[https://img.wattpad.com/story_parts/1358862629/images/1772c08c404a33e7924814445993.png]

Sophie was standing in the middle of a vast, empty, snow-covered landscape. It was night. The sky above her was black as coal, without a single star to be seen.

Where did the others go? Sophie wondered as she looked around. She couldn't see any of her classmates, and there were no footprints in the snow to imply that they'd even been there. All she could see in any direction that she looked was the same snowy landscape stretching out before her. Even the door that she'd entered through was gone, and everything seemed dead and desolate.

It was cold. Even colder than the Northfire wilderness had been, but at least she still had her winter coat to keep her warm. Far off in the distance, she glimpsed a light. She headed towards it without hesitation.

Sophie trudged through the deep snow, getting slowly closer to the small light. When she finally reached it, she saw that the light came from a small flame that was hovering in the air. She put her hand closer to the flame. It didn't give off any heat at all, which was weird. She carefully reached out to touch it. As she did, it lit up into an explosion of colors and shot up into the night sky. There it stayed, now hanging as the only star in the sky.

There it stayed, now hanging as the only star in the sky [https://img.wattpad.com/c017132af41e63326a45bd27de146eea15d7390b/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f666939387072564f4f524f754a513d3d2d313335383836323632392e313736653664303236333939356261353534333132333137323839362e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

Now why did it do that? Sophie wondered.

"Hey, you!"

Sophie turned around. Way off in the distance she saw a figure come running towards her. She stayed, curiously waiting for the mysterious stranger to get closer. It didn't even occur to her to run or try to hide – not that there would be anywhere to hide anyway.

Once the figure got close enough, Sophie could see that it was a young adult Jotun. He had long, wavy hair, crystal blue eyes, and there was something friendly about his features, even though right now he seemed a bit out of it.

"That flame," he said, pointing up towards the sky, "how did you find it?"

Sophie looked up at the star and then at the young Jotun. He was dressed in thick layers of fur, and he was holding a lantern.

"I dunno. I just saw it and walked up to it. How come?"

"Oh, you just saw it!? So that's what I've been doing wrong, all these months of looking for flames in the desert. I should have just seen them!" The sarcasm was dripping heavily from every word he said, though Sophie sensed that it came more from frustration than malice.

She shrugged. "That's all I know. Why are you looking for flames behind the Dimension Door, though? And have you seen any other kids?"

The young Jotun looked completely perplexed. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never even heard of a Dimension Door, and I haven't seen any other kids. Mostly I'm just surprised to see a human in the White Desert. Care to explain that?"

Now it was Sophie's turn to be confused. "The White Desert?"

"Well, yes. Don't you know where you are? Or did you just see this place and walk towards it like with the flame?"

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Sophie looked down at the snow-covered landscape. It actually did look a lot like a desert, just covered with snow instead of sand.

"A special door took me here. I came from a room behind a Dimension Door," she explained. "But what are you chasing flames for?"

"Because of the legends, of course," the young Jotun said determinedly.

"The legends?"

"So you don't know the legends of the White Desert, you don't know where you are, and you don't know how you found the flame? Maybe the flames only appear to people who don't know anything."

"There's a lot I don't know about the magical world, unfortunately..." Sophie admitted, slumping down a little.

The Jotun scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well... I suppose you humans tend to stick to your own world. But all right, I'll tell you about the White Desert. But first we need to move on. We can't just stand here. And who knows, maybe your ignorance can help me find the next flame. Is anyone with you?"

"Just my classmates, but I have no idea where they are. Maybe I can look for them while we walk?"

"Walk?" the Jotun said. "Walking is too slow. If we want to get anywhere, you'd better get on my back."

He kneeled down with his back pointed towards Sophie so that she could climb up. It wasn't until now that Sophie noticed that his boots weren't sinking into the snow at all. Once she had gotten up on his back, he stood up and dashed off.

Sophie couldn't believe it. The young Jotun was skating across the snow, light as a feather.

The young Jotun was skating across the snow, light as a feather [https://img.wattpad.com/fab38edd691f0a92ddc6e0717e03c97cbfceef70/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f54555f63643351515777664166413d3d2d313335383836323632392e3137366536643062636137646430613834303931363737323935362e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

"How are you doing that?" Sophie asked excitedly.

"Rune magic. I'm guessing you don't know much about magic, but it's a type of Creation Magic. It's a neat little trick, but nothing to write home about."

"Well, I think it's amazing! How do you do it? Is rune magic different from other types of magic? Can you do other stuff with it??"

"Well, I can turn myself huge – as big as a giant, in fact!" the Jotun said proudly. "I can't make others grow, though. You'll have to wait for puberty for that one."

"So why don't you do that instead of just skating? If you turned into a giant, you'd be able to see much further ahead."

"I still need to get better at using my giant form. If I tried it now, I'd need to rest for three days just to build my strength back up, so skating around ends up being faster anyway. But you're onto something with the idea of surveying the area. In fact, I'm on my way to the tallest hill to get a better view of the landscape."

"I thought you'd been here for months already? Shouldn't you have already found the tallest hill?" Sophie asked.

"The White Desert is so vast that you can't see all of it from even the tallest hill, so I've had to climb a few different ones. And it took me weeks of running around before it even occurred to me to look for a better vantage point... But you thought of it straight away. You humans really do think outside the box. It's a great quality – I envy you people."

"Why did it take you so long to come up with that?" Sophie asked perplexed. It seemed like a pretty obvious idea to her.

"I wasn't just being dim, if that's what you're thinking. You just happen to be bright," the Jotun explained. "See, you and your people were born in the human world, and that grants you creativity and innovation – and it means you can solve problems ten or even a hundred times faster than beings born in the magical world. If I had your kind of creativity, I'm sure I'd have solved this riddle long ago, but instead I have to make do with persistence and hard work. Honestly, I think the White Desert is making fun of me."

"So it's kinda like, the magical world gives people magic, and the human world gives people creativity?"

"Exactly. And if given the chance, I wouldn't hesitate to trade my rune magic for creativity."

Sophie chewed on that for a while. Were humans really more creative and innovative? She didn't feel like her classmates were all that different from her on that front – at least no more than other human children she had met. But then again, there was so much she didn't know about the magical world.

But then again, there was so much she didn't know about the magical world [https://img.wattpad.com/5bf9e27013b29e0ae28b5e4127f41c81b7c05750/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4a37675a5344465031544f5243413d3d2d313335383836323632392e313736653664333537653063663937393439333733313331383231342e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]