While his cousins were learning how to create the things that commoners called fairies, ghosts, golems, trolls, werewolves, and other such miracles that were the heritage of the North family, Danny worried that he would never show a talent, never form an outself.

He grew up in the rambling old house, filled with dozens of cousins, and aunts and uncles, all ruled by his father.

One day, while trying to make his cousins focus on learning about their powers, he decides to take drastic measures.

The Norths try to act pathetic and weak, and later, while he is spying on the adults from both families, the twelve-year-old girl, Yllka, comes into the room and reveals him as a gatemage.

Inside the cellar in the house, Danny finds a family tied up and left for dead, and the father has died.

On the advice of Stone, Danny travels to Ohio and meets Leslie and Marion Silverman, Orphans who agree to train him and help to develop his gatemagery.

Leslie is a beastmage with an affinity for cows, and Marion is an earthmage able to sense large deposits of oil and coal.

The stranger (Victoria Van Roth, aka Veevee) is actually an Orphan gatemage, but because she can't create a gate, has never seen one and no one believes her claims.

Veevee is listed as his aunt, she rents an apartment in Buena Vista and Danny links it via gates to her condo in Florida.

The ability of Gatefathers to create gates connecting Earth to Westil (the mage home world) has been missing for 1,400 years.

Mages that make the trip find their powers exponentially magnified, but all the attempts to create these gates have failed since Loki stole all of them.

By accident, when he helped Hal climb the rope he had stumbled on the process of creating a Great Gate.

Gathering his friends: Stone, Veevee, Ced, Leslie, Marion and Hermia, Danny returns to the rope and creates his own Great Gate.

Naked and unable (or unwilling) to speak, he is provided some food and clothes by a kind young woman.

Wanting her claim to the throne to be completely legitimate, the Queen kills Oath, and attempts to murder Wad, the mistress, and her children in their prisons.

The powered up Leslie and Marion have no problems defeating them; they also made it clear that they will control access to the Great Gates only if Danny is obeyed and safe.