He tried to stay calm and logical. Shadows. Yes. He remembered her speaking of them. Like Gravelings, they were. He caught sight of the little creature sitting on Petit's shoulder, and he furrowed his brow; what was it? He forgot to be afraid. The little being seemed to meld with Petit's dark hair, which was odd, given it looked like a crab.
Gradually, he realized, the beings were everywhere. The dull color gave way at times to lumps of black - flying, crawling, walking on four legs. One of the lumps was shaped somewhat like a caterpillar, at least from what he could make out. It was sitting on his foot, and made a curious noise when he moved his toes.