Even though a lot had happened, I wasn't tired, so I started in the direction of the Harrowing Hills with the mangled ax in my hand. After pondering for a bit, I cast Soften Wood a few times, then tried to bend the mangled blade back into shape. A loud snap sounded throughout the woods, and I looked at the two parts of the ax blade in my hand.

And another one bites the dust, I thought, disgruntled. I tossed the small, snapped blade away with a deep sigh, hefting the remainder of the ax. With one blade intact, and the other side more like a small spike, the ax looked sad, but it would still protect me. I quickly hardened it again, then continued onward.

Trudging through the muck with my bare feet brought back memories of long ago when I'd entered this world for the first time. Still, the cold, muddy, and excrement-filled streets of Sart were more disgusting than the forest. Here I only had to watch out for dangerous, poisonous plants. Or Wirg poo, I thought after I saw something nasty beside a tree root. I carefully moved across the ruined area of fallen trees and ruptures in the earth.

Ten minutes or so later, I pushed myself through a thick bushy area and stopped. Ahead of me, massive black trees stood further apart, the less dense canopy letting through more light that created a host of darker moving shadows. My darkvision turned everything a different shade of green or black. With a clear view, I began jogging forward. I wanted to get as far away from the temple before resting and taking care of business.

In the end, I kept finding excuses to continue running until the first rays of sunlight passed through the leaves, and the birds began singing a creepy, eerie song. It, combined with the creaking of trees and the dark, gloomy forest around me, didn't make anything look like an appropriate place to camp.

I continued on until later in the morning, when I was hungry, thirsty, and weary, the sound of water came from far to the left. I'd been looking for a spot to camp, but none of the trees had thick enough branches higher up, and there wasn't any cave or other place to hide in.

I stopped, my feet aching from running barefoot all the time, and looked in the direction of the water. I shrugged and made my way towards it. Shortly after, I saw glistening between the trees and bushes that covered this area, and when I moved through them, I saw a small, slow streaming river. It was a twelve-foot wide stream, its waters so dark it was hard to say how deep it was. Grey and black boulders and pebbles sat on the banks, and a thick, swampy scent came from it.

If I follow the right side, I'll head towards the hills, I decided, and I turned that way.

My stomach rumbled, and my feet ached. My gaze kept wandering to the river, and I wondered if the water was drinkable. I didn't have any water left, and my lips were parched. A few hundred meters further, I forced myself to stop. I was an idiot. I needed to rest, even if I didn't find a good camp.

But first, I need something to scout that river, I decided. I wanted a drink and needed to know if there was anything dangerous in it.

Except for some brown and unhealthy-looking plants, there wasn't anything lying around, just trees. Those around the narrow river were all non-poisonous, and I saw one nearby that was slightly crooked as if it had been pushed towards the river.

A while later, a loud thud echoed through the surroundings as the tree slammed into the ground. I had thought of just chopping a branch, but in the end, I knew I'd need more wood for what I had planned. A mount wasn't made from a branch after all, and the thing I had in mind surely didn't.

With my knife, one of the few things I still had on me, I cut off a large branch and, with little effort, created a simple thing that resembled a cross between a lizard and a cat. As soon as it felt good enough, I drew in a vengeful spirit. As had happened before, something came almost immediately in the forest. The hand-sized wooden sculpture, rough and with hard, unfinished lines, moved upright and looked at me with straight eyes.

"Go to the river and see if there is anything dangerous," I said.

The sculpture crawled away rapidly, straight for the small river. I hadn't approached it closer than ten feet, and I followed the lizard, which I decided it was supposed to be, as it rushed forward. All four of my arms were raised, ready to fire thorns at anything that attacked. Nothing happened at four feet, three, two-

A mottled green and black shape burst from the water, drops, and splashes streaming across the side as a gaping wide maw with glittering teeth snapped at my sculpture. The sculpture dodged sideways, but the snake-like thing was much faster, its head flashing sideways as it bit into the sculpture. The head was almost the same size as the sculpture and an easy target.

There was no twang or woosh as two of my Thorncasters released their deadly payload. One of the bolts struck the serpent thing in the eye and the other in its neck. The sculpture clattered on the ground as the serpent head raised in the air, screeching in agony. It went up and up, and as it did, something dark and massive moved in the middle of the river.

