Nane rushed to the door and opened it. A slight mound of snow pouring into the open doorway. The snow, which had once been up to our shoulders, was now cleared, as small puddles of water littered the makeshift pathway.
"Ah, sorry about that," Litton said as he looked through the doorway to the snow which had spilled into our hallway. He spotted me standing a little ways further down the hall, his eyebrows furrowed. He had black hair, like me, and was wearing a black sheepskin coat.
"That's fine," Nane said, probably thankful that she no longer had to spend time cooped up with me and our grandfather. "How did you make a passage?"
Litton nodded his head in the direction of another apprentice, wearing a brown hooded-cloak and casting fire magic along the walls of the passage, smoothening it out. "I guess he 𝘪𝘴 good for something," He said while smiling.
"Fuck off Litton," Von said keeping it short and quick. "Yo, Meseal! We need to talk!" He said somewhat excited.
"Actually," Litton began, cutting off Von's entrance into our home. "We all need to talk."
Nane told the two to follow her inside. Litton entered first, dusting off the snow before entering. Von followed shortly after as he took off his hood and stomped his boots on the carpet outside the door. Nane led the two into the living room where I quickly tidied up the room, moving the different books onto their respected shelves and adding a few more logs of wood to the fireplace. Litton and Von seated themselves on the sofa, as Nane brought them both a cup of tea.
Hearing the commotion, Graham, the grandfather of me and Nane, came down from upstairs as if the events from before Litton and Von arrived never happened. "Ah, hello, hello young Litton, you too Von. What brings you two here? Something you need from me?"
"There is. My mother asked me to send you to the hall once we've created an exit for you." Litton said quickly as if to hurry him out the door. The others picked up on this.
"I see, I see. Then I'll go right now." my grandfather said. "Meseal, lock the door behind me."
"Oh actually, uh, leave it unlocked," Von said with an overly friendly voice. "One of our colleagues, Ela, is supposed to meet up with us in a bit, she had something to do before coming here. Don't want her to wait in the cold."
"Very well, very well, be good children." My grandfather said again while closing the heavy wooden door as he walked out.
Von waited for a few seconds even after hearing the door click behind my grandfather, before he began.
Nane and I simultaneously turned our attention to him and Litton.
Litton and Von exchanged a glance between each other, before nodding. "Supposedly, as of two days ago, one of the masters returned to the village. Alone." Von said, breaking the news.
A mix of emotions and thoughts went through my mind, and I'm sure Nane was thinking the same. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴? 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘬? 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺?
"It was Master Garduin," Litton said as if he could read our thoughts exactly. "Ela's Master."
"Then Ela--" Nane started, but Litton finished for her.
"Ela went to see if she could meet with him. We told her around an hour ago, and since Von and I had to come here to get Elder Graham, we thought we'de tell you guys about it too."
I nodded to myself, "Then your mother, wants to convene with the other elders about what to do next."
"Right," Litton said sighing.
Von leaned back on the sofa and placed his arms behind his head. "You guys learn anything new from Graham? What was their assignment?"
"No," I said annoyed. I liked to think that my grandfather and I had a good relationship, one where we could talk about most things. But no matter how much I begged, my grandfather would not tell me more than I already knew. The masters went to the ruins, and he doesn't know when they'll be back. "We got all the information we could already."
Litton clicked his tongue, and whispered just loud enough for me to hear, "Useless."
"Unfortunately," Nane added to me. "But that's not important right now, is it? Tell us more about Garduin!" She said, forgetting his title.
Von leaned forwards as Litton fidgetted his leg up and down annoyingly. The two exchanged glances again before Von spoke, "The reason we ask, is because even though he's returned, we haven't been allowed contact. The story we've heard about him though is... Not good. To say the least."
It was quiet for a moment. "What happened?" I asked cautiously.
"Of course, we can't verify this since the elders keep dodging our questions, but..." Litton started and then paused. "When he arrived in the village, people are saying he was covered in blood, and his robe was torn and he didn't have his signature wand. He was crying for my mother." Litton said again. Litton's father was the chief of the village, and his mother is the Head-Elder.
Poor Ela!" Nane cried out, not registering everything she just heard properly.
"Ela said it was worse for us, she at least knows her master is alive," Von said while looking down towards the wooden floor.
I was standing next to the green chair, but after hearing that it finally dawned upon me, our masters could very well be stranded out there. Or worse. I took a seat on the armrest of the green chair. "Yeah." Was all I said. Still replaying everything I just heard over in my mind.
"Take your time," Von said surprisingly compassionately.
A few short moments passed, before the door to our home was suddenly thrown open, as a short girl ran in, closing it quickly behind her, her silverish white hair trailed behind her. She ran forwards into the living room and was met with the four of us discussing the sudden appearance of one of the masters.
"Ela!" Litton said excitedly as he rose to his feet. "Did you see Master Garduin?"
Ela looked around the room panicking, her eyes darted between each person multiple times, before eventually calming down. "Y-Yes. I-I mean no." She said, tears welling up in her eyes. She was scared. Too many emotions flooded through her at this moment and she fell to her knees.
"Ela!" We all cried out simultaneously. Nane quickly rushed over to help her and guided her to the sofa where I stood up to make room for her.
"What's the matter, Ela?" Litton looked at her with concerned eyes, but they suddenly became very serious after she didn't speak for a few moments, "What. Happened." He finally demanded.
Ela calmed herself slightly before looking towards Litton and answering. "I met with him. W-Whoever he is. But that w-was 𝘯𝘰𝘵 Master Garduin."