broad, to a sharp-angled stern.
The was not above ten from the ground. It was undecked,
and only one occupant; the other object they had
distinguished was the of an animal, of about the size of
a large sheep. The the appeared to
emanate from the point of a in
the stern. When the was a of them, and they were
looking at it in wonder from above, the man this and
covered the with a cap. The motion then
ceased altogether, and the to and thither, but
still it in the air, while the underneath
persisted. Finally the came up against the of
rocks on which they were standing. The jumped and
immediately up to meet them.
Maskull offered him a hand, but he it disdainfully. He was a
young man, of middle height. He a close-fitting garment. His
limbs were ordinary, but his was long,
and he had the biggest and that Maskull had in a
man. His was sharp, pointed, and ugly, with protruding
teeth, and a spiteful, expression. His and sloped
upward. On his was an organ which looked as though it had been
mutilated—it was a of flesh. His was short
and thin. Maskull not name the colour of his skin, but it seemed
to in the same relation to as green to red.
Once up, the for a minute or two, the two
companions through half-closed lids, all the time insolently.
Maskull was all to words, but did not to be the
first to speak. Corpang moodily, a little in the background.
“What men are you?” the at last. His voice was
extremely loud, and a most timbre. It to
Maskull like a large of air trying to its way through a
narrow orifice.
“I am Maskull; my friend is Corpang. He comes from Threal, but where I
come from, don’t ask.”
“I am Haunte, from Sarclash.”
“Where may that be?”
“Half an hour ago I have it to you, but now it has got too
murky. It is a in Lichstorm.”
“Are you returning there now?”
“Yes.”
“And how long will it take to there in that boat?”
“Two—three hours.”
“Will it us too?”
“What, are you for Lichstorm as well? What can you want there?”
“To see the sights,” Maskull with eyes. “But first
of all, to dine. I can’t having all day. You to have
been to some purpose, so we won’t for food.”
Haunte him quizzically. “You don’t impudence.
However, I’m a man of that myself, and it is the I prefer.
Your friend, now, would than ask a of a
stranger. He looks to me just like a up out of a
dark hole.”
Maskull took Corpang’s arm, and him to silence.
“Where have you been hunting, Haunte?”
“Matterplay. I had the luck—I one horse, and there it
lies.”
“What is Lichstorm like?”
“There are men there, and there are there, but there are no men-
women, as with you.”
“What do you call men-women?”
“Persons of mixed sex, like yourself. In Lichstorm the are pure.”
“I have always myself as a man.”
“Very likely you have; but the test is, do you and women?”
“Why, do you?”
Haunte and his teeth. “Things are different in
Lichstorm.... So you want to see the sights?”
“I I am to see your women, for example, after what you
say.”
“Then I’ll you to Sullenbode.”
He paused a moment after making this remark, and then a
great, laugh, so that his shook.
“Let us the joke,” said Maskull.
“Oh, you’ll it later.”
“If you play with me, I won’t on with you.”
Haunte laughed again. “I won’t be the one to play pranks. Sullenbode
will be to me. If I don’t visit her myself as often as
she would like, I’m always to her in other ways.... Well, you
shall have your ride.”
Maskull his nose doubtfully. “If the one another in
your land, is it is weaker, or stronger?”
“In other parts of the world there is soft passion, but in Lichstorm
there is hard passion.”
“But what do you call hard passion?”
“Where men are called to by pain, and not pleasure.”
“I to understand, I’ve finished.”
“Yes,” answered Haunte, with a look, “it would be a to let
the slip, since you’re going to Lichstorm.”
It was now Corpang’s turn to take Maskull by the arm. “This will
end badly.”
“Why so?”
“Your was Muspel a while ago; now it is women.”
“Let me alone,” said Maskull. “Give luck a rein. What this
boat here?”
“What is this talk about Muspel?” Haunte.
Corpang his roughly, and into his eyes.
“What do you know?”
