The quiet spread toward them across the grass.
Almond could hear it coming. That was the strange part. He could hear where the sound ended, like the edge of a tide. The wind stopped rustling a hundred yards out. Then eighty. Then fifty.
"Everyone up!" he shouted. "Anyone with steel, to the front! Get the wounded behind the fire and"
His voice stopped.
His mouth was still moving. He could feel the air leaving his chest. But nothing came out, and nothing came back to his ears. There was no wind and no fire. He could not even hear his own heart.
The quiet had reached them.
All around him, thousands of people were shouting. He could see their mouths open. He could not hear one of them.
Then the thing that had brought the quiet walked into the firelight.
It was as tall as a house.
