The creature stood before them like something torn from a nightmare. Where eyes should have been, two twisted horns jutted out from its skull, and its mouth gaped open to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth arranged like a shark's deadly maw. The thing had a vaguely human shape, but everything about it was wrong—its limbs stretched far beyond what any human body could manage, and its hands had transformed into something far worse than claws. Instead of fingers, two long, blade-like appendages of bone extended from where its arms should end, gleaming with a sickly sheen.
Its skin was the color of ash, a pale gray that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it. At least this particular creature wore that ashen hue—Shelly had no desire to discover what other colors these abominations might come in. The most disturbing sight was its mouth, where those shark-like teeth were stained crimson and displayed in what could only be described as a grotesque smile.
PUM!
