Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2016 15:37:02 -0500
From: Jay Hooks <elisdy333@gmail.com>
Subject: The Beta Chapter 3

The Beta

Chapter 3-Lessons Learned

When Chris arrived at the loft with Jacob, room, he tensed up the moment he
walked through the front door. Trystan was there, walking towards one of
the rooms. The only thing that kept him from ripping her throat out
immediately was the little boy he was holding. She tried to run up to the
pair to get Jacob; however, Xena stopped her before she could take her
first step. Chris had no intentions of allowing the traitor to take the boy
from him, a small part of him was afraid of what might happen if he wasn't
holding Jacob, the larger part wanted to punish the bitch for what she had
allowed to happen to Xak. With the sleeping boy held tightly against his
chest, he walked past the trio, once his back was to them, he said tersely,
"Pawpaw will be here in about an hour and a half. Gary, please find
somewhere else for her to be before I come out of the room." Xena and Gary
noticed that he held onto the child in his arms as if he was the only thing
in the world that was keeping him from losing control. He continued walking
and went into one of the bedrooms to put the boy to bed. When Chris
returned to the living room, he could hear Trystan from behind a closed
door crying, begging Xena and Gary to talk him into giving her some time
with Jacob. He listened to them while looking at Dallas' downtown skyline,
thinking that Xak was somewhere out there, probably scarred, and hopefully,
not hurt. He knew that Xak would be upset with him if he ever found out
that he was keeping Jacob from spending the last moments he would possibly
ever have with his mother from him. Even if Xak was safely returned
unharmed, the fact that she had lied to them instead of asking for help,
and then taken actions that put pack member in harm's way, sealed her
fate. Everybody knew what the punishment for such a traitorous act would
be, but since Richard was Alpha, they needed to wait for his arrival before
deciding on any further actions. Reluctantly, he decided to allow Trystan
to spend her last moments with her son, under Xena's supervision. He called
them back into the room and simply said, "I'm doing this for him, not
you. You have until my grandfather gets here. Make the most of the time you
get." She tried to thank Chris for allowing this, but as she took a step
towards the young man, Gary held her back and shook his head as a
warning. Xena escorted her into the bedroom and closed the door. Gary,
unsure of what to do or say, simply sat next to his cousin and put his arm
around him.

Chris was holding the note that was left in the parking lot, reading it for
the hundredth time. As he read the words, he suddenly remembered what Jacob
said to him in the park just before falling asleep. The words, "I'm okay,
Mr. Toby took care of me while I was at that house. He wanted me to tell
you that Xak would be fine, and to make sure that Pawpaw calls Nicolas
tomorrow night," played over and over in his head. Something didn't make
sense. Trystan had told them that Gary or himself was the one that Nicolas
wanted. But, Jacob had mentioned that Toby wanted him to know that Xak was
going to fine. Why did Justin think he had Gary or Chris, while Toby knew
that Xak was the one that had been taken. Surely there hadn't been enough
time for them discover the truth about who Xak was between Justin leaving
the club and Toby telling Jacob the message. All of this thinking was
giving him a migraine, he didn't know how his mate could do this all the
time. Chris had never had to worry about thinking too much about the
problems in his life, he had Xak to do that for the both of them. If a
problem ever came up, he would simply tell Xak all the details he knew;
then, in a matter of time, depending on how complex of a problem it was,
Xak would present the possible solutions and Chris would make a decision
based on Xak's recommendations. That's what made them such a great team,
and why the pack supported them when they had come out the previous week.

While Chris was dealing with the oncoming migraine in the living room,
Trystan and Xena were in the bedroom, where Trystan simply stood, looking
at the boy asleep on the bed for about five minutes without saying a
word. Finally, she gently woke him, tears streaming down her face. He asked
her why she was crying and what was wrong. She said to him, "Jacob, I want
you to know that I always have and always will love you more than anything
on this earth, but Mommy's going to have to go away and you're not going to
see me again. I did something really bad, and Xak may be hurt because of
it." Before she continued, she looked at Xena and said, "Hopefully if Xak
is okay and makes it back, he and Chris will take care of you." Xena knew
what she was doing. Since Xena was a social worker in Cherokee County and
there would soon be a new orphan there, Trystan was asking her to make sure
Jacob would be placed with the couple. Xena silently nodded her head. Once
she said that, she looked at Jacob and started inspecting him for bruises,
cuts, or any other signs that he had been hurt. Not seeing any physical
signs, she asked, "Did anybody hurt you at all while you were away from
me?"