“Not much, but something, perhaps. Ask me at supper. Now it is high time
to start. Navigating the by night isn’t child’s play, let me
tell you.”
“I shall not forget,” said Corpang.
Maskull at the boat. “Are we to in?”
“Gently, my friend. It’s only and skin.”
“First of all, you might me as to how you have to
dispense with the laws of gravitation.”
Haunte sarcastically. “A in your ear, Maskull. All laws
are female. A true male is an outlaw—outside the law.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The great of the earth is out female particles,
and the male parts of and are continually
trying to them. That’s gravitation.”
“Then how do you manage with your boat?”
“My two male do the work. The one the it
from to the ground; the one in the it off from solid
objects in the rear. The only part of the by any part of
the earth is the bow, for that’s the only part the light of the male
stones not on. So in that direction the travels.”
“And what are these male stones?”
“They are male stones. There is nothing female in them; they are
showering out male all the time. These all the
female from the earth. No female are left
over to the male parts of the boat, and so they are not in the
least in that direction.”
Maskull for a minute.
“With your hunting, and boatbuilding, and science, you a very
handy, fellow, Haunte.... But the sun’s sinking, and we’d better
start.”
“Get first, then, and shift that forward. Then you
and your friend can amidships.”
Maskull down, and himself into the boat; but
then he a surprise. The moment he on the bottom,
still to the rock, not only did his weight disappear,
as though he were in some medium, like salt water, but
the he onto him, as by a mild of electricity, and
he was able to his hands only with difficulty.
After the moment’s shock, he the new order of
things, and set about shifting the carcass. Since there was no weight in
the this was without any great labour. Corpang then
descended. The physical had no power to his
settled composure, which was on ideas. Haunte came last;
grasping the staff which the upper male stone, he to
erect it, after the cap. Maskull then his near
view of the light, which, by the of
Nature, not only as but as force. In
the last of the great sun, its were obscured, and it
looked little more than an brilliant, scintillating
blue-white jewel, but its power be by the visible, coloured
mist that it out for many yards around.
The was by means of a by a to
the top of the staff, which be so that any of
the male stone’s rays, or all the rays, or none at all, be shut
off at will. No sooner was the staff than the vessel
quietly itself from the to which it had been drawn, and
passed slowly in the direction of the mountains. Branchspell
sank the horizon. The out everything
outside a of a miles. The air and fresh.
Soon the on the great, plain. Haunte withdrew
the entirely, and the full speed.
“You say that among the is difficult at night,”
exclaimed Maskull. “I would have it impossible.”
Haunte grunted. “You will have to take risks, and think yourself
fortunate if you come off with nothing than a skull. But
one thing I can tell you—if you go on me with your chitchat
we shan’t as as the mountains.”
Thereafter Maskull was silent.
The deepened; the denser. There was little to look
at, but much to feel. The motion of the boat, which was to the
never-ending the male and the of
gravitation, in an fashion the of
a small on a sea. The two unhappy.
Haunte, from his seat in the stern, at them with one
eye. The now came on rapidly.
About ninety minutes after the of the they arrived
at the of Lichstorm. They to mount. There was no
daylight left to see by. Beneath them, however, on of them
and in the rear, the was up for a considerable
distance by the now of the male stones. Ahead,
where these did not shine, Haunte was by the self-luminous
nature of the rocks, grass, and trees. These were faintly
phosphorescent; the out more than the soil.
The moon was not and there were no stars; Maskull therefore
inferred that the upper was with mist. Once or twice,
from his of choking, he that they were entering a
fogbank, but it was a of fog, for it had the of
doubling the of every light in of them. Whenever this
happened, him; he transitory,
unreasoning and horror.
Now they passed high above the that the from
the themselves. The an of many thousands of
feet and, as the were near, Haunte had to carefully
with the light in order to keep clear of them. Maskull the
delicacy of his movements, not without admiration. A long time by.
