“That does come in handy.” Dawn said happily. Finally, she’d have the chance to talk properly with Ankou. This sensing of feelings thing they had between them was helpful but really imprecise.

“What?” Grinna retorted, looking at her in confusion.

“Oh, I just got some skill. Seems from now on I’ll be able to talk with wild animals. Well, that is, only if they want to talk to me.” Dawn said, beaming with joy. “It says it is a reward for my oath of protection for the cubs.”

Grinna laughed merrily and gave a small bow. “Extraordinary. You continue in your mission to make our lives interesting. So then, let’s hope these two are going to survive. Though I’m pretty sure they will lead you a merry dance in the future. Young animals in general are mischief in its purest form. But first, you’ll need to find some food for them.”

Dawn nodded. “I know, they’re starving. Let’s hope some softened up jerky agrees with them. It just happens that I'm not carrying any milk around at the moment.”

She put some jerky into her mouth and started to chew vigorously to soften up the stringy mass. The process was time-consuming and awkward. At least, Grinna helped her to feed each of the cubs some small peaces of the mushy meat and Dawn used Nurture on both of them again. Both cubs already began to look healthier now, no longer lethargic, they were squirming and protesting in their tiny voices.

Dawn turned to Ankou, who watched the proceedings warily from a short distance, and told him:

“We’ll have to carry the cubs down. I’m going to fashion a sling so I can carry them safely.”

After contemplating for a moment, she took one of her shirts out of her storage ring and made a knot at the hem. Carefully she picked both cubs up and put them into the makeshift sling, noting that they had a male and a female cub on their hands. She knotted the arms together and put the resulting strap over her head, the cubs safely resting at her back now. Shaking herself, she gingerly tested the stability of her construction, before she started on the way back.

“Let me go down first,” Grinna told her, and in spite of the loose debris on the ground descended surefooted as a goat to the ledge with elegant grace.

Dawn made her way through the dead lizards rather more slowly and climbed down through the unstable rubble with meticulous care. She had to keep the cubs safe after all.

Meanwhile, Ankou kept a close eye on her, restlessly pacing.

[Be careful!]

Dawn gave a start, the growling voice sounded like an echo inside her own head. With a sense of wonder, she stared at Ankou.

“You really can talk now!” she said softly, as a radiant smile appeared on her face.

In return she sensed amusement from the lynx who cocked his head.

[I could always talk. You two-legs simply aren’t able to understand. So dependent on those mouth noises of yours.]

She arrived safely back down on the ledge, a part of the loose rubble sliding down under her with a rattle.

Dermo was standing there, his tabby cat like fur almost glowing in the bright sunlight. He was waiting for her together with Grinna, tapping his foot nervously on the ground.

“What were you doing up there? This is not the time for excursions. We need to stay together here.” He scolded, his ears flickering unsteadily.

Dawn shrugged. At any other time she would have felt bad for holding up the group, but not now. “Couldn’t be helped. We had an emergency.”

“An emergency? What’s that supposed to mean?” Dermo obviously hadn’t expected her calm reaction.

Dawn turned the bundle with the two lynx cubs from her back to her front side. The two sand-coloured fur balls were squirming and mewling, stronger now and unhappy with their confinement in the makeshift bag.

“It means we had to rescue two lynx cubs. Their mother has been killed by beasts and they were starving.”

For a moment, Dermo stood staring at her speechlessly. Then he composed himself with visible effort.

“I understand that you have a special relationship with your lynx companion, but that does not mean you should go out and rescue wild animals wherever you go. You can’t save them all. We’re on a dangerous mission here and distractions can get us all killed.” He said sharply, stroking his ear in obvious exasperation.

Dawn shook her head stubbornly.

“I may not be able to save them all, but I will save these too. Ankou and I are agreed on that. I admit it may not be very convenient in our circumstances Nevertheless, we will not leave these cubs behind to die.”

Ankou growled menacingly.

“You can see for yourself that he is very determined.” Dawn said. “And I swore to protect these two mites.”

Dermo exhaled slowly, visibly annoyed, but powerless against the united front of Ankou and her.

Ears quivering nervously he said.

“Well, if you’re that determined to take them with you, at least make haste and catch up with the rest of the group. We’ve almost reached our designated camp site and need to set up before it gets too dark.”

