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"What were those legends you were talking about?" Sophie asked.
"They say that the White Desert used to be a lush and bountiful place," the young Jotun began. "A place that sprouted plants and life unlike anything the two worlds had ever seen. And it was all thanks to a secret power source that no one even knew about."
"Then how do you know about it?" [https://img.wattpad.com/30a4845cdd439d6a5ec130c40ff8dc257ce15982/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f687a62694a4d5261426c703233673d3d2d313336313330383838392e313737306133353630666566346531643538323235373733343333362e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
"Then how do you know about it?"
"Because it was found later on. At least according to the legends. But the beings that found it didn't know what it was, and in their ignorance, they ended up destroying it. Without the power source, the lush landscape teeming with life disappeared, and it became the White Desert."
"Well, that's sad," Sophie said, looking around at the naked snowy hills.
"Very much so. But according to some of the legends, the ones that I've put my faith in, the power source was never destroyed, merely hidden."
"So how are you going to find it?"
"By following the lights. They say that the heavens will show the way to the one who finds the light in darkness. But even though I've been searching for months, you're the only one of us who's managed to find a light." The young Jotun looked up at the single light in the sky. "If only there had been two of them, then maybe they could point me in the right direction."
Sophie looked out across the snow-covered landscape where everything looked dead and desolate. She kept thinking about her classmates and wondering where they could have gone, why they'd been separated, and if she'd ever even see them again. Maybe she'd been sent there to help the young Jotun, and then she'd find her classmates afterwards? It seemed possible, at least.
"Here we are. Now let's hope that your ignorance can help us somehow," the young Jotun teased as they reached a large hill that towered over all the other ones around them. He started skating up towards the top.
When they reached the peak, however, they still saw nothing but the dark night sky and the white desert of snowy hills stretching out endlessly. Sophie climbed down from the Jotun's back.
That's strange, she thought to herself as she turned around in circles, looking in every direction. They couldn't see sign of a single flame.
"Still nothing! But if that's true, the next light would have to be hundreds of miles from here – and who knows in what direction!" The young Jotun fell to his knees. "'The heavens will show the way to the one who finds the light in darkness'! Well I've been searching in darkness every night for months, and I haven't found a speck of light!"
Sophie felt bad for the young Jotun. It seemed like he'd been pushed to his breaking point. Her eyes fell on the lantern that he had put down on the ground. She'd barely glanced at it until now, but now that she looked closer, it actually looked just like the one that was drawn on the door. It
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shone brightly in the darkness, casting long shadows around it.
The heavens will show the way to the one who finds the light in darkness... The sentence kept repeating inside Sophie's mind.
"Hold on a minute!" she exclaimed. "Do you always have your lantern lit when you're searching for the flames!?"
The young Jotun, who had buried his head in the snow, answered miserably. "Of course. How else would I see anything?"
Sophie dashed over to the lantern and picked it up. She opened the small glass door to the cage that held the lit candle and blew out the flame.
"What are you doing?" the young Jotun asked. "I just told you we wouldn't be able to see anything."
"The heavens will show the way to the one who finds the light in darkness. In darkness!" Sophie said, turning to look out across the plains.
The young Jotun lifted his head from the snow to look at her. "I don't know what you're getting at. I've told you that I've been looking in the dark for months."
"But maybe it hasn't been dark enough."
"How else can I..." The young Jotun grew silent as, like Sophie, he looked out across the snowy landscape and saw it dotted with lots of small, floating flames.
"How is this possible!?" he exclaimed.
"I remembered that when I found the flame, I didn't have any light at all [https://img.wattpad.com/abaf1348176625d9ed48fbe376e51914da2f2b0c/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f7071744d446b44554131624644673d3d2d313336313330383838392e313737306133356133383361383834663236313236333132323137342e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
"I remembered that when I found the flame, I didn't have any light at all. And since you'd been looking and looking with your lantern without ever finding anything, I figured that had to be it," Sophie explained.
"This is fantastic! Now I can finally find the secret power source! Thank you so much... um... you... human... Huh. I don't think I ever asked for your name?" the young Jotun admitted awkwardly.
Flustered, Sophie suddenly realized she hadn't asked about his name either.
"I'm Sophie, nice to meet you," she said. She extended a hand, which the young Jotun shook.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sophie. My name is Loki."
"Loki? Like the Norse god of trickery?"
"You're probably thinking of another Loki. It's a fairly common name this far North, and I'm definitely not any sort of god," Loki replied.
Sophie had to admit that he didn't look all that god-like. And she supposed that Loki could be a common name in the magical world. So instead she turned her attention to the extinguished lantern.
"The lantern!" Sophie said. "Can I have it, please?" She had just remembered that the talking book had mentioned that they'd need to bring an object back from behind each door, and it seemed like the lantern was probably it.
Loki handed her the lantern without hesitating. It wasn't like he'd need it anymore.
"What's that?" he asked, his eye caught by something behind Sophie. She turned around and saw the door to the Dimension room, which had suddenly appeared.
"That must be my way back," she said.
"Well, then this is where we'll part ways," Loki said. "Thank you again. I have to admit, you're not so ignorant after all. In fact, you might be pretty brilliant."
Sophie could feel herself swelling up with pride. Once again she'd been able to help, even without magical powers. A final question occurred to her: "Hey, Loki, why do you want to find the power source so bad?"
Loki looked out across the snowy, white landscape. "Because I have a dream of creating my own kingdom – a place more glorious than anything the world has ever seen! And for that I need the power source."
With that he waved goodbye and eagerly skated off towards the nearest flame. Sophie walked over to the door and turned the handle. The door slid open, and she saw the Dimension Room on the other side.
Before walking through, she turned around to see a flame shooting up towards the sky and lodging there.
Before walking through, she turned around to see a flame shooting up towards the sky and lodging there [https://img.wattpad.com/6c2084325cd7c48efc37522de4ecfaefd9307909/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f61443558785f746c5f6b2d7555513d3d2d313336313330383838392e313737306133363334323034313665353937333036313532393838352e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]