It much colder; the air was and drafty. The to
deposit something like on their persons. Maskull with
terror, not of the they were in, but of the cloud
banks that to them.
They the line of precipices. Still mounting, but this time
with a motion, as be by the by
the male through which they passed, they were soon out
of of solid ground. Suddenly and the moon broke
through. In the upper thick of were crawling
hither and thither, in many places by thin of sky, through
one of which Teargeld was shining. Below them, to their left, a gigantic
peak, with green ice, itself for a seconds, and
was then up again. All the of the world was by the
mist. The moon in again. Maskull had to make him
long for the to end.
The light from the male presently the of a new
cliff. It was grand, rugged, and perpendicular. Upward, downward, and on
both sides, it into the night. After it a
little way, they a of out. It was square,
measuring about a dozen each way. Green it to a depth
of some inches. Immediately it was a dark in the rock, which
promised to be the mouth of a cave.
Haunte the on this platform. Standing up, he
raised the staff the light and the other; then
removed male stones, which he to in his hand. His
face was into by the vivid, blue-white
rays. It looked surly.
“Do we out?” Maskull.
“Yes. I live here.”
“Thanks for the successful end of a journey.”
“Yes, it has been touch-and-go.”
Corpang jumped onto the platform. He was coarsely. “There has
been no danger, for our elsewhere. You are a
ferryman, Haunte.”
“Is that so?” returned Haunte, with a most laugh. “I thought
I was men, not gods.”
“Where are we?” asked Maskull. As he spoke, he got out, but Haunte
remained a minute in the boat.
“This is Sarclash—the second in the land.”
“Which is the highest, then?”
“Adage. Between Sarclash and Adage there is a long ridge—very difficult
in places. About along the ridge, at the point, the
top of the Mornstab Pass, which goes through to Barey. Now you know the
lay of the land.”
“Does the woman Sullenbode live near here?”
“Near enough.” Haunte grinned.
He out of the and, pushing past the others without ceremony,
walked into the cave.
Maskull followed, with Corpang at his heels. A steps to a
doorway, by the skin of some large beast. Their pushed
his way in, to the skin for them. Maskull made
no comment, but it with his and it away from its
fastenings to the ground. Haunte looked at the skin, and then stared
hard at Maskull with his smile, but neither said anything.
The place in which they themselves was a large cavern, with
walls, floor, and of natural rock. There were two doorways: that
by which they had entered, and another of smaller size directly
opposite. The was cold and cheerless; a passed from door
to door. Many skins of wild animals on the ground. A
number of of sun-dried were on a along the
wall, and a skins in a corner. There were
tusks, horns, and everywhere. Resting against the were two
short spears, having heads.
Haunte set the two male on the ground, near the farther
door; light the whole cave. He then walked over to the
meat and, a large piece, to it ravenously.
“Are we to the feast?” asked Maskull.
Haunte pointed to the and to the skins, but did not
pause in his chewing.
“Where’s a cup?” Maskull, one of the skins.
Haunte a on the floor. Maskull it up,
undid the of the skin, and, it under his arm, the
cup. Tasting the liquor, he it to be spirit. He tossed
off the draught, and then much better.
The second he to Corpang. The took a single sip,
swallowed it, and then passed the cup without a word. He to
drink again, as long as they were in the cave. Maskull the cup,
and to off care.
Going to the meat line, he took a large handful, and sat
down on a of skins to eat at his ease. The was and
coarse, but he had anything sweeter. He not
understand the flavour, which was not in a world of strange
animals. The in silence. Corpang ate sparingly, standing
up, and on a of furs. His watched
all the movements of the other two. Haunte had not as yet.
At last Maskull his meal. He another cup, sighed
pleasantly, and prepared to talk.
“Now about your women, Haunte.”
Haunte another skin of and a second cup. He off the
string with his teeth, and out and cup after cup in quick
succession. Then he sat down, his legs, and to Maskull.
