Dawn Read Online Free PDF

are gorgeous! Like fresh snow. And I’m just…well…”
    “ You have beautiful blue eyes and an exotic flowing black coat. Mysterious like the night, but a ray of sunshine during the day,” Maria countered.
    Dawn nodded and tried to accept the compliment, but it seemed thin to her.
    “ Looks like we made a day of it,” said Maria, changing the subject. “Shall we head back home?”
    “ Yes, please,” Dawn brightened slightly, “I’ve a mountain of books to read.”
     
     

Chapter 4
     
     
    “ Dawn, get up,” called Maria. “Breakfast is waiting and we need to head into town right quick.”
    Dawn growled to herself as she climbed out of bed. Town again? They just went yesterday, what was this all about? No way of finding out up here, so she quickly hopped out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. As she brushed her teeth, she glared at the drab girl she saw in the mirror. What a plain and dull coat, and drab hair to match. Oh, how she wished she had a pretty coat, like the girl she saw in town, heck, even just a coat like Ivy would be nice. But no, there she was, plain and drab. Her only comfort was no one was heckling her about her wings. Yet. How long could she keep them secret? Oh! But she had to go and try her wings out. What a mess! Argh! Well at least she had a new dress. Fights with the mirror over, she put on a smile as best she could and made her way downstairs.
    Maria was by the stove while Heather was already sitting at the table and was enthusiastically devouring her breakfast. Dawn tried to smile at the little girl’s antics, but just didn’t seem to have the energy. Maria took one look at her and frowned, “Did you not sleep well last night? You look like someone combed your fur backwards.”
    “ I’ll be alright Maria. I was… I was thinking about things and that can be a bit…”
    “ Sad,” nodded Maria. “I’m sorry, dear. I understand; things will take time.” She gave Dawn a warm hug and looked her square in the eyes, “If you ever need to talk, you know where to find me.”
    “ Yes, Maria,” replied Dawn with a feeble smile. “Thank you for trying.”
    “ You are welcome,” replied Maria with a warm smile. “By the way, your new dress looks quite becoming on you.”
    Dawn gave the dress a quick twirl and smiled, “They do very good work. So much different than buying things made by machine.”
    “ An honest craft pays in honest results.”
    Dawn giggled, “Sorry, I kinda get the meaning. It just sounds a little funny.”
    “ That’s okay, now eat up before it gets cold.”
    Dawn nodded and sat at the table across from Heather and finally succumbed to the younger child’s charms and smiled back. The smile felt good in spite of her self-imposed blue funk and it did make breakfast taste better, too. “Why are we going back into town? We were just there yesterday,” Dawn finally asked.
    “ We need to head to the citadel; one of the gates is not working.”
    Dawn cocked her head confused, “Um? Gates?”
    Maria wrinkled her nose, “How much do you know of the story of Aurora?”
    “ You mean the legends of Aurora? The first solid white Taik? Um, the bedtime versions, I guess.”
    Maria laughed, “I’d say ‘history’ rather than ‘legend,’ but that is for another day.” Maria sat at the table with the two younger girls. “Aurora was able to open one of the portals, gates as it were. These gates connect the other regions together and permit people and goods to cover long distances just by walking through their thresholds.”
    “ The humans described them as a stable wormhole or something. I know they were all very curious about them for a whole lot of technical reasons,” Dawn rolled her eyes, “that I never really paid attention to even though I probably should have.”
    Maria laughed, “Don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz! I was never much for physics myself either. Anyway , Aurora was able to reopen a closed gate. They don’t know entirely