Somewhere, a million miles away, farther than the moons, the avenging Avarra thrust a matrix out of sight and the world went into merciful darkness.

Let go and he would fall into the void to drift until merciful darkness consumed him.

This time around, though, all that merciful darkness in the middle is gone.

Then darkness again, merciful darkness, and real sleep.

Jane Waters flew sprawling; the merciful darkness hid what fell.

Erin-go-bragh, she thought, and felt herself begin to sink into merciful darkness.

Lights went out the length of the corridor, plunging it into merciful darkness.

The merciful darkness closed in on him as he murmured to her, "Rose, we could have chopped the sycamore down with this."

A merciful darkness intervened with the suddenness of a light being switched off.

"For wha-" The pain hit like a star going nova inside her head, driving her down into merciful darkness.