The woods rustle violently, the trees themselves reacting to something unseen. From the shadows, a jerky, lopsided figure emerges—its movements awkward, as if struggling to maintain balance in a body not its own. The ground trembles beneath its weight.
With a crackle, a lumbering shape steps into view. It’s neither tree nor insect, but a grotesque blend of both. Its body is woven from rotting bark, limbs writhing with wriggling pine beetles. Its sickly green eyes glow, predatory and unblinking.
A deep hiss erupts from the creature, vibrating through the earth, shaking the nearby trees. The beetles swarm over its form, feeding on the decay it commands, as a sinister aura of rot spreads outwards, poisoning the land.