Jacob looked a little confused and shook his head and said, "No ma'am, Toby
and I played games and he would read to me at night before he tucked me
into bed. He stayed with me the whole time I was with him except during the
daytime. That was when his friend Thayne stayed with me. I thought Thayne
was Xak when I first saw him, but then after Toby introduced us, I could
tell he wasn't Xak, he just looked a lot like him. Nicolas was the only
scary thing there, but Toby wouldn't let him or Justin near me." Trystan
threw Xena a curious look and Xena responded with shrug looking
confused. He then asked, "Are you going to go be with Daddy? Tell him I
said hi and I promise to be good. I'll see y'all again, I know it, Thayne
told me I would."

Trystan could hardly contain her emotions, but she wanted to be strong for
Jacob. The little boy with shaggy black hair and emerald green eyes crawled
over to her and said, "It's okay Mommy, you're not really being
punished. Thayne told me that you were needed over there to help when
everything happens Tuesday morning. It has to happen Tuesday morning, so
you have to go over there tonight. Daddy knows your coming and Xak will
need your help. I'm sad, but I know you'll be watching me from there and
Thayne told me that if I think about the people that are there and tell
them I love them and miss them that they'll hear me, even if I don't see
them."

Trystan gathered him into a hug and Xena asked, "Jacob, who is Thayne?"

He responded, "Thayne told me not to tell you much about him yet. You'll
meet him Tuesday morning. He'll explain who he is. I'm sorry, I promised
him I wouldn't tell."

Though she was less than happy with that answer, she nodded and said, "It's
important to keep promises. But you would tell me if he had hurt you
right?"

The boy looked at her and nodded. He hugged his mother tight, and said, "I
love you Mommy. You can lay down with me till Pawpaw gets here." He then
curled up into a ball and closed his eyes. Xena thought to herself that it
was amazing how quickly cats can go to sleep.

Trystan waited till she knew, for sure, that Jacob was asleep. She then
told Xena about Justin killing her parents, taking Jacob, giving her the
phone, and then Nicolas giving her orders. Xena said, "You should have told
Richard or Xak, or any of us what was going on. We could have worked with
you and helped you. Because you put the pack in danger, Richard's not going
to have a choice but to..." She left the rest of the words
unspoken. Trystan nodded and looked as if she had accepted her fate.

About half an hour later, Richard finally arrived at the loft. He was calm
and collected when he walked into the room and crossed to Chris immediately
to hug his grandson. He could easily sense that he was barely holding his
anger and rage in check. After holding the younger guy for a minute, he
held him at arm's length and looked him in the eyes, trying to let him know
everything was going to be alright. He then turned to Gary and said, "Go
and get the girls, we need to talk."

Gary returned with Xena and Trystan and the five of them sat around the
dining room table. Richard said, "First things first, what the fuck
happened last night? Where has Jacob been and why is he in the other room?
Was Xak the target or was it supposed to be any of y'all? It's late, I'm
sure you're all tired, we'll get some rest soon just walk me through the
night."

Trystan began by saying, "I'm sorry for putting the pack at risk, I fully
accept my fate. I know what you have to do. Please make it as quick and
painless as possible."

Chris snarled, "You don't fucking deserve quick and painless. We have no
clue what they are doing to Xak right now. I can't even reach him through
our link." He then turned to Richard and said, "I didn't even know there
was a way to block it."

"Gary, please tell me exactly what happened last night, and who was
responsible." Gary then told Richard the events of the previous evening,
how Trystan had admitted that she brought them to the club knowing it was a
trap, but that Chris or himself were supposedly the targets, not Xak. Chris
then showed him the note and relayed the message Jacob had given him. Xena
then filled them in on what happened to Jacob and Trystan's parents, and
then what he had said in the bedroom. Richard absorbed everything and when
all the information had been shared, he looked at Trystan and said, "I wish
you had come to me with this. I would've done everything I possibly could
to help you. I don't know who or what this Thayne person is, but according
to Jacob, you are supposed to be with Dean by Tuesday morning, and somehow
you and Dean will help Xak. I'm sorry, but since you knowingly and
willingly placed members of the pack in harm's way and allowed the
kidnapping of a pack member to occur, I, as Alpha, must pass judgement on
you. You swore your life to the pack and you forfeited your life when you
betrayed the pack." Once that was said, he turned to Chris and said, "Will
you make it quick and painless if you issue this punishment?"

