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She walked straight on toward the edge of the abyss, twenty paces away. Maskull pulled his beard around, and wondered what she was doing. Tydomin remained standing with outstretched finger, watching her. Without hesitation, without slackening her step once, Oceaxe strolled on and when she had reached the extreme end of the land she still took one more step.
"So much so that it has changed the dress, speech, and thoughts of the whole sex." "Probably they are more beautiful than I?" "No, I think not," said Maskull. There was another rather long silence, as they travelled unsteadily onward. "What is your business in Ifdawn?" demanded Oceaxe suddenly. He hesitated over his answer.
Oceaxe threw a subtle smile. "So you have no special destination in the Marest?" "No, and if you'll permit me, I will come home with you." "Singular man!" she said, with a short, thrilling laugh. "That's what I have been offering all the time. Of course you will come home with me. As for Crimtyphon..." "You mentioned that name before. Who is he?" "Oh! My lover, or, as you would say, my husband."
"Either you or I must kill him." He eyed her for a full minute. "Now we are passing from folly to insanity." "Not at all," replied Oceaxe. "It is the too-sad truth. And when you have seen Crimtyphon, you will realise it." "I'm aware I am on a strange planet," said Maskull slowly, "where all sorts of unheard of things may happen, and where the very laws of morality may be different.
Tydomin's words by this time were ringing in Maskull's head like an actual physical sound. There was no question of being able to ignore them; he had to make an open confession of his act, whatever the consequences might be. Quietly taking Oceaxe by the shoulder and putting her behind him, he said in a low, but perfectly distinct voice, "It was I that killed Crimtyphon."
During the whole of the previous day he seemed to have been labouring under a series of heavy enchantments. First Oceaxe had enslaved him, then Tydomin, then Spadevil, and lastly Catice. They had forced him to murder and violate; he had guessed nothing, but had imagined that he was travelling as a free and enlightened stranger.
Maskull suddenly noticed a strange blue light glowing in the northern sky. It was from Alppain, but Alppain itself was behind the hills. While he was observing it, a peculiar wave of self-denial, of a disquieting nature, passed through him. He looked at Oceaxe, and it struck him for the first time that he was being unnecessarily brutal to her.
The leader still came toward them, but he fancied that its flight was altered in character; it was no longer menacing, but tame and unwilling. Oceaxe guided it with her will to the mainland shore opposite their island rock. Its vast bulk lay there extended, awaiting her pleasure. They immediately crossed the water. Maskull viewed the shrowk at close quarters. It was about thirty feet long.
If they can endure the life, why can't he?" "And this is Ifdawn morality!" Oceaxe began to grow angry. "It's you who have peculiar ideas. You rave about the beauty of flowers and trees you think them divine. But when it's a question of taking on this divine, fresh, pure, enchanting loveliness yourself, in your own person, it immediately becomes a cruel and wicked degradation.
During this operation, her hands and garment became stained with the light scarlet blood. "Find the drude, Maskull," she said, with a lazy smile. "You had it last night." He searched for it. It was hard to locate, for its rays had grown dull and feeble in the sunlight, but at last he found it. Oceaxe placed it in the interior of the monster, and left the body lying on the ground.
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