Ch 2. A Mysterious Discovery

Standing there, Eric slowly tries collecting himself. "It was just a dream," he thought as he splashed more water on his face. Eric grabs a cloth hanging in front of him and dampens it with water. He then starts scrubbing the sweat off his body to help soothe himself after that bizarre dream. "That was so fucking strange, I don't even know what to make of it. I'm just glad it was only a dream," Eric says aloud. Once done with his morning scrub, Eric walks back into his room and opens up his wardrobe. He stood there deciding what to wear, not having many options due to a lack of variety. Multiple scarlet and blue vests with black brass buttons hung in front of him. Eric grabbed a vest and threw it on the bed after grabbing a pair of purple shorts and undershirt from the drawer at the bottom. He put on his clothes and walked out to the living room of his home. The living room wasn't very big, it had a green handmade chair by an elegant marble table. Atop the table was an oil lamp next to a brown satchel and fishing gear. There was a little window next to the wide oak door, and beside the door was a hat rack with a pair of goggles hanging from one arm. At the foot of the rack was a pair of ankle high boots fashioned from some sort of black rock like scales, but they were light and seemed very durable.

Eric walked over and grabbed the boots, sat at the table and put them on. After doing so grabbed the satchel, a fishing pole and some gear and headed towards the door. Walking up to the door, Eric glimpsed out the window to see it was still early morning and the sun has yet to fully rise. As he opened the door Eric was met by a nice cool breeze flowing in from off the cove. He could hear birds flying over head and singing up in the trees. His quaint little home was on the outskirts of town in willow woods and it was only a short walk into town. Outside his door was a little dirt path leading to his front gate, which had been made of stone, but was overwhelmed by moss and beautiful red flowers. The grass was covered in the mornings fresh dew and sparkled in the early morning sun. There were vegetables and little bushes with blue berries along the sides of the path. By the gate was a little purple tree, with waxy blue leaves, and little pink buds floating seemlessly from its branches. As he aproached the tree Eric looked at it affectionately and said, "your looking lovely today little one, hopefully your first bloom is right around the corner." He walked out the gate and followed the path to his right towards Solaris Cove, his hometown.

The willow woods wasn't your usual woods, it was almost like it was alive. With every step Eric took he could see the trees dancing around him, feel them breathe beneath his hands as he touches their stocky trunks, hears them sing as their branches sway in the wind. The willows here were blue in color with beautiful green flowers and moss hanging like hair from their branches. It was truly a peaceful place. Nobody really knew other than Eric what resides in those woods besides him. The woods were home to the guardians of the forest, The Fae Folk. As he walked the path into town, Eric could hear the echoes of nymphs gleefully dancing through the woods to a melody he could barely make out as soft and pleasant. The closer to town he got the more distant the sounds and feelings of the woods grew. It always saddens Eric when he goes into town, but he knows it's not forever, its home.

As he neared the village Eric could hear the sounds of crackling fire and metal on metal clanging in the distance. The source of this noise most likely his friend Selenia's dad Remy, working hard at the forge, he was the town's Smith. Eric could also make out the sound of the hustle and bustle of the town's market, even though it was fairly early. At the edge of town there was a boy dressed in a black fur vest, tan shorts made from leather, and a blue bandana atop his head covering his golden locks of hair. The boy was about Eric's height but was just a little shorter. As eric approached, the boy hurried over in excitement. "Hey Eric! Got any big plans today?" Asked Jacobi, his childhood friend and the chief's son, as they walked into town. "Not really. I'm actually going down to the cove to see what I can catch at the moment. After that I'm really not sure. Would you like to join me?" replied Eric. Jacobi put his hands behind his head with a groan,"I would but my dad wants me to go hunting with him, my uncle is coming soon so he wants to prepare a feast..." "Which uncle? The one from Veridia or the creepy one over the mountain?" Eric asks. "My uncle from Veridia sadly, just means the larger the prey is gonna have to be." Eric turns to JacobI as they walked and threw his arm over his neck, "Well don't go getting yourself maimed now, I get you have a thing for Mary and her moms the town Druid, but that doesnt mean you need to go to the infirmary more often just to see her," Eric teases. "Hey! I don't do that! At least not on purpose. And your one to talk breaking stuff to have Remy fix it so you can hang out with Selenia," Jacobi retorts. "I mean you have a fair point, but I'm not as bad at hunting or fighting as your are" Eric says. As they talked they walked up to a long hut. It had mossy stone brick walls, with heavy oak doors and windows, and the roof was wooden with dark tiles. "Well this is me," says Jacobi quickly as he starts walking up the small stoop to the front door. "Alright buddy I'll catch up with you later. Try to stay safe out there," Eric responds laughing.

