4 Visions

4 years later i was living relatively peacefully alongside my family within the great stone walls of Windhelm. We had taken up residence within the Candlehearth Hall, where my mother and father had been granted residence in exchange for work. The pay was low but food and board were provided so we were living relatively comfortably

My name became well known amongst the locals, i was given nicknames such as "Radukar the frozen" due to my personal choice of training. While the other children such as my siblings, yes siblings as my mother had given birth to a pair of twins, named Vibi and Froe, played in the halls and begged the guards and their parents for training in weaponry i had a different approach. I would often expose my body to the elements, going as far as to swim in the frozen waters surrounding the city and meditating shirtless during the cold nights. And while this may have terrified my parents it was proving to be rather effective

Every day the cold of the north seemed to grow less and less biting, becoming often as dangerous as a spring breeze as my body grew harder and more resilient. Perhaps it was unnatural but it worked and thanks to a couple of visits to the temple of Talos a week i did not face the ill effects of disease

Sometimes there were whispers amongst my fellow Nords, rumors surrounding the strange child who was far too wise and could survive the cold more fiercely than any other but in the end, it mattered little, even at the age of ten i had already grown strong enough to face grown men and any who could beat me were outside of Windhelm, away fighting in the great war. Thankfully my father was considered too important as a food supplier to the city to be sent away as he had been acting as a hunter for the Candlehearth hall since our arrival

But soon the tides of fate began to tug at me, i had already resigned to waiting until i reached adulthood before i would act upon my memories. My original goal was to follow much the same path as i had already once, to become a warlord and fight and pillage until age caught up with me. Vampires, although far weaker than those in what memories i had, did exist within Skyrim, it would only be a matter of finding them

But instead, I faced a vision

It had been a cold day, like usual, and i had been making my way through the grey quarter, ignoring the glares sent in my direction by the numerous Dunmer who called the slums home. Thankfully as the child of Nords i had been spared the discrimination they now faced but i could understand why they would hate me for it

Although if they tried to act upon that resentment… well, I always carried a sword on my hip

Anyway, i had been traversing the slums, on my way down to one of the many crypt entrances, the crypts themselves were one of my main training areas. Quiet and chill, perfect for practicing my swordsmanship and working out, but as i was making my way down the stone steps i saw something

Nothing but a flicker, just a whisp of foggy mist, like a rat scampering around a corner. Curious i followed, turning around the corner and entering a new section of the crypt that i had yet to explore. This time i saw a tail, dark and translucent as it slithered around another corner, one leading even further down into the catacombs

Giving chase i soon found myself racing after the shadow, even as i was unsure why i was pursuing it, just certain that for some reason that i had to follow

Soon a tail evolved into a pair of canine legs and then into a body and after a few more turns, i found myself hunting the phantom form of a dire wolf, much the same as the ones i had seen during my life in Shyish and the one that had saved me as an infant

Snarling as i pursued i sped myself faster after the figure, going as far as to lunge like an insane man at the wolf, causing myself to simply pass through the beast and land on the ground as it ran off with a few mocking barks. The chase continued for what felt like hours, causing both my physical and mental state to deteriorate from a young hunter to a stumbling madman, frothing at the mouth as i attempted to keep chasing

And in the end, I simply passed out, unable to finish the hunt and catch my prey. And when i awoke i was once more outside the crypt, laying down in the grey quarter

At first, i was unsure if what had happened was even real but my doubts were quickly crushed as i looked down at my leg and saw something that was not there before

A tattoo, different from the ones I had seen before, in a font eerily similar to that used in the Vyrkor courts banners. One of a dead wolf, its bones showing on its skeletal form, dead from starvation

The wolf who doesn't catch prey always starves

I had failed the hunt

I would not do so again