It left the Mahovisal behind
them, a shimmering spot of fire beside the gleaming sea. They were
travelling eastwards. The landscape below was level and unvaried,
of a greenish hue, and much like that of Chick's own earth in the
early spring-time--a vast expanse, level and sometimes dotted with
opalescent towns and cities. Ribbons of silver cut through the
plain at intervals, crookedly lazy and winding, indicating a
drainage from north to south or vice versa. Looking back to the
west, he could see the great, golden sun, poised as he had seen it
that morning, a huge amber plate on the rim of the world. It was
sunset.
Then Chick looked straight ahead. Far in the distance a great wall
loomed skyward to a terrific height. So vast was it and so remote,
at first it had escaped the eye altogether. An incredibly high
range of mountains, glowing with a faint rose blush under the
touch of the setting sun. Against the sky were many peaks, each of
them tipped with curious and sparkling diamond-like corruscations.
As Chick continued to gaze the rose began to purple.
The Jan Lucar put the craft to another upward climb. So high were
they now that the Thomahlia below was totally lost from view; it
was but a maze of lurking shadows. The sun was only a gash of
amber--it was twilight down on the ground. And Watson watched the
black line of the Thomahlian shadow climb the purple heights
before him until only the highest crests and the jewelled crags
flashed in the sun's last rays.
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