The green snow on the top of the gigantic pyramid had by now completely melted away. The black, gold, and crimson of its mighty cliffs stood out with terrific brilliance. They were directly beneath the bulk of the mountain, which was not a mile away. It did not appear dangerous to climb, but he was unaware on which side of it their destination lay.
It was split from top to bottom by numerous straight fissures. A few pale-green waterfalls descended here and there, like narrow, motionless threads. The face of the mountain was rugged and bare. It was strewn with detached boulders, and great, jagged rocks projected everywhere like iron teeth. Tydomin pointed to a small black hole near the base, which might be a cave. “That is where I live.”
“You live here alone?”
“Yes.”
“It’s an odd choice for a woman—and you are not unbeautiful, either.”
“A woman’s life is over at twenty-five,” she replied, sighing. “And I am far older than that. Ten years ago it would have been I who lived yonder, and not Oceaxe. Then all this wouldn’t have happened.”
A quarter of an hour later they stood within the mouth of the cave. It was ten feet high, and its interior was impenetrably black.
“Put down the body in the entrance, out of the sun,” directed Tydomin. He did so.
She cast a keenly scrutinising glance at him. “Does your resolution still hold, Maskull?”