The Woman in the Snow

Isengleskogen is a forest in northern Norway. I recently moved to Lakselev, Norway for work. Even though it was January, I figured that, since I was out in the wilderness, that I might as well go out into the woods. There wasn't a whole lot to do in town. Besides, I'd heard the trails in Isengleskogen were pretty nice. There were only a few blocks between my house and the edge of the woods, anyway. I grabbed a bottle of water and a little bag of trail mix (I was going on a trail, after all), and headed out.

It had snowed the day before. I guess snow is pretty common up here. It was a pretty soft, powdery snow, the kind ski resorts prefer. It crunched loudly as I stepped on it. Despite the covering of snow, I was pretty confident in my ability to keep track of the trail, since the forest was somewhat dense and the opening where the trees were removed was pretty distinguishable. I wasn't worried about that.

It was still pretty early in the afternoon, only about 1 PM. I wasn't worried about the sun going down. Then again, I had only moved from Virginia fairly recently, so northern Norway might as well have been on a different planet in terms of climate and daylight. At least that's what I thought. It might have just been such a big change that I was seeing as being bigger than it was. But I digress.

After about a half an hour, I wasn't terribly deep in the woods. I was moving at a pretty leisurely pace, after all. I had passed a lot of scenery, but nothing that really stood out. Just a lot of trees, a few of which had fallen. It was at this point that I realized something that surprised me just a little: I wasn't alone in the woods. I stopped briefly, when I noticed that a few flakes were weakly drifting to the ground, and noticed that I could hear something else. I could hear the sound of snow crunching under a human's feet. They didn't sound like they were wearing heavy boots or anything, it was quieter than that. I could only really tell it was a person because it was clearly two feet. "Crunch. Crunch. Crunch." They sounded distant, just barely close enough for me to actually hear it. The woods were pretty quiet. It wasn't windy or anything like that.

That's when I saw her. In the distance, a woman. Although my memory is shaky, I'd place her in the ballpark of about 50 yards away. I could just barely see her moving between the trees. Drifting casually like the snow. Something struck me about her appearance, though. I had to get closer to her to know if I was right or not.

So I pursued her. I didn't want to call out to her yet. I began trying to hurry up. She didn't seem like she was moving very fast, but I was struggling to keep sight of her in the forest. Finally, I was about 10 yards away from her. I was now close enough to confirm what I thought I'd seen before. The woman was completely naked. I figured this woman must need help, that she must have been on something, or mentally ill. Nobody walks around out in the snowy woods with no clothes on.

"Excuse me." I piped up. She didn't acknowledge me. She must have been on some serious drugs.

"Excuse me." I repeated, a bit louder this time. She kept walking, although when I said that, her pace had slowed just a bit. I didn't mean to stare, considering the situation, but she really was gorgeous, from what I saw of her. Without going into any lurid details, I'll just say her body and what little of her face I managed to see was damn-near perfect. I shook off the distraction and began trying to approach her. I got to about five yards from her when she suddenly stopped. It was such a sudden thing, that I stopped too.

"Excuse me, ma'am, are you OK?" I asked in the best Norwegian I could (admittedly not very good). She stood motionless in the forest for a few seconds, before quickly turning to me. I got a good look at her face now. She didn't seem particularly bothered by the cold. Her flowing blonde hair looked to have just come from a salon, her body didn't seem to be reacting to the cold at all, no frostbite, no bluish tint, no shivering, not even goosebumps. What really struck me about her was her eyes. Her eyes were cold-looking blue, almost gray. She had no particular expression and despite having turned to me, she didn't seem to really notice that I was there. Her face and body language didn't indicate that she was actually acknowledging me. She never looked directly at me. I figured that she must really be on some serious drugs. I stopped for a second or two to think of what she might be on before remembering her current situation.

"Um... Ma'am? Are you alright?" I repeated. No response. "Look, I can call a hospital for you if you need me to." I offered. At that point I realized that I didn't bring my cell phone with me. Shit, what would I do now? I had no way of contacting authorities with this drugged up naked lady in the middle of the frozen woods, but I didn't feel comfortable just leaving her out here to go and get help. What if a search team wouldn't be able to find her in time? How long had she been out here anyway? I figured that my best option would be trying to coax her to following me back to town.

