Dawn stood stock-still. She couldn’t quite believe that Ristop really had stabbed her. To her, it seemed like a scene from a nightmare, twisted and unreal.

Around her, voices were rising. Halvar and Nico had grabbed the gloating Ristop and wrangled him to the ground in spite of his resistance.

Slowly, the ice-cold sensation in her stomach transformed into searing pain. She dropped to her knees, sweat breaking out on her forehead. The pain came in waves now and Dawn bit her lip, fully concentrated on the white-hot sensation and the knife in her stomach. Dimly, she registered Nuala kneeling beside her and in the babble of multiple voices her hushed tone stood out.

“Dawn! Listen to me!”

She managed to lift her head a fraction and look at Nuala. She was sweating profusely now and nausea began to rise.

“You have to heal yourself! And you have to do it now, Dawn. Please, heal yourself.”

Dizzy, she had trouble understanding the old woman. Then she realized she should cast Nurture on herself. Of course, why hadn’t she done so immediately?

Dawn tried to cast Nurture, but for the first time, pain, nausea and dizziness caused her to fumble the spell and it fizzled out, without effect.

Nuala looked at her with a shocked expression, ears fluttering and tears starting to form in her golden eyes.

“Please concentrate. You have to try again.”

She implored her fiercely, furrowing her brow. At the same time, Dawn felt a wave of calmness enveloping her and the nausea and pain seemed to retreat somewhat.

Though all she wanted to do was lie down and close her eyes, she concentrated on her healing and finally managed to successfully cast Nurture.

She felt better immediately, though on the outside nothing had changed. She still had a knife sticking out of her stomach. But nausea and dizziness were gone and she could cope better with the pain.

Nuala was still kneeling beside her and told her:

“I’m going to pull the knife out in a moment. I’ll do it fast and it will probably hurt a lot. Get ready to heal yourself again once it is gone.”

Dawn carefully laid a hand against her stomach and nodded. Suddenly, she was in agony and cried out hoarsely. Nuala had acted fast, the knife was gone and blood spurted out of the wound now. Another wave of calmness flooded her and with it, she managed to cast her healing once again. Ever so slowly, the pain receded and she could concentrate better. She listened within and cast Nurture one more time. With more concentration her healing improved, she discerned the injured organs inside of herself and directed her spell to restore the damage effectively. Spent, she finally slumped down. Sweat was rolling down her face and she started to shake.

Furry hands helped her to sit up, and now that the pain was gone she could apprehend her surroundings once more. Ristop was sitting on a bench, staring off into space and smiling, despite being bound hand and foot, and several other Kharlins were having a heated debate about his attack on her.

Carefully, Dawn stood up and approached the group. Nuala stayed at her side, a silent comforting presence.

“Well, that was really unpleasant.”

She stated huskily, coming to a standstill before the bench Ristop was occupying.

He turned his head to her abruptly, the smile on his face dying down. Stunned, he looked at her seemingly unhurt figure, only the tear in her shirt and a few bloodstains attesting to his attack on her.

“You, you should have died.” He sputtered. “Filthy human”

Dawn gave a twisted smile and shook her head.

“Healer here, remember?”

She sighed, and looked at him sadly.

“What I don’t understand is why you want me dead? It is one thing to dislike humans on principle and I can even see you holding me responsible for inadvertently stirring up the demons with all that resulted for your tribe. But to want to kill me? At such a time when your tribe is in danger from the demons and needs any help it can get to fight them? What kind of madness is that?”

“Madness!”

He cried furiously, flattening his ears and balling his fists. He tried to rise from the bench, but was hindered by his bonds

“This is not madness, this is only right. You humans hunt us for our pelts. Do you think it madness to fight back? You kill us Kharlins whenever you find an opportunity, I’m not going to sit down and give you one. My wife was killed by human hunters and my daughter was killed by the demons you provoked. So don’t talk to me of madness. I’m just sorry you still can talk. You should be dead and gone.”

