The creature had already dragged itself about thirty feet from the rubble by the time Beorn reached the exterior ground. It moved using its front legs, pulling forward while the rear section trailed behind with limited response. From this close, the wounds were clear.
The left side plating had been sheared away, exposing tissue beneath. The exposed line ran long and uneven, pale and dark with fresh wetness. The grievous wound explained the uneven movement.
Beorn focused on its head.
The head responded to volume. When a militia man's boot scraped behind it, the head snapped toward the noise. When someone spoke on the left flank, it turned and tracked the voice precisely.
But the eyes did something else. They moved independently, tracking above and between the men at inconsistent directions, as if following inputs that did not align with the environment. Whatever it was detecting, it was not present in the exterior ground outside Ashmark.
