Just ahead of the attack, our stryders sounded a shrill warning from on high.
I was glad that Nida had shown me how to rig our mounts with weapons at the ready, because they were able to open fire on the incoming predators while we scrambled for cover.
Explosions erupted all around us, spraying us with gobbets of the slimy groundcover.
Nida began to run to our right, then changed her mind and ducked back to the left.
She got to her hands and knees to dig in the muck underfoot, then turned to ask what I was waiting for.
I helped her rip away mats of gluey sludge to uncover a hidden hatch, just as the pride of attacking creatures crested the ridge above us.
Their weird, spiny manes thrummed with excitement as they spotted us.
Nida pried open the hatch and we dove into the darkness under the landscape.