The eyestalk whipped back, quivering and pulsing. Then, in an instant, recovering, the creature spilled forward in a rush.
But already Boone was twisting, scrambling, clawing his way along the ground.
Then there was a rock beneath his hands, big as a man's head. In spite of his weakness he clutched it, swung it up.
The monster swept down upon him as he pivoted.
Boone hurled the rock.
It struck at the base of the weird thing's eyestalk. With a snapping sound, the orb's stem broke.
Twitching, writhing, the body halted. Then, as with the giant arm, the other monsters, the creature's whole structure began to shrivel and ooze away in slime.
Panting, shaking, Boone slumped back to the ground, his brain a cauldron bubbling with inchoate thoughts.
Like a mosaic, then, the pieces fell into place.