Shit!

“Attack it,” I shouted, at the same time backing up. The small sculpture obeyed immediately, rushing at the thing in the water.

A frog, half as wide as the river was broad, rose from the waters, four serpents attached to its back and two bulbous black eyes to the side. It had small, razor-sharp teeth all along its slit of a mouth, and it gazed at me. Before I could think, it seemed to crouch down, then it jumped forward and out of the river, straight at me.

My vision seemed to slow down for a second as the adrenaline coursing through me sharpened everything into clarity and hyper-focus. Then I jumped sideways, all four Thorncasters flashing as I shot bolts at the demonic frog. Three hit its neck or head, bouncing harmlessly, but one thudded in the center of its eye, too fast for its eyelids to block.

The four serpents erected up and screeched as a low rumbling howl came from the frog's mouth. I rolled across the muddy earth, water from the frog's jump clattering all around me, then rolled to my feet with my ax at the ready.

The frog turned, screeching as it looked at me, its mouth gaping wide, and a thick tongue with a spike on its tip shot my way. I barely had the time to wonder how it could reach that distance, then something slammed into my chest, and amidst a burning pain, I was flung back and within the treeline. A loud ping came from my status, but I had no time for that.

A blinding pain, hot and burning, came from my chest as I lay on the ground, stunned. Then a heavy thought made me roll to the side in panic. Each time I rolled on my chest, I almost became nauseous from the pain, but I had some experience with pain by now. Gritting my teeth, I reached the side of a tree, right when something landed where I'd been moments before. I scrambled up, ax still clutched in my hand, and almost dragged myself around the tree.

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I had a flash of sight where I saw the frog look at me, its tongue shooting forward again, then something knocked against the tree, causing it to sway.

The tongue, I knew, and I stepped back, slashing from the top of the tree to the bottom. My ax blade dug into something, and for a second, I thought I'd hit a branch. Then the toad roared, and its tongue shrunk back in its mouth, dripping white and red ichor as it did. The four serpents on its head were moving, swaying from left to right, but I saw the eye I had shot was looking in another direction, the black, jagged pupil unfocused compared to the other one.

I shot four bolts at the other eye, ready to dodge behind the tree, but the frog was faster this time. Two of the bolts struck its eyelids while the others bounced from its thick, scaly neck. I was about to run when the frog began wailing, moving its head as if to get rid of something. It took me two seconds to realize it might have closed its eyelid, but the bolts had still penetrated it. The two eyelids were stuck in place, ripping slightly as the frog tried to force them open.

Now or never, I thought, rushing forward. My breathing was becoming difficult, and the pain in my chest had dulled to a throbbing agony. With the Thorncasters ready, I waited for the demonic frog to move its head to the left, then stepped in and slashed at its throat. My feet and body moved effortlessly in one of the many attack patterns I had used, and as the blade dug deep into the thick, greenish flesh, I dragged it through, turned on my heels to gather momentum, then stomped forward and slammed it into the side of the neck again.

The frog hopped back, a bloody red bubble coming from its mouth, and I followed after it, my ax whirling around like a blur, constantly chopping at the same spot that became deeper, longer, and wider with every swing. Suddenly I hit something vital, and a spurt of blood shot passed me, covering my shoulder and part of my legs. The frog turned rigid, all of its muscles spasming. Its nailed eye shot open, the eyelid ripping in length both ways, but the pupil stared at the sky as if it saw something. Then it slumped forward, the four serpents on its back falling across it.

I stood, staring at it, my breath coming in ragged bursts.

"Not across the river then," I managed to croak. A thumb-sized hole sat in the thick leather armor, a few inches above my heart. Blood dripped from it. I dropped my ax and gingerly pulled up my armor. It was painful to take it off, but when I had, I saw a round, black hole in my chest. The veins around it protruded and were darker than normal.

That's not demonic poison!

My vision turned slightly woozy, and I shook my head, trying to clear it. Instead, I got a dizzy spell. With three steps, I reached the nearest tree and, with great effort, cast Share Lifeforce. As soon as I completed it, a wave of lifeforce flowed from the tree and through my arm, into my body. The pain lessened, and for a moment, I felt better. Then something itched in the back of my throat, and I coughed. The cough increased the itch, and I had a coughing fit, something wet and sticky shooting from my throat, across my lips and chin. It itched and burned, and I wiped it away with my sleeve. The already dirty, brown-stained white material came back with a shiny black smudge.

