Aglakti rose early in the morning to make all the use she could muster of the short arctic day. She would not dare travel alone at night so far from the village and she had many herbs to gather for her magics. Her visions have of late been problematic, but Aglakti refused to burden her tribe with her nightmares. She was forced into the Arctic tundra to fend for herselves. If she did not leave on her own, Aglakti feared the village elders would force her to leave or worse in time. She could not shake her dreams and no matter what herbs she prepared or sacrifices she made to Sedna, the vision was always there, spreading fear and doubt in Aglakti's mind and fear meant failure for a Shaman.
A dark bear was coming. Every night she would awaken, screaming from her dreams. The bear had killed her so many times she had lost track of all the inventive ways the bear had tortured her soul. Aglakti was certain this spelled doom for the Dorset tribe but could do nothing to help her people until she gained some inkling of contol over her nightmares. Visions were always terrifying for the untrained heart, but Aglakti was an accomplished Shaman of the Dorset people. She should have mastered this vision by now and gained some insight into its purpose and design. She had done neither. Aglakti could not overcome the intense fear and doubt that accompanied the black bear with each visit. Each night the bear would come and each night Aglakti would flee for her life and possibly her mind and soul.
Aglakti pulled the furs from her igloo door and squinted as the sun illuminated her home. As she surveyed the snow covered plains, the fear returned. There were bear track leading up to her igloo. They came from the South and left to the East, changing direction at her igloo door. Judging by the tracks, it even seemed the bear stopped to sit a while before moving on.
