The nameless raven flies on as I chase after it, deeper into Ashwood Forest.

  I activate [Detect Decay] and sense the dormant rot of winter pulse like muffled cries, but something echoes back to me with strength—something alive and growing. The raven leads me toward it.

  Ridges and devious bushes block my path as I crash through icy snowdrifts. The raven doesn’t notice my struggle to keep pace. I don’t stamina burn, not without knowing my destination.

  Threads of decay pulse beneath me now with a similar tone to the rotten roots of the granary. Too similar.

  My suspicions are confirmed a moment later. A misshapen tree—half its trunk black as night and bulged like an overgrown belly—looms over the surrounding forest.

  Rot Heart - Level 5

  The nameless raven lands on a neighboring tree, as if to watch my confrontation.

  Half the strength of the granary Rot Heart; and I’m stronger than before, but Nox clicks with concern, stalling me. He’s right. Taren and I can handle this creature.

  Then a wave of decay comes from behind, rushing towards me. I spin to find nothing. The decay continues, then passes under me. The sensation comes from the roots deep beneath the earth.

  When I face the blackened mass of decay, it has changed.

  Rot Heart - Level 6

  It grows stronger every minute, adding mass to its bulge, transforming itself into the shape of a heart, one layer of decay at a time. It must be sucking power from Ashgrove somehow.

  I whip out a knife from my cloak. I will not let it become what inflicted our granary.

  Nox bursts from my shoulder and flies at my side as I charge forward.

  [Detect Decay] registers a growth of rot on the right side. When the heart lashes out with its handlike rot, I’m ready to dodge, well aware of its tactics. The hand is smaller, weaker than my previous encounter.

  Two more spring forward as I close in on the heart, each time leading with a building pulse of decay that warns me. I catch the last arm as it retracts, digging my knife along its twisted limb and ripping clean through it.

  The Rot Heart screams in pulsing mania, decay washing over me. It convulsions seem like anger. Black acid spews from close range. I don’t react, except to [Leech Grip] my moss to combat the impending rot infection. Pain and relief cycle through me.

  My knife plunges into the heart. Once. Twice. This Rot Heart doesn’t have a layer of protection like its stronger twin.

  Two rot hands burst out as I attack again. I’m distracted enough to be slapped away. The hands are too small to hold me, but strong enough to launch me back into a bluff of snow.

  I save [Leech Grip] for rot infection only.

  My knife falls somewhere in the snow. I have two more knives tucked away.

  The Rot Heart keeps its oily hands out, as if to ward me away. I circle the beating rot until I’m on flat ground, then charge again.

  [Detect Decay] picks up many unknown sources of decay, each a small pulse, arising from the heart.

  Rot Critter - Level 1

  A horde of the small creatures spring from the base of the tree: rot squirrels, rabbits, and sparrows.

  The sparrows arc in the air with blacked boney bodies, then spiral down towards me.

  [Chilling Presence] grows from my core as I activate the [Skill].

  The critters slide to a stop. The decayed sparrows veer off, some crashing into the snow.

  The heart must command the beasts, because they do not retreat far. Wherever I move, they scatter, then circle back around and follow me.

  Rot hands reach for me, but I cut into each one until the heart changes tactics, launching acid multiple times in a row to block my path. [Leech Grip] allows me to ignore it.

  My mana burns quickly, already halfway gone. [Chilling Presence] is costly.

  [Chilling Presence] has reached Level 3.

  I leap onto the heart, ignoring the acid that sprays me, and stab. The critters erupt into chattering cries, like my attacks injure them as well.

  I expect the rot hand defense to sweep me away this time. But before they can reach me, I launch back into the snow. Oily fingers pass over the tops of my forehead, opening themselves up for a slash from my knife.

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  With rot hands retracted, I strike again and again. Until a blast of power launches me into the air, higher than ever before. I crash down through the tree where the raven watches and slide to the frozen ground.

  Half a shredded stump is all that remains of the Rot Heart and its host tree. Oily sludge dissolves into the earth, leaving me to wonder if it’s really gone at all.

  [Detect Decay] confirms an absence of active decay. No pulses from the tree or underground. I hope the rot roots have withered and died.

  Item: [Minor Midnight Stone] - Alchemical (30% increased success chance with Utility brews)

  Another stone. Something to save for Trader Poliven when he returns in the spring.

  I stoop down and lift the rock. It seems smaller than the one before, which makes sense, though why a monstrous creature would house such a stone is beyond me.

  Nox lands on my shoulder, a warm feeling of relief coming from him, but not for long.

  Warmth evaporates as soon as it arrives, Nox’s feelings overshadowed by something fierce. Fear. Terror. A cold shadow that climbs the back of my neck.

