The presence, the thing lurking in the darkness between the trees, was wrong. Yara could feel it slithering along her skin, an oily, slick sensation of something unnatural.
Then it stepped into view.
The thing was a grotesque patchwork of beasts, stitched together by something far worse than mere magic. It shifted as it moved, parts of it dissolving and reforming—clawed paws twisting into talons, a gaping mouth yawning open where a chest should be, eyes rolling beneath translucent flesh like wet onyx marbles.
Yara clenched the hilts of her daggers. Not human. Not natural. This thing was made to kill.
"What the fuck is that?" Rian exhaled, stepping back instinctively, blades glinting in his grip.
"An abomination." Val's voice was low, quiet—disgusted.
The creature lunged.
Yara barely had time to react before she twisted to the side, its twisted form blurring toward her. She slashed with one of her daggers, feeling it sink into shifting flesh—but it barely slowed the thing down.
