A chill breeze swept through the drab, ill-lit forest, Its sparse canopy swaying as passed leaves descended to a cold and dank grave. The numbing touch of the biting earth slowly drained my body of its heat: I shivered, exhaling a visible breath that immediately vanished into an all encompassing fog. An array of snag trees and fallen branches worked in tandem with the thick haze to obstruct my line of sight. I peered through the scope of a rifle, steadying my breath as I attempted to distinguish body from branch. Accumulative moisture fogged the lens, droplets condensing and pooling towards its base. The sights blinked, its shutter quickly clearing the obstruction and allowing the built in scanner to better do its job. My target sat just some 20 meters from where I lay, most its form hidden behind dead thicket as its head sat just out of view. The optical scanner pieced together what it could, a clearer picture being painted with each shift of its massive frame, always accompanied by the pop and crackle of stick and twig. It reared, using a single forelimb for support along a tree, the thick trunk craning slightly under its crushing weight.

It voraciously tore through high hanging braces with minimal effort, stripping them of what little foliage they had to offer. I watched curiously as the vast majority of leaves went uneaten, piling upon the forest floor. In time the scanner successfully managed to identify the creature as a member of the cervidae family, although specifics remained uncertain. I examined its malnourished body, the hide of which had been reduced to little more than skin save for a few stray tufts of fur. Its anatomy was suffering greatly with scars and gashes riddled throughout its form, bits deep into its internal structure having become exposed and protruding through dried skin. Being so late into the stages of decay meant that killing it may prove to be quite difficult. A gun ,or at least the ones I had on me, wouldn't suffice. It didn’t help that I had dealt with a variant like this only a handful of times, those encounters not always ending in my favor. I mulled over retreat as I glossed over my surroundings. Options were heavily limited in such a scanty environment, harboring little to none when it came to trees or vegetation. I was out of my element and the task at hand was becoming evermore daunting as I realized just how little I had to work with.

The target suddenly threw its snout upwards, taking deep whiffs of the air with an anxious vigor before giving a hard blow through its nose. The action was startling, yet I kept my wits about me, confident that I was near undetectable having taken all the proper precautions. It lowered its head, seeming to have quickly lost interest in whatever initially caught its attention. The plan I had devised harbored a good deal of risk with little means of escape should something go wrong, however backing out now would result in all of this having been a tremendous waste of time and effort. It hadn't caught wind of me yet, if I played my hand correctly I could throw together something relatively foolproof. I began taking slow schooches back bit by bit as to keep noise and movement to a minimum, halting whenever there was a chance I may be discovered. Both me and my target froze simultaneously as a new sound came creeping into earshot from somewhere behind me. It sounded of... Flapping?

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Long pauses separated each beat of wings as the noise steadily grew closer. Even the slightest motion placed towards investigation would be a risk. I waited until the sound was just overhead before peering up as the form of something massive loomed some unknown height above the trees. Its exact figure was kept secret by the canopy, yet its size made apparent by the large shadow it cast which blocked out the already dimmed rays of a clouded sun, shrouding the forest in a near blinding darkness. It had been near half a minute before the dull glow of the forest returned, followed by A few moments of calm and quiet. The light whistle of air severed the silence as A violent torrent of wind erupted from behind, blowing at speeds strong enough to nearly tear my weapon from my fingers. I kept my head down, grip tightened into a deadlock. A minute felt like five as trees shook and small sticks blew about in the hurricane-like winds that disgraced the previously still atmosphere. Slowly but surely the winds died down into a calm breeze, forest settling back into an eerie silence as the creature's flapping grew distant. I hesitantly lifted my head, wary of being struck by a stray rock or branch. Like a brush through hair, the mist had been torn from the area bringing new clarity to my surroundings. I regained my bearings and realigned my rifle, peering through its scope once more.

Between a gap in the trees my target sat still: motionless, its unmoving leer held with strong fixation on my person. The face was that of bone which lacked a single ounce of flesh, side from a few thin slivers of brown and black decay. Despite its absence of eyes I could feel the weight of its harsh glare bearing down on me through those hollow sockets, a potent, malleable animosity emanating from within their depths. Lungs that should have been long since reduced to rot blew hot breath from its barren snout into frigid air at an unnervingly steady pace. I brought my head from behind my sights in shock stricken awe at having been spotted, the animal in near perfect mimicry raised its own.

Its rack (which I somehow had mistaken for branches) stood hugely atop its head with scraps of old flesh and aged vegetation dangling from the pointed bone like rot to a corpse, seeming just a bump shy of sliding off. The appendages stood tall, proud even, in their own twisted form of vile grandeur. We stared, seemingly enraptured by one another's gaze as we both lie suspended in the weighted air of pre-decision. Reading the intentions of an animal had been difficult enough when they had features to read, still I'd put everything on the assumption that death was on its mind, mine specifically. I tensed up, ready to flee at the slightest sign of approach. Its rhythmic breathing paused, just a second too long. I bolted, only to have the animal quickly dart after me in pursuit.