Clinging to the cliff face, Charles stared wide-eyed as the living thing the size of a Shield Machine slowly descended.
As it drew closer, Charles saw more details. It was a colossal, flesh-and-blood Shield Machine formed from black chitin, purple tendons, and viscous meat. Insect legs the size of small houses grew all around it, bracing against the canyon walls as it slowly moved downward.
On the lower half of the Monster, insect-like compound eyes wavered from side to side like searchlights in a deep well. The surviving mantises raised their glowing abdomens, arranging themselves on its back in a lotus pattern.
A trembling, whale-like song shuddered from the web of flesh and blood. Charles could sense the emotion woven into the sound; this creature was mourning the deaths of the mantises.
GULP. Charles swallowed hard.
