Dawn Read online

  “One of the gates closing?” asked Maria.

  “Has closed, and doesn’t seem to want to open either direction. It’s to Lost Lake Pass, so it doesn’t get much traffic day to day, but it gets a lot of traffic on market days.”

  “And market days are coming up tomorrow,” finished Maria.

  “Exactly!”

  Maria let out a short breath, “Okay, I’m willing to give this a try. I’ve only done this twice before. Center one, far side. Yes?”

  “And I’ve never done it,” beamed Allrich. “Yep, it’s the center one in the second room. Come on, I’ll go with you.”

  Dawn followed Allrich and Maria as they approached the front gates of the citadel itself. As they approached, the massive stone doors swung open to reveal a long inner hall. The insides were easily carved as much as the exterior. Floor to ceiling, everything was decorated.

  “Do the other ones look like this?” asked Dawn as she gazed around at the carvings.

  “They are all intricately carved, yes. But each one is unique,” replied Allrich.

  Dawn stopped and gazed as they passed the first of the gates. They were carved like any other doorway, but she could see long giant rooms through them, which was perplexing as she knew they were on the inside of the outer wall. There was no way a room could fit in the space provided!

  “Weird to look at, aren’t they?” laughed Allrich. “Come look at this one. It is even better.”

  They walked down a little further until they saw another gate that opened to an outside scene rather than the inside of another building. She could plainly make out a stone road and bridge over a massive river. A river that was nowhere near them.

  “Where is that?” she asked with a since of wonder.

  “Blackhawk River, it is about four hundred miles away if you go overland. It opened out to one of the smaller gates, rather than a full-sized citadel.”

  “And so that is how people get from one town to the next,” she half asked half stated. “You go four hundred miles just by walking through that threshold.”

  “Pretty amazing when it finally sinks in, isn’t it?” smiled Maria. “You can see why they are so important to commerce and travel.”

  “And why the humans are so fascinated in how they work! Like you said, it is one thing to talk about it. It is amazing to see it!” gawked Dawn with delight.

  Allrich smiled, “Go on. We’re in no rush, run through it and back right quick!”

  Dawn looked at Maria who smiled back and nodded, so Dawn walked up to the threshold of the gate at touched it. She could feel a breeze on the other side, but nothing else to give it away. With a small amount of trepidation but a far larger dose of curiosity, she stepped over the threshold and found herself standing outside in a light breeze among tall pines. She turned around and made out the small decoratively carved tower with its gate. Through the gate she could plainly see Maria, Heather and Allrich smiling back at her. Four hundred miles! She giggled and walked back through the threshold to the citadel, “That is fantastic!”

  Maria smiled back, “So, how does that compare to those starships?”

  Dawn grinned, “Well, far faster and quieter, that is for certain! Are there any of these gates that go off planet?”

  Allrich shook his head, “Not that we know of. There are several places that look like gates that have never opened for anyone, and people suspect they go off world, but no one knows for certain.”

  Dawn thought about that a bit, “Is there any reason to think they couldn’t? I mean are there any other examples of something similar that do go off world?”

  Maria brightened at that question, “Well, we know that High Silvers can fold home from an arbitrary distance. Llewellyn once folded home from a distance of well over a hundred and fifty light years.”

  Dawn was suddenly very curious about her uncle again. Folded home? He also did that ‘forest wall’ thing. Uncle was more than a little bit different than the average Highland Taik.

  Maria must have been watching the gears turn in Dawn’s head, “Talk to Llewellyn about it sometime. He’d be glad to.”

  Dawn mumbled nervously, “Okay, but what about the gate we came here after?”

  Maria smiled motherly and laughed, “It’s just down the hall. Come on, follow Allrich.”

  Allrich winced as they started down the hall again.

  “Are you okay?” asked Dawn.

  Allrich just smiled back, “Years taking their toll. Gotta keep moving, though, or I’ll rust!”

