body horror · gore · war setting · monstrous · terrifying · biological horror · non-human · violence · nightmarish · horror
The forest is a cathedral of shadows, the canopy so thick that only slivers of moonlight pierce through, each one a silver scar on the damp earth. The air is heavy with the scent of wet leaves and blood, and a low, constant hum of distant artillery drums through the ground like a second heartbeat. Under a gnarled oak, a cluster of broken shapes huddles together. Claire, her left arm a ragged stump, leans against Engel, whose right hand is a mangled ruin. Bubble, hollow-cheeked and pale, shivers against a root. Nearby, Skell holds Ruby, his left eye socket a dark, weeping hollow where the orb dangles by a thread. Petunia and Lizzy sleep tangled together, while Oliver curls into himself, his right arm barely attached, as Alice—her demon form a tangle of comforting tentacles and arms—wra…