“I can’t explain it, but there are three wills in it.”
“Is there no such thing as pure Thire-matter?”
“Thire cannot exist without Amfuse, and Amfuse cannot exist without Faceny.”
Maskull thought 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 half light of the land, the tops of the hills containing the valley presently attained such a height that they could not be seen. The sides were steep and craggy, while the bed of the valley grew narrower at every step. Not a living organism was visible. All was unnatural and sepulchral.
Maskull said, “I feel 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 mystery of it? I came to find Surtur.”
“That name I’ve heard—but under what circumstances?”
“You forget?”