Chris was flabbergasted. Usually, the Alpha or Enforcer carries out a death
punishment. He asked, "Pawpaw, why are you offering me the chance to carry
this out?"

"It's your mate that was taken, and you are the future Alpha. Will you make
it quick and painless?"

With a heavy sigh, he responded, "Yes, I don't wish for anyone to suffer
more than is absolutely necessary." He turned to Trystan and said, "I don't
know about all this spiritual shit, but once you're `with Dean' and `on the
other side,' you better fucking help Xak anyway you can to get back to me
or I will find a way to torture your spirit from now until eternity." He
then walked behind her, placed one hand behind her neck and the other
reached around to grab her face on the opposite side and then, as fast as
he could, twisted her head, and snapped her neck. Trystan's body fell to
the floor and he walked away towards the room Jacob was sleeping in. He
quietly opened the door, walked into the room, and shut the door again
without saying a word. He laid down on the bed, and Jacob snuggled back
into him. Chris held the little boy while he cried until he finally fell
asleep.

In the living room, Gary silently wept. He cried for Xak. He cried for
Chris. He cried for Jacob. He cried for Trystan. But mostly, he cried
because of his own loneliness. He wanted, no needed, nothing more in life
than to have somebody to care about and love as much as Chris loved Xak. He
wanted to know that that love was returned just as intensely. He watched as
Xena wrapped Trystan's lifeless body in a sheet and carried her to the SUV
in the garage. He looked at his grandfather and asked, "How are we going to
get Xak back? What does Nicolas really want? How did Toby know that Xak was
taken? What's going to happen?"

Richard looked at the young man, took a deep breath and sighed. Shaking his
head, he simply said, "I don't know. I'm only sure of one thing, and that
is that this shit ends tomorrow."  As the sun rose over the horizon, Xena
returned from the garage. Richard then said to them, "Let's get some
rest. There's nothing more we can do till midnight tonight. After you get
some sleep Xena, I want you to take Trystan to the pack lands and have Ben
prepare a pyre for her, then you come straight back here. I need you here
before midnight. I know she wasn't a shifter, but she was pack and she
deserves a proper pack funeral. I honestly think that no matter what she
might have done, every path led to her dying this morning."

Xena silently agreed. When Jacob was talking about Thayne earlier, Xena
read his emotions and saw that the boy believed wholeheartedly everything
he was saying. She wasn't sure if that was a false hope that Thayne had
placed inside the boy, but it had helped him accept his mother's death and
that's all that mattered. She guided a still weeping Gary to his room,
helped him to bed, then went to her own room where she finally broke down
and cried,

About 10 miles away in the area of Dallas known as Highland Park, Xak was
finally regaining control of himself and coming around to full
consciousness. Surprisingly, he wasn't restrained or even in a locked
room. Instead, he found himself in a library. Books lined shelves that
spanned from floor to ceiling and covered every wall. He knew that he
wasn't alone in the room, he could smell two others nearby. He turned
towards where the other two occupants should be. He saw a guy that appeared
to be about the same age as himself, with light brown hair. The young man
said, "My name is Toby. I don't have long to talk right now; I need to get
to my room before the sun is fully up so that I can sleep. I'm sorry we had
to take you, but we need your help. Don't try to leave the estate while
we're asleep, the doors are too thick for you break and all of the windows
are bulletproof so you won't be able to break them either. My friend Thayne
will explain further. I hate to leave, but I must run."

From out of nowhere, another man appeared right in front of him. Xak almost
thought he was looking into a mirror for half a second. There were some
minor differences in their appearances. The other man seemed to be older
than Xak, there were subtle lines on his face that spoke to that. He was
also slightly taller than Xak and his hair was more purple than auburn. He
said with a smile, "Come now nephew, we have quite a lot to cover and only
a few hours to do it in. You don't have to call me Uncle Thayne, Thayne is
fine. Though, technically, it is Prince Thayne. But you only need to use
that around your grandmother."

