The next morning dawned clear and warm again.

Dawn had been awoken rather early by Echo and Chaos who were eager to start their day and no doubt further mischief.

The two were play-fighting, rolling on the floor growling and hissing at each other, between apparently very earnest attempts to murder the respectively other one.

She chuckled at their antics. What a joy these cubs were turning out to be. Well, at least when they were not actively trying to kill themselves with their curiosity.

Ankou had opened one eye lazily when they had left the tent, then, apparently satisfied that Dawn would watch over their charges had contentedly gone back to sleep, sprawled out bonelessly.

Dawn wasn’t sure if she should feel honoured that he trusted her with their wellbeing or indignant that he left it to her to look after them.

She envied him his equanimity, for she herself felt decidedly quivery this morning. Whether the reason was the aftermath of her encounter with the dreamkiller or the prospect of another fight with the spiders, she couldn’t say.

All around her the Kharlins began to stir. Dermo was already awake and talking with two of the younger hunters standing in front of him, whose names she had utterly forgotten. They were listening to him attentively, ears pricked up and quivering, eagerness written all over their bodies. As he stopped talking both were nodding intently, then turned, took up their bows and rapidly left the camp to start assembling the bridge to the shore again.

Dermo turned to the campfire and began to prepare breakfast. Dawn went over, keeping one eye on the cubs and grabbed the big pot. She filled it with water from the lake and set it over the fire, adding a bit of wood to build it up.

“Severn and Grigori are going to scout out the way further down in the direction of Brokenfang,” Dermo told her.

“Brokenfang?” she asked.

“Yes, that’s the lone tall mountain with the pillar looking like a broken tooth on the edge,” he said, turning and pointing in the direction.”

Far in the distance she could see the mountain, rising up over all the others around it.

“What are we going to do in the meantime?” Dawn asked.

“We wait. Well, and take some time for training and fishing in the lake,” Dermo told her.

“Let’s hope we will catch some trouts. I for my part will be very glad if I don’t have to eat more jerky today.”

Dawn nodded in sincere agreement.

After breakfast, Grinna and Teren took the time to train not only Dawn but also some of the hunters in sword- and bow-fighting. Ankou was looking on from the sidelines, keeping a watchful eye on Chaos and Echo, who were tired out again after playing around for an hour and a plentiful breakfast.

Dawn dove into training eagerly, now convinced more than ever that she needed to raise her fighting skills as soon as possible.

The sword exercises and several short training bouts against Grinna left her sweating and sore. As she sat down panting, Teren came over to her and shook his head gravely.

“Don’t think you’re finished already. It’s time for another lesson with your bow.”

Groaning, Dawn collected her flagging energy and stood up again.

After her shooting lesson which earned her another level in bow-fighting, she took a dip into the lake, enjoying the cool sensation of the water on her overheated skin.

As she came out of the water, already fondly thinking about lunch, a commotion at the shore caught her attention.

The two scouts Dermo had sent out were coming back, running along the shore and calling out to the other hunters.

Out of breath, they arrived at the island.

“We fought some spiderlings,” Severn panted, breathless and sweating.

“I think we killed two of them, but the fight caught the attention of some others who were a bit farther away. We ran all the way here, but I’m sure the rest are not far behind.”

Dermo let out a piercing whistle and in moments the rest of the hunters gathered around him.

“We have enemy contact. Spiderlings are coming. Archers, stay on the island, get yourself to advantageous locations.

Sword fighters to the shore. Derek, disassemble the bridge behind us. If you need to flee from the monsters, jump into the lake and swim to the island.”

Dawn had hastily put on her clothes and was taking up her sword now. Taking a deep breath she turned to go to the shore, telling Ankou:

“Keep the cubs safe on the island.” With a last stroke of his glossy fur, and a lingering look at Echo and Chaos she left, feeling strangely vulnerable without the big lynx at her side.

[Don’t die!] Ankou’s deep growl reached her from behind, his anxiety a living presence in the back of her mind, belying his calm outward appearance.

The fighters turned to the left on reaching the shore and went a short way down the ledge, just enough that there was a distinct drop off at the side.

In the distance a dark grey mass was approaching. Apparently, the spiderlings had grown again. They had reached the size of a grown horse now, still not as big as the grown demons but getting there in a hurry.

Surprisingly, Dawn lost all of her nervousness as she saw the beasts advancing. Cold clarity was flooding her mind. For the first time, she was not surprised by a fight, inexperienced, unprepared and scrambling to keep up.

This time, she had a plan and companions in battle. This time everything would be different.

Two of the monsters had a short lead ahead of the pack. Familiar clicking sounds heralded their approach. As they reached the shore opposite the island, the first arrows started to fly. Regular arrows were mixed with fire ones. Some fell short of their targets but most reached the enemy.

In contrast to their grown brethren, the spiderlings started to burn only sluggishly, still lacking the mass of fine grey hair on their bodies that their adult counterparts sported.

More of them had arrived now, a whole pack confronting the few sword fighters on the ledge, though their superior numbers were ameliorated by the narrow confines between cliff-side and lake.

Just as they had planned, Dawn thought with cool satisfaction.

As the enemies bunched up, she called out sharply: “Back!”

And activated Call the Lightning barely a moment later. Glaring white lightning touched down in the middle of the horde of demons, nearly singing the pelt of the nearest Kharlins as well and sizzling several of the horde. Chittering shrieks sounded from the beasts, a few falling down dead or heavily injured.

Level up!

Nature’s Shadow level 12

You have 2 free stat points to distribute.

As soon as the lightning died down, Grinna was weaving a deadly dance among the horde, her sword flashing out in battle.

The Kharlins swarmed over the front of the monsters in their turn, careful to stay out of the middle of their formation. More arrows kept arriving at the back of the pack with a hissing sound.

