From a distance, it seemed a mass of bones and tar, maybe a traveler who failed to mind their step. Imagine my surprise when it lunged at me.
It moved like a rabid beast, contorting and dragging itself across the undergrowth, leaving a trail of rancid ichor in its wake. More still gushed from where I pierced it.
I know this jungle, both the life that inhabits it and the spirits who dwell just beyond sight. This...thing...was neither. It was pain and hatred manifest. And then it was empty.