Xak blinked and said, "Excuse me? Nephew? I'm supposed to believe that
you're my uncle? I don't have any uncles, sorry. And I've never met any of
my grandparents, I was told they were all dead before I was born."

Laughing lightly, Thayne responded, "Your mother, Sarah, was my
half-sister. We have the same mother, your grandmother. Her father though
was a wolf-shifter; my father was a king. We didn't really know each other;
I mean I was already 400 years old by the time she was born. But enough of
the dilly-dally we need to get to work now. I'm about to overload you with
information and I need you to not do that thing you do with thinking so
damn much. Just believe me when I say, our time is short, the consequences
if you fail are astronomical, and you won't be able to call for Chris
through your mental link so stop wasting your energy on that. I've got that
blocked."

"Slow down and back up. My mother was your half-sister and you were 400
when she was born. You're some sort of prince. And I can't use my mental
link with my mate because you're blocking it?"

"Gods, are you going to repeat everything I tell you? We'll be here all
fucking day and accomplish nothing if you do that. Once again, yes your
mommy and I were bubba and sissy, like you and Ellie, I mean Xena, and you
are. I was 400 years old when your mommy was born. No, you can't use your
link to talk with Chrisy-wissy because Uncle Thayne won't allow it."
Dropping the condescending tone, he continued, "And no, I'm not just some
sort of prince. I am Prince Thayne the Morgan of the Winter Court of the
Sidhe. Heir to the throne of Queen Mab, the Queen of Winter, Shadows, and
Darkness. But don't worry, she's not THE Queen Mab from the old fairy
tales, it's just a title. Her real name is Helena, but don't ever call her
that unless you want to be a frozen wolf-sicle for the next 150 years."

Xak's head was spinning. He felt as if he were on a merry-go-round that was
moving at the speed of light. He sat down hard and simply said, "Prince
Thayne the Morgan of the what court of the who. Heir to the throne of Mad
Queen, the Queen of Winter, Shadows and Darkness?"

Thayne said "Close enough. The Mad Queen part especially. Alright, I guess
it's time for a history lesson. Shifters and vampires are all that's out
there. There are also witches, which I really don't want to talk
about. Like, ever. And then there's the Sidhe. The Sidhe, also known as the
Fae, the fairy folk, the first people, and too many other names to list,
are supernatural beings that live on the other side of the veil. Dammit,
okay imagine your world is here and existing, however, right next to it is
a similar world that is separated by a thin veil of mist. Humans can cross
the veil only while they are asleep or after they die. Vampires cross the
veil when they hide in the shadows, though most of them have no clue what
they're really doing and don't realize it. Witches can cross the veil, but
only on holy days like Beltane, Samhain, Yule, the solstices, and the
equinoxes. Shifters used to be able to walk to Old Ways to cross the veil
until the Dark King, your great-grandfather, closed off all the Old Ways,
and Mab (cough)Helena(cough) has never gotten around to reopening
them. However, the Sidhe can cross the veil at will anytime they
please. Well almost anytime. I mean, physically, we can only cross at dusk
and dawn. But we can astral project our consciousness there when we fall
asleep here physically. That's what's been happening to you for the past
few years. Maybe if you had explored a little instead of trying to analyze
why you kept coming back to the same place every night, you would've
discovered all the neat shit you can do while you're there.

"The Sidhe are split up into two courts. Winter and Summer. Dark and
Light. NOT good and evil. Believe me there are right nasty evil fuckers in
the Summer Court. The Sidhe have the ability to manipulate the world around
them and affect how people perceive the things that are around them. This
includes the ability to know what others are feeling, sometimes even what
they are thinking. Xena's empath ability for instance. You, however, are
special. Although you're only one-quarter Sidhe, you are the only being I
know of that can astral project that isn't a full blood. Your astral
projection is every bit as strong and fast and has the exact same
capabilities as your physical being. Also, Sidhe can bring others with them
when they project. I have a theory that you can too, though we'll have to
hope it's true and trust my gut tomorrow, because there's nobody here to
practice with.