  I know nothing that should generate such a feeling before me, but I cannot shake it.

  Nox hisses from inside my shirt.

  It takes effort to turn myself around.

  Then I see the source of fear.

  Carrion of Despair - Level 7

  It stands on four hooves, shaped like an elk, but covered in patches of rotten fur. Bones peek out of spots along its body. Decay thrums more than pulses, growing into sounds of raging fire as I waver, frozen to the spot like a frightened animal.

  Now I know what [Chilling Presence] feels like.

  The carrion shuffles towards me, each leg bending in awkward ways to move its deformed body.

  I want to run, but cannot. The carrion’s [Skill] differs from my own.

  I have a single knife left. I fight my instinctual terror and force my hand into my cloak to retrieve it.

  The carrion stalks toward me, gaining momentum, as if it is learning to use a new body.

  Knife in hand, held before me, I cannot dodge, only stand to meet the monster face to face.

  Nox bites me when the monster closes in. A sensation of strength fills me and I regain control of my limbs. I duck away from the carrion as it lunges with newfound speed, rotted teeth gnashing at me.

  I slash with my knife at the matted fur. It cuts free, exposing more blackened bones.

  Inside the skeleton shell lives a flowing mass of sludge, like the Rot Heart. This must be its vitality.

  Nox fuels my resistance to fear as I dash around the carrion, cutting away the rotted flesh of its side. Bones protrude in unnatural ways, even shift in place, like the rot inside can control it.

  My knife is too short to reach between the bones.

  Nox exhausts himself at that moment, and the overwhelming fear paralyzes me again. I push a thought of thanks to my spirit friend for his help. Any chance was worth it.

  The carrion has trouble turning around.

  With so much fur shed by my knife, I can see how the rot inside the beast controls it, sliding back and forth, acting like muscles, providing life and movement to a fraction of the body at a time.

  The inner workings reach my mind and feel almost familiar, as if I rediscover some lost knowledge.

  Skill Acquired: [Pulse Sever]

  Choke a single vitality point in another creature. 10 mana per second. Levels gained increase range and precision.

  Though frozen in place, I feel a heightened sense of thrill in this new [Skill].

  The carrion lunges at me. I have no control of myself, no power to run.

  Sharp pain erupts along my side, where rotted teeth meant for plants mash my muscles and bone. My cries catch in my throat, my terror prevents even this.

  Rot Infection. Vitality diminished.

  Nox crawls onto my opposite shoulder and bites me again, granting me the power to scream in agony.

  I break away from the carrion and scramble back. I need to run.

  [Leech Grip] knits together my shoulder and purges the infection.

  I stamina burn away, towards Ashgrove.

  But I can see the carrion pursuing. The rot inside it has mastered control of its body, its four legs grant it more speed than I can escape from.

  Nox trembles. Terror racks the back of my mind. I need to escape the monster’s reach soon.

  I don’t empty my stamina. I crash myself into the snow and immediately bounce up, facing the carrion again. It rushes at me, as if to plow me over and devour me.

  When it’s within reach, I cast out my new [Skill], sensing the moving vitality that resides in the skeletal elk.

  [Pulse Sever] activates as the beast comes upon me. I catch two of its hooved legs, severing the vitality flow there, breaking the controlled movement into an erratic dance that sends it sprawling.

  Bones crack, but it’s not enough.

  [Pulse Sever] drains my mana at an alarming rate. I release the legs and search for the heart. More than a hundred points of vitality alight in my mind, more than I can control.

  The carrion tries to rise. I break its stance with [Pulse Sever]. I’m out of mana.

  With no time to replenish for another strike. I leap onto the beast. My knife slips between the ribs, where I see the massive number of vitality points.

  I rip apart the bones that stop me with one hand, then fit in my knife and slash through the points, one after another, until the rot goes silent.

  You have reached Level 6.

  Nox releases me the moment the monster’s [Skill] ends. I can feel his utter exhaustion. He pushed himself so far.

  The bone shape makes it hard to pull out my hand with my knife.

  Before I can free myself. A mass of sludge leaps from the corpse and latches onto my arm.

  In surprise, I drop my knife and smash the rot, breaking it free of me, then fall back. The sludge does not pursue.

  After a moment of respite, I see the sludge and corpse melt into the ground, like every other rotted thing in this accursed place.

  I feel something then, something wrong. I can’t get up. My strength has left me.

  Essence Parasite. Mana and stamina leech active.

  I reach for the pitiful bits of moss in my cloak, but my mana dries up before I can [Leech Grip].

  Stamina drains out shortly after. All I can do is crawl to the nearest tree.

  Day turns to night, and the cold saps my vitality. The parasite remains with me. I feel so alone.