Eternal Winter

Broken Ignorance: Part II

A tremor ran under my skin as I laid eyes on it. My heart jumpstarted and I was thrust back to Olym and its manic, untethered magic that permeated the plants, the soil, the animals—everything that was there. A surge of memories and emotions overflowed within me as I recalled my time there. The warm wind curled around me in a wistful hug. Tears rolled down my face and dried before they fell to the ground.

I wiped the remaining tears from my eyes and turned to Jakob, who admired the space with a misty stare and a proud grin. "Where are we?"

His glinting eyes turned to me. "This is the final resting place of the Master Magician—the home of the ever-burning flame." He gestured vaguely towards the center, towards the blue fire that flickered and danced.

"The magic here...it's just like Olym," I stated, still reeling at the wave of memories that had washed over me too suddenly. "What—why are we here?"

"For answers," he replied, his tone suddenly hardened. "For clarity in what to do."

Julian spoke up then, an edge of bitterness in his tone, "Surely, anyone who lives here would hardly know of the Eternal Winter ravaging the rest of Mysti."

"Yes and no," a disembodied voice called out from across the clearing. A tall man dressed in simple blue-gray clothes stepped out of the small building that stood against a group of trees. His dark brown eyes regarded us for a moment before he nimbly made his way through the clustered ground to us. A gentle smile was spreading on his face and he rested a hand over his heart. "We know of the Eternal Winter, but are, obviously, unaffected directly by it. There are duties here we are obligated to attend to. However, we are also trying to find a way to stop it, albeit from this place."

There was an all too familiar feeling with him, more than his features but in his mannerisms too. I felt my brow crease, a question on the tip of my tongue, but Sammy abruptly stepped forward and met him. "It's nice to meet you, sir. I'm Samuel."

A questioning look passed over the stranger's features before he nodded and offered out a hand. "It is a pleasure. I am Noah Lotus, current caretaker and tender of the ever-flame."

I glanced sharply between the two, self-confessed Lotus men, my eyes narrowing. "What is the meaning of this, Jakob?" I asked sharply.

He seemed taken aback, his bushy brows high into his forehead and mouth slightly ajar, he sputtered out, "What do you mean?"

"The Dark Master's name is Lotus," I snapped. "Now, not one, but two people are claiming to help me with ties to her? This best not be a trick." I felt the ruffled energy spark sharply at my fingertips, harsher, quicker, than elsewhere. Even Olym.

Noah regarding me calmly, with a dewy glaze in his eyes. "The Lotus family has many branches, but we have always been the family tasked with the tending of the ever-flame since its creation—much, much longer than when Matilda had first taken up Dark power."

I felt my brows pull even tighter together—my mind a jumble. "You admit to knowing her, to knowing about what she's done, but also claim having nothing to do with her?"

Jakob answered in lieu of Noah, "That would be my doing—once I learned of what had happened with Matilda, I came here. You could say I'm their connection with the rest of Mysti. I'm their messenger, both ways." He gestured with his hands, weakly. "It is why you are here, now."

"For answers," I repeated his words from earlier. I looked back to Noah, "And you can give me these answers?"

Noah shrugged with a distressed, sad smile. "I wish to help in any way I can—but I do not think I, myself, would know the answers to what you seek."