"Take hold of the ruby. That's it."
Their hands held the warm jewel. Slowly they turned it. Darkness and
coldness, and dizziness, and Slag and Thor found rock under their feet,
and a white moon high above them.
Thor hunted for and found a narrow path of rock that twisted from the
escarpment and curved downwards toward the valley. He called to Slag
and they trotted Indian fashion along it.
The walls of the elfin city loomed gigantic as they crossed the sandy
plain that stretched for miles in front of it. Cyclopean stones were
fitted one on another until they spread up and up, seemingly toward the
stars themselves. Thor felt like a midge about to attack a mastodon.
His feet kicked endless grains of dust walking along that massive
barrier. Mile after mile they trudged, and found no gates.