At last, she espied him at the back of the group. His grey form was hard to make out as the lynx moved mist-like though the surrounding countryside.

Dawn let out a relieved breath as she hastily approached the group. Ankou was alive and apparently unhurt. Grinna and Teren at the front also seemed in good health. Primarily the Kharlins seemed to have borne the brunt of the attack. Had they encountered the demons already?

“What happened?” she called out urgently. “Did the demons attack you?”

“Not them,” Grinna retorted grimly, her face set. “We encountered a huge pack of greyscale lizards. I’ve rarely seen such a horde of these beasts. We’re quite lucky we didn’t lose anyone, though we’ve quite a few injured hunters as you see.”

Without further ado, Dawn hurried over to Dermo and cast Nurture on his leg. Concentrating fiercely she explored the ragged wound in in his thigh with her senses. A chunk of his flesh was missing and she could feel that the beginnings of infection had set in already. Directing her spell carefully, she was able to burn out the infection and close his wound up partway. She was rewarded with a new notification.

You have leveled up Nurture +1

Then she hastily proceeded to the next injured hunter, who sported a nasty bite wound on his shoulder. In this manner she treated four of the worst wounded, all of whom had sustained bite wounds and claw slashes, before she had to pause for a bit to let her mana regenerate.

The group walked up the small path to the village slowly. When they entered, they were greeted with cries of welcome by the rest of the villagers, that turned into exclamations of shock when it became clear that several of the party had been injured.

Dermo, though looking tired and exhausted, fended off their concern, doing his best to appease the villagers. “It is nothing serious, only some flesh wounds and Dawn has seen to several of us already. We will be right as rain in no time.”

The party proceeded to the central area and sat down, the hunters shrugging off their bulging packs, and sitting down, exhausted. Dawn resumed her healing efforts as soon as she had enough mana for another couple of spells, and soon the worst of the wounds were healed and several beginning cases of infection taken care of.

The village was bustling with activity now. A hearty stew was simmering in a huge kettle over the fire, bread was baking in an earthen oven to the side. The tantalizing scent spread out in the whole cavern. A few Kharlins occupied themselves with unpacking the hunters’ bags, pulling out large cuts of meat and some lizard hides.

Nuala turned up too, conversing animatedly with Samya and with Kharma in tow. Soon everyone had congregated in the center and had a mug of tea or beer according to preference.

“Well, this certainly has been an interesting excursion.” Grinna said loudly, grimacing and leaning back on her bench with a big sigh.

“The plan was scouting the location, improving our teamwork and hunting a bit on the way. But no sooner had we arrived at the area Dermo was talking about yesterday, than we were attacked by a pack of lizards. They were streaming out of the forest behind us like a wave. It is only due to Teren with his bow and the warrior’s own luck, that we didn’t lose anyone. But we certainly got some practice in, as regards fighting together as a group. Not that I don’t see a lot of room for improvement still. There was total confusion at first, and I confess to being afraid of being hit by one of our own arrows in between.”

She massaged her neck and then blew out a deep breath.

“At least we bagged a whole lot of lizard meat and a few hides, though we had to leave a lot of our kills. It was simply impossible to carry it all. Shame that. Thank the gods you’re a healer Dawn, or we could forget about our whole plan to fight the demons for quite a while. With so many people injured after the beast attack, we wouldn’t have stood a chance in a big fight.”

“True.” Halvar said laconically, eying the whole group with a somber gaze. “We might even have faced catastrophe with the whole tribe after we lost a huge part of our hunters to the spiders already. If not enough are left, some of us won’t survive the winter. Of course, we can partially subsist on vegetables, fruits and nuts, but our provisions wouldn’t be enough to last us over the cold season. We rely heavily on fresh game and already had to leave behind our gardens when we migrated to the new location.”

Dawn had sat down on the floor with a tired and lazy Ankou overflowing her lap, stroking his silky fur slowly. The anxiety she had felt when she first had seen that the party had been attacked still lingered, and she needed to reassure herself of his wellbeing in a tangible way. She had already cast Nurture on him once, though in contrast to many others of the party he had only taken a few minor scratches. The lynx deigned to accept her ministrations amiably, a low rumble sounding deep in his throat.

Of course, it was irrational. She better than anyone else knew that Ankou was a formidable foe and could take care of himself. Nevertheless, during the confusion of a fight all kind of things might happen, bad luck not the least of them.

“I’m glad I could help,” she said, looking up.

“And it’s really good training for my skill, though of course I’d rather no one was hurt at all. As soon as my mana allows me to, I will take care of all still remaining wounds, please don’t worry.” Dawn asserted.”

“Thank you,” The council leader said gravely and gave a small bow.

“But will it be possible to proceed as planned tomorrow? It seems to me we should rather plan for a short period of rest and training before we go looking for a big fight with the spiders.” He pondered, his claws nervously ticking against the table.

“It certainly wouldn’t hurt to train together some more,” said Grinna with a slight grimace.

“And I would absolutely recommend it, if it wasn’t for the ungodly speed with which the spiderlings grow, and the queen may indeed produce more of them still. If we don’t act fast, I fear that we will lose that race. But maybe we will take one day more, to make certain everyone is healthy and well rested.”

