Titans of Chaos

Her music stopped. Upside down and facing the wrong way, I did not see where my shot hadflown. (Was I a murderess, or not?) But the multiple strands of music-energy erupted like a flareinto hyperspace to the blue and red of me. The fact that I could see that happening at all seemedto indicate that I had wounded her, or at least startled her.

The pressure in hyperspace was starting to get patchy and clear up. There was a second sirensong, this one played on strings (maybe a lyre?) somewhere in the area, but it must have beenfarther away, because I was able to wiggle a hyperlimb into the substance of four-space, negatesome of my weight by bending world-lines, and drop lightly to the ground.

Or, not so lightly. In middrop, reality hiccuped. I was just a girl. Some maenad nearby must havedone her Grendel-thing. I fell hard, and it hurt, but nothing seemed broken. I wiggled across theleaves and took up my fallen rifle.

The lyre-music got louder. The second siren was near and getting nearer. The shrill screams andyells of the maenads rose up and drowned and quenched the lyre-music.

A maenad came suddenly around the tree where I crouched. She had in hand a fourteen-footlength of iron pole. It looked like an I-beam ripped from the electrical transformer towers I hadpassed. She turned to face me: Less than a dozen feet separated us. There were worms andserpents woven in her hair. Adders raised their heads from her oozy locks and stared at me.

Her eyes were two pools of drugged insanity. She opened her mouth and screamed like a peacock.

No moralizing or hesitating this time. I chambered an anti-psychic round, brought up the weapon,and shot. She was leaping toward me, and she caught the shell in her mouth. Her head exploded.

Blood and brains flew everywhere. Instead of being grossed out, or horrified, I laughed aloud.

I am sorry I laughed. It makes me sound like some sort of sick, sick person. But I thought I wasabout to die. I was sure of it. And I was relieved. I was glad to be alive.

Her eyes, her eyes had frightened me so. Sometimes, at night, I can still see them.

More running through the trees.

I could hear the noise and earthquake-clamor of the advancing maenads to my left and right, andyellow smoke and dust hung over the treetops.