"Ma'am, would you like my coat?" I offered. It was probably better than just letting her freeze after all. She didn't react to my question at all. Despite the cold, I took my coat off and began to approach her. That's when I noticed something I didn't notice before. Her fingers and toes now seemed to be a blue color. I looked before and she didn't seem at all frostbitten. Where did that come from so fast? I knew I had to get her out of there fast. As I got closer, there was more frostbite I hadn't noticed before, on her nose and ears. Suddenly, she turned away from me and began walking.

"Hey, wait!" I called out to her. No response. Suddenly, her pace quickened. A few seconds later, she was running. A few seconds after that, she was out of sight. "Dammit!" I shouted. I would have to try to follow her footprints in the snow.

That's when I noticed that she wasn't leaving any footprints. What the hell was going on here? A naked lady walking aimlessly out in the woods in the middle of a Norwegian winter with randomly appearing frostbite and she wasn't leaving any footprints? Was she on drugs or was I? I thought about just turning back and trying to go back to town, but I still thought it'd be better to find her and lead her back. I would just grab her and carry or drag her if necessary. I wasn't gonna let this lady freeze to death while I could do something about it, even if she was apparently levitating.

It was at that point that I realized that I didn't know where I was. In my attempts to get to her, I had lost track of the trail. Well now I felt stupid. My own footprints, I thought. I turned around and found that my footprints were also gone. My trail now just started where I was standing at the moment. Had the snow filled them in or was I going crazy? I know for a goddamn fact that I wasn't levitating. It was at this revelation that I was becoming legitimately afraid. Something was seriously wrong here.

What could I do now? I didn't know where the lady was anymore and I didn't know how to get back to town even if I could find her. Isengeleskogen is a big expanse of forest. It eventually extends back to a mountain range. Unfortunately, the trees were too thick to see the mountains for reference. Where the fuck was I? I could see one thing, however. The sun was starting to go down. The sun goes down pretty early around here. I guess it was a mistake to go out this late. I figured I'd be home by now.

I decided that all I could really do was just start walking the direction I thought I came from, the direction that would lead me back home. I picked the direction that had been directly behind me when I lost sight of the woman. I figured that if I could find the trail, it would be easy. I felt terrible leaving her that way, but I needed to know where the hell I was before I could effectively help her. I was now considering just rushing home and calling the authorities to be the best available option. But first I needed to find home.

I walked for what felt like hours, through snow and trees, without ever finding the trail. I didn't know if this was more of my mind playing tricks on me, similar to my footprints disappearing, or if I'd legitimately gone in the wrong direction. I paused to look around, when I noticed the woman walking off in the distance. Relative to my position, she was at 3:30, about 20 yards away. I stared at her for a few seconds, realizing that she was actually looking at me. The fact that she was looking at me was creepier than when she wasn't. I was frozen in place, too confused to approach her. I knew I needed to help her, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to anymore. All of this seemed so off.

She then began taking a few slow steps toward me. I don't know why, but I was getting scared now. I took a few steps back to attempt to match the ground she was gaining on me. She didn't seem determined to get to me. In fact, despite looking at me, she still didn't seem like she actually noticed me as much as she was looking in that direction and I happened to be in the way. I was, for some reason, apprehensive to turn away from her and just run. I was still clinging to the idea that this was just some normal woman, out of her mind on drugs, who needed my help. My own pace was beginning to slow. I don't know why. I wanted to get away from her for some reason, but my body just wasn't moving the way it should have been. I was so cold. It was like ice was forming in my blood. She was gaining ground on me pretty quickly.

"Ma'am, if you need help, I can help you." I said. "We can get back to town. Lakselev, you know where that is, right? It's just on the outside of the woods here. Do you want me to help you?" No response. I looked down and noticed that her hands and feet were frostbitten. There were also patches of frostbite all over her body now. Had her condition become more severe? When she got closer, the frostbite was on her lips, turning them a dull blue color. Her breasts and face were slowly becoming flushed in a frosty blue.

"Ma'am, your frostbite is getting worse! We need to get you to town! Will you take my coat?" I shouted. I was becoming panicked at her bizarre behavior and the entire situation. There really was something severely wrong here. A large clump of snow fell from a branch above my head and crashed on my head. It didn't hurt, but I had to wipe the snow from my eyes. It took little effort getting it out.

