Dawn was on her own again.

Nuala had joined the Kharlins sitting with Halvar and was talking to him earnestly. Ristop was nowhere in sight and the rangers and Ankou were missing, too.

Where was everybody? She felt a bit abandoned among unfamiliar Kharlins. She hadn’t even seen Kharma anywhere among them. Dawn wondered if she should go looking for him, but in the end decided to stay put. She didn’t want to get him into more trouble for being friends with a human, he seemed to have a lot of problems with his tribe anyway.

Shrugging her shoulders, she took out her books on runic magic and started to study her runes once more. If only she could find a teacher, she felt like she was missing a lot of things trying to learn everything from books on her own. But that probably was a forlorn hope. Magic users seemed to be rare and surely they weren’t just waiting to teach their magic to an unknown girl from a village at the back of beyond.

As far as she knew from her village, apprentice contracts were sought after even for standard trades, and they had to be paid for, in goods or work. Not to mention that they were usually reserved for the boys. Maybe the rangers had some connections in Atelang that would secure her a teacher in Alchemy at least, but even if they could do that, she didn’t want to go back to the city for good. She just couldn’t leave Ankou behind. He was her family now. And the lynx would never agree to live in the city with her, he was a creature of the wilderness. So, she had the choice of muddling through with no teacher or she could try to find one among the Kharlins. Who mostly hated humans in general and didn’t care for her in particular. Exciting prospects, to be sure.

Dawn sighed, and put her books back into her storage ring. Obviously, she wasn’t able to concentrate properly today. Looking up, she realized that a strange silence had fallen in the village center. The usual background noises of Kharlins talking and going about their business had stopped.

Everyone was staring at the table where Halvar was sitting. He was alone there now, and rose to his feet. Ristop was standing in front of him, his stance tense, hands formed to fists at his side.

“Ristop.” Halvars voice was calm and relaxed.

“You called for a council meeting this evening?” Ristop spat at him.

“We already had a meeting today. And I am the council leader now. It is my duty to call a meeting.”

“And yet, today’s council meeting didn’t lead to any solutions. And you were the council leader while I was sick and expected to die. As you can see for yourself, I got better. I’m able to get down to work once more. So thank you for standing in for me.” Halvar stated evenly.

“You can’t just take over!” Ristop exclaimed, furious.

“And why is that?” Halvar asked. “You certainly didn’t waste any time taking over from me, once I was sick.”

“Someone needed to do it. I did my duty.” The other Kharlin declared with great pathos.

“That may be true. But usually the village council elects a new speaker. From what I heard just now, it seems to me you elected yourself.” Halvar answered drily.

“We had no time for dithering about with the threat of demons lurking around.” Ristop said. He was standing aggressively now, puffing himself up for all he was worth.

“There we are in complete agreement. But strangely, there have been no decisions from the council. And an election hardly takes time to hold, once the council is meeting. So why did you choose to forgo it? Maybe you were not so certain that the outcome would be the one you wished for, eh?”

“How can you say that. I want what is best for our tribe.” Ristop was sputtering now. Whirling around he pointed to Dawn.

“And it is easy to see that this human is poison for us. Not only has she stirred up the demons and been the reason so many of our tribe died. Now, she has even subverted our priestess. And how can we be sure she didn’t influence you, too, when she healed you?”

“So is that it? Everyone has been subverted, except for you and your friends?” Halvar asked. “At a time when we need to stand united as a tribe, you try to split us up from the inside with your baseless accusations. Everyone here knows you hate humans. You have your reasons for that. And yet, this human healed me and the priestess and saved several of our tribe from the demons at great personal danger. Yes, she is one of the reasons the demons are a bigger threat now. But the danger of that happening has always been there. She didn’t even know the demons existed, before she met them in the caves. Dawn may have been guilty of naivety and thoughtlessness, but in the end, all she was doing was trying to survive. As do we all. You have no reason to hate her for that.”

“What do you know?” Ristop spat angrily, his ears flattened against his head as he started to pace.

“We have been hunted by humans for a long time. She may have healed you, but that doesn’t mean that she is our friend. She could easily have done it just to influence you. How do we know you are yourself? I say we cannot trust anyone who has been healed by her.” Some of his friends were nodding and agreeing with him loudly.

“And that conveniently gets rid of the voices of those who have a reason to be grateful to her.” Halvar said, shaking his head with obvious contempt. “It is a pretty transparent ploy, Ristop. You know our priestess sees truth. And the great Vixen would never allow her to be so easily influenced. Will you go against the goddess now, too, I wonder?”

That statement caused an angry murmur that swelled amongst the Kharlins in the village square. Obviously, they were not best pleased by anyone voicing doubts about their goddess.

“But who can say if Nuala has been influenced or not? There is no proof that she is fully herself.” Ristop replied stubbornly. “And why else would she so obviously side with that human? Can you tell me that?”

“Of course gratitude is suspicious now.” Nuala’s mellow voice came from the outskirts of the central square. She stood there on her own, upright, and spoke with dry sarcasm. “I’d rather say you believe what you want to believe. You’d like to believe Halvar and me have been influenced unduly, because you want to keep your position as council leader and you yourself detest humans and so your priestess needs to detest them, too. And if she doesn’t, well there has to be something wrong.”

“That’s untrue. How can you claim such a thing. I want only what is best for the tribe.” Ristop sputtered.

“You seem to claim a great many things. Like people being influenced by a healer who only seeks to help them. Your hatred for humans is a poison festering inside you, and it harms not only yourself but also your tribe. Can you not see the distrust and division you have been sowing among your fellow Kharlins? In this situation where trust in each other and unity among the tribe is what we need most.”

“I will never trust a human. Nor will I agree to work together with one. I’m not the one who is dividing us! She is. That human needs to go. All the humans need to go. We’re better off alone.”

Ristop was shouting at the top of his lungs now, his face distorted with hate. Whereas formerly his friends among the Kharlins had supported him, now even they shrank away from his excessively emotional behaviour.

Nuala looked very sad suddenly. Dawn felt her presence and her quiet aura that helped to calm down the overflowing emotions among the Kharlins, but Ristop seemed to be completely immune to it.

Frantic, Ristop looked around, seeking support among the tribe. When he realized that even his friends were distancing themselves, he whirled around once more. With several fast steps he was standing next to Dawn, who looked at him blankly, uncertain how to talk to someone who was hating her so much, without even knowing her.

She backed up a step, uncomfortable with him standing so close to her. Before she could find any words, Ristop had unsheathed a dagger and plunged it deeply into her body. Bewildered, Dawn stared at the weapon suddenly sticking out of her stomach, an icy sensation flowing out from the spot. If she hadn’t backed up a bit, the weapon would have landed directly in her chest. For one moment, the village center was completely silent, until belatedly, several of the Kharlins were crying out and the place erupted into pandemonium.