He fell silent abruptly, breathing heavily and staring at her venomously.

Dawn put a hand in front of her eyes and slid it down her face.

“I’m very sorry to hear that you lost your wife and daughter.” She said slowly.

“But I did not kill them. Yes, there are humans who hunt your folk. It is barbaric and evil, and I can understand wanting to kill those who have hurt you and your family. Call it revenge if you want. But in saying all humans are evil and need to be killed indiscriminately, in the end you’re just the same as them. And, even if you had succeeded in killing me, it wouldn’t have brought back your family.”

She turned away from him, feeling hopeless and exhausted. Halvar and the rest of the Kharlins were standing silent and stricken, as Nuala laid an arm around her.

Dawn was still standing there and wondering what she should do now, when voices rang out at the cavern entrance. Grinna and Teren entered, accompanied by Ankou and several Kharlin hunters. The group was in high spirits, they were joking around with each other and carrying several dead birds. Obviously, their hunt had been a successful one. When they approached the village center, Grinna looked up and belatedly noticed the oppressive atmosphere. Squinting and furrowing her brow, she came over to Dawn and eyed the group of Kharlins and the bound Ristop.

“So, who died?” She asked, hands on her hips. “And did we miss the funeral or what?”

“No one died,” Dawn said wrily.

“Though it isn’t for lack of trying. Ristop here thought it was a good idea to stab me. Apparently, in his mind the only good human is a dead human. He thought it would kill me. But, unfortunately for him, it didn’t take. Healers are pesky that way.”

She sighed despondently and shook her head. “I don’t know how to go on from here. I’m just tired of all the hate and the drama.”

Grinna looked at her in obvious shock.

“You’re joking? Why would he stab you?”

Dawn just shrugged.

“Prejudice? Grief, because he lost his family? Madness? Your guess is as good as mine.”

Teren and the other hunters had come over to the village center, too. The big ranger shook his head and murmured something about endless stupidity, while the hunters looked alternately at Dawn and Ristop, obviously at a loss for words.

Ankou sat down next do Dawn, laid a dead goose on the mud floor and nudged her with his head, purring. Obviously, the lynx had noticed that she was feeling sad and was trying to cheer her up with gifts.

Despite herself, Dawn had to smile. She stroked his silky fur and immediately felt a bit better.

Halvar came out of the crowd of Kharlins, wrung his hands, cleared his throat nervously and said:

“Please, don’t take Ristop’s words as the thoughts of all of us Kharlins. His grief has muddled his mind. I am ashamed that such a thing happened to you here in our village, that one of our tribe tried to murder you. You saved our priestess and healed me, clearly you are entitled to a better treatment than what you have gotten here. I’d like to make amends.”

Dawn grimaced and shrugged.

“You didn’t do anything to me, Halvar. Please, let’s just concentrate on the council meeting and our plans to fight the demons and their queen. That’s what is most important right now. Though I rather hope that Ristop won’t get any opportunity to stab me again. It feels really uncomfortable to be the target of so much hate, and you never know, he just might succeed in killing me the next time.”

Halvar nodded.

“Obviously, he won’t be running around freely. Though we will have to decide what exactly to do with him. Attempted murder is not a problem we are used to dealing with, among ourselves.”

Nuala said,

“His hate has thoroughly poisoned his thoughts. Even my skills didn’t manage to calm him down. Grief and shock have unhinged him. You have to look at it as a sickness of the mind. But I fear it will take a long time for him to get better. I would recommend giving him a sleeping drought for now. That will take care of him for the rest of the day and tonight. Tomorrow we will have to meet with Samya and decide what is to be done with him in the long run.”

Halvar bowed.

“Let it be done as you say, Priestess.”

He turned around and sent one of the younger Kharlins off to get a sleeping potion from Samya. Then he addressed Dawn and the rangers.

“The full village council will meet in two hours. As speaker, I am honored to invite you all as guests to the meeting. Don’t let the happenings here stand in the way of our fight against the common enemy.”