I looked up from my struggle to notice her now standing very close to me, nearly arms length away. That's when I lost it. I began to will myself away from her. I took off running, not caring what direction I was heading anymore. As long as I could get away from that monster, that thing. She wasn't human, or if she was, she wasn't a normal human. When I looked up at her that time, her body was completely covered in frostbite. The entirety of her skin was a deep, blue color. Patches of decay pocketed her skin. Her arms from her forearms down and her legs from mid-calf down were skeletal. Her face was mutilated by frostbite. Her ears and nose missing, the rims of her lips missing. Her breasts were actually missing entirely, with a large patch of mutilation carved into her chest by frostbite, exposing just a small amount of her ribcage.

I was just about out of my mind. I was running now. I had no idea where I would end up. I was just hoping to find the edge of the woods before she might have found me. I couldn't tell at all if I was getting closer to safety or further into the woods. Then I kind of wondered if just escaping the woods would be enough. Would she follow me out? I didn't know what to think anymore. That thing obviously wasn't human anymore, assuming it ever really was, so I didn't know if it would conform to human logic. All I could do was cycle through begging not to be found, begging to escape somewhere safe, cursing my entire decision to go walking out in the woods, cursing the woods themselves, asking what the hell she was, all of this. It was all I could do while running to avoid going crazy. I don't know, maybe it was making the whole thing worse.

I ran for what must have been another few hours. It was dark now. As I was running, I tripped over a root, steered sideways, and slammed my back into a tree. It was now too dark for me to see anything, and I was now too tired to even move. If she were to find me, that's all there was to it. I would have to rest, build up some strength. I backed myself up against the tree I had collided with and stared into the blackness, hoping not to get attacked. I remembered the food I brought with me and pulled out my bottle of water. All of the liquid had frozen solid. I found that odd because I didn't really think it was cold enough for that to happen, especially since it had been in my coat pocket the entire time. Maybe I was just losing it. Well, I couldn't drink ice, so I moved on to the trail mix. It was fine, gave me a bit of strength. Stopping to eat let me at least try to collect myself. I could really only wonder what the fuck that thing was, why I was seeing so many weird things going on with the snow and ice. There had to be some kind of connection, but I wasn't about to approach any solid ideas as to what it was.

As I sat in the dark, I could hear snow crunching somewhere. It was pitch black, but I could tell it was somewhere to my right. I was too exhausted to move now. All I could really do was sit against the tree and hope she didn't find me, or at least hope that whatever she would do to me wouldn't be too bad. For some reason, I doubted that. When I looked at her back then, she was looking at me, for just a second. When I could see what she really was, that frostbitten corpse, her eyes stayed, but they were glazed over, like she was drugged or something. For just a second, she looked right at me, with a look of such intent. I can't think of what she might want to do to me, but I'm not really liking any of my options.

As I sat there, listening to the distant crunching, I focused, so intently I could feel every single snowflake that hit me. They seemed to be getting colder, somehow. The entire forest seemed to be dropping in temperature. I honestly wasn't sure I would live to see her catch me, I might freeze to death first. I was trying to think maybe I shouldn't just be sitting here, but I couldn't decide which was more dangerous, walking around hoping not to be found or sitting in one spot hoping not to be found. I wasn't so sure about my odds either way. I looked behind the tree to still see nothing in the dark. I was pretty quickly darting my eyes and head around, desperately trying to get a visual on something, anything. I couldn't even see the tree I was leaning against. It must have been a new moon or something.

I was so paranoid, I was pretty quickly losing track of time. I had no idea what time it might be, but things were starting to get blurry. At some point, I must have fallen asleep, because suddenly, I opened my eyes to see broad daylight. In hindsight, I kind of wish I had been able to stay awake. Although nothing happened, something easily could have. In fact, whatever she is seemed to have such a good grasp on the woods, I'm surprised she didn't find me. The only thing I can really think of is that she must have found me, but thought it would be too easy if I was sleeping when she did it. I looked to my right and saw footprints in the snow. Not a trail, just two footprints, side-by-side, like somebody hovered over, landed right there, and flew away. Was she watching me the entire night? Fuck, I think that might actually be worse than if she caught me, cause now I know she's toying with me. I'm not sure if she considered me more prey or a toy, but I didn't like either option.

