As Naida was blossoming into womanhood, tales of her beauty began to circulate in the nearby villages. Many claimed that she had the gift of Second Sight. Her mother had died in childbirth, so Naida was raised in the forest with her father, the local healer. From him, she learned the secrets of the herbs of the countryside, which she would gather for her father’s potions. He also taught her the mystic arts which had been passed down from father to son for generations. Without a male heir, he called her Niko, as it was the custom in that land to give the only child a boy’s name. Continue reading
