Dawn stood still as she tried in vain to orient herself. The mist still seemed to interfere not only with her sight and sense of direction, but also with her connection to Ankou.

She was tired and somewhat concerned about the gift the lady had given her. Whatever could it be? She didn’t feel any different than before. And after she just had gotten a lesson on the price of gifts and wishes, she was entirely unsure that she wanted to accept a gift from anyone at all.

Not that she had been asked. She decidedly felt a bit grumpy about that.

Still, on the plus side she had had a narrow escape. She had nearly taken that wish and didn’t even want to know what would have happened to her in that case. The mere thought sent shivers down her spine.

Now, the only thing she wished for was to find her companions again and to get out of that abyss-loving fog. The hairs on her neck started to raise in the silence and she felt like prey that was hunted.

Maybe she was overreacting, the impenetrable mists playing tricks on her mind. Nevertheless, she activated Shadow Play. It couldn’t hurt after all and it made her feel safer, thinking she was hidden from prying eyes.

Looking back on her talk with the lady, the questions she hadn’t been able to ask still ran through her head. So many questions. Their time together had been much too short. Dawn was sure the lady knew so much more than her. About magic and power and the world. Wouldn’t it have been grand if she could have learned from her? What a teacher she would have been.

But there was no use dwelling in might have beens. Sighing, she looked at the white walls of fog all around her. Would that mist never clear up?

A soft breeze seemed to stir and Dawn eagerly waited for more wind. Then she heard something in the silence. It sounded like a snort, then came a soft jingling and the soft sound of hooves on the ground. The mists were thinning out to the point that she could make out the trees around her. And a group of huge shadows. Horses. A group of horses and men.

Alarmed she turned to a big tree on her side and pressed her back to its trunk. Fortunately, she had already activated Shadow Play. Whoever they were, they should be unable to see her.

“We have to go back, Finn.” An unsubstantial voice said. “It’s much too dangerous out here in the wilderness.”

“I have you and your men for protection, have I not?” another voice answered curtly.

“That’s all good and true on the roads. But out here in the open wilds, a few men are not enough. You heard the rumours in Atelang about these demon-spider things. We won’t be able to fight a group of those.”

A derisive snort. “Rumours. You know what I think about those. The wild imaginings of some ranger, and a woman to boot. They shouldn’t have allowed her to leave the city in the first place. Ridiculous! Of course she turned batty with fear and started to see demons around every corner. I told you my locator pointed to the region here. He has to be in this area.”

“The locator is not that exact over longer distances. Instead of bumbling around in dangerous wilderness areas looking for ghosts, we should make all haste to Greenriver village. That’s where we will find him. And that is the task your father and your uncle entrusted us with. It is improbable to say the least, that he would be running around out here in the wilderness.” The voice sounded very exasperated now.

“Look around you? Do you see anyone here? Or do you think he hid himself behind a convenient tree trunk?” The last was delivered with clear sarcasm.

The last vestiges of the mist had cleared now and Dawn was able to see the speakers. A young man of maybe eighteen to twenty years with black hair and grey eyes sitting on a glossy black horse. He was clad in leather trousers and a composite body armor of mixed leather and metal. His bridle and saddle were decorated lavishly and obviously expensive. Next to him a grizzled older man with the looks of a veteran riding a dun-coloured horse. Behind them rode a group of men, maybe ten of them. The young man held a flat disk in his hand and looked at it and at his surroundings in turn repeatedly.

At long last, he grimaced and put the disk away.

“Very well, we will turn back and continue on in the direction of Greenriver,” he said curtly and turned his horse.

“Finally!” The older man said and signaled his men to turn around with obvious relief. “We have lost a day already, and I don’t like to camp out in the open. You may disregard these rumours as much as you like, but I cannot afford to be so nonchalant about them. It is more than my life is worth if we loose you to some beasts.”

“Always the alarmist, Blake. Let the beasts come, all the more experience for us. I can certainly use it.” The young man said flippantly.

‘Wow, he’s an arrogant one.’ Thought Dawn. But what did these men want in Greenriver? She would have liked to know, but wasn’t tempted in the least to come out of hiding. The dismissive way in which the young man had spoken of a woman ranger told her all she needed to know about him. He was definitely not someone she wanted to get acquainted with.

Luckily for her, the group was already riding away. And now she could also sense Ankou again, somewhat behind her and to the right.

Carefully she started to make her way in his direction. It took her just a few minutes then she was greeted by a grumbling:

[You should not run away.]

She sighed and tried in vain to make out the lynx in the surrounding forest. “I didn’t intend to. Mist came up and suddenly I was lost.”

Nestor came running up to her, carrying several dead birds. Obviously he had had a very successful hunt.

“Dawn, wherever have you been? We were afraid something happened to you. It seemed as if the earth had swallowed you.”

