The creatures climbing through the opening were unlike the guards defending the upper dungeon.
Their legs merged with the walls whenever they stopped moving. Hardened plates grew across their arms, then dissolved when they climbed again. They carried no separate weapons because the passage itself supplied whatever their bodies required.
Hizon's archers fired through the broken wall. The first shafts struck armor and remained there. Acid bulbs softened the growth, but new layers formed beneath the damage.
The defenders were connected directly to the passage.
Hizon ordered the Trappers forward. "Pull the first one through the opening. Do not waste ammunition on anything still touching the wall."
Trappers caught the nearest defender with two hooked chains. Bullet ants dragged it upward while its legs fused with the surrounding growth. Sections of the wall tore free with it.
The moment the creature crossed the opening, its armor stopped repairing.