He turns and walks along the cobblestone path towards the cove and past the village square. This was where most traders set up shop when they were in town while they were passing through. "I may stop in and browse through the vendors shops later after I go wander the cove," Eric thinks to himself. Passing the market you could see a wall of purple trees with blue leaves crossing over the path. Eric keeps walking through a small archway in the mangroves as he walked down a slope to the cove. As he approached he stopped at the end of the stone path as the roaring sounds of the waterfall come into earshot. He took in the sounds of the beach as it soothed him. He took a deep breath and continued forward down the pier of the cove. He truly loved his village. Solaris is truly beautiful all around, it's almost as if the quaint little village itself breaths magic! "I know I see this place every day almost, but after that dream it feels a bit strange," he says to himself.

Eric reaches the end of the pier and peers over the banister into the water and sees massive swarms of fish swimming around. He sets his stuff down and sets his pole up against a bench as he reaches into his knapsack. He pulls out a small jar with little green balls, opens it and pulls out a reddish green one. He puts it on his hook and cast his line out as far as he could. Eric sits on the bench and slowly starts to reel in the line, every now and then waiting for a bite. After a few casts and about an hour later he sees his homemade bobber pull under the water. He jumps up and yanks the pole back behind his head and pulls the line in with his free hand. Surprisingly the fish was pulling back harder then he expected, so he dropped the line and let the fish swim out a bit. Taking out a small purple clump of moss from his back pocket and putting it between his teeth, Eric returns to pulling the line with his free hand. Out of nowhere the line gave an abrupt jolt and he fell over the edge of the pier, taking a deep breath as he entered the water below. Still holding the line and pole, Eric sucks the dried clump into his mouth and eats it whole, careful to not get water into his lungs. Shortly after consuming the odd plant he exhales his breath as a bubble of air forms around his head. No sooner than the bubble takes shape he sees a massive fish larger than him at the end of his line. The fish was about 10 times the size of Eric. "This was not what I was expecting, why is a fish this big in the cove," Eric thought as the fish dragged him deeper into the water. The fish had dove so deep into the cove he could almost touch the bottom. After a few minutes of being yanked around, the fish swims in between two giant pieces of redish coral and snaps the line. The bubble around Eric's head was very slowly starting to shrink so he pulled another piece of moss out and ate it.

"Well that blows I'm going to have to restring dads pole, and swim back to the pier. This is gonna be taxing," Eric thought as he caught something shiny out of the corner of his eye. It was an abnormal white sparkle amongst all the greens and blues of shells across the water bed. He swam towards the strange object, and as he did, the dream kept playing in his head on repeat. As he neared it he saw the object was a long necked bottle of some sort, just like in his dream. Eric grabs it and ties it to his waist, with the left over string still attached to his pole, and swims back up to the surface. As he broke the surface of the water, he realized the fish hadn't pulled him that much further from the center of the cove. Swimming back to the pier he hears no strange sounds coming from the bottle like he had in his dream. skeptical Eric's mind begins racing, "Is this just like my dream? This is so bizarre. What's inside this bottle?" , he thought as he climbed the pier. He heads to his bag and pulls out a towel. Drying himself, Eric grabs a fresh change of clothes from his last trip. After getting himself situated, Eric eagerly picks up the wine bottle and examines it closely. Like in his dream the bottle was green from algae but when shaken didn't make a sound. He pulls the cork out and dumps a rolled up piece of paper into his palm. At first glance he didn't notice that the paper was damaged, but after opening it he saw half of a map and part of note on the torn paper.

" Sorry this note wasn't supposed to...

There was some interference last...

I hope this map gets ....