Halvar still looked a bit doubtful, but did not argue further.

At last, the food was pronounced ready and the hunters inhaled their part of the tasty stew served with fresh-baked bread greedily.

Afterwards, Dawn retreated to Samya’s hut with the village’s healer, asking anyone still sporting any injuries to come there to be treated. She was a bit anxious that the older woman might be angry at her, because she could heal faster and easier with her skill, but Samya showed no signs of jealousy.

It took her another hour to take care of everyone. Almost all the Kharlins in the hunting party had suffered some bites or scratches. Even Grinna had not gotten away unscathed, though her wounds were minor. The ranger eyed her clothes ruefully, when it was her turn to be healed.

“Seems I’ll have to mend my shirt and trousers again,” she said sadly.

“I really don’t care for needlework.”

Dawn laughed. “I’m with you there, I detest sewing. But what can you do? Those beasts and demons are hard on clothes. I have to do some mending too, my shirt is all torn and bloody where Ristop stuck his knife in.”

Dawn cast her spell on Grinna and watched with deep satisfaction as Grinna’s cuts and bruises disappeared without a trace. For these minor wounds she didn’t need concentration, her spell did all the work by itself. As she was admiring her work a new notification popped up:

You have leveled up Nurture +1

Grinna left the hut and Dawn was just contemplating that her first class skill had reached level ten, when she was surprised by another notification.

Your class skill Nurture (spell) has reached level 10.

You may now select a further specialization for your skill. The effects of the specialization apply automatically if necessary.

Poison’s bane

Your spell cures effects caused by poison or venom and neutralizes the cause.

Fever’s foe

Your spell cures naturally occurring diseases and makes the subject of the spell immune to any further outbreaks of the disease cured. Magical diseases are unaffected by Fever’s foe.

Budding growth

Your spell stimulates new growth in case the subject is missing limbs or organs. The bud has to be tended and grown over a period of time to reach full growth.

Excitedly she read through her options. She had known nothing about specializations before, so it seemed to her like an unexpected gift. But what to take? She wanted to have everything and couldn’t decide. Of course, in the fight against the spiders poison’s bane might serve her best, but in the long run other options could be more valuable.

She would talk it over with Nuala, she decided finally. There was no reason to be hasty with such an important decision.

She left Samya’s hut after a hasty goodbye and went in search of the priestess. Nuala was sitting together with Grinna and Teren, discussing the events of the day, her calming presence like a balm to those around her.

Dawn sat down beside her, fidgeting impatiently, and her news came pouring out as soon as there was a lull in the conversation.

“Nuala, my healing spell has reached level ten, and I get to pick a specialization now. But they are all awesome and I don’t know what to pick!”

Nuala looked up at her with a warm smile.

“Well, that’s a nice problem to have. Do you want to talk it over?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed excitedly.

Grinna laughed. “Seems like you can’t wait. Teren and me will leave so you can talk to Nuala in private.”

Dawn protested. “You don’t have to leave. I want you to tell me what you think, too.”

The rangers sat down again.

“But you know skills are normally kept private?”

Grinna asked.

“It’s not unusual to talk to a priest, or“ - with a nod at Nuala - “priestess about them. Or maybe to family members. But usually you don’t tell other people about them.”

“Yes, I know.” Dawn said impatiently. “But I trust you. You both have done nothing but help me ever since I met you, and you have rather more experience with skills and specializations than me. I know I have to decide for myself but I would like your opinion.”

Teren nodded gravely. “In that case, we are honored by your trust, Dawn.”

Dawn told them all about her options with Nurture.

“Right at the moment, while we are fighting against the demons. Poison’s bane seems to be the best pick. But I hope I won’t always be fighting spiders, and then it seems a lot more limited than the other two. To be able to cure diseases, or even help people to get back missing limbs, that seems awesome.” She said dreamily.

“All your options are very powerful.” Nuala said.

“And all of them are limited in a way. But what do you want to do in the future? Curing disease or regrowing limbs seems to be most valuable if you are living in a big city. Of course even in a village you have your share of diseases and accidents, but you’d get to use those skills rather rarely. The same goes for your Poison’s bane in the normal course of things.”

Dawn was taken aback.

“No, I don’t want to live in a city. There are too many people and Ankou would never agree to stay in one. I don’t want to part from him.”

“Understandable.” Nuala smiled at her and patted her hand.

“I’ve always wanted to be a wise woman. I thought I’d live in a village or even a little distance away from one in my own little cottage. Collecting herbs, roots and berries in the forest, brewing my own medicines. That’s what I thought. Of course, when I was thinking about it, I imagined it would be Greenriver village. That’s not an option anymore.” Dawn swallowed.

“There are other villages.” Nuala comforted her.

“It seems to me, that Poisons’s bane is the most valuable in your immediate future in our fight against the demons, and it will also be valuable for a wise woman in a village. There are always cases of children eating the wrong berries and sometimes even adults confusing eatable plants with poisonous ones.” Grinna said, shrugging.

“But in the end you’ll have to pick what seems most valuable to you.” She added.

Dawn nodded slowly.

“You are right. So Poison’s bane it is.” She said and picked her specialization.