Following the disposal of the armored corpses into the river, Isiah retreated to his shore sanctuary without delay, haunted by the immediate threat of a hellhound pack tracking his trail. He gathered a handful of crusty vegetation and a few decaying fruits native to the World Beyond before hunkering down.
A profound, unnatural transformation was taking root deep within his physical form, and the most terrifying reality was his conscious awareness of it, despite his desperate refusal to acknowledge the change.
The local vegetation tasted atrocious, and the decaying fruits were repulsive, yet what he fought hardest to suppress was an entirely different, horrific craving stirring in his gut.
The unnatural impulse had first surfaced following his execution of the lead armored knight, though he had initially dismissed the sensation as adrenaline and residual combat fury. Yet following today's bloody skirmish, he could no longer deny the grim reality of his physical state.