Now that it was morning and I had rested, I decided I needed to start running again, trying to find the trail, the edge of the woods, anything. Honestly, I was sore as hell from all that running, but I guess I couldn't avoid more of it. I started out at a slow walk, keeping my eye out for whatever that thing might be. This was a bit difficult, since I wanted desperately to just take off and run. I had to think about where I was going instead of just zipping around blindly. I thought of looking for moss on trees, since I knew the woods were to the southeast of town. Conveniently, the trees had no moss at all, neither did the nearby rocks. I tried to think back, on where the sun set last night. I wasn't awake to see it rise and I was running so blindly I didn't notice where it set. The sun was currently to my left. I didn't know what time it was or what direction that was, so that was worthless. I wish I was an expert tracker. I'm sure some hunter or navigator would be able to get me out of the woods.

So now I just had to walk, hoping I was going in the right direction, hoping I wouldn't run into that thing again. I walked for a while, what had to be two hours or so. I still didn't seem to be anywhere near the edge of the woods. I still couldn't see anything notable. It was mostly just a flat plain of snow with trees all over it. I kind of wish they had put a sign up at the edge of the woods warning people not to go into it. Then again, I'm sure a "WARNING: NAKED ZOMBIE LADY" sign would be dismissed as a joke.

At this point, I realized I was stupid and just ate a handful of snow. I completely forgot that snow was just fluffy water and just went without liquid because my water bottle was frozen. I must have been so confused with exhaustion that I didn't even think of it. With that refresher, I began to realize I was being followed again. I could hear the snow crunching from behind me again. I turned to face it, but there was nothing there. I gazed around, but still couldn't see anything. I needed to hurry up before that thing caught up to me, so I got up and kept moving.

It was hours later and I still didn't see any scenery that looked even remotely unique. I had no idea these woods were this big. I realized that nobody really knew me, so nobody would probably be looking for me. I wasn't really counting on that anyway, honestly. I just needed to find a way out. At this rate, I wasn't sure if I was just walking in circles or not. I could have been, for all I knew. At this point, I realized the sun was hanging low in a certain direction. That must have been west. I knew I needed to go northwest, so all I had to do was head in some direction from there. I didn't know where I would come out, but it was worth a shot, so I started walking.

I walked for several more hours in what I assumed was a straight line. It didn't seem to be taking me anywhere, but I knew that it had to have been. I looked up, trying to focus on the sun, trying to see which way I was going. Around then, I turned back to my path to see that imitation of a woman standing directly in front of me. She was far enough away that I couldn't see if there was any frostbite on her this time, she didn't look like it, but she was staring directly at me, walking toward me. I had an advantage this time, or at least I thought. I knew where the hell I was going. I turned left and started running toward the sun. I knew that there was a highway that went through a part of the woods. I wasn't so intent on getting to the highway as my definite destination, just as insurance. If she blocks my path directly to town, I can find some semblance of civilization.

I ran for a few minutes, before realizing that I'd lost her, or at least it looked like I did. I wasn't sure anymore. She could be anywhere, I was starting to realize. I slowed to a stop and surveyed my surroundings. I didn't see her anywhere, nor any sign of her. A small sliver of sun was peeking through the trees now, but I could tell it would probably be setting within the hour. I had to find my way out before that happened, otherwise I would lose my only usable reference point. I took off running again, sprinting through the forest, dodging between trees in the somewhat rare occasion where it was necessary. I had no idea how long I was running. Maybe 45 minutes, but it was rapidly getting darker. I was losing light and my ability to navigate. I could only try to keep running in a single direction, then just keep going in that direction once the sun was down.

I felt I had a pretty good system going now. Surely I couldn't get lost if I kept in a straight line. The only thing I really had to worry about was getting interrupted. At that point, I crashed into a tree. I had been running for hours, I must have been tired again. I was numb all over most of my body, now, from both cold and exhaustion. My coat wasn't really protecting me from the environment the way it should have been. As I slowly rose to my feet, I saw an opening in the trees. It was the trail. I had finally found it again. I climbed back to two feet and staggered onto it. I felt a lot better knowing I had found a sign that I was on the right track. I then realized I had something of a conundrum. Should I really follow the trail, or should I keep going in a straight line the way I was? I remembered seeing a map of the trail outside, seeing that it wasn't just one trail, but a huge network. I don't remember any specific directions or paths or routes, but I knew that just blindly following the trail might not necessarily be a good idea, especially now that I was already on a good path.

