Whispers in the Woods

The wood creaks and parts as soon as Anton finishes his incantation. The door swings inward on hidden hinges, revealing the dim room beyond.

It is also a living room, like the one Magda has set for you, but it also serves as a storeroom. There are bundles of dried herbs hanging on a string crisscrossing the walls with a thick scent of sage, poppy, and something else you can't quite identify. On the wooden shelves are cloudy glass jars with floating animal parts inside the murky fluid. The table below the shelves is cluttered with more jars, a wooden mortar and pestle, and cloth bundles tied in a string.

And near the window is a low bed, on top of which is the young boy not much older than twelve, tucked beneath a wool blanket. He is sleeping, though he breathes very slowly and deeply. Around his bed is a carefully arranged ring of salt - not a grain out of place.

Anton would have to investigate the room more carefully with an appropriate spell to confirm if there are any traces of magical wards or traps, but he is fairly certain that the circle of salt around the bed has to do with some sort of a magical ritual. What precisely is its nature, however, was impossible to say.

A sudden gust of wind rushes through the room as soon as Will shifts some of the salt. A faint bell begins to ring soon after, from somewhere distant inside the hollow tree. Stefan stirs slightly in his sleep, but does not wake.