For once, it wasn't snowing. It was still quite cold however and Adam could feel the goosebumps prickling all over his skin under his long shirt, two thin jackets and thick jacket. They were riding fast, heading towards the large clump of mountains in the distance which indicated the hidden Snow Striker base. Ty was riding on Adam's left and Seto was on Ty's other side, his hands holding the reins tight while glancing over to Adam every now and then.

           "Are you okay?" Ty asked Adam quietly.

          Adam nodded a little. "I'm freezing to death and I'm beginning to really hate this, but I don't feel like how I was before I passed out."

          "I'm still thinking that this is a bad idea," Ty muttered to Seto. "You know what happened last time and-"

          "I know, I know, Queen Anne said not to," Seto said, rolling his eyes. "But I have no idea what we're dealing with here. If Adam is a sorcerer, his magic should have developed a lot earlier than this. Even late bloomers develop their magic before they're 20. But even if he was a sorcerer, his eyes wouldn't be like this. Sorcerer's eyes only glow when they're using powerful magic but they never glow like his do."

          "Alright, just tell me what you think we're facing," Ty says.

          Seto shakes his head slightly. "My best guess is some obscure form of magic. I have a few suspicions but... I don't want to say anything until I get more information."

          Ty nodded a bit, glancing at Adam again who was undoubtedly hearing the conversation but didn't act like it, his face pale inside his hood. Ty picked up the pace a little, glancing behind and around them. "The faster we get this over with, the better."

          They kept riding, heading towards the mountains. The skies were clear but no warriors materialised out of the snow to meet them and although they knew exactly where the Kingdom was, they found themselves doubting their own sense of direction. Was it the first mountain clump or the one up ahead on the left? Had they come too far west? Their breaths steamed in the air in little white clouds as the time ticked past.

          "There!" Seto said suddenly, pointing to their right, where they were just passing the mountain clump. Ty looked and he couldn't see anything, but then he looked in the sky between the mountains: wisps of woodsmoke drifting up before being caught by the wind which spun over the mountain. The three thundered faster towards the gap in the mountains and Ty put back his hood, shading his eyes from the sun. They appeared to be approaching a massive wall of snow as if some avalanche had occured. But part of the avalanche was moving and a figure in a light blue jumper stepped out, her wavy brown hair falling onto her shoulders even tied back. There was no mistaking her.

          "I thought I told you not to bring him back," Queen Anne said sternly, much like a scolding mother or a strict teacher.

          "I know," Ty started to say with a glance at Seto, "but-"

          "Adam's developed magic and we don't know why," Seto butted in. Anne's eyes widened slightly and she cast a quick glance at Adam, who showed no signs of becoming unconscious. Yet. "We need to figure out what it is, so-"

          "Aramis," the Queen said, instantly picking up. "I'll take you straight to him." She turned and glanced up at something or someone, nodding before opening the gate to let them in. Adam looked up and saw the glint of the sun on a weapon as it was lowered.

          "I would have thought that since we're allies, you would have put the weapons aside," he said, a shiver going down his spine.

          "Old habits die hard," Anne said, brushing it aside. "Besides, we still have enemies in this area. This way."

          Anne didn't take them by the main street but instead led them down the side streets where they had to dismount their horses and lead them to get through. The squat alchemy building came into sight and Anne directed them to tie their horses to the gate nearby and they loosened the saddle straps and threw the horses' blankets over them before heading inside.

          The inside of the building was warm and cluttered. It was smaller than the building back at the base and had a roaring fire in the fireplace snuggled in the back wall, the source of the heat. A central table was down the middle of the single room and when Ty's eyes adjusted to the heat, he saw a curtained off area, presumably a sleeping area for the sorcerer Aramis. The sorcerer himself was bent over a simmering cauldron hanging over the fire but he stood up when his door opened for a moment to allow in the four before shutting again. The man's hair was very white and cut close to his head and he wore a light brown shirt with long brown pants and a deep blue cloak over the top. His eyes, a very bright blue, examined the group and his mouth smiled when he saw the last to enter.

          "Young Seto," he greeted warmly. "When you said that you would visit again, I did not expect it to be this quick."

          "My apologies Master Aramis," Seto said. "But we need your knowledge."

          "Of course, what with?"

          "My friend Adam has developed magic and we don't know why. No one in his family has magic and he reacted weirdly to the snow last time we came. He almost died because of it."

          Aramis frowned and moved forward, dusting off his hands. "Unusual," he said to himself. Then to Adam, "Take off your jumper please, and your gloves."

