Then the flat , white head set itself against the edge of the chink from which it had peeped , and slowly , like the movement of a sheet of ice , it slipped upwards and curled upwards , and up , and up ! There seemed no end to it at all ; and it moved horribly , without feet , holding on by its own frost to the slippery side of the frozen hill . Now all the lower part of the black hill was covered with the horrid white thing coiled about it in smooth , flat , shiny coils ; and still the head was higher than the rest ; and still the icy cold came nearer and nearer , like Death . The prince almost fainted : everything seemed to swim ; and in one moment more he would have fallen stiff on the mountain-top , and the white head would have crawled over him , and the cold coils would have slipped over him and turned him to stone . And still the thing slipped up , from the chink under the mountain . But the prince made a great effort ; he moved , and in two steps he was far away , down in the valley where it was not so very cold . `` Hi ! '' he shouted , as soon as his tongue could move within his chattering teeth . There came a clear , hissing answer , like frozen words dropping round him : `` Wait till I come down . What do you want ? '' Then the white folds began to slide , like melting ice , from the black hill . Prince Prigio felt the air getting warmer behind him , and colder in front of him . He looked round , and there were the trees beginning to blacken in the heat , and the grass looking like a sea of fire along the plains ; for the Firedrake was coming ! The prince just took time to shout , `` The Firedrake is going to pay you a visit ! '' and then he soared to the top of a neighbouring hill , and looked on at what followed . CHAPTER XI . The Battle . It was an awul sight to behold ! When the Remora heard the name of the Firedrake , his hated enemy , he slipped with wonderful speed from the cleft of the mountain into the valley . On and on and on he poured over rock and tree , as if a frozen river could slide downhill ; on and on , till there were miles of him stretching along the valley -- miles of the smooth - ribbed , icy creature , crawling and slipping forwards .
The green trees dropped their leaves as he advanced ; the birds fell down dead XXXXX the sky , slain by his frosty breath !
On against as by from of to under with within