Ranuk did not answer as he came to the tangled roots of the tree. His nose pointed upwards, and he sniffed and sniffed as he placed his hands upon the trunk and lifted himself higher, getting as close as he could to the blossoms without outright climbing. It was so, so familiar. He knew this scent, he did, but he couldnt find the memory it was associated with, couldnt place its origin. He closed his eyes and searched desperately but there was only a gap in his mind, a yawning hole where something precious once lived.<br/><br/>It felt like a memory of a dream, so faded and distant it hardly seemed real. But Ranuk knew it. He<i>knew...</i><br/><br/>The demon sat back on his haunches and simply stared, face creased with confusion and loss. This meant something to him, this was important, but what could it possibly be? How could he forget if it were so significant?<br/><br/>He sat there for a long time, breathing in the achingly familiar scent. It soothed him and yet left him distraught, it surrounded him in comfort but also incredible sadness. He has felt these confusing emotions before, but when? And where?<br/><br/>His eyes scanned the twisted white trunk, searching for some sign or mark, any sort of explanation for its existence. The longer he looked the more lost he felt until something finally sparked in his memory, a small flame that flashed into blinding brightness.<br/><br/>His body knew its meaning before his mind could make the connections. His vision swam as his throat closed shut, and tears began to stream from his ice blue eyes. Yes, he knew this tree. He knew the origins of this terrible, awful, magnificent tree.<br/><br/>"<b>Father..." </b>Ranuk breathed out and looked down to the tangled roots, searching. He found nothing in front of him and so he began to circle the tree in a limping trot, broken tails dragging behind him, desperate to find what he knew would be there, but also despairing at the discovery.<br/><br/>He found it on the far side of the tree, tucked into the crotch of its tangled roots. Four massive limbs jutted out from the bottom of the trunk, and it was easy to mistake them for mutated growth, stunted branches that came out the wrong way except that the white protrusions were not made of wood, and exactly matched the shape of Ranuk's own crown of horns.<br/><br/>It was a skull of a goat demon, so large that not even Ranuk could easily carry it even if it were not stuck inside the tree. There were many cracks and chips in the bone, wounds so deep they were recorded permanently in the remains. In the very center of the broad forhead protruded the weapon responsible, a dark elven blade that Tamlin knew well.<br/><br/>This was Unak's final resting place, and there was the sword that had slain him, rusted by the passage of time.