[https://img.wattpad.com/story_parts/1392360237/images/1790da36fcb26d4f585442228112.png]

Trom walked over to a tree and collapsed next to it.

”None of this makes any sense. The four things we collected all seem totally random. They’ve got nothing in common!” Trom said exasperatedly.

Sophie had to agree with Trom. They’d gone through the four objects they’d retrieved behind the various doors, but they hadn’t been able to find any links between them. All they’d been able to conclude was that the items all had a connection to Loki, but how that could possibly help them figure out the name of the power source, they had no idea.

Sophie was pacing around in circles as the gears turned frantically in her head. Was there anything other than Loki that the four things had in common?

”Why always Loki?” Trom said out loud, like he was asking himself. “Why was it always him we had to help, instead of us just doing the challenges on our own?”

They sat thinking for several minutes without coming up with a decent answer. Trom lay down on his back, staring up at the crown of the tree that was resting his head against.

”We must be missing something important, but I have no idea what,” Sophie said.

”And if we don’t do something, all of Utgard will wither away and become the White Desert again. If Utgard was even real in the first place.”

Sophie looked over at Trom. Was he starting to doubt that Utgard was real now, too? Trom was lying limply against the tree, while falling leaves from the surrounding trees formed a circle around him.

Something about that caught Sophie’s attention. Trom’s tree had a thick trunk that stretched up to its crown which was covered in orange and purple leaves.

Her eyes darted to the ground. None of the leaves on the ground matched the ones from that tree. The tree didn’t seem to have lost a single one.

”Why isn’t that tree withering like the others?”

Trom sat up. He looked from his tree to the other fading trees around it. “Maybe it just takes longer for this one to lose its leaves… But there is something familiar about it, though.”

Sophie had seen the tree the first time they’d walked through the forest as well, when it was all brand new. Back then, there had been so many different trees and plants that it all melted together, but now that it stood alone, unaffected by the cold, she felt like she’d seen it more than just once. But where? Maybe that was the final piece of the puzzle that would make it all make sense.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

[https://img.wattpad.com/89104ebf52686f89e05f28856f9926a97e82c637/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6571456d5f686d6a474448384f673d3d2d313339323336303233372e313739306439636639663966633961333937393234373736373838302e6a7067]

Perhaps Loki could tell her something about the tree – it was worth asking, at least. As she turned towards him, she had another brief moment of thinking it was Skrymir who sat there. And with that, the final piece fell into place in her mind.

”Oooooh!” Sophie exclaimed. ”Loki really is Skrymir!”

”But Loki said he’d never used that name.” Trom got to his feet.

“Unless it’s a name he comes up with after he passes on the power source’s name and forgets everything!”

”But… But then that means…!?” Trom’s eyes widened and he broke into a big smile.

”That Loki is Skrymir, and Utgard is Northfire! The doors in the Dimension Room must have been some kind of time travel. They sent us back in time so we could help Skrymir, I mean Loki, when he was young!”

Trom and Sophie cheered and did an excited little dance in the snow.

”Then Utgard is real! It’s not just some made-up country like Elva said!”

“Right! And I know it’s Northfire, because I recognized the tree from before we went through the Dimension Door! They’re the only trees that survived the cold for so long!”

Trom had a sudden look of realization. “That’s why the talking book said we had to have gone through five doors before we could enter. The clue was on the other side of the very first door – the Dimension Door itself!”

Trom looked around his surroundings, blown away by it all. ”But… why did he change its name from Utg…” He stopped midsentence. He looked to Sophie, who met his gaze.

“Do you really think?”

”What else could it be?”

They both turned to Loki.

Sophie took a deep breath. If their next guess was right, everything would make sense and they’d know exactly what the name of the power source should be passed onto.

”Loki. The name you gave to the power source. Was it “Northfire”?

Loki raised both his eyebrows and just looked at them. There was a long pause.

”Why do you keep asking me that? Yes, for the third time: The name of the power source is The Northfire.”

Sophie and Trom jumped for joy. They were right! Utgard was the land of Northfire, and Loki was Skrymir.

Sophie smiled. ”Loki, you should give the name of the power source to your country. You should name your country Northfire!”

Loki considered this for a moment.

”Yes… Yes! That would work! That way the name of Northfire will never be forgotten! I don’t know how to thank you!” Loki reached out and hugged them both. “You creative types sure can help out in a pinch!”

With a deep sigh of relief and a massive burden lifted off his shoulders, Loki let go of them and pulled a small chest out of his pocket. The chest looked exactly like the one Sophie and Trom were looking for.

”I was told to speak the answer into this, once I’d figured it out.” Loki opened the chest and spoke the answer. He closed it and said: “It’s done. Now I suppose I’ll just need to dispose of the chest somewhere. I don’t think it’ll be of any more use.”

[https://img.wattpad.com/d790f1d79e7caa8e892aa5992a7b3b5a66653357/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6835614d2d5164692d616a6170773d3d2d313339323336303233372e313739306461316533396663313136613834373537323635373139332e6a7067]

Trom stepped forward eagerly. “Oh, I can take it off your hands for you.”

[https://img.wattpad.com/a28eacbc6c40f2f93dd372b91da6e98208c7abf3/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f324c2d375361376f5f6876414d513d3d2d313339323336303233372e313739306461316633383733383833303738363935343336343136382e706e67]