“Well?”
“So they are objectionable?”
“They are deadly.”
“Deadly? In what way can they possibly be deadly?”
“You will learn. I was you in the boat, Maskull. You had some
bad feelings, eh?”
“I don’t it. There were times when I as if I were
struggling with a nightmare. What it?”
“The female of Lichstorm. Sexual passion.”
“I had no passion.”
“That was passion—the stage. Nature your people into
marriage, but it us. Wait till you outside. You’ll have a
return of those sensations—only ten times worse. The drink you’ve had
will see to that.... How do you it will all end?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be you questions.”
Haunte laughed loudly. “Sullenbode.”
“You it will end in my Sullenbode?”
“But what will come of it, Maskull? What will she give you? Sweet,
fainting, white-armed, voluptuousness?”
Maskull another cup. “And why should she give all that to a
passerby?”
“Well, as a of fact, she hasn’t it to give. No, what she will
give you, and what you’ll accept from her, you can’t help it,
is—anguish, insanity, possibly death.”
“You may be talking sense, but it like to me. Why should I
accept and death?”
“Because your will you to.”
“What about yourself?” Maskull asked, his nails.
“Oh, I have my male stones. I am immune.”
“Is that all that you from being like other men?”
“Yes, but don’t attempt any tricks, Maskull.”
Maskull on steadily, and said nothing for a time. “So men
and here are to each other, and love is unknown?” he
proceeded at last.
“That magic word.... Shall I tell you what love is, Maskull? Love
between male and female is impossible. When Maskull loves a woman, it is
Maskull’s female who are her. But here in this land the
men are pure males. They have nothing from the female side.”
“Where do the male come from?”
“Oh, they are not freaks. There must be whole of the stuff
somewhere. It is all that the world from being a pure female
world. It would be one big of sweetness, without individual
shapes.”
“Yet this same is to men?”
“The life of an male is fierce. An of life is dangerous
to the body. How can it be anything else than torturing?”
Corpang now sat up suddenly, and Haunte. “I you of your
promise to tell about Muspel.”
Haunte him with a smile. “Ha! The man
has come to life.”
“Yes, tell us,” put in Maskull carelessly.
Haunte drank, and laughed a little. “Well, the tale’s short, and hardly
worth telling, but since you’re interested.... A came here five
years ago, after Muspel-light. His name was Lodd. He came from
the east. He came up to me one in summer, this
very cave. If you ask me to him—I can’t a second man
like him. He looked so proud, noble, superior, that I my own blood
to be dirty by comparison. You can I don’t have this for
everyone. Now that I am him, he was not so much as
different. I was so that I rose and talked to him standing. He
inquired the direction of the Adage. He on to say, ‘They
say Muspel-light is sometimes there. What do you know of such a
thing?’ I told him the truth—that I nothing about it, and then he
went on, ‘Well, I am going to Adage. And tell those who come after me on
the same that they had do the same thing.’ That was the
whole conversation. He started on his way, and I’ve him or
heard of him since.”
“So you didn’t have the to him?”
“No, the moment he had his all my in the
man somehow to vanish.”
“Probably he was to you.”
Corpang at Maskull. “Our road is marked out for us.”
“So it would appear,” said Maskull indifferently.
The talk for a time. Maskull the oppressive, and
grew restless.
“What do you call the colour of your skin, Haunte, as I saw it in
daylight? It me as strange.”
“Dolm,” said Haunte.
“A of and blue,” Corpang.
“Now I know. These are for a stranger.”
“What have you in your world?” asked Corpang.
“Only three ones, but here you to have five, though how it
comes about I can’t imagine.”
“There are two sets of three here,” said Corpang, “but
as one of the colours—blue—is in sets, there
are five colours.”
“Why two sets?”
“Produced by the two suns. Branchspell produces blue, yellow, and red;
Alppain, ulfire, blue, and jale.”
“It’s that has to me before.”
