The Swallow

The Swallow is a creature described in the novels The Right to Life, The Right to Revenge, and No Right to Wrong.

Description
According to Hasan, a swallow resembles a long gray caterpillar. The body is similarly elongated, with the front of the body curving upward at right angles. At the very top of the curve is the mouth. The swallow's body is also covered with hair. Danila also gave an analogy between the swallow and a long leathery bard or a thick loaf of sausage, banded with ribbons. Six furry spider-like legs stick out from under the swallow's belly, with which it can move quickly and silently, or walk sideways like a crab. Each such paw ends in three predatory curved claws. The skin of the gulp resembles a translucent membrane. A brownish mucus oozes from its small pores. The swallow's eyes are large, round, and glossy.

The Swallows Gastric Juice
Swallow's gastric juice is highly prized because of its analgesic properties and the extreme rarity of the swallows.

If a person who has had both legs torn off is injected with some glottal gastric juice, he will get up and run on his stumps further, as the glottal gastric juice completely turns off the pain for the person.

Combat tactics
Swallows cannot stand other mutants and exterminate them, but they don't attack humans, because they understand that it's better to live in peace with their neighbors. However, if a human kills a swallow's offspring, or causes them harm, they will be eager to exterminate the offenders, every last one of them. Swallows have no teeth, so they swallow their prey alive. A swallow can bypass an ambush, or surprise an enemy by burying itself in the sand (if available). They can also hear very well, allowing them to locate their prey faster than they can locate themselves. Swallows move at the speed of a horse, but also silently and stealthily. And to top it all off, swallows can swim, cover their tracks, and regenerate very quickly, making them a very dangerous opponent. Swallows are able to cast a poisonous web that affects the speech, auditory, and visual centers, along frontal and parietal lobes of the brain, causing a victim to become vegative. To attack, swallows mostly approach the victim from the back. They take shelter in thickets or forests, which gives them an advantage. An ordinary bullet cannot penetrate through their the skin, cartilage, and muscle to reach any vital organs. However, a swallow can still be killed with fire, grenade launcher, or shots to the nerve plexus (base of legs, eyes).

Interesting Facts

 * During digestion in the swallow's stomach, the victim is still alive, but feels no pain.
 * The book says that swallows live in other places, but does not specify where.
 * Swallows are able to sympathize with and spare humans. This confirms that swallows are sentient beings. (For example, a swallow spared the defenseless Danila, even though it could have thrown its web at him.)
 * It's unknow exactly what swallows mutated from, or if they are mutants at all, but the Professor believes that they are a lateral branch of evolution.
 * They are capable of digging and arranging their own burrows. Swallows pave or fit logs tightly to the floor, insulate the walls of their dwellings with foliage, and use stones as a table.
 * There is no antidote to swallow venom.
 * According to Hasan, an adult swallow can easily devour a whole rhinoceros.