"The reason you're here now, is that Nicolas and Toby need your
help. Nicolas isn't evil. He is possessed. The vampire that turned him,
named Nicholas ironically, was evil, and Richard killed him after he bit
Nicolas. He was Richard's true mate but Richard had imprinted on Nicolas
and loved him. When Richard chose Nicolas, the vampire attacked. Nicolas
was bit, Richard killed the vampire. Decapitated him. So, as Nicolas lay
there dying, he ingested the vampire's blood, thus turning him into a
vampire. However, Nicolas was so close to death that his spirit had started
crossing the veil. When he came back, the vampire's spirit tagged
along. He's been holding Nicolas' spirit captive ever since. Over the
years, Nicolas has gained some control and has been able to take control
every once in a while. During those times, he and Toby devised a plan. They
only needed someone who could cross the veil. I cannot help them because it
would be a Sidhe royal taking a side in a shifter-vampire conflict. There
are rules and laws that govern all of us supernatural beings that cannot be
broken. Ever. No matter how much Will put into trying to break one of those
laws, you cannot do it. A Sidhe royal interfering in a shifter-vampire
conflict is a prime example, though it doesn't say that exactly what it
does say is that if two or more are in conflict, none of the others may
interfere unless they chose a side and bring the full support and strength
of their kind to that side. Neither my mother nor the Summer Queen,
Tatiana, will allow the Sidhe to become involved in this matter. Through
Nicolas, Nicholas has gained too much power in the physical world and is
planning on getting more vampires to completely eliminate all
shifters. This would go against one of those laws, but since Nicholas is a
spirit, he is no longer bound by the Lilith Council Treaties. Don't ask
about Lilith, it can wait till this shit is handled, though we do need to
talk about her.

"So, Toby learned about the Sidhe and witches from a book he found on
Richard's old pack lands in Beaumont. He first sought help from the
witches. They refused to help, since Nicholas ran the Coven that was in
Dallas off and out to suburbs of the Frisco area, where they didn't have
the needed energy resources available to do anything significant until
recently. Vampires feed off human blood to live, shifters feed off nature's
energies to live, witches feed of human energies to live, and Sidhe feed
off human dreams. Are you keeping up with me?"

"Ummm, yeah, so Mab wouldn't get involved directly with the shifter-vampire
conflict, but she just so happened to have a wolf-shifter daughter that
conveniently finds her way to Richard's pack. She being half-Sidhe has two
kids who are a quarter Sidhe. One of those kids happens to have the needed
ability to stop this conflict once and for all? Why do I fell like a lab
experiment?"

"Picked up on that part didn't you? Yeah Mab couldn't get involved without
Tatiana's consent, which she would never get. Mab has clairvoyance and saw
where Nicholas was taking this. She couldn't allow one whole branch of
Lilith's children to die off. We all need each other, to balance the
others, we are all brothers and sisters, we are the Children of Lilith."

 "Lilith? Like from Jewish mythology Lilith? The first wife of Adam? The
mother of magic? The destroyer of the earth?"

"Yup," he said while crossing the room. Thayne went to one of the shelves
and removed a book and started reading out loud, "After she was cast out of
Eden for not submitting Adam's will, Lilith went to the Land of
Nod. Everything outside of the Garden was still forming, taking shape, full
of the magic of Creation. She learned to control the Creation magic and
created two daughters for herself. One she made at night; that daughter had
black hair and fair skin. She was very beautiful, but extremely
cold. Lilith named her Mab. The second daughter she made in the
daylight. This daughter had blonde hair and tanned skin, again very
beautiful, but quick to anger. Lilith named her Tatiana. She had to hide
them from the One that made her, so she created a world next to the
physical world and separated them by a veil of unseen mist. They became the
first Queens of Winter and Summer, but they were alone. Lilith had shown
her daughters how to manipulate the world around them, so they each crated
for themselves a mate. The children the Queens had with their mates became
the Sidhe. There were spirits present in the physical world, but they were
not able to interact with it. Lilith showed these spirits the way to cross
the veil. Once the spirits were on the other side, they found a world they
could exist in and interact with. Thus, the Sidhe became the keepers and
guides for the spirit world.

"Time wasn't properly set yet, so a day could last a millennium, or mere
seconds. Everything was in a constant state of flux. From the Land of Nod,
creatures began to take shape and form. The first to emerge was a wolf,
followed by a panther, then a coyote, and so on. These creatures then met
Lilith and she convinced each to change his shape to that of a man. Since
they were still forming, this was easy. First, the wolf-now-man lay with
Lilith and she bore him a son. When the boy reached a point in growth,
under a full moon, she told her son that he was the child of the wolf. He
then became a wolf. She did the same with each of the man-creatures she
encountered. And so the shifters were born.

