4. Delusion

The next morning you awake and find yourself alone in the strange makeshift hut. Still feeling curious about your strange vision, you quickly make your way back into the woods. To your frustration, for the first couple of weeks you find you're unable to recreate the ritual. By the end of the third week, you've just about given up hope and resigned yourself to the fact you may have just dreamt the whole thing. Nevertheless, on the last day, you decide to go out again and try one last time before completely giving up. The increasingly familiar sound of the forest surround you as you make your way through the deep foliage. Though you're not heading in any specific direction you somehow find yourself in front of the same tree you had seen a few weeks ago. Hoping this is a good sign, you quickly settle down beside the large roots surrounding its base. The light breeze around threatens to extinguish your candles, forcing you to move quickly. You mutter a quick prayer to Odin as you grind a mixture of herbs and ingredients together. It eventually turns into a dark green paste which you use to trace runic symbols on your inner wrists. The prayer ends just as you're adding the last accent to the rune on your left wrist. Satisfied, you close your eyes and begin concentrating on the image of the runes in your mind. The runes begin turning a lighter shade of green in your minds eye as you struggle to keep all other thoughts out.

Their outline slowly becomes more clear and defined while all external feelings seem to fade away. Inhaling deeply, you feel a tinge of worry when the runes start to blur again. In a moment they meld together and slowly drip away like a spilled water. Blackness engulfs your vision as you press the back of your head deeper into the tree behind you. Keeping your eyes closed, you try to stifle your annoyance at your seemingly failed attempt. The loud twang of a branch snapping in the distance causes you to quickly reopen them. "Oh!" You gasp lightly in surprise when you're met by a dark forest in front of you. The candles and materials you had brought with you are no longer before you. Instead, you seem to be surrounded by large and sickly looking mushrooms. Another noise sounds in the distance, pulling your attention away from scene before you. Moving silently, you slowly rise to your feet and peer around the thick trunk. There's enough moonlight peaking through the foliage above for you to see several yards ahead of you. After a moment you notice a shadowy figure make its way around a large tree in the distance. As they make their way forward, you get the impression this person is unsure of where they're headed and is likely lost. When the figure gets closer, you quickly slip around the tree to avoid being seen. This prevents you from getting a better look at the person but also ensures you remain hidden.

Finding yourself on the opposite side of the tree, you wait a moment before quickly peaking out again. The figure is a few feet away, standing still, and facing away from you. A deep sigh that emits from the stranger confirms your suspicion that they are indeed male. This is further confirmed when the man turns his head to look left and right. You're surprised to recognize the man to be the same one you had seen in your last vision. This has to be beyond coincidence now and you want answers. "Why are you here?" The man startles visibly before quickly turning around to see you step out from behind the tree. He starts to reach for the sword on his belt but falters slightly and squints at you. "Do I know you?" Oddly, the man seems to understand you and seems rather fluent despite a light accent. "I... don't know." You find yourself answering honestly as it appears this man probably knows less than you do. He frowns, then takes another look at his surrounds before shivering slightly. "Where is this strange place?" Raising an eyebrow, you remain silent while slowly walking up to the man. His hand briefly returns to the hilt of his sword when you lift your own one up. Running your finger along the scar on his face, you stop at the edge of his jaw, where it begins curving down his neck. Quickly pulling back, you blush slightly at your action and clear your throat. "You don't know where you are?"

"I think this is a dream?" His response sounds more like a question than an answer. Titling your head slightly, you take a moment to obverse his slightly confused expression. "Something like that." Your answer only seems to puzzle the man further so you try to change the subject. You decide to tell him your name in exchange for his, which you learn to be Erec. That explains why his language sounded familiar, as you happened to meet someone from his country a long time ago. Nodding, you walk past him and gesture for him to follow. His footsteps quickly catch up to you and he stays by your side as you continue forward. Since neither of you are actually in the forest, you decide to lead him eastward instead of to the forests edge. Erec appears to be rather trusting as he follows you without question through the dark forest. "I really need to stop drinking so late." You hear him mutter under his breath after a moment. "I always end up having the strangest dreams..." It had momentarily slipped your mind that he believes this is all in his head. While it's true, you're not truly in the forest you see, there is some physical presence. You don't fully understand how it works yet but based on your knowledge it seems your real body experiences some of what happens in this realm. It's how Ulf was able to appear in your dreams all those months ago and how you seemed to have slipped into Erec's.

He's seemed to have relaxed a considerable amount since you first confronted him. After a while he even starts pausing to examine some of the trees and plants you pass by. You watch as he rips a leaf off some nearby brush and looks it over as you continue walking forward. "Find anything interesting?" He looks up quickly and seems almost surprised to hear you speak again. "Unfortunately, not, it seems my mind is too lazy to think of any plants I don't recognize." Raising your eyebrow again, you wonder what it is this man does that makes him so familiar with what you had thought would a foreign landscape to him. "If none of that interested you, perhaps, this will." Erec seems to perk up slightly at your words as you lead him around the base of a large tree. In the clearing up ahead lies a large series of stones forming a half circle. In the middle of the half circle lies a stone alter that's slightly covered in a thick moss. The same moss creeps up the sides of the towering slabs of stone that seem far to large for any man to have moved. This long abandoned temple does seem to catch his interest as he quickly moves forward to inspect the closest stone. Following, you watch as his large hand traces over the faded runes carved into the stone face. "This is a place of worship to... Odin." His voice grows slightly excited as he realization and he moves over to the next stone.

He begins examining the next series of runes while you walk over to the stone slab in the middle of the area. Leaning against it's edge, you continue observing Erec as he makes his way around the rest of the semi-circle. You can hear him muttering to himself, under his breath, when he finishes and makes his way towards you. "Of course there are still some I don't understand." He mumbles somewhat absentmindedly as he stops before you. Glancing over your shoulder at the stone alter, his cloudy expression clears, and he excited states, "It's quite rare for people to make human sacrifices to Odin but I have come across some word of it in my studies." Before you're able to react, Erec quickly grabs your waist and lifts you up. After placing you on the stone slab behind you, he runs his hands up your sides and gently pushes you down. The stone is cold but you're mildly curious as to where this is going and don't fight him. "The person would be laid out on their back to face the stars." He begins to explain and walks around to stand behind you. His grip is loose and non-threatening when he raises your arms up over your head before wrapping his fingers around your wrist. "Their hands would already be tied" His words are calm and almost methodic as he pulls you back slightly so your arms dangle over the edge of the stone. "And there would be an area to secure it, right around... here." Before you have time to react, Erec's grip on your wrists tighten and you feel a piece of cloth being wrapped around them.