2. Discovery

That night you find yourself tossing and turning fretfully in your sleep. Sweat coats your brow and your breathing is somewhat ragged. In your minds eye you see yourself back in the strange forest before a large bonfire. Ulf's hooded men surround you and though you can't see him, you can sense his formidable presence behind you. Dark clouds swirl above your head but you're surprised to feel no wind or rain. The slow rhythmic pounding of a drum starts beating in your ears and is soon followed by chanting. Looking around, you see only see the still figures around you but the sound doesn't seem to coming from them. Inhaling deeply, you feel your anxiety increase with the rhythm of the drum. The chanting starts getting louder and eventually becomes unbearable. Closing your eyes, you place your hands over your ears but quickly realize the sound is coming from inside your head. A moment later you gasp sharply when you feel a burning sensation in between your shoulders. When your eyes open up you find yourself back in the strange hut and let out a deep sigh. You're still lying out on the floor and can feel Ulf's slumbering form next to you. Rolling over onto your side, you stare ahead into the darkness and wonder what you've gotten yourself into.

As the next few weeks pass by you slowly start learning more about the King's strange brother. You ended up finding out that his mother passed away after giving birth to him and when the people saw his multicolored eyes they quickly labeled him as cursed. Because of this he was quite often shunned and scorned by those around him. This led him to spend the majority of his time studying and reading everything he could get his hands on in a vain attempt to break the supposed curse. Eventually, he came across a shaman who promised to show him the answers he was seeking. Slightly ****, Ulf began learning a form of dark magic from the strange man. As his education expanded, so did his ego, and eventually he thought he was ready. After preforming a specific ritual things seemed as if they started changing for Ulf. The people around him appeared to soften slightly and slowly begin accepting him as one of their own. The effect even appeared to spread to his father, as one day he was surprised to be invited on a hunting trip with him. "Unfortunately, things are never always as they seem." He had remarked, somewhat darkly, before continuing his story. During the excursion, a large storm had formed, and Ulf found himself separated from the group. His hunting experience was somewhat lacking as he had rarely been permitted on such trips.

Eventually, as he tried finding his way back to the group, the sound of men shouting in the distance reached his ears. He desperately tried to get to them as quickly as he could, but soon their cries slowly died out. He reached the scene just in time to see a large wolf sink it's teeth deeply into his father's neck. You recall seeing a dark look come over Ulf's eyes as he continues revealing the past event. As the scene unfolded before him a new sensation overcame him as fury and rage poured through his body. Despite felling the large beast before him, it was far too late for his father. When the town found out it was a wolf who took down the King, the rumor of Ulf's curse reached a boiling point. "They blamed me, for having cursed eyes, and the fact my name is the same as the beast that killed my father." Ulf had scoffed slightly. "As if I had any choice in either of those things." It seems that even though Rurik believed he not present for the attack, he still resented Ulf for not being there. "I only come around when he needs someone to do his dirty work." He went on to explain, as his expression darkened further. After learning his story, you grew slightly more sympathetic to him, yet equally curious.

Over the next few weeks, he began teaching you his strange, mystical, ways. At first you mainly learn about different plants, herbs, and other natural ingredients. After a while you were finally shown different ways to preserve them before combining them into a mixture. The harder part came next, as you struggle to learn the different chants and incantations that went along each mixture. Each ritual requires it's own set of ingredients and methods. Some are physical and verbal, while, others are mental and emotional. After a while you finally start getting the grasp of things and are given more freedom to experiment on your own. Overtime you've learned that practicing in the woods, ideally in solitude, is your preferred method. Though it's early in the day, the sky is dark as it's slightly overcast while you make your way deeper into the forest. The forest seems to grown more lush and dense as you progress further into it. Despite this, the trees around you appear ancient and weathered, as if they've been there since the beginning of time. Shivering slightly, you sit down at the base of one of the large trees and spread your materials out before you. Leaning back, you mix a few items together into a small stone mortar.

This particular ritual hasn't worked for you in the past, however, something feels slightly different today. Your hands move more confidentially as you light a few candles before closing your eyes. For a while the only thing you notice is the cold wind around you and the rough bark pressing against your back. Eventually, your breathing grows even and calm as all outside sensations seem to fade. After a moment, a warm breeze gently grazes your skin, breaking you out of the illusion. Somewhat disappointingly, you open your eyes but are confused when you don't see the forest before you. Instead, you seem to be in small and slightly dark room. When your eyes adjust, you see the room is tilting from side to side. There's a small, circular, window just before you and when you step forward, you see large waves lapping against it's glass. A noise to your side quickly draws your attention away and you turn in it's direction. Against the other wall sits a small desk and a figure is in a chair before it, hunched over slightly. Cautiously, you step forward towards unseen person, doing your best to remain silent. As you approach, you see shaggy black hair covering the back of the figures head. When you glance over his wide shoulder, you see a series of different parchments before him.

The majority have an unknown script written across them but your eyes are quickly drawn to the ones with depictions of runes. The man before you sighs, and slumps forward slightly. Looking further down, your eyes slowly trace over the parchment before him. It seems as if he's in the middle of deciphering the runes, as there's unfamiliar writing under each rune but one. You quickly recognize the unlabeled glyph, however, before you read the entire sentence a door quickly slams open. Tensing, you hold your breath as the man before you quickly stands up. Another man enters through the now open door and they start conversing in an unknown, but slightly familiar language. Pressing your back against the wall behind you, you anxiously watch the man's broad back as he talks. He seems to grow slightly distressed about something as the conversation progresses. After a while the figure outside the door turns and leaves. The man before you sighs deeply and runs a hand through his thick hair. His back muscles flex lightly against the fabric of his shirt during the motion. His hand lowers and you hear saying something in his strange tongue. Your back stiffens when he turns around to face your direction but strangely, he doesn't notice to see you.

Staring curiously ahead, your eyes slowly trace over the strange man's figure. His dark hair hangs slightly over his cloudy, light brown, eyes. There's a thin scar running down the left side of his cheek that loops under his square jaw line before ending half way down his neck. Your eyes continue running down and taking in his lean but sturdy frame slowly for a moment before looking back at the desk. Since he seems lost in thought and unable to see you, you decide to move forward. You want to take another look at the parchments to see if you can decipher the runes. Your eyes quickly scan over the paper and feel as if you vaguely recognize the words. Unfortunately, the top half of the inscription is covered since the parchment is slightly folded over. Glancing over your shoulder, you see that the man next to you still seems completely oblivious to your presence. Feeling a bit more confident you slowly reach out and unfurl the page before you. You start looking over the rune when you hear the man behind you turn suddenly. Looking over your shoulder, you see him move towards the table and quickly step out of the way. His hand reaches over to the paper you just unfolded and you see his brow furrow slightly. His head turns and it seems as if his eyes lock onto your own. Before you can react the walls around you suddenly begin to melt and everything grows black. When your vision returns you find yourself back in the forest. Exhaling deeply, you lean your head back against the tree as the memory of your vision flashes through your mind.