The soldier beside Beorn drove his sword through the creature's forearm at the grip point. The flesh split under the pressure but did not come apart cleanly.
That was enough for him to pull his wrist free. The skin across his wrist had tore in three separate parts where the multiple small fingers had pulled it apart. He pressed it against his coat and held position.
Harr took the fourth creature from the side. His sword went into the upper front of its body at the point he had taken as a weak spot, and the barricade creature went down, its limbs pulling the barricade forward as it fell.
"Hold it! Push it back!"
Two soldiers drove the barricade back.
The fifth and sixth came through in close succession. The fifth reached the barricade and was stopped by the front rank. Two pistol shots and sword work followed.
"Fire!"
It went down across the top of the barricade, falling backward into the passage side, its corpse adding to the stack developing across the staircase mouth.
