Dedicated to:

Fallen by ConfusedKnight: This story is different than anything you will ever read. It is an amazing piece of writing, nobody can deny it. It has struck readers from every corner of the world, and I owe a lot to the inspiration this has brought me. To be a better writer. To make something of my work, or, try to. And for the wish that maybe one day, a story of mine strikes another soul, speaks to it in the way Fallen has to me.

TamoraPierceJunior: A reviewer who has stayed by me the entire time, a reviewer I owe a lot to. A reviewer, a reader, who is now writing this with me. As I have promised, if I ever write a book it will have a dedication to you in the front, in the mean time, I hope this fanfiction is enough. Never stop reading, never stop writing. Live. Laugh. Smile.

To Kate of Carlay: I owe a lot to your story, and to your wonderful personality. Brightens on a dark day. Thank you.

And of course, this is to my reviewers, for all my stories, I owe you all a lot. Never stop reading.

Here is the story!

IMPORTANT: Seven magical stones and a journey through Tortall to find them. Their world is on the brink of disaster as war breaks out once more. The stones are hidden and locked away, their time is limited, follow the journey of the children of our favorite heroes as they learn to fight, hate and to love. As they learn to bond and to share and are forced into the unknown without a clue. They are forced to watch friends die and family disappear, are they strong enough to face the enemy of the shadows? Can they make it back in time to save Tortall? And everything else for that matter?

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This story is new to me, it is something I have waited many years to write. It is not your average story, it is not your average tale. My father always told me that to write one has to able to read. I never understood it, until now. I have a story, a tale to tell. I am here to tell it, because I am ready. I have read, and read, and read, all my life. And now, when I start putting things onto paper, I realize, my father was right. I learned to read, and really read, and now, that has taught me how to write. So, this is my story, that of my sister and family and friends. This is the recording of my life, straight from the beginning. My name is Trey of Masbolle, this is my story.

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What is time?

Little moments, passing quickly.

Big events that take a lifetime to pass.

Keladry of Mindelan's daughter stared forwards, lost in thoughts.

She stood beside her father, Domitan or Masbolle, sergeant of the King's Own.

She stared forwards, hardly blinking.

Because within a blink a moment can pass. And within a moment, so can a life.

Catherine of Masbolle stared forwards lost in her thoughts wondering the eternal question 'what is time?'

What is time made of?

Good things?

Bad things?

Attending balls?

The mornings she spent practicing the glaive with her mother?

Was it made of happiness?

Was it made of those little moments that pass ever so quickly?

Was time meant to be cherished?

Or was it meant to be feared?

And while time flies by,

Was it meant to be remembered?

Or forgotten?

Because time passes ever so fast.

Before you know it,

years have gone by.

And one day you wake up,

And time has passed, without your knowing.

So,

What is time? What does it mean?

Catherine stared forward, lost in her thoughts. Her father beside her, just as lost as she was.

He stared forward silently, contemplating the moments that passed, never failing to surprise him with the amount of time that passed him by.

His little girl had grown up, his little boy too. They were both at the age to try for knighthood.

Kel was proud, they both were.

'What was time'? Domitan of Masbolle asked himself. Was it those little kisses in public?

Or was it those kisses of burning passion shared behind closed tent flaps?

Was it those moments of dancing in dressed up clothes, or was it those moments, sweaty and dirty, spent mucking out in trenches?

Or was time simply all these things put together?

I, Trey of Masbolle stared forward like the rest of his family. My father stared forward, my sister stared forward and my mother stared forward.

We stood before the doors that Keladry of Mindelan had once stood behind and we contemplated.

We thought about the little things, the big things. We thought about who they were and how we got to where we were.

We thought about the time it doors opened and we stepped, ever so slowly, forward. To start a new chapter to our lives,

A new chapter in the history of Tortall. A new generation, A new time.

So what is time? What is it made of?

It's made of the feel of a sword in your hand, the feel of free combat with our parent's friends in the Own.

It's made of love, of joy, of happiness and of worry. It's made of human emotions and everyday events.

Time is made up of little iota's of feelings and places and people.

What is time?

The eternal question. A question nobody can answer.

Time is what we make it,

What we feel, what we touch, what we remember, what we try to forget.

Of battles and romance. Time, is nothing more, and nothing less, than time.

With a blink, time can pass. With the beat of a heart it's gone.

Our family stared forward, the second generation ready to embark upon a new journey.

Time would pass and moments will fly. No matter what life threw at us, we would be ready to catch it, just like our parents. Catherine and I are ready to start our training to become knights of the realm.

What is time?

Time is a teacher, the only teacher to claim its students.

The only thing that turns rocks to dust.

That breaks bonds and ruins friendships.

The door creaked open, it was time.

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Hope you like it, please, just give it a chance.

Review!

Keep Reading,

xxTunstall Chickxx

28/06/08

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P.S. Trey: Three.

Catherine: Innocent, pure.