With no coordinates or any kind of map to guide him, Alduin was left to wander further and further out of the Misty Peaks and into the surrounding Unforgiving in his search for this mysterious cottage; the book in the Library had mentioned a small log cabin not far from Lhavit itself, but thus far that information seemed to be false.
It was with determination that the young man pressed forward, struggling through the dense underbrush and the wild tangle of limbs that seemed to bar his way at every turn, keeping him from going further into the forest; which was what he would have to do, should he wish to find anything at all.
A discovery at the very edge of the Misty Peaks is what tipped Alduin off to the direction he would have to take; a well-beaten, yet somewhat overgrown, path lead into the line of trees that loomed forebodingly in the distance. It seemed to have fallen into disuse, but for how long? How many seasons? Was it long enough to match up with the information he had stumbled across in his research?
The path, should he choose to take it, would prove uneventful. More of a game trail than anything else, more than once Alduins appearance and passing would startle small creatures from their hidey holes, while larger animals stood their ground at a distance, warily watching the man pass. Night was quickly approaching when, disturbed from the long grasses that encroached upon the path, a thick, mottled snake slithered bare inches from the toes of his boots.
Though this one hesitated only to hiss menacingly at the weary traveler before continuing on its way, the appearance of the dangerous reptile should have been more than enough to put Alduin on alert; the forest wasn’t as simple and innocent as it seemed. The night continued to creep closer, but it wasn’t until dusk that Alduin made some progress on his journey.
Just as if written in a storybook, the path bent around a large, ancient tree that conveniently hid whatever was around the corner. When Alduin made it around the bend in the path, he found what he was searching for: The cabin.
However, the burnt and crumbling shell of the little house was not what the young man was hoping to see. Embers still smoldered beneath the ruined roof, only parts of the walls still standing and were charred almost beyond recognition. The burnt-wood smell hung heavy in the air despite the light breeze that ruffeled through the leaves of the surrounding trees, tossing the long-bladed grasses around the former-log cabin.
The grasses… Though the house was destroyed, completely and utterly, and left as a smoldering ruin, none of the plant life surrounding the area seemed to be affected. In fact, thick, soft, green grass grew right up to the edge of the house; anyone who had ever seen the remains of a fire knew that the plantlife suffered the most. Looking as recent as it did, this ruin shouldn’t have had a healthy carpet of grass surrounding it. Not only that, but when Aduin tried to approach the ruins, he found his face crunching into a solid, invisible wall that shimmered slightly upon impact before fading again into anonymity.
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