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The landscape that greeted them when they stepped through door number three was completely unlike what they’d seen so far. Rather than the snowy plains of the White Desert or the icy peak by the frozen waterfall, they were now in a lush forest. Everywhere around them, trees, bushes, plants, rivers and animals were flourishing.
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It was the most colorful forest Sophie had ever seen. The flowers were blue, yellow, purple, pink, orange, gray, black, and every other color she could think of. The leaves on the trees were just as colorful, and their trunks were in all different sizes and shapes as well. There were thin ones, thick ones, tall ones, and short ones. And all of them were just bursting with strength and health. Up above them, wavy lines of light moved across the bright blue sky, reminding Sophie of the Northern Lights of the human world.
Elva got down on her knees and put her palm against the ground. Sophie knew that not only could Elva control nature with a touch, she could sense it and understand it as well. Elva looked up at the forest around them with a stunned expression.
”I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said. “This place used to be the White Desert! And there’s a massive energy flowing through the entire forest. Not even the forests of the Elven kingdom have a life energy this powerful!” Elva pushed herself back up to her feet. Then she added through gritted teeth: “If the Order of Terram had just attacked us here, Nimum would have been able to handle them easily.”
”Ah, come on,” Trom said dismissively. “Nimum’s defeated way more dangerous enemies than that bunch of losers.”
”Yeah, just think of when she fought Fenrir,” Sophie said reassuringly. “She handled him like it wasn’t even a problem!”
Elva stared at the both of them in surprise, but then a look of realization came over her. “Oh right, I forgot. You two don’t really know anything about magic, do you?”
Sophie admitted that she didn’t, while Trom wanted to make it clear that he knew some stuff – it was just that magic was a pretty broad subject. Elva rolled her eyes at Trom.
”Nimum’s magic is centered around plants. It’s a type of magic that’s connected to warmth, the earth, and bountifulness,” she explained.
”Yeah, I’ve figured that much. So what?” Trom asked uninterestedly.
Sophie listened with more worry than Trom. She had a sinking feeling that she knew where Elva was going with this.
”So how much plant life do you think there is in Northfire? I barely saw any plants on the whole trip, and there weren’t ANY on the rock pillars we climbed. Northfire is a land of snow and ice, and that puts Nimum at a massive disadvantage.”
Sophie swallowed something. ”Was that why she was using those plant seeds to fight the Order of Terram?”
”Yeah,” Elva answered. ”The earth around her was cold and barren, so the only place she could conjure plants from was the seeds she’d brought herself.”
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”Then that means…” Trom said, his face turning white as a sheet, “that Nimum could actually lose…” He said the sentence like it was something completely unreal.
”If worst comes to worst… Then yes,” Elva said, looking very disheartened.
All three of them grew quiet. Sophie had only known Nimum for a week, but within that week she had seen Nimum turn a slime hydra into steam, defeat the Great Wolf Fenrir (whose jaws were so massive he could have eaten a horse in one mouthful) and make a burned-down forest grow back in less than a minute, all without even breaking a sweat. The idea of Nimum possibly losing was just as shocking to her as it was to Trom.
As worrying as that was, she could also feel her curiosity pulling at her. She still wanted to know more about the forest, and whether Loki would turn up this time too.
They started walking, and couldn’t help admiring the colorful forest that surrounded them.
”How do you think the forest got like this?” Trom asked.
”Good question,” Elva said. ”It used to be all snow, and now… There are only two other places I know of with nature this splendid, and they look totally different.”
”What are the other places?” Sophie asked.
”That would be the Phoenix Forest and the Tree of Life,” Elva explained.
”The Tree of Life, that’s where The First Daughter of Mother Earth hangs out, right?” Trom asked.
”That’s right!” Elva said with a sudden and surprising enthusiasm. “Guarding and protecting the Tree of Life is such an important task, only someone as amazing as her could do it! I mean, just think about all the good she’s done for the magical world! She’s the most noble, elegant, beautiful, and wise being in the entire magical realm!”
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Sophie and Trom just stared at Elva. Her eyes beamed with admiration as she talked, and they could hear the deep respect in her voice. Elva’s dedication to The First Daughter of Mother Earth was surprisingly intense.
”If I could ever be just half as amazing as her, I’d never ask for anything else! She’s practically the goddess of the Elven kingdom.”
”You sound like you’re obsessed with her,” Trom said. “It’s kinda scary.”
Elva scoffed. ”If you knew half the stuff I know about her, you’d idolize her too.”
Up ahead, Sophie saw a clearing among the trees. She hurried towards the clearing, pushing down a bush that obstructed her view. Beyond it, the forest ended suddenly, and they saw a village spreading out in front of them.
The houses were built of strong, solid wood and stone blocks. Populating the village were tons of Jotuns, both men, women, and children, all of them wandering around without a care and with cheerful expressions. Trom and Elva joined Sophie behind the bush, poking their heads up to see.
”I’ve never seen that many Jotuns all in one place. Do you think…” Trom hesitated like he barely dared to finish the sentence. “Do you think Loki did this? Did he really manage to create his kingdom?”
”That shouldn’t be possible,” Elva said, staring wide-eyed at the Jotuns flittering around in front of her. “It can’t be real. I’ve never heard of any King Loki, and certainly not one who ruled such a natural splendor as this. This has to be some kind of fantasyland that only exists behind the Dimension Door.”
Trom crossed his arms and looked at Elva accusingly. “And how do you know?”
”Because Elves are one with nature, and if there existed a forest as magnificent as this one, we’d know about it. Have you ever heard of a place like this!?”
”I mean, no, but the magical world is a big place, so…”
”Not big enough that not even one Elf would have heard about a place like this. Like I told you, the only places with this much life energy are the Phoenix Forest and the Tree of Life.”
”Or maybe you just don’t know everything,” Trom said.
Elva’s eyes were like lightning. “I’m not saying that I know everything, but I know this. And I don’t care for that tone from someone who couldn’t even find the kingdom of Neptune on a map.”
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