In spite of their advantage in location and planning, the first Kharlins started to fall as well. Struck down by the venomous fangs of their enemies and their spiked legs, that had a far longer reach than their swords.

Dawn sprinted to reach the fallen Kharlins. Frantically, she reached out to touch the first one. Shielded by Grigori, who kept the beasts away from her, she dragged the first wounded away from the battle to the back and activated Nurture.

Without awaiting any reaction she returned to the battle to drag out the next one and cast her healing on her as well.

Panting now, she took a moment to check her mana. She had not nearly enough to use Call the lightning again.

Grimly, she took up her sword and waded into the fight together with Grigori, leaving the formerly wounded and paralyzed Kharlins who slowly began to stir at her back.

Slowly but surely, the flames from the fire arrows began to spread amongst the spiderlings. Sadly, though they were hurting the enemy, they endangered their own combatants as well. In the heat of the fight several Kharlins were in the process of forgetting all about their plans, staying far too close to the demons.

“Retreat!” Dermo shouted loudly. “Back off a way!”

With a start, Dawn parried the razorsharp leg of the spiderling in front of her, and started to back up as fast as she could. The Kharlins followed haltingly, Grinna fighting several beasts at once to cover their retreat.

As they backed up further, followed by the spiderlings who were still hale enough to continue the fight Dawn got a clearer view of the battleground.

Several of the beasts were down, lying lifelessly on the ground. A few others were starting to be overwhelmed by the flames. Still, at least half a dozen of them were left fighting fit and they were enraged now, after seeing so many of their brethren fall.

As she looked on, Grinna did her very best to disengage from the enemies and increase the distance between them. A Kharlin female who seemed to be lost in battle fever was still fighting at close-quarters, totally oblivious to Dermo’s and Grinna’s shouted orders to disengage and back up.

Dawn saw the leg of the spiderling that reached the woman’s neck clearly. As if in slow motion she watched as a spray of blood erupted from her throat and the female fell down. With vivid insight she knew that the Kharlin was dead. No amount of healing spells would be able to heal such a wound. The woman had been nearly decapitated in one fell stroke.

And now Grinna was in danger of being overrun as well. She saw the beautiful deadly dance of the ranger beginning to break up, her steps commencing to slow down, her sword strokes starting to lag. The cold clarity in her own mind started to wobble as panic began to set in.

Breathing jerkily, she checked on her mana once again. Just enough for her big spell, leaving the danger that once she activated it, one of her companions might die from his wounds while she was out of mana and unable to heal him.

Getting a grip on her panic, she reminded herself sternly that now was not the time for dithering.

“Grinna, back off!” she called loudly over the din of the battle, then activated her Lightning.

Once again, a blinding white light struck down among the enemies. Grinna stumbled and yelped. Obviously she had been touched by an offshoot of the spell where she stood.

Dawn was horrified. Grinna had still been standing too close. She should have waited longer after calling out her warning. The ranger had been hurt and it was her fault.

Weakness, panic and regret started to overwhelm her.

Her concentration wholly taken up by the scene playing out in front of her, she didn’t heed the warning of Grigori and therefore was wholly unprepared for the pain that erupted in her left shoulder.

Dumbstruck, she stared down at the sharpened tip of the big grey leg that had pierced her. As she turned her head she came face to face with a grown demon that had approached her from the back.

As the huge spider withdrew its leg, Dawn let out a hoarse cry of pain. Barely managing to keep herself standing upright she slowly turned and waited for the next attack with fatalistic placidity.

‘So this is it,’ she thought dispassionately.

‘They still got me in the end.’

But before the next, surely deadly strike of the demon could reach her, a black arrow carved a path into one of its eyes with a loud hiss. The spider reared back, shrieking loudly. Teren had come to her rescue.

And suddenly, another arrow struck the monster, this time from behind. It was only a glancing hit, but it sufficed to redirect its attention to the new enemy that had struck it from the rear.

Stupefied, Dawn stood.

‘Still alive then,’ she thought dazedly, and shook herself.

She looked on with curiosity, her aching shoulder almost forgotten, as the grown demon was the target of several more arrows, fired by a lean tall man standing way farther up on the ledge beside the cliff.

“Healer, heal yourself!” the harsh command pulled her out of her thoughts.

Grinna, who had barked it at her, passed Dawn on the narrow ledge hurriedly, already on her way to fight the newest enemy.

Letting out a deep sigh of relief at the fact that the ranger was apparently still fighting fit, Dawn gave a faint smile and obediently healed herself.

Afterward she just stood and watched the ensuing fight between one grown demon, two archers and a sword fighting genius.

Despite its huge size and the deadly reach of its long legs, the spider didn’t have the breath of a chance against the three rangers. It was only a matter of time until it was completely blinded and whittled down by Grinna’s flashing sword and Nathan’s and Teren's deadly arrows.

Yes, Dawn had recognized the man. Short black windswept hair, grey eyes and a tanned face with a scar bisecting his right cheek.

After the spider finally lay lifeless, Nathan approached and teased.

“I see you’re still keeping true to your name Spark. Always dancing where the fire is hottest.”

Grinna cocked her head and chuckled.

“And you’re still the same old Sage. Consistently a bit late to the party,” she quipped back good-naturedly.

“What can I say? It seems my invitation must have gotten stuck in some messenger bag.” Nathan retorted dryly.

“Still, you’re a sight for sore eyes.” Grinna approached the other ranger and swept him up in a hearty embrace.

“If you both would please care to remember that there still might be some enemies around.” Teren’s gruff voice interrupted the greetings as he came closer, still carrying his bow.

“The Stone speaks!” Nathan exclaimed, laughing. “Well met old friend.”