scarcely bigger than a standard wicket ball. For anyone in the normal world, they simply appeared out of empty air, suddenly materializing between twelve and fifteen feet up and dropping fast to hit the ground and bounce. After spinning once for orientation, the first to arrive quickly attacked the nearest available human, breaking all the laws of mass and energy by snagging the unfortunate victim, grabbing on to his throat, or smothering his face, and then totally absorbing him in little less than a second of screaming. As more baby Dark Things dropped from thin air, they adopted a more tactical purpose. They bounced to a single assembly point, laying trails of black gas in their wake. Some of the Albany soldiers were ready for a gas attack, and put on their masks, taking on an inhuman look, with snout-like filters and round staring eye-pieces under helmets or caps. Others, however, lacked the presence of mind. They saw the gas and panicked. Then a single whiff had them on their knees, in the invisible grip of shrieking hallucinations.
The Things didn’t have it all their own way, though. The wrigglers that Cordelia was burning in the Other Place were exploding in mirror-delay. One moment they were bouncing, the next they were nothing more than a brief gout of red flame, the color of diseased blood, and then gone. Slide was also marshaling an Outside defense. Both pistols drawn, he alternately shouted orders and encouragement, and blew the Things away, snap-shooting with inhuman accuracy. “The gas can’t hurt you if you’ve got a mask. And the Things respond to bullets and bayonets. If one comes at you, stab it or shoot it before it can hook on to you. They can be killed!”
Slide had already established a perimeter around Dunbar’s command center and had ringed the grassy knoll with a defensive circle of any soldiers, officers, and other ranks he could press into service. Behind them, Dunbar and his staff calmly went on with their task of winning the battle. Argo was now convinced that The Four had been used, presumably by Quadaron-Ahrach or one of acolytes, to vector in on the Albany commanders, but the enemy plan had slightly misfired in that The Four had not jumped from the grassy knoll itself, but had allowed Slide to find a comparatively secluded spot where they could leave their bodies under the watchful protection of their escort. The Dark Things had not fallen directly on Dunbar, and whoever was controlling them was now having to assemble them for a fast bouncing assault, a glitch that had given Albany time to react. Part of the reaction was a young officer, bareheaded but wearing a gas mask, and recklessly swinging a gleaming saber, who rushed at the bouncing carpet of tiny Dark Things, and, in so doing broke the spell of shock that had paralyzed so many of those around him. The Dark Things sprang at him, but the boy skillfully slashed and parried as though he was on the practice floor of a fencing academy, his steel blade creating a cloud of red flame and black gas around him. His action encouraged others, and more young bucks rushed to stand with him, while rankers at his back coolly bayoneted any that got past.
Argo could not help but admire the courage and adaptability of the men protecting Dunbar, but he was also very aware that the best defense was to prevent any more of the things coming through from the Other Place. The rest of The Four were reentering their bodies, but he yelled to them to turn around. “Back Inside! Fast as you can! We have to finish these fucking things!”
They returned to find the Other Place a forest of vertical tubes with vicious energy pumping down through them. These “tubes” had to be the source of the Dark Things in the normal world, and they didn’t hesitate. Intense cutting-fire roared between the tubes, and they began to melt and collapse. The energy spilled and, where it met the flames of The Four, it exploded into white heat. Then a tube exploded before it had
The Things didn’t have it all their own way, though. The wrigglers that Cordelia was burning in the Other Place were exploding in mirror-delay. One moment they were bouncing, the next they were nothing more than a brief gout of red flame, the color of diseased blood, and then gone. Slide was also marshaling an Outside defense. Both pistols drawn, he alternately shouted orders and encouragement, and blew the Things away, snap-shooting with inhuman accuracy. “The gas can’t hurt you if you’ve got a mask. And the Things respond to bullets and bayonets. If one comes at you, stab it or shoot it before it can hook on to you. They can be killed!”
Slide had already established a perimeter around Dunbar’s command center and had ringed the grassy knoll with a defensive circle of any soldiers, officers, and other ranks he could press into service. Behind them, Dunbar and his staff calmly went on with their task of winning the battle. Argo was now convinced that The Four had been used, presumably by Quadaron-Ahrach or one of acolytes, to vector in on the Albany commanders, but the enemy plan had slightly misfired in that The Four had not jumped from the grassy knoll itself, but had allowed Slide to find a comparatively secluded spot where they could leave their bodies under the watchful protection of their escort. The Dark Things had not fallen directly on Dunbar, and whoever was controlling them was now having to assemble them for a fast bouncing assault, a glitch that had given Albany time to react. Part of the reaction was a young officer, bareheaded but wearing a gas mask, and recklessly swinging a gleaming saber, who rushed at the bouncing carpet of tiny Dark Things, and, in so doing broke the spell of shock that had paralyzed so many of those around him. The Dark Things sprang at him, but the boy skillfully slashed and parried as though he was on the practice floor of a fencing academy, his steel blade creating a cloud of red flame and black gas around him. His action encouraged others, and more young bucks rushed to stand with him, while rankers at his back coolly bayoneted any that got past.
Argo could not help but admire the courage and adaptability of the men protecting Dunbar, but he was also very aware that the best defense was to prevent any more of the things coming through from the Other Place. The rest of The Four were reentering their bodies, but he yelled to them to turn around. “Back Inside! Fast as you can! We have to finish these fucking things!”
They returned to find the Other Place a forest of vertical tubes with vicious energy pumping down through them. These “tubes” had to be the source of the Dark Things in the normal world, and they didn’t hesitate. Intense cutting-fire roared between the tubes, and they began to melt and collapse. The energy spilled and, where it met the flames of The Four, it exploded into white heat. Then a tube exploded before it had
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