He harrumphed, turned and started to march forwards without another word.

The companions followed after him, sweating under the harsh glare of the sun.

Dawn stroked the soft fur of the cubs while she walked, more interested in them than her surroundings for the moment, and glad that they distracted her somewhat from her tired legs, itchy insect bites and chafing boots. It had been a long traveling day already and she was more than ready for a rest.

In front of them she heard Dermo give the command to make camp, and as she looked up, she saw the island in the lake that marked their designated camp site for the night. Ankou left her side and trotted off to make certain no dangers lurked in the surroundings.

While the Kharlins in front of her were preoccupied with building a temporary bridge to the island out of ropes and small logs, Dawn stopped, still some hundred meters behind, and breathed a sigh of relief, setting the sling with the two cubs on the ground. Longingly, she stared at the clear and inviting water of the lake, but it was not yet time for a bath.

For the first time on this day a light breeze ruffled her hair and sent a welcome cooling sensation to her sweaty face and neck. She pulled out her waterskin and took a long gulp of water, almost emptying out the container. It didn’t matter, she would easily be able to fill it from the lake once they were on the island. On the spot she was standing right now, there still was a sharp drop down to the water.

Still, surely the cubs were thirsty as well. She should give them some more water. Looking down at the bundle in front of her feet, she saw that the first cub had already fled the confines of her shirt and was in the process of examining one of the tiny scraggly trees that grew on the edge of the drop off to the lake. Its leaves trembled in the soft breeze and for a moment he regarded them with rapt curiosity.

Dawn looked on with a soft smile. Suddenly his whole body tensed and he enthusiastically leapt up to catch them. But his hunt did not meet with success. The pliable twigs of the small tree gave way beneath him and the whole tree tilted out over the lake. With an indignant mewl, the cub lost the fight against gravity, fell and disappeared beneath the edge of the ledge. A second later, a small splash confirmed his arrival in the lake.

For a moment Dawn stood as if petrified, then she yelled “No!”, heedlessly dropped her waterskin and started to run. But already another, bigger splash sounded. After a mad dash to the lake, Ankou had taken a leap into the water after the little fellow.

Dawn bent over the edge to look down and gave a sigh of relief. The cub was treading water instinctively and a moment later Ankou had reached him, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and unceremoniously towed him to the island to deposit him gruffly on the beach several meters away from the water.

Both Ankou and the cub shook themselves. The cub, a little unsteady on his legs, turned sidewards to look around himself curiously, and promptly tripped over his own feet, landed prostrate on his belly and slid down the sloping beach in the loose sand. Disgusted, he stood up and shook himself again, now not only wet but also sandy all over and quite obviously none too pleased with the situation.

Dawn chuckled a bit, relieved that the cub was all right, but was called back to her immediate surroundings when she noticed the second cub had followed in the footsteps of her brother to the edge of the drop off and just now vanished over the edge with a small shriek. Again, a splash sounded.

‘Not again!’ she thought, covering her face with her hands, angry with herself for being distracted.

Ankou rumbled angrily,

[You should watch them better!],

and resigned, started back into the lake to rescue the second runaway. Once again, he deposited the wayward cub high on the beach next to her brother. The little one sneezed and shook herself determinedly, depositing half the water in her fur on her brother, who in turn nudged her in indignation, causing her to loose her footing and roll down the sloping beach in an already familiar way.

Now both cubs were sopping wet and crusted with sand and mud all over.

Ankou stood on the beach, tail twitching, and sighed, before he started to vigorously groom the wet furball next to him.

[Cubs and their bright ideas.]

Though startled and thoroughly exasperated with the cubs and herself, Dawn had to laugh.

“Well, these two certainly are a handful.” She muttered.

“Didn’t I tell you? Chaos incarnate.” Grinna said next to her, shaking her head in amusement.

“You were certainly right about that. And you just named one of them, gods-mother.” Dawn said.

“I did? Not that I noticed.”

“Yes, you did. The male cub shall henceforth be named Chaos!” Dawn stated.

“A fitting name for certain.” Grinna said, grinning widely. “And what will you call the other one?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Dawn asked. “Her name is Echo.”