"Next, people started emerging from the Land of Nod. These people were
already formed, so they could not change their shapes. The men she met
first, she lay with and bore them children. To these children, she taught
simple physical magic. Defensive spells. Attack spells. More and more they
became the users of magic. Thus, the witches were born.

"Her husband and his new wife were cast out of Eden. This happened after
she took the form of a serpent and went into the Garden and convinced the
woman to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. She did
this out of jealousy since she was no longer allowed to live in the
Garden. She figured they shouldn't be allowed to live there either. The
pair had two sons. Cain, whom she fell in love with, and his suck-up little
brother Abel. Having changed her looks with the magic she had learned, she
married Cain. The One that made her and Adam then demanded a sacrifice. She
convinced Cain that he couldn't sacrifice one of her sacred animals, he
should make an offering of his grains and fruit. Abel, however, sacrificed
an animal and the One was pleased by that. The One found Cain's sacrifice
unfulfilling and demanded more. Lilith convinced Cain that the best
sacrifice he could make would be his brother Abel. What better way to show
the One the love you have than to sacrifice the brother you love? Once Cain
killed Abel, and the One was not pleased, Cain was marked. The mark of Cain
was the need to consume blood from another person to live. Since Cain spilt
Abel's blood, his children would be cursed with blood lust. And so the
children Lilith bore Cain were the first vampires. Lilith was so distraught
that her children would cursed so, that she decided to destroy everything
that had been created. When her children saw what their mother was doing,
they joined together to stop her. Between the manipulation of her reality
by the Queens of Winter and Summer, the commands of the leaders of the
shifters infused with their Will, the spells of binding the witches placed
upon her and the wonder she felt from being the thrall of Cain's children,
she went to sleep. When she starts to wake, she once again starts
destroying creation. The Lilith Council was formed to make sure that Lilith
stays asleep, that none of her children ever do anything against their
brothers and sisters, and that one of children doesn't become too powerful
and forget their purpose."

Thayne closed the cover of the book and Xak saw the title. The Children of
Lilith: The Lilith Council. Xak asked where the current Lilith Council was
and why they weren't regulating the situation with Nicolas/Nicholas. Thayne
responded, "In all my years, I have not seen a Lilith Council form. In all
of Mab's 954 years, she has not seen a Lilith Council form. The last Lilith
Council was disbanded by the Dark King 1,016 years ago. Lilith is waking
again. Nicholas is the first sign I think. The Council is normally made up
of The Winter and Summer Princes or Princesses, their mates, a pack Alpha
and their mate, a Clan leader and their mate, and a Coven High Priest or
Priestess and their mate. Ten members normally. However, this Council will
be a bit different. My mate is the Summer Prince; our mothers do NOT
know. If everything goes smoothly tomorrow Richard is an Alpha, Nicolas is
a Clan leader. We would have to find a Coven and convince the High Priest
or Priestess to join us. So that would mean this Council would have only
six members. If things go south tomorrow, Chris would be Alpha and you and
he would be asked to join. Toby, if everything goes according to the
contingency plan, will be Clan leader. He has not yet found his mate."

"Actually, Richard is stepping down as Alpha, so you're going to get Chris
and me no matter what."

"Oh. Okay that's fine. That's more members. Good. Now, let's get to
work. You need to practice projecting and fighting and shifting while
projecting."

With that, the day got under way. At dusk, Thayne said it was time to quit
since it was unsure if Nicolas or Nicholas would show up. Over the years,
Nicolas had learned how to hide things from Nicholas, so he knew nothing of
Toby and Nicolas' plan. By the time Toby returned to the library, Xak had
learned to control his projection. He could shift, fight, and even do minor
manipulations to reality. Thayne had to leave to return to court since it
was night. He promised he would return at dawn. At midnight the phone in
front of Toby rang. He answered it saying, "Hello, Richard. Nicolas cannot
talk at the moment. Xak is here and he is fine. Would you care to talk to
him? Certainly."

After retrieving the phone from Toby, Xak said, "Pawpaw, you're never going
to believe this shit. You, Chris, Xena, Gary, and Jacob need to be here at
dawn."