I decided the trail could go screw itself, and kept walking in a straight line. It was so dark now, I could barely see. I couldn't quite move as quickly as I was before, but I wasn't about to just stop. I didn't trust my safety to that monster. It was now practically pitch black. I didn't know what time it must have been. I had been alternating between walking and running for more than 24 hours now. When the fuck would these woods end? These woods couldn't have been this expansive. They just couldn't have been. I must have been just completely lost at this point. I didn't know what to think at that point, and I still don't to be honest.

While I was lost in thought, I realized the sun went down. The night wasn't quite as dark as the night before, but it was still nearly pitch black. I wouldn't just be running blindly anymore, so I kept walking straight. I felt in front of me for trees, groping blindly like an idiot. I must have looked like one to that sadistic bitch. I went on grabbing at nothing for several hours. It had to be past midnight when I suddenly felt something that wasn't natural. I felt a quick brush of a wispy, spiderweb-like form. It was hair. Her hair. That thing's hair. I stepped back for a second, looking around in the darkness. I couldn't see her anywhere. I could just barely make out the trees around me, silhouetted, black against extremely dark gray. I stood mostly blind, probably helpless against this monster in the dark. Not seeing her was worse than seeing her. That paranoia that grips you as a little kid in your bedroom, staring at the closet waiting for the boogeyman to come out and eat you. I finally took a step, not feeling any sign of her anywhere. I kept taking a few very slow steps, trying to make some kind of headway. At this rate, I wasn't sure I would even notice if I was out of the woods or not. I could be standing in a field and I might not really notice. I debunked that when I felt a tree's bark in front of me. I began maneuvering around it, keeping at its base to avoid losing my direction.

As I rounded the trunk, I felt something. I felt two icy cold, skeletal hands lightly caress the sides of my neck. I felt what must have been that thing's shredded lips lightly kiss my ear. At that moment, I lost it. I turned around, took a swing, hitting nothing, and turned back, taking off running. Kind of funny how quickly I abandoned my plan of just staying slow. I have no idea what the fuck that thing wanted, but it wouldn't be getting it from me. I sprinted through the woods, occasionally bumping into the edge of a tree, heading where I prayed was northwest. I was in a full panic, just barely keeping it together enough to remember where I was supposed to be going. It was a flashback to the night before, where I just ran blindly and probably got myself as lost as I was. At least I could hope I had stayed in the right direction this time, but I wasn't banking on it. I had to avoid trees in the dark, hoping that lady wasn't behind me, or in front of me. That might be the thing that panicked me the most, the idea that I would just run right into her in the dark and never see her coming. I couldn't shake that feeling. I never felt like she wasn't right next to me, I knew she was always somewhere close by, watching me, waiting for whatever she wanted from me.

At some point in the dark, I suddenly ran right into something. It was low and hard. It seemed to be a big rock. I felt one of my shinbones shatter on contact from how hard I was running, combined with the shape of it. I went hurtling over it, rolled over the top of it, and landed in what seemed to be a collection of smaller rocks. I groped my way around before finding my footing. The rocks I was standing on were loose, so I ended up falling again. My hand landed just right for me to get an idea of the rock itself. It felt so strange. It actually didn't seem to stone, it was too light for that. I picked it up and felt its shape, discovering it to be a bone. I felt around a bit more and found that all of the small rocks I was laying with were bones, some of them clearly human.

I began trying to crawl my way out before brushing my hand on something metallic. I picked it up, finding it to be an old lighter. I gave it a few clicks to see if it worked. I have no idea if it did, since I was terrible with lighters. I never could get one to light up. As I sat there, I felt something brush against my leg. It was a hand. I jumped back, assuming it was her. As I backed away, I heard what I can only describe as a hoarse, weak wheezing noise. I grabbed a large rock, crawling over it in an attempt to rest for energy. I wasn't sure how well I could do that with a busted leg bone. As I sat back, I could hear snow crunching from behind me. I listened carefully, trying to see exactly where it was coming from. How close was it? It was in the bone pile, apparently. The footsteps suddenly stopped, as I heard total silence for a few seconds. The wheezing kicked back, more panicked-sounding this time, like a person who had their vocal chords cut desperately trying to talk. I suddenly began hearing a different crunching noise. It sounded like bone breaking. It sounded like flesh tearing. I didn't know what was worse, what was happening or what might be happening. Not knowing killed me. I had to know what it was. Curiosity was driving me crazy, even though I dreaded what the answer to my question might be. Finally, I decided I had to see. I peeked over the rock, seeing nothing but darkness, of course. I remembered the lighter, giving it a few flicks before finally getting the damn thing to light.

