The subject was found prone beside a tree of no known species, limbs tangled in posture resembling prayer or seizure. Dimensions approximated human, though the spinal angle and joint arrangement suggested otherwise. Surface temperature measured cold despite ambient warmth. Flesh bore human pigmentation at first glance—until peeled. Beneath: a greyed muscle not of this world. Fibrous, resistant, weeping slow amber fluid under strain.

  Upon incision at the lower abdomen, the bowel revealed itself swollen, glassy, and pinked with blistered gas-pockets. No digestive order was discernible. The stomach was shriveled and adhered to the spine, suggesting long starvation or utter disuse. The colon had no outlet. Worm-like tendrils unfurled when pierced—each snapping with a sound like root pulled from wet soil. The stench: unbearable. Notes of rot, sap, burnt marrow, and something vaguely sweet.

  Musculature dense, corded, with a pale sheen like animal fat left long in smoke. The arms bore strength beyond scale, yet trembled in rigor. Dissection revealed folded growths inside the shoulder blades—possibly abortive wings, or once-meant limbs. The feet were reversed. One leg ended in cartilage, not bone.

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  The face retained a structure nearly human, but with no eyes—merely folds sealed over hollow orbits. Beneath them: beads of nerve clusters, luminous, reactive to breath. The mouth opened only upon the third incision and revealed a blackened forked tongue and several rows of teeth, some appearing to be rooted in bone, others loose and glassy. No vocal organ found.

  The skull was thick but brittle, breaking easily beneath the knife. The braincase overgrown and malformed: the brain itself grey and collapsed, producing no blood but a silvery fluid thick as sap. No clear hemispheric division. Thought centers indistinct, if present. Frontal ridges bloated into twin arcs that curved upward like vestigial horns. Entire cranium bore signs of pressure endured from within.

  Upon piercing the cardiac mass, a flare ignited—a spontaneous, bluish flame, sustained for seven seconds. No source of ignition. Heart consumed itself entirely. In its place was found a crusted black deposit, akin to ash fused with iron.

  Subject bore remnants of what might once have been a human belt, fused to the hip by skin or heat. No insignia remained. Burned with the rest.

  Priest present declared it unfit for burial and recommended burning. I agreed.

  Documented by Physician-Lieutenant Arnim Krell, under sanction of the 3rd Faithful Battalion. Copy restricted.