          Adam did so and Aramis took both of his hands, holding them side by side. After a few moments, yellow wisps drifted out of his hands again, twisting lazily in the air above his palms. The sorcerer made a humming sound and asked: "You definitely didn't have magic before?"

           Adam mutely shook his head. "No, it just... happened. Over time, I think," he added with a frown.

          Aramis hummed again. "Take off your sunglasses for me."

          The sunglasses slowly came off and Aramis gently touched Adam's eyelid with his thumb. The yellow spot had grown, now taking over a large portion of his brown iris. "When did this appear?" he asked quietly.

          "Ummm... a couple of days ago," Adam said.

          "Did anything else happen? Anything strange?" the sorcerer asked, taking his hand away.

          Adam nodded. "I've been feeling really energetic and I... cut myself but it healed, somehow. And I fell into the fire but," he shook his head a little, "it didn't hurt me." Aramis hummed a third time (he seemed to be very fond of the sound) and examined Adam's hands again. He seemed to be thinking very hard about something.

          "Alone, they don't mean much," he started slowly. "But together... they remind me of only one other sorcerer."

          "Who is it?" Ty asked.

           Aramis glanced at him and let go of Adam's hands. "There are a few things going on here: 1, the reaction to snow. 2, the resistance to fire. 3, the spontaneous development of magic and, of course, the eyes." At this, Aramis gestured to Adam's glowing yellow eyes. "The eyes and the fire resistance are the giveaways. They are, after all, Herobrine's trademarks. Hi-"

          "Herobrine?" Adam blurted.

          The older sorcerer nodded. "His magic also appeared sporadically and I would not be surprised at all if he struggled to manage the cold."

          Seto frowned. "But the only reason why Adam could have Herobrine's magic is if he was directly related to him," he said thoughtfully. "That's the only way magic can be inherited." Adam's heart suddenly became leaden but Ty merely scoffed.

          "Come on," he said. "Herobrine's not real, he's a ghost story told to gullible children and superstitious adults. He never existed."

          "Oh no, he is real," Aramis said reasonably. "In the library all us sorcerers share, we have records of when he terrorised village after village. Centuries ago, he disappeared from the face of the earth and although there have been reported sightings, nothing has ever been confirmed."

          Ty rolled his eyes, clearly not believing a word but Adam was more inclined to trust it. He was, after all, the one with the magic."If..." he started hesitantly, looking to Seto. "If Herobrine is real, and I have his magic... does that mean that I'm his... son or something?"

          Seto shrugged a little. "It's possibl-"

          "No, it's not," Queen Anne said instantly. Everyone in the room jumped a little. They had forgotten that she was there. "Adam is not Herobrine's son."

          "Well, he could be," Seto said reasonably. "After all, no one knows a lot about Herobrine, Adam could be his son-"

          "No, it's not possible," Anne said clearly, "because Hero and I have never had children. And he wouldn't run off and have them with someone else."

           There was a full minute of unbroken silence as everyone stared at her, eyes unblinking and mouths wide. She stared back at them, her arms crossed over her chest, her cheeks a light pink, not taking back what she had just uttered. Finally, Aramis nodded thoughtfully.

          "I had wondered why you didn't seem to age in all the years I've known you," he said, his grin sly.

          "I was wondering if you had noticed," Anne said with a gentle nod.

          "Woah woah wait," Ty interrupted, waving his hands. "You know Herobrine? And you're... like... married?"

          "Yes, and yes, Ty," Anne confirmed. "And I can guarantee that he's not a myth."

          "But... but if I'm not related to Herobrine," Adam said, relief making his heart much lighter, "then what other explanation is there for this magic?"

          Anne's brows creased and she shook her head slightly. "I don't know. As far as I know, Hero can't share his magic with someone else. Either that or he just doesn't."

          "No matter how he has it," Aramis said, "the point is that Adam still has magic." He turned to Seto. "You will have to teach him how to control it. It is no different to our magic, except for the added bonus of fire resistance."

          "Brilliant, I get to train you for once," Seto said to Adam with a grin.

          "You should be heading back," Anne told them. "You don't want to risk falling unconscious again Adam."

          They nodded and started to leave but Ty stopped before the door. "That's how you knew he was in danger, isn't it?" he asked. "I mean, if Adam has the same magic as Herobrine, then that means that Herobrine reacts the same way to snow that he does, right?"

          Anne didn't say anything on this topic but the smile which she refused to let on her face suggested that he was at least on the right track. She saw them to the gate and then waited there until she was sure that they were safely on the way home. Ty glanced back once to make sure they were out of earshot of the gate and then asked his friends "If she's Herobrine's wife, then why is she in the one place where he can't go?"