When I looked down, I saw her. I now saw the full scope of the bone pile. It was huge. It looked almost like one of those mass graves that genocides and massacres have been known to produce. There were some animal bones too; deer, birds, dogs, but it seemed like it was mostly people. As I looked closely, I saw tooth marks on the bones. As I looked up, I saw exactly what she was doing, the exact source of that noise. It was a man. It looked to be a middle aged man or at least what was left of him. His body was missing from around his stomach down. She was holding his torso up, devouring him. She was biting off huge mouthfuls of organs and flesh, breaking bone with her teeth. Where it had once wore its disguise as a normal woman, attempting to maintain a sort of dignity or beauty, its facade had mostly been abandoned. Its mouth opened, too wide, probably due to what seemed to be her cheeks missing, and hungrily tore off huge chunks of flesh, ravenously, animalistically. She looked up at me, giving me a frigid look with those eyes. She glared at me, her "female dignity" facade returning. She stood, her mouth drenched in frozen blood. The man seemed to be fading quickly. His body was blue from frostbite. I have no idea how he was still alive, but he probably wouldn't be for much longer. As she approached me, she took further notice of the lighter I carried. She seemed to shy away from me when she saw it, like she was afraid of it. She approached me nonetheless, slowly, inching closer. As she approached, I realized what it was. Everything about her was cold. Her body was cold, her home was cold, her victims were cold, her food was cold. Heat must be something she can't deal with. As she was within arms reach, I thrust the lighter at her. She quickly backed away, before continuing her approach. I tried this a few more times before realizing that I was right, she can't stand heat.

At this point, I had a crazy idea that I must have gotten from an action movie. I figured that if she was afraid or weakened by heat, I could set her on fire and possibly be done with her for good. As well as I could, I kept the lighter lit up and gently tossed it at her, reaching right into her hair. Her hair was lightly singed, apparently catching a slight bit of fire, before the lighter faded out on the ground. I couldn't see what was happening anymore, just embers coming from her apparently burning hair. I didn't want to stick around. This thing didn't seem very mortal, so I didn't want to risk the idea that I had only pissed it off. As best as I could with my busted up leg, I took off running. That wasn't very fast, more like a quickened limp, but it was fast enough. I didn't see any really convincing signs that she was following me, but I'll never be sure. Everything after that just kind of blurred together. I have no clue how long I might have been running. It seemed almost like I might have fallen asleep while running, because suddenly, I was reaching the highway, staggering out onto the pavement and collapsing.

At this point, I blacked out, what happened between then and when I woke up in the hospital was extremely fuzzy. I must have been picked up by somebody at some point, but I don't remember who they were or when they came along. I just came to for a few seconds in somebody's car, or it might have been the cab of a truck. The person asked me who I was. I answered. They asked me what I was doing out in the woods and what had happened to me. For all I know, I blacked back out again before I could answer. I woke up in the hospital in the afternoon. The doctors and police were asking me what happened to me. I didn't mention the bones, fearing doing so would just be sending some police officers to their deaths. I just told them that I had for a walk in the woods and became hopelessly lost. One officer asked me about the marks on my body. Apparently, when the woman touched me, she left marks of frostbite on my neck in the shape of skeletal hands. I told them I had no idea how that came to be. They didn't really seem to press the issue.

I got home a few days later. I started my job a few days after that. I wasn't really that great in Norwegian, but had a passing knowledge of it. I asked a few co-workers about Isengelskogen. One older guy told me about the woods being haunted by something, but he didn't really elaborate. I don't think I really needed him to, since I knew all I needed to know about it.

On rare occasions, I've felt like I was back in there, a sudden chilly draft in my house and the feeling that I'm being watched, even in the summer, even after I moved to Ottawa, once again for work. The frostbite she left on my neck left a very visible scar. It still hurts a little bit, but especially in the winter. On cold, snowy days, it feels like knives.

I don't recommend ever going into Isengelskogen, not even for a second. I don't know what that thing was, where she came from, or if she survived my attack. I was lucky to have gotten away, because I know that if I hadn't found that lighter, I probably would have ended up the same as that guy. I still warn you, that if you do decide to go into Isengelskogen, I can't promise that you'll do any better than I did.