  A few yards later they found themselves in the second antechamber. It was carved like the other room and was adorned with several more gates, two of which offered outside scenes. A single framed wall stood bare, however. Smooth black marble filled the gap where a gate was obviously inscribed by the surrounding carving. This must be the problem gate!

  Maria smiled as she reeled Heather in again, “Go ahead, Dawn. Touch it and see if you get a response from it.”

  Dawn looked nervously back at Maria, “Touch it… it’s not going to suck me in or anything is it?”

  Maria laughed, “Nope. Not a chance. Just touch it and see if you can hear anything.”

  Suddenly there was a bit of noise back in the front of the gatehouse. Allrich nodded to the ladies, “Sounds like some people coming through the gate. Need to go make sure they end up where they want to be. It can be easy to get turned around if you bounce through several gates on the way to someplace new.” With old bones creaking, he shuffled back down the hall.

  Dawn’s respite was short lived. Now she was expected to touch the gate. She had no idea why the thought made her so nervous. She would almost rather run naked through the town right now than touch the gate. Okay, maybe not quite that nervous, but nervous enough! She shuffled closer and closer to the closed gate and reached out with her hand to the bare wall. She wasn’t sure if she was going to be happier if it did or didn’t ‘growl’ at her. At this point, she just wanted it over and to go back and pick up her dresses.

  “Dawn” came a booming voice inside her skull.

  Dawn jumped back and screamed. Three panicked breaths later she yelled to Maria, “It knows my name!”

  Maria laughed in spite of herself, “It’s okay, Dawn. It’s okay! That was excellent. Now let’s see…” She was cut short by the sound of yelling down the hall. Heather suddenly snapped to attention and clung tight to Maria.

  Dawn meet Maria’s gaze and they all made their way back to the first antechamber. There, to their horror and dismay they found three vicious looking men with swords at the ready bearing down on Allrich. He had his own blade but was looking the worse for wear, not just from age, but from a nasty gash to his leg. The highwaymen spread out to block the exit. One snarled to the others, “Drop the gates so they cannot escape and raise an alarm.” The one closest to the entrance pulled on a long braided rope behind the door and suddenly all the gates closed down and went silent.

  “Stay close, Dawn,” murmured Maria as they started to backpedal. In a shower of blue sparks, an elegant long sword winked into existence in Maria’s hands, and she went to a low defensive posture. Dawn was shocked; she had seen precious little of Live Steel and had never expected Maria to be able to wield it.

  “Whoa, the Auroran can use Live Steel. How good can she be though?” snarled one of the bandits.

  “Don’t get cocky,” suggested one. “She looks like a Second Mother. They will fight with no small amount of zeal. What she lacks in skill, she will try to make up for in pure rage.”

  “Dawn, go back to the gate and open it for us,” whispered Maria.

  “I don’t know how, and I thought they just shut them down!”

  “Try, girl. Try!” came Maria’s reply as they continued to back their way into the second antechamber.

  Dawn swallowed hard and ran back down the hall. Fear and desperation for Maria overrode her own apprehension. She ran straight up to the old wall and touched it with both hands. Instantly it was racing through her m
ind again and all her fur stood on end. Where? Where does the gate open to? Suddenly she felt the gate ask her that same question. She was at a loss; she had no idea where they should go. Lost Lake Pass? Blackhawk River? Would the gate even open to those places since other gates were assigned to them? She screamed in frustration until the only thing left in her mind was the longing for the comfort and strength that Llewellyn had shown during her rescue a few days earlier.

  “Father,” replied the gate in her skull and then it opened. The whole barbican opened. In a cascade of blue sparks the entire structure disappeared and Dawn found herself standing on an infinite rocky plain with an unfamiliar night sky overhead. Standing on the plain with her were Maria, Heather and Allrich nearby with the three bandits in close proximity. But they were not alone; there in the midst of them all stood Llewellyn. Unconcerned, and calm, he casually looked around at the surroundings.

  “Maria, you should have called for help. I would have been here in a wink,” smiled Llewellyn.

