More of them came from the forest. These ones were different — at first glance, they looked like something that had been skinned alive but kept hunting anyway.
Hunched, armored nightmares the size of small cars, built like hyenas crossed with crocodiles. Bone-white plating covered their backs and shoulders, but their undersides were exposed — raw pink muscle visible between armor gaps, like creatures that had never finished growing their shells. Long, barbed tails dragged behind them, twitching constantly.
With their arrival, the screams increased.
They could rear up to the size of a horse, and when they did, they simply lunged forward with blurring speed and crushed their powerful jaws into bodies, twisting violently. They'd backpedal immediately, leaving with a chunk of whoever they'd grabbed.
Mercenaries had their hands eaten off in an instant, blood pouring onto the ground. Some lost shoulders. Some lost eyes or lips.