“So here you have another of the necessary of
nature. Blue is existence. It is through light; a
contrasting of and nothingness. Yellow is relation. In yellow
light we see the relation of objects in the way. Red is
feeling. When we see red, we are on our personal
feelings.... As the Alppain colours, in the middle
and is therefore not existence, but relation. Ulfire is existence; so it
must be a different of existence.”
Haunte yawned. “There are in your underground
hole.”
Maskull got up and looked about him.
“Where that other door lead to?”
“Better explore,” said Haunte.
Maskull took him at his word, and across the cave, the
curtain and into the night. Haunte rose and
hurried after him.
Corpang too got to his feet. He over to the skins,
untied the necks, and allowed the to out on to the floor.
Next he took the spears, and off the points his
hands. Before he had time to his seat, Haunte and Maskull
reappeared. The host’s quick, at once took in what had
happened. He smiled, and pale.
“You haven’t been idle, friend.”
Corpang Haunte with his bold, gaze. “I it well to
draw your teeth.”
Maskull out laughing. “The toad’s come into the light to some
purpose, Haunte. Who would have it?”
Haunte, after hard at Corpang for two or three minutes, suddenly
uttered a cry, like an spirit, and himself upon him.
The two men to like wildcats. They were as often on the
floor as on their legs, and Maskull not see who was the
better of it. He no attempt to them. A came into
his and, up the two male stones, he ran with them,
laughing, through the upper doorway, into the open night air.
The door an on another of the mountain. A narrow
ledge, with green snow, along the to the right; it
was the only available path. He the over the of the
chasm. Although hard and in his hand, they more like feathers
than stones, and left a long of behind. While Maskull was
still them disappear, Haunte came out of the cavern,
followed by Corpang. He Maskull’s arm excitedly.
“What in Krag’s name have you done?”
“Overboard they have gone,” Maskull, his laughter.
“You madman!”
Haunte’s colour came and went, just as though his internal
light were breathing. Then he calm, by a exertion
of his will.
“You know this kills me?”
“Haven’t you been doing your best this last hour to make me for
Sullenbode? Well then, up, and join the party!”
“You say it as a joke, but it is the truth.”
Haunte’s had vanished. He looked a sick
man—yet somehow his had nobler.
“I would be very sorry for you, Haunte, if it did not my being
also very sorry for myself. We are now all three together on the same
errand—which doesn’t appear to have you yet.”
“But why this at all?” asked Corpang quietly. “Can’t you men
exercise self-control till you have out of danger?”
Haunte him with wild eyes. “No. The come in on
me already.”
He sat moodily, but the next minute was up again.
“And I cannot wait.... the game is started.”
Soon afterward, by consent, they to walk the ledge, Haunte
in front. It was narrow, ascending, and slippery, so that extreme
caution was demanded. The way was by the self-luminous and
rocks.
When they had about a mile, Maskull, who second of the
party, staggered, the cliff, and sat down.
“The drink works. My old are returning, but worse.”
Haunte back. “Then you are a man.”
Maskull, though of his and situation,
imagined that he was being by a black, shapeless, supernatural
being, who was trying to him. He was with horror, trembled
violently, yet not move a limb. Sweat off his in
great drops. The a long time, but that
space it and going. At one moment the on the
point of departing; the next it almost took shape—which he would be
his death. Suddenly it altogether—he was free. A fresh spring
breeze his face; he the slow, of a sweet
bird; and it to him as if a had together in his soul.
Such flashing, he had in all
his life! Almost that too vanished.
Sitting up, he passed his hand across his and quietly, like
one who has been visited by an angel.
“Your colour to white,” said Corpang. “What happened?”
“I passed through to love,” Maskull simply.
He up. Haunte at him sombrely. “Will you not that
passage?”