A few minutes later, the wave of lifeforce changed to a trickle, then stopped, and I stepped back. The itch was gone, but my chest still hurt, and I had a hard time raising my top arms. I felt around my chest, looking down, and I saw that the hole had grown into a nasty scar with blue and yellow blots around it. The veins were still an ugly dark red.

Not enough? I thought, looking for the next tree. It was two steps away, and I moved towards it. This time, casting Share Lifeforce was easier, and as the second wave of energy traveled into me through my arm, I pulled up my status window.

> You have been infected by a slight chaos poisoning

> No resistances found

> Chaos poison spreading

> Death will occur within two hours

>...

Many countdowns followed for every minute after, and I took a deep breath and then quickly skimmed over them until the next, different message.

> External Lifeforce slowing down poisoning

> Death will occur in eight hours

"Fuck me…" I croaked. A ping from my status echoed as another message appeared.

> External Lifeforce slowing down poisoning

> Death will occur in twelve hours

Without waiting, I began draining the nearest trees as fast as I could. Half an hour later, I stopped and looked at the last message with distaste.

> Lifeforce saturated

> External lifeforce slowing down poisoning

> Death will occur in twenty-one hours and sixteen minutes

I sat down on the ground, staring at the ground before me as I tried to get to grips with what had just happened. No matter what, it seemed I had to get into contact with Rathica. Taking a deep sigh, I prayed to her that Nirmon wasn't paying attention.

Rathica, I kinda need help here, I prayed at our connection. For a moment the connection flickered, then it turned dull again. I felt nothing, no emotions at all coming from it. Gritting my teeth, I tried a few more times, but like before, there was no response. A sense of despair tried to worm its way into my mind. It lasted for only a moment, then ideas on how to cope with the new limit and places I could go to try and fix it came to me. If there was no other way, I could create another statue and make another temple, although I feared that would draw Nirmon's attention.

"Shit. So I'll have to drain more in a few hours to see if the saturation will go away," I muttered as I turned to the corpse of the frog.

Its skin had darkened, warts appearing all across it, and a cloud of shimmering purple particles hung above. Whatever it was, I wasn't planning on getting anywhere near it. Instead, I moved towards the tree I had felled, grabbing my gear as I moved past it. Looking at the wood, then the river and frog, I sighed. I had been far too careless lately. Somehow I'd survived, although how long that would last, I had no idea. Examining the wood, I knew I could create a few guards from it, but those would only be awake for a few hours. I couldn't trust them to stay awake as I fell asleep.

If only I could find some Wirgs, I thought. Scanning the woods around me, I decided I was going to search for some before traveling on. The last time I'd been here with Smell and Scar, and they had guarded me against many things. Reminded of them, I wondered if they were even still alive.

There’s one other thing I can try.

A long time later, late in the afternoon, I got up and looked at the large crouching Wirg carving. It was reasonably detailed, with a saddle carved on its back and a gaping mouth with thick, sturdy teeth. It had cost me longer than normal, but the fear of the frogs had made me able to stop carving and focus on the river every so often. If it had been any other circumstances, I'd been happy at that little progress. Now, all I could think of was that I'd better absorb some lifeforce quickly.

I cast Harden Wood on the statue until it began draining energy, then cast a single weaken to make the wood as hard as it could be without leaving a drain. With a prayer directed at Rathica, I called a Vengeful Spirit to the statue, hoping it would be a special one. Something responded immediately, and as it shot into the statue, the statue creaked as it straightened and rose. The fur remained the same, with just the measly carved details I'd give it, showing it was a regular Spirit.

Well, perhaps next time, I thought as I gazed at the eyes of the Wirg. Even while standing, its lowered head was still on the same height as mine. "Guard me. If anything comes from the river, attack it and howl."

I had no idea if the Vengeful Spirit wirg could even make a sound, but it couldn't help to try. Then I scanned around for an appropriate tree to drain and hide. A dozen feet into the forest was a large, densely leaved tree.

That'll do, I decided as I moved towards it. One of the things I'd have to take care of was how to get rid of that Raparion, but first-

I yawned, my jaw cracking as it widened.

First, sleep.