Dawn Read Online Free PDF Page B

how, but it is a simple fact that she did. That is the important part.”
    Dawn was getting confused how all this was important but nodded politely as she tried to follow it all.
    “ To this day, when a gate starts to become unstable, closing down on its own, Aurorans have always been able to help re-align the gates. I am one of the only adult Aurorans in the village area, so they have asked if I can come down and try to help fix a gate.”
    “ How?” Dawn was genuinely curious now. “Is there some button you press that others just can’t see?”
    Maria smiled. “It’s hard to explain; I’ve only done it twice before. It is very odd feeling. Like the gate is growling at me. Do you understand Father, er, Llewellyn when he growls?”
    “ You mean the voice that rattles around inside your head, but your ears don’t hear it? That is really weird.”
    Maria brightened immediately, “Good! I had hoped you could understand that. As a general rule, only Silvers and High Silvers can growl like that and, outside of themselves, only Aurorans can understand it. It makes my fur feel extra fuzzy that you can understand it too!”
    “ I’m not a black Auroran. That’s what the doctors said at least…”
    Maria blew as raspberry, “Who cares what the doctors say. You are you, that is all that counts. So, are you ready to go?”
    Dawn had finished her plate, well mostly. “I guess.”
    “ Come on, it’ll be fun,” grinned Maria. “On the way back we’ll see if they’ve gotten any of your other dresses done early.”
    Dawn smiled, a little bit at least. It was fun getting new clothes, and they were very nice, “That sounds like a great plan.”
     
     
    With the plates cleared and put away, Maria, Heather and Dawn were soon retracing their steps to the village across the alpine meadow. It was cooler this morning than last, but not quite so cold as to cause a shiver. Dawn silently wished her winter coat hadn’t already blown. Being on starships, it was hard to keep synchronized with the natural order of the home world. The air was fresh and clean and what the air lacked in warmth it made up for in taste and feel; it was wonderful. By the time they had finally made it to town, the fresh air and Heather’s incurable hyperactivity had all but completely erased the last shadows of the early morning grumps from Dawn.
    “ So the gates are at the citadel? Like the armored tower?” asked Dawn.
    “ They are in the barbican itself, but yes.” Maria quickly noticed the confused look on Dawn and elaborated, “Oh, barbican is just a fancy name for gatehouse. More or less.”
    Dawn giggled, “Fancy the gates being in the gatehouse.”
    They crossed to the far edge of town, up a well-traveled road and briefly into the woods before they came across the citadel, a massive stone structure soaring easily five stories overhead with towers in the corners, even higher yet. The entire structure was intricately carved with petroglyphs of bygone ages along with statues and bas-relief engravings covering every square inch of it.
    “ That is amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it,” remarked Dawn with a sense of awe. She approached the wall and reached out timidly, “Is it okay if I touch it?”
    Maria laughed, “By all means. It has stood since the time of the ancients, I think it can survive you.”
    Dawn ran her hand over the reliefs as she marveled at the craftsmanship and artistry involved. Everything was so smoothly cut and made perfect use of the natural grain of the stone. Dawn’s mind raced as she looked it over and over again, “Is this for real?”
    “ Yes, indeed. Why do you ask?”
    “ There are no seams. No seams anywhere .”
    Maria’s eyes brightened. “You have very sharp eyes, Dawn, most people don’t catch that. Yes, indeed, the entire citadel is carved from a single piece of stone, natural to where it lies.” She paused as she wrangled Heather back over to them; the youngster had wandered a bit chasing