Milkbats

Milkbats emerge in the Red Rising Saga during the events of Dark Age as a terrifying subterranean predator native to the harsh caverns of Mercury. These colossal bat colonies, numbering in the millions, roost on cavern ceilings and deploy paralyzing spines hidden within their wings to immobilize prey before draining their marrow. Their massive swarms create natural hazards that scramble thermal optics, turning the underground into a deadly gauntlet for any who venture below. As a purely environmental threat, they underscore the raw, untamed dangers of the worlds beyond the Core without further evolution across later volumes.