Maskull answered slowly and thoughtfully. “When I was in Matterplay, I
saw clouds themselves and to coloured, living
animals. In the same way, my black, just now to
consolidate themselves and together as a new of joy. The joy
would not have been possible without the nightmare. It is
not accidental; Nature it so. The truth has just through
my brain.... You men of Lichstorm don’t go enough. You stop at the
pangs, without that they are birth pangs.”
“If this is true, you are a great pioneer,” Haunte.
“How this differ from common love?” Corpang.
“This was all that love is, by wildness.”
Corpang his awhile. “The Lichstorm men, however, will
never this stage, for they are too masculine.”
Haunte pale. “Why should we alone suffer?”
“Nature is and cruel, and doesn’t act according to justice....
Follow us, Haunte, and from it all.”
“I’ll see,” Haunte. “Perhaps I will.”
“Have we to go, to Sullenbode?” Maskull.
“No, her home’s under the cap of Sarclash.”
“What is to tonight?” Maskull spoke to himself, but Haunte
answered him.
“Don’t anything pleasant, in of what has just occurred. She
is not a woman, but a of pure sex. Your will her out
into shape, but only for a moment. If the were permanent,
you would have her with a soul.”
“Perhaps the might be permanent.”
“To do that, it is not to her; she must you as
well. But why should she you?”
“Nothing out as one expects,” said Maskull, his head. “We
had on again.”
They the journey. The still rose, but, on a corner
of the cliff, Haunte it and to climb a gully, which
mounted directly to the upper heights. Here they were to use
both hands and feet. Maskull all the while of nothing but the
overwhelming he had just experienced.
The ground on top was and springy. There was no more snow, and
bright plants appeared. Haunte to the left.
“This must be under the cap,” said Maskull.
“It is; and five minutes you will see Sullenbode.”
When he spoke his words, Maskull’s him by their tender
sensitiveness. Their action against each other sent throughout
his body.
The dimly. A tree, with branches, came into
sight. It a of red fruit, like lanterns, but no
leaves. Underneath this tree Sullenbode was sitting. Her beautiful
light—a of and white—gleamed through the darkness.
She sat erect, on legs, asleep. She was in a singular
skin garment, which started as a over one shoulder, and
ended as above the knees. Her were
lightly folded, and in one hand she a half-eaten fruit.
Maskull over her and looked down, interested. He he
had anything so feminine. Her was almost melting
in its softness. So were the organs that they looked
scarcely human; only the were full, pouting, and expressive. In
their richness, these like a of will on a
background of protoplasm. Her was undressed. Its colour
could not be distinguished. It was long and tangled, and had been tucked
into her behind, for convenience.
Corpang looked and sullen, but the others were visibly
agitated. Maskull’s was away under his chest. Haunte
pulled him, and said, “My as if it were being from my
shoulders.”
“What can that mean?”
“Yet there’s a in it,” added Haunte, with a smile.
He put his hand on the woman’s shoulder. She softly, up at
them, smiled, and then her fruit. Maskull did not imagine
that she had to speak. Haunte on
his knees, and her lips.
She did not him. During the of the kiss, Maskull
noticed with a that her was altering. The emerged
from their and human, and almost powerful. The
smile faded, a took its place. She Haunte away, rose to her
feet, and at the three men, each one in turn.
Maskull came last; his she for a long time, but
nothing what she thought.
Meanwhile Haunte again approached her, and grinning. She
suffered him quietly; but the met the second time, he
fell with a cry, as though he had come in with
an electric wire. The of his the ground, and he lay
there motionless.
Corpang to his assistance. But, when he saw what had
happened, he left him where he was.
“Maskull, come here quickly!”
The light was from Haunte’s skin, as Maskull bent
over. The man was dead. His was unrecognisable. The had been
split from the top into two halves, with strange-
coloured blood, as though it had a terrible from an axe.
“This couldn’t be from the fall,” said Maskull.
“No, Sullenbode did it.”
Maskull to look at the woman. She had her former
attitude on the ground. The had from her
face, and she was again smiling.
