No one believed it.
Weapons were lifted higher. Shields tightened in trembling grips. Step by step, they edged closer to the extinguished torch, glancing around with frantic, jerking motions.
They saw nothing.
Relief, thin and fragile crept in as they went ahead to relight the torch.
That was when the entire stretch of wall they stood on plunged into darkness.
One after another, the torches lining the ramparts winked out as if pinched by invisible fingers, snuffing light from the world in a single sweeping motion. Shadows devoured everything. Sight vanished.
Panic rippled through the line.
Men gasped. Someone whispered a prayer. "Fuck" Someone else cursed through chattering teeth.
They knew then, the enemy was already here as there was nothing natural about what just occurred.
A cold wave of dread surged through the dark as shapes began to move in the darkness before them. At first, it was only the suggestion of motion, soft, crawling, almost liquid.
