Sunlight and shadow flashed across the mountain range, and a single word sounded in the young man’s head as he slept: Gwayne. The boy’s name. It had been happening for weeks now. This night, though, he also dreamed of a girl his age standing in a garden of stone, surrounded by a mountain range cast in the early light of dawn. The flowers of the garden were delicately carven and inlayed with harsh jewels, and the trees were formed of marble with golden leaves that glinted in the sunlight. Chains of dark stone with silvery veins running through the links were bound about the girl’s legs and wrists, keeping her from moving. Her eyes were as grey as the rocks around her, and even sadder and colder. 
Gwayne, she whispered to him, her lips unmoving. Gwayne.
“Who are you? How do you know me?” he asked the girl. He concentrated as hard as he could on those two questions, asking them over and over.
Finally a weak response came through, and the girl said quietly, her lips quivering only slightly as she formed the words, “Annora. My name is Annora.”
“And what of me?” Gwayne asked. “How do you know me?”
“Your name has been clear to me for days now. Please, you must help me,” Annora pleaded.
“I promise I will, but how can I?”
“You must find me. Find me in the Stone Garden. Please, hurry!” Annora’s voice faded out, and the dream ended. Gwayne awoke, the girl’s words vivid in his mind. It was still dark out with only the slightest rays of light cresting the horizon, but he still rose from his bed and began preparations for his impossible journey. Gwayne had no idea where the Stone Garden was, or even what it was, but Annora was in danger. He couldn’t let her down.
As Gwayne tied his cloak around his neck, his older sister appeared at the door. “And where are you going?”
“None of your concern.” He tried to push past her but his sister held fast. She gave him a questioning look Gwayne could not ignore. “Have you ever heard of the Stone Garden?” he asked in surrender.
“Never, why?”
“It’s just a place someone told me about.”
“So you’ve decided to venture there on your own, without of a course of destination, in the middle of the night?”
“Early morning,” Gwayne corrected.
“Yet you still do not know where you are going, or you wouldn’t be asking for my help.”
“I’m not asking for your help, I only wished to see if you knew anything about it before I left. I’ve made a promise to someone, and I have to help them. Nothing you say can stop me.”
She sighed. “I know. You’re too stubborn to listen to my reasoning.” She stepped away from the door. “Go. Just try not to get into trouble, all right?”
Gwayne smiled. “You know me. Why would I be getting into trouble?”
She gave him a playful shove. “I do know you. That’s what worries me. One day I fear your adventuring will get you killed, just like it did Father.” His sister pulled him into a tight hug and whispered in a wavering voice, “Be safe.”
Gwayne nodded and let her kiss the top of his head. His sister quickly packed him some food in a small satchel and gave it to Gwayne. He accepted the gift, strapped his sword to his waist, let his sister see a reassuring glance, then opened the door to their little cottage and slipped out into the freezing morning air. The golden light of the rising sun warmed his face as he looked out over the mountains. Gwayne remembered seeing the same snowcapped peaks rising above the Garden where Annora would be found. It was there he would search for the girl.
After a few hours of walking, he stopped to rest, eating a piece of the bread his sister had packed. As he sat on the side of the road, a sudden pain erupted in his head, like he had been struck with a bolt of lightning. Gwayne put his palms to his temples and squeezed his eyes shut, but it didn’t help. Bursts of white light flashed in front of his eyes, and he could hear Annora’s voice.
Gwayne! You’re coming! she shouted gleefully in his mind.
“What are you doing?” Gwayne mumbled through clenched teeth.
Sorry, it’s easier when you are asleep. It hurts much more when you are awake.
“Clearly. Where must I go? How should I find you?”
I have given you a map. You will see it when you begin your travel once more. Now hurry! You must come quickly!
The pain disappeared just as instantaneously as it had started, and Gwayne collapsed down on the grass, breathing heavily. When he looked up, he could see a faint, glowing trail of mist on the road that led up into the mountains. Gwayne allowed himself a few moments to recover, then stood, shouldered his satchel, and started the long trek up.
As he continued to walk, it grew darker out, which was odd as it was only midday and the sun was meant to be at its highest. It also became much colder, and Gwayne pulled his cloak tighter around him to block out the frigid air. A rolling fog started, obscuring the glowing trail. By that point, however, there was only one path to take, so Gwayne kept walking blindly. Barely able to see, he tripped over a large stone on the ground and landed on his knees, tearing holes in his pants and scraping the palms of his hands. It was then that he realized where he was. Gwayne looked up at the wall surrounding the Stone Garden and the gate that marked its entrance. As he watched, the gate slowly creaked open, like it was beckoning him inside. Gwayne stood and dusted himself off, then took a deep breath and walked through the entryway into the Garden.
He pulled out his sword and held it in front of him. If Annora was in such danger, it was logical to assume that he was as well. Gwayne walked through the Stone Garden and looked in amazement at all the plants that decorated it. The levels of detail in each stone were incredible. No ordinary craftsman could have formed them. Thoughts of the strange stones were put out of mind, though, when he slowly began to hear the cries of a girl, calling out, “Help! Help! Please, somebody help me!”
Gwayne rushed towards the sound until he found Annora, standing in the center of the Garden, still chained to the ground. She smiled widely upon seeing him. “Gwayne! You’re here!”
“I told you I would come, did I not?” He raised his sword and swung it down on one of the chains. The stone shattered beneath the blow, but before he could break the others, Annora’s eyes widened with fear as she saw something behind him. Gwayne turned look, and saw a man standing in the mist, his hands folded behind his back, an evil smile on his lips.
“Who are you?” Gwayne demanded.
The man didn’t answer. “Well done, Annora,” he said to the girl.
She lowered her eyes in shame and muttered, “Thank you, Papa.” Annora took a small key from her pocket and unlocked the shackles around her wrists and ankles. She slowly pulled them off and let them fall to the ground, then, without lifting her eyes, went over to Gwayne and stood next to him in silence.
“Who are you?” Gwayne repeated.
Still he refused to answer directly. “None of the plants in this garden are actually stone. They are each living and growing, and only made to look as if they are rocks. Interesting, isn’t it, how something living can appear to be dead.” He paused.  “Hello, Gwayne.”
“How do you know who I am?”
“Well, I am your father.”
Gwayne stood in stunned silence. He had been told his father was dead, killed by a dragon he had tried to slay. For years he had believed that tale, and now his father stood before him once again.
Something living appearing to be dead.
“Please, Papa,” Annora said. “We don’t have to kill him.”
The man narrowed his eyes. “Yes we do. If not, he will be King. You and I both know that cannot happen.”
“King? What are you talking about?” Gwayne asked.
“It was prophesized that the ruler of this land will be my doom. I know one day you will be King unless I stop you. So I used your twin sister to get you here.”
“My sister?” He looked over at Annora in surprise.
“I can’t let you kill him,” she said forcefully.
Their father laughed. “And what would you do?”
“You’ve never loved me like a father should, not even when I’ve done everything you’ve asked. Gwayne has done nothing to you.” Swiftly, she grabbed Gwayne’s sword from his hands, and, before the man knew what was happening, she ran towards him and let the sword find its mark. He fell to his knees and clutched at the bleeding wound in his chest. “A Queen can be a ruler, too,” Annora said.
“Annora,” he choked out, and then he was silent and still.
Gwayne went to his sister and said softly, “Thank you. You saved me.”
“You were trying to do the same for me. I was simply returning the favor.” Annora smiled shakily. “Now please, let’s go home.”
Gwayne took his sword back and sheathed it, then brought his sister into his arms and embraced her. “Yes. Home.”