and then , knowing that he was behind me , i stepped forward . i stopped in the shadows of some gum trees and waved a hand around . no longer white , it now had a pink hue to it . a shrill sound of pain filled her ears , and it took her a moment to realize that she was the one making that horrible sound . a flash of light and a sound like wind howling came from the pot . enormous black sea monsters were swimming in circles around our boat . 