I think that the most
fearsome attribute of these awesome creatures is their silence and
the fact that one never sees them--nothing but those baleful eyes
glaring unblinkingly out of the dark void behind.
Grasping my long-sword tightly in my hand, I backed slowly along
the corridor away from the thing that watched me, but ever as I
retreated the eyes advanced, nor was there any sound, not even the
sound of breathing, except the occasional shuffling sound as of
the dragging of a dead limb, that had first attracted my attention.
On and on I went, but I could not escape my sinister pursuer.
Suddenly I heard the shuffling noise at my right, and, looking, saw
another pair of eyes, evidently approaching from an intersecting
corridor. As I started to renew my slow retreat I heard the noise
repeated behind me, and then before I could turn I heard it again
at my left.
The things were all about me. They had me surrounded at the intersection
of two corridors. Retreat was cut off in all directions, unless
I chose to charge one of the beasts. Even then I had no doubt but
that the others would hurl themselves upon my back. I could not
even guess the size or nature of the weird creatures. That they
were of goodly proportions I guessed from the fact that the eyes
were on a level with my own.
Why is it that darkness so magnifies our dangers? By day I would
have charged the great banth itself, had I thought it necessary, but
hemmed in by the darkness of these silent pits I hesitated before
a pair of eyes.
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