  Maria sighed visibly, “I was about thirty seconds out from that. I was hoping to avoid that since I know how much that hurts you.”

  “It’s okay,” he smiled as he looked over to Dawn. “You pulled me through a gate. That is pretty fascinating.”

  “Uncle, three bad guys behind you!” replied Dawn with some urgency.

  Llewellyn just nodded and smiled, “It’s okay. They are terrible robbers, not an ounce of skill among them.”

  Well that seemed to bust one of the highwaymen loose from his state of shock, and he rushed the unarmed Llewellyn. Llewellyn just waited for the thrust and carefully and gracefully sidestepped it before firing a powerful roundhouse into the man’s head, sending him sprawling and unconscious to the floor. Llewellyn bowed to the remaining two and smiled.

  They briefly looked at each other and then charged Llewellyn at the same time, with both of their weapons swinging wildly. Llewellyn dexterously slapped a thrust wide as he sidestepped the man and then pushed him into the second. The second accidentally struck his companion in the arm with sword. As the first man reeled in pain, Llewellyn struck him to the side of the head hard enough that he bowled over the second man with the limp body of the first.

  “If you stay laying down, it’ll hurt less,” offered Llewellyn.

  The man just looked up at him in awe while Allrich lumbered over to hold the man at sword point.

  “Ouch! We need to get you back and have that looked at.” Llewellyn turned to Dawn. “We are halfway between realms; you need to send us home, Dawn.”

  “How?”

  “Same way you got us here.”

  “I don’t know what I did. I just panicked and thought about you.”

  Llewellyn smiled, “Then clear your mind and think about home.”

  Dawn just stared at Llewellyn. Who was she to be controlling a gate? Well, she had gotten them there. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Calm, calm, home… As she opened her eyes she watched the barbican fade into being around her again.

  “Excellent!” smiled Llewellyn.

  “And you didn’t think you could talk to a gate!” laughed Maria. “I’ve opened gates, but never anything like that.”

  Dawn just stood there in shock. She didn’t know how she had done it, and she wasn’t certain if she liked it.

  “Dawn is awesome!” belted Heather.

  Dawn couldn’t help but smile at that; Heather was just too cute for words. “Awesome or not, I think I’ll leave the gate to Maria.”

  Maria smiled and hugged Dawn, “Fair enough, you’ve done enough for today.”

  “We still going to go by the dress shop on the way home?”

  “Of course!” beamed Maria.

  Chapter 5

  The next morning Dawn found herself sitting in a kitchen chair while Maria fussed over her. Dawn’s skirt had several tears and she sported several bruises and a mild gash on her head which Maria carefully dressed.

  Ivy burst into the room, short of breath, “What happened?”

  “She was playing in the meadow while Heather and I were down by the stream,” began an equally anxious Maria. “She took quite a spill!”

  “Did you fall off the bridge?” Ivy blurted.

  “No, ma’am, a tree,” Dawn said half under her breath.

  “A tree? You were climbing trees at your age?” demanded Ivy.

  “I never had a chance before. No trees on starships,” Dawn muttered.

  Now it was Ivy’s turn to have her fur stand on end. She bit her lip and tried regain her composure, “Um… Okay then. You are trying new things, I understand. But, please, in the future, do so with Maria close by?”

  Dawn nodded obediently. She’d dodged that one! Suddenly her heart started to race as Llewellyn entered the room. He was carrying a large black feather.

  “Oh, ouch! Someone had quite a spill,” he observed as he fidgeted with the feather. “By the way, I saw you at the practice field on Tuesday. Do you suppose you could come out again day after tomorrow? I want to see if the boys can keep their cool this time.”

  Dawn had no desire to go there again. But that feather--it was one of hers. What did he know? Suddenly Dawn thought she had it figured out: this was blackmail! How could he be so low? She cleared her throat, “If you think it would be of use, I would be glad to help.”

  “Excellent!” He started to leave before calling over his shoulder, “That’s not a problem is it Maria?”

  “No, not at all. It should be fun,” she replied. “Oh, what’s with that feather?”

