verðandi wiped a giant leaf away & gasped as she saw the pewter lake, sparkling under the dawnrise. that meant she wasn’t far.
& indeed, before she thought ’bout it mo’ she saw rise from the distance the metal frame o’ the firegate.
by the time she neared it she craned her neck up to see it tower several times her size. she took a deep breath as her hand hung out hesitantly, & then grasped its bars, feeling the lingering morning raindrops on its frigid hard steel.
& then she said, firegate, tell me: ¿how can we bring back the ladders that hold up our supply o’ goods & how can we make the rivers run again?
.
& the firegate answered