As The Snow Falls

Chapter Two

The roofs of Epstylium's city disappeared into the swirling snow as Lilith looked outside of the large arched windows lining the corridor. Anxiety curled in her stomach, her heels clicking against the floor. Should she run? Maybe it wasn't that serious, but she never knew with him.

Although the city was asleep, the castle was bustling with activity. Amos had raised the alarm in the late hours of the night, telling everyone who would listen that a huge expulsion, practically an explosion, had shaken his radar. It puzzled Lilith, mostly because there were nothing but small towns and seaside hamlets in that region. Sure, many of the residents there were Medeis's children, but none of them could have created such a big blast single handedly.

When she entered Doctor Amos's study, both Roisin, Queen Pedaiah and two of the Queen's advisors were circled around the Doctor's desk, eyebrows furrowed.

"-it can't be that." Lilith caught. "Anything but that. First, it's not even possible, second- '' Roisin was cut off by Lilith's entrance. "Ah. Lilith." Roisin straightened, a warm smile forcing its way onto her face.

"Lady Kader," Amos greeted with a small dip of the head.

"What seems to be the problem, Doctor?" Lilith replied, forcing her diplomatic voice to the front of her thoughts.

"Well, you got most of the message. The pinpoint in the northwestern coastline, a huge concentration of magic- the jist."

"Alright," Lilith surveyed the map, the pinpoint hovers a couple inches- or miles- over a spot labeled: Aresburgh. "Again, Doctor. What is the problem?"

"It's huge." He replied simply. Lilith held a deep sigh through her nose. The casualty of the Doctor would never not astonish her.

"What he means, my dear Lilith, is that the pinpoint he has located is quite large. The size of the circle indicates the amount of raw magic exuded from the spot. As you can tell-" Queen Pedaiah splayed her hand over the map. Lilith nodded.

"I see."

"What we need you here for, is we all agree that... someone has done this." Roisin hesitated, throwing an uneasy glance at Amos.

"A single person? Do we have any idea who?"

"No," Amos replied quickly. "As far as we know, the person is a Child. There is no way a regular, fully human mage would be able to channel that amount of magic through their body. They would simply-" he made an explosion noise, unfurling his fist. Lilith nodded. Taking the Doctor seriously would push her further into gray hairs before she had the chance to retire.

"What my brother means-" The Queen shot Amos a look before continuing- "If a regular human like myself or you, dear Lilith, we would simply lay an end to the magic. This person however did not. We need you to go find them."

"Find them? Forgive me, my Queen, but how am I supposed to find this powerful individual out of all of these towns?"

"We don't have many leads, but they were closest to Aresburgh. Wherever they are, we are almost sure that they reside there." Roisin clarified.

"Well we have some-" Amos began, but quickly cut himself off.

"Some..?" Lilith asked.

"Some leads." He continued. "Again, this person most likely lives in Aresburgh. We will send you with a squadron of Pedaiah's preferred amount, and you will all search the landscape."

"Hopefully this will be your last mission. I apologize, dear." Roisin placed a delicate hand on her shoulder.

"I hope so as well." Lilith agreed. "Thank you for the information. When am I set to leave?"