“Actually, that’s a bit of a story. But I’d rather tell it to you after we return to the village. There’s a group of humans around here and I don’t want to encounter them. Their leader didn’t sound like a nice man. Very dismissive of women, and I’d rather not know what he thinks about Kharlins.” Dawn replied.

“Humans here? Other than the rangers?” Nestor’s ears flattened and he glanced around uneasily. “Then let’s return with all speed.”

They rapidly traveled through the forest, and Dawn started to sweat once more. She kept a sharp eye on her surroundings as she moved along. For today, she had had entirely enough of surprises.

Her head was still whirling from her encounter with the lady and the mirror of stars. Questions about the gods and what gift Sandrine had given her occupied her mind. And what had she meant about her family and the ring she was wearing?

Abruptly, she stopped. There was something wrong with the path ahead of her. She gripped Nestor from behind and wrenched him back forcefully.

“What…?” he exclaimed, as he stumbled.

“Shh! Stand still.” Dawn hushed him, as she studied the forest floor. For a moment she wasn’t sure what had attracted her attention, then she saw that the floor in front of her was totally smooth. No roots, no grass, no moss and no tracks of insects or animals. Just smooth earth.

[Huh. You noticed the pit.]

The voice in her mind didn’t belong too Ankou. As she directed her attention to the trees around her, she saw a squirrel sitting on a branch above. Its fur was a mixture of brown, red and green colours allowing it to blend seamlessly into the surrounding forest. It had obviously been interrupted in his meal, a half-eaten nut dangling from its paws.

[You see better than most of the fur-less.]

“Thank you, I think.” Dawn replied softly, which thoroughly confused Nestor.

“Who are you talking to?” he whispered.

“Him.” Dawn pointed to the squirrel sitting above them, only to incite furious chittering protest.

[Even a fur-less should see I am female.]

[And even a tree-fur should know better than making a lot of noise in front of a trap.] Ankou sounded mildly annoyed.

[You’re only a mouthful and hardly worth the effort, but put my friends in danger and I’ll eat you.]

The cat appeared next to Dawn soundlessly, which caused the squirrel to fall silent and vanish farther up the tree instantly.

“Do you know what creature set this pit?” Dawn asked in a low voice.

[Hard to kill, lives under the earth, doesn’t taste good, not worth hunting.] Was his comprehensive reply.

“Then by all means, let’s avoid the trap,” said Dawn, taking a detour around some trees. Unfortunately, the creator of the pit didn’t agree with her decision and chose to emerge from the ground directly in front of her feet, showering her with earth and mud in the process.

“Gah.” Protested Dawn concisely and spat while backing away. She had been blinded by earth in her eyes and gotten a disgusting mixture of earth and mud into her mouth.

Fortunately for her, her friends were unscathed and took up the battle against the creature in front of her while she was occupied with getting the dirt out of her eyes.

The monster was mud-coloured and looked like a mixture of an overgrown toad and a worm, with long sharp saw-like teeth. The red eyes witnessed that it was a beast. Ankou seized it by the neck, but his sharp teeth didn’t pierce the leathery skin of the beast. Nestor shot an arrow that narrowly missed one eye and in the next moment the monster dove back into the earth.

Dawn wondered for a moment if they had driven it off, but was disabused of that foolish notion almost instantly as it appeared from the ground next to her and sank its teeth into her leg.

Dawn screamed, the pain acute and overwhelming. Then the monster towed her away as it plunged back under the earth.

Instantly she was blinded and suffocated, the pain keeping her from forming a clear thought. The only thing left was panic. She wanted to get out!

And suddenly, she found herself out in the open, lying in the shadow of a huge tree, bloody and covered in earth. A little distance away from her friends who were frantically digging into the earth looking for her.

“I’m here,” she croaked while she activated her healing, sighing in relief as the pain started to ebb. Though she had to cast her spell a second and even a third time to finally close the garish wound.

As the pain receded, her fear rose. Scrambling, she started to climb the tree and called out to her companions.

“Climb! We can’t fight that thing on the ground.”

Nestor and Ankou were surprised to see her above ground but followed her recommendation with alacrity. The next time the monster surfaced, its intended prey fought back.

Nestor shot another arrow and this time he struck his target cleanly. The beast let out a deafening shriek as one of its eyes was pierced. But before it was able to vanish into the earth again, Dawn activated her lightning, blinking against the glare. She saw in grim satisfaction that the earth monster possessed no resistance and was instantly cooked within its hide. A last shriek, then silence. Only a corpse unpleasantly smelling of rotten mud and fetid flesh remained. She wrinkled her nose. Ankou was right, she certainly wouldn’t want to eat that.

Level up!

Nature’s Shadow level 13

You have 2 free stat points to distribute

Well, at least that vile thing had given her enough experience for another level up. Though how she had managed to escape it was a mystery to her. As if called up by her thoughts, another notification appeared before her eyes.

Sandrine Mashah has gifted you an ability.

One with the shadows

Allows you to travel through the shadows for one second.

Can only be used once a day.

Stamina cost: 50 SP