Holden studied the armored figure from the shadows of the crater wall.
The beast stood at least eight feet tall. Its body was humanoid in shape but stretched and wrong, with limbs that were too long and shoulders that were too wide. Bone plates covered its torso like a suit of armor, held together by dark metal rivets that pulsed with faint purple light.
In its clawed hand, it held a massive blade carved from what looked like a femur. The weapon was almost as tall as Holden himself.
And it was drawing.
The creature's free hand moved with deliberate, careful precision. It traced lines into the black mud at its feet, marking out shapes that Holden recognized instantly.
The Demon-Mouth Outpost.
There were the walls. There were the heavy cannon emplacements. There were the gates. Little X marks showed breaching points. Arrows indicated attack vectors for different beast types.
This thing wasn't just intelligent.
It was a commander.