If it was damaged I'm....

Foresight was never my strong...

Hopefully we can arrange to...

sincerely yours,

S.L.

P.S. Find LIly of The Lilam ask her f....

After reading it Eric turned the torn map over frustrated and began looking for more information, but found nothing. The part of the map he had found had two seperate X's on it. One was a big red X on a circular boulder in a forest and the other was small blue X in a mountain pass. With only part of the map and message Eric was lost for words, and slightly flustered at his mysterious discovery. Angrily Eric decides to pack up his things and head back into town to stop by the market, "maybe I can find somebody who can make some sense of this" He thought. As he walked back into town he could hear people talking, they were usually talking about him or his parents. They would always whisper things like, "poor thing" or "must be hard", but to be honest Eric wishes people wouldn't pity him for his parents decision. His life wasn't all that bad, even if he didn't have a family. Plus it's not like he was alone his whole life, the Lady Of The Woods visited often and basically raised him the first few years of his life. She had found Eric when he was just a baby under the roots of a big blue willow deep in the woods outside Solaris Cove.

As he neared the market he also heard strange talk of a suspicious vendor setting up shop at the edge of the woods, apparently "she" asked to set up there while she was in town due to her "oddities being of too much value for so many prying eyes", whatever that was supposed to mean. The people here aren't all that fond of newcomers, especially those with things they've never seen before. To put it simply the townsfolk aren't keen on change, it makes them skeptical, even if they live in a world of oddities. Eric tuned out all the villagers and kept walking down the path, skipping the market all together, to see for himself just how odd this lady was.

At this moment a girl wearing a tan leather vest over a black shirt and a pair of grey knee high pants came sneaking up behind Eric. She wrapped her hands over his eyes as she excitedly says, "Guess who!" Eric laughs, "why must you always sneak up on me like that Selenia? I swear your gonna be the death of me one day," he teased. She got bright red and threw her hands down by her hips, "why must you always be so dramatic?" Selenia retorts. Looking at her gorgeous blue hair and sparkling green eyes Eric says, " You know for someone as weird as you your looking nice today." Face red Selenia covers her face bashfully and thanks Eric. Changing the topic, she asks, "catch anything good today?" "No, sadly my line broke. After my catch decided to take me for an unwanted dive," Eric replies. "What do you mean it took you for an unwanted dive," she asked surprised. Well I was fishing off the pier like always and after I finally got a bite, I grabbed some Bubble moss just in case I fell in. Basically as soon as I grabbed my line again I was in the water. Next thing I knew I saw a fish 10 times my size at the end of my hook," he said in excitement. "Stop lying, there hasn't been fish that big in Solaris Cove for almost 2000 years," Selenia says skeptically. "Stop interrupting, I haven't even gotten to the best part yet. As the fish dragged me around the cove I saw something strange shining at the bottom of the cove." At this moment he pulls out the empty wine bottle, "inside I found what i think is part of a map, but it's hard to make out anything without the rest." Stunned Selenia stood there with her mouth ajar, after a second she said "have you told Jacobi or his dad at all? This seems like something the chief should hear about." "No I won't be able to till they get back, they went on a hunting party earlier this morning," Eric replied. "So what are you gonna do? Are you gonna look for the treasure?" Selenia inquired. "I'm honestly not sure, Especially since I think I had a dream about this last night. The only thing is so far it hasn't been exactly like my dream, but the map maker has the same initials as the ones I had seen in my dream. For now I think I'm gonna go home and try to collect my thoughts and figure this out," Eric says. "Okay. Well if you need any help or anything just let me know, okay?" Selenia says. "Yeah, of course. I'll let you know," Eric replied as he walked away.

