"Daynor, come here child."

Daynor looked up from where she was practicing for her upcoming trial. On the morrow she would take her sixth and final test. She struggled many years under the tutelage of her grandfather and hoped her hard work would finally pay off. "I am coming." She smiled. Her grandfather was as ageless as all the sorcerers who taught her. His gray hair hung in a long braid down his back and his arms were covered with tattoos showing the various cultures he came into contact with over a lifetime. It still surprised her that she was accepted into apprenticeship with the Master of Kryton Four. Never had she known any other which her grandfather taught since she came to be.

He was considered an ancient by most people of Kryton Four yet Daynor knew him as Grandfather. He was shorter by several inches in comparison to her six-foot frame and his eyes were as gray as his hair. Apprehension skipped up her spine for the elderly mage seemed more stoop-shouldered than ever. She had never seen the elder look so old before.

"Walk with me child. I have something important to tell you."

Daynor knew by the sound of his voice that, at this time, he was Master and not Grandfather. Kneeling, head bowed in respect, she waited until he rose from his seat. "Is there a problem with my testing?"

Grandfather groaned as he stood. "No child." Hands behind his back he started off toward the woods. "This is about something entirely different. I have seen something that disturbs me greatly. Something you can do nothing about and I shall do nothing to stop." Tears gathered in his gray eyes.

Daynor walked silently beside him, confused.

"I must tell you of your mother." The words, spoken softly into the silence, speared Daynor with icy tendrils. She forced herself to remain quiet as she followed behind her grandfather. "I know you have many questions. I also know you get angry and frustrated when I fail to answer them. This has been hard for both of us, my child. Every time I hear you call me Grandfather I wonder ..." A deep, sorrowful sigh escaped him.

Daynor glanced into the beloved face of the only family she had ever known, heart troubled. Today he seemed to have aged eons. "Grandfather, if this distresses you so, you need not speak of it."

He looked into the deep blue of Daynor's eyes and knew she was distressed by the brilliant color of the gold that speckled the blue. Often Daynor's eyes reminded him of the night sky with stars piercing the midnight blue. Her silver-blonde hair stood in stark contrast to her golden tan. She was barefoot as all students on Kryton Four. Only the masters wore the soft shoes of leather.

"It is time you know of your past. Your mother was sent through the northern world gate when she was with child. When she arrived on our planet I found her and brought her back to Kryton Four. She had such power I feared the only place for her to find safety was here on this island. The mainlander's would not have understood." A worried frown crossed his face. "When she first arrived she talked about another planet from which she was exiled."

"Mother came through the Gate of Never?" Daynor gaped at her Grandfather. Of the four world gates, three were known to lead to other lands which were visited freely by the mages. The fourth world gate had been breached by many, yet none ever returned and no connection could be found to indicate that it led anywhere.

"She has been the only one in the fifteen hundred years I have been alive to do so and it has been a marvel to all on Kryton Four how she survived. Yes child, she came through the Gate of Never. You had only been just conceived before she arrived. She never spoke of your father, so I can answer no questions concerning him. Your mother, however, was a great sorceress. She taught me much while we waited for your arrival. Many of those things I have passed to you as she requested."

"Was she pretty?"

"Very pretty." Grandfather's features softened and a smile lit his face at the memories. "Her eyes were green and sparks seemed to fly from them when she was angry or full of mischief. Many of the mages here had trouble meeting her eyes. I did not. I loved her as a daughter and she accepted the love I had for her. On the day you were born, and the day she died, she made me promise to raise you in the ways of mage."

Sadness emanated from the old man, seeping into Daynor. She laid her hand on his arm in an attempt to pull the sadness from him. "I am glad she knew of your kindness and love just as I am proud to call you my Grandfather. I know she must have been happy here."

Grandfather patted her hand absently as they sat upon the teaching stone. The teaching stone was a huge, flat, granite stone, which appeared as if someone had picked it up and settled it amidst the great forest. It was large enough for master and student to sit upon comfortably. "Your mother saw into the future and knew you held the key to a special destiny. She made me promise to keep things for you and give them to you when I felt you were ready to know the truth."

He reached under his ruby colored robe, withdrawing a torque. "This was around her neck and she asked that I remove it the moment of her death. I was to give it to you and warn you never to release it to anyone. Carry it with you at all times, my dear. Wear it if you wish. Remove it only around those you trust not to steal it." He slipped it around her neck. "It has some kind of special powers, my child. Your mother never explained. She said your mage sight would help you understand and when the time came you would know how to put the power of the necklace to use."

Daynor fingered the torque. It was cold when Grandfather put it around her neck but warmed instantly when it touched her skin. Not hot yet not cold. The stone, she saw when he withdrew it from his robe was deep blue and shot sparks when the sunlight reflected off the stone just before Grandfather slipped it around her neck. The metal was not of gold, iron or steel. As she fingered it she found it impossible to name the element from which it was made. A heart shaped drop holding the stone hugged her neck to end in the hollow at her collarbone.

"There is more." Grandfather reached beneath the folds of his robe again and withdrew what appeared to be a dagger, smaller than a sword yet larger than a knife. The hilt was made of gold. The handle appeared to be the image of a dragon's head like one she saw in the archive books, the crossbar its wings. Strange words appeared on the double-edged blade. "I do not know what it says. Your mother never told me."

"It says, 'Go bravely into the unknown and meet your destiny.' I cannot explain how I know the words, yet I can hear them repeating themselves in my head." Daynor fingered the blade in amazement.

"Your mother had three traveling pouches with her at the time." He withdrew them from their hiding place. "She said to tell you these pouches would hold everything and anything you put into them. A sorcerer on her planet made them. She carried all manner of things. Clothes, food, water bags, books, leather armor, just about everything imaginable. It appears they are bottomless. Whenever your mother wanted something she simply thought about what she wanted and then reached into one of the bags. It was in her hand when she withdrew it."

"What is in them now?"

"That is for you to find out. When your mother died I hid the torque, dagger and pouches. I shall leave you...