the mutant was possessed of apostrophes and exclamation marks , the former as the latter , suspended in purposeful rows like the slats of a fence beneath his multi-jointed arms , the bones of leathery wings previously concealed from all but his mother , flapping uselessly as they were roasted , weakened , played as grisly xylophones by red-orange hammer-tongues whose music was no music but the disembodied strains of damned souls , their silent combustion activated by the mournful bellows of those same souls ' baked and percolated lungs .