  “Oh this?” he said as he spun it around. “Biggie, isn’t it! New to the area, we’ll see when it shows up again.”

  Dawn made an audible sigh of relief as Llewellyn finally cleared the room.

  Ivy smirked and prodded, “I take it she made an impression with the boys?”

  “Yes, indeed. One in particular,” Maria grinned.

  A broad smile crossed Ivy’s face, “And so it begins. All the more reason not to get yourself all banged up, dear!”

  Dawn sheepishly tried to smile. Great. How much did Llewellyn actually know? Ugh! Meet the boy again. Now what was she going to do?

  Chapter 6

  Lightning crashed in the distance as Dawn watched from the mudroom. The rain overhead was gentle enough, but the display in the distance was formidable. It had to be some time after midnight, but it wasn’t the storm keeping her awake, it was nightmares. Over and over visions of that horrible day played out in her head. Every time they ended the same way: she was alone. Crying did little good now. Her face was already soaked and she had all but run dry. For the first time in her life she actually missed the teasing and heckling of her older sisters. A sudden shudder came over her although she wasn’t sure if it was from the cold outside or the despair inside.

  A long soft shadow suddenly started to dance towards her. She peered back into the house and could just make out the shape of Maria approaching with a candle for a light.

  “Nightmares again?” guessed Maria as she draped a warm blanket over Dawn’s shoulder.

  Dawn nodded, “Thank you for the blanket.”

  “It’s the least I could do,” Maria offered. With no small amount of effort she sat down beside Dawn. “Would you like to talk about it?”

  Dawn shook her head softly and rearranged herself to make better use of the offered blanket.

  Maria sighed softly and joined Dawn staring off at the distant storm, “I wish I could just say something and make it all better… I wish I could say ‘I know how you feel’ and we could just share the moment…” Maria turned to face Dawn square in the eyes, “I have been through nothing like you have and will not lie to you with some ‘magic’ words… but if you ever need to talk, ever, I am here for you.”

  Dawn looked down with a bit of a sheepish grin, “I thought parents were supposed to tell lies to make their children feel better…”

  Maria smiled back, “I do wish you’d think of me that way.” She wrinkled her nose, “not
that whole ‘lying’ part… but as a parent.”

  Dawn cocked her head slightly, “I…I’m just not ready…”

  “Hushhhhhh!” babied Maria. “Just know that when you are, I am here for you. We are all here for you.”

  “Maria?”

  “Yes, dear?”

  Dawn looked down at her feet, “Would you hold me?”

  Maria laughed lightly and snuggled up tight, “All night and into the morning.”

  Chapter 7

  Dawn touched down to the soft damp earth. She managed to keep both of her feet under her this time as her wings lightly pumped to help maintain balance. She stole a quick glance back across meadow. She had snuck off before breakfast again and needed to get back soon or she was going to be missed. The air was fresh from the night’s rain; as it rejuvenated the earth, it seemed to bring vigor to Dawn’s practice as well. Four good flights this time. No tears or tumbles, and the last two landings were picture perfect. She smiled broadly to herself and debated one last try before returning home.

  “Excellent landing! You are really getting the hang of it.” Dawn startled and froze. She hadn’t known there was an audience. Nervously, she looked around. It was Llewellyn’s voice she’d heard, but she couldn’t see him anywhere! “I’d recommend you quit now and hurry in for breakfast.” She peered hard in the direction of the sound and she could just barely make out a pair of eyes and teeth, just like a Cheshire cat!

  Dawn stared as Llewellyn faded into view. “That does look like an awful lot of fun. Flying in the drop ships over a combat zone is a rush, but to fly free under your own power with the wind in your hair has to be a serious treat!” Llewellyn said with sincere envy.

  “You…you were invisible!” Dawn stammered.

  “Well, transparent more than invisible, yes, but what a landing that was. Perfect flare and the way you stuck it!”

  Dawn stared blankly at Llewellyn in a mild state of shock and confusion. “How…. how do you do that?”