Eric was close to the bridge headed out of town now, from here he saw a wagon and what looked like a little tent set up at the back of it. As he crossed the bridge he assumed this was the new vendor. Curious he starts to pick up pace to check it out. Honestly Eric can't deny his adventurous curiosity, it's almost like its instinctual for him. As he got closer he saw a camp fire with a pot cooking something, and a strange dog like creature the size of a horse with 2 heads!! Awe struck Eric stood there at the edge of the vendors camp, gazing at the strange creature. "That would be a Lycan'Orse, don't get too close now she isn't usually friendly." says the strange woman as she came out of her tent. Eric hadnt heard the woman, instead he reached out his hand as he neared the Lycan'Orse. It looked at him with both heads and reared its ears back as he got closer. Its jet black fur started to stand on end as it become very tense. Eric realized this and got down on his hands and feet and approached slowly. "Hey didn't you hear me kid? Screw it if your crazy enough to mess with it why should I worry, not like I will have to feed her if she goes and eats you," the woman mumbles as she disappears back into her tent. Eric was a few feet away from the Lycan'Orse now and stopped momentarily, as he did the creature started staring intently and sniffing his way curiousily. "Its okay girl, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise look," Eric says as he inches closer with one hand out. Disgruntled the creature stands up and shakes both its heads, and slants them at him. Eric was so close he could feel the creatures breath, hand still out he says, "You don't have to worry girl. I'm just like you, a creature of the woods," as he points to the willow woods with his free hand. "I was raised deep in those woods away from people. So I understand your caution." At this moment the wolf like animal huffs and lurches into him as it attacks his face with kisses from both heads. Eric screams with laughter as the woman comes walking out of her tent, hand on her head to see the commotion, "I tried to tell you she wasn't frien-" she went to say as she realized what was happening. "How did you get Syka to do that, it took months before she trusted me like that," the woman says shocked as Syka reared up both heads and looked at her wagging its tail frantically. Eric sits up grinning like a child. "I'm so sorry, I saw her and I had to get close to her. Something told me I had to," he says. "You ought to be lucky Syka didn't want to eat you, that's how her kind attract their prey at times when the hunt is scarce," the woman informs him. "What did you say she was again, I hadn't really heard you before," Eric asks. "She is a Lycan'Orse, she's one of the last of her kind. She is a rare mutation of a direwolf offspring. I'm not sure how it happens but it hasn't in almost 3000 years," she responds. Amazed eric stood there for a moment taking in all the information, as he glanced up at the evening sky. "Is there something I can help you with? Not many people from the village but the chief have visited today." she asked Eric. "Oh yeah I'm so sorry. I found something strange in the cove but if I show anyone in the village it may unsettle them. They don't usually like odd things," he replies as he pulled out the bottle and piece of the map to show her. Upon showing his map, the woman began to laugh as she walked over to her wagon and climbed into the back for a moment. She came back out with a strange white and green drink in a vial. "Drink this and your path ahead shall reveal itself to you," she said upon returning. Eric grabs the vial cautiously and says, "Its not gonna kill me is it, because it doesn't really look safe to drink." "Fine I can just take it back if you don't want to know," she said taking back the vial. Snatching back the vial he says," I never said that, especially after dreaming half of this." She raised at an eyebrow at that as he said, "Never mind, thank you for your help. Are you gonna be in town long?" "Not sure yet, I haven't made up my mind," she replied as Eric starts walking towards the woods. "Okay maybe I'll see you tomorrow morning. Oh by the way can I possibly buy some of that stew off you? I didn't manage to catch myself anything today." She grabs a ladle and scoops some into a big white bowl and hands it to Eric, "no need to pay especially after dealing with Syka. Hope you enjoy." He pulls out a decent sized jar from his bag and pours the bowls contents in and hands the bowl back after thanking her as he walked away. No sooner does he step into the woods he sees a woman in a pale green gown, with her bright red hair held up in a bun behind her head sitting in a willow just off the path. As he walked over to the tree he says with a smile," Hello My lady. I wasn't expecting you for a few more moons to come, it's nice to see you again so soon." The Lady of the woods effortlessly glides off the branch to stand beside Eric, "Be careful young one the journey ahead shall not be an easy one, but may it be fruitful," she said as she faded into thin air. Slightly surprised and worried Eric rushed home without a second thought. Upon approaching his house he pulls out the vial and opens it, smells its contents and shudders at the smell. It smelled of grass clippings and something aromatic, something sweet. Curious he put it to his lips and drank its contents as he walked through his front gate. As he approached his front door he started feeling really drowsy and everything started to spin. He grabs the handle and turns it as his vision goes black and he falls to the ground in his doorway.