Dawn stayed on the bench for a while after dinner, drinking tea, talking to her friends and just enjoying the peaceful atmosphere for a change.

She was still laughing after Grinna had told a funny episode where one of her ranger apprentices had run afoul of a stink weasel on their journey and not been able to get rid of the smell for days, when she noticed Kharma standing next to their table.

He was looking strangely hesitant, as if he was not sure if he dared to interrupt them.

Dawn leapt to her feet immediately.

“Kharma!” she exclaimed exuberantly. “There you are. I’m so glad to see you. I was almost convinced you had disappeared completely.” She rushed over to him and hugged him for a moment, then let go and took a step back to look him over.

He still had the same gleaming bronze fur and huge silver eyes, but his whole demeanor had changed. Instead of the mischievous, vibrant Kharlin she had traveled with only a few weeks ago, there was now a hesitancy about him. He seemed anxious and ill at ease, as if he had been beaten down so much that he didn’t even care to stand up once more.

He ducked his head now at her effusive greeting, abashed, ears flattening.

“Ristop said to stay away from you. Hates humans.” Kharma said apologetically.

“Yes, I noticed that.”

Dawn said wryly, brushing several unruly strands of hair out of her face. An awkward silence ensued.

“I heard that they punished you, because you went hunting near the demon’s lair, and maybe because you had the audacity to befriend a human.” She said tentatively.

He nodded jerkily.

“Was punished. True. Cannot leave village. Not allowed to hunt. Have to work on shaping cavern and escape tunnel.”

His ears drooped and his whole figure gave off a pitiful vibe.

Dawn laid an arm around his shoulders.

“I’m so sorry, Kharma. But now that Halvar leads the council again, surely that has to make a difference. What you did is not so very bad. Anyone can make a mistake. Did Halvar send you over?”

“Yes.”

Kharma looked at her hopefully.

“Maybe now allowed to hunt again?”

“I don’t know, Kharma. But why don’t you join us? Tell me, how is your little sister? I’d like to meet her, you know.”

A tentative smile appeared on Kharma’s short snout, bringing his sharp teeth into focus.

“Lirim is well. Already sleeping now. Maybe meet her tomorrow when awake?”

Dawn grinned.

“Absolutely. So, meet my friends. This here is Grinna, a ranger and an absolutely superb sword-fighter and Teren, her husband, also a ranger. His talent with the bow has to be seen to be believed. They saved my life a time or two after I met them, when we fought against the demons. Nuala you may know already, as she is your priestess. And of course, there’s Niko. He is a warrior, and was escorting Nuala on her journey here. Ankou you know already.”

She finished her introductions, as Ankou finally deigned to rise from his lazy sprawl and greeted Kharma with a short nudge and a purr.

Grinna smiled at the young Kharlin cheerfully.

“So they picked on you, because you didn’t do as you were told and dared to befriend a human on top of that. Don’t let it get to you. If I had always done as I was told, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Sometimes, you have to do your own thing in the face of all opposition. Well, of course you have to be prepared to face the consequences, after, but no matter.”

Kharma visibly perked up at her words and finally sat down with them, listening as Grinna launched into another story. It was a bit of a squeeze now, but Dawn felt a million times better with him sitting next to her. She had missed him.

Early the next morning, Dawn watched forlornly as the rangers and a group of Kharlin hunters left the village. Grinna had even asked Ankou to accompany the group. Of course, Dawn understood that the lynx would rather hunt and roam the forest than stay in the village all the time. But she felt all the more lonely without him.

“None of that moping please, young lady!”

Dawn jerked as Lutha’s acerbic tone yanked her from her thoughts. Lost in thoughts she had missed her approach completely. The older woman was standing behind her with folded arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

“Halvar told me you want to study alchemy,” she continued abruptly.

“I agreed to teach you a few things today. Though it is highly unusual to teach someone for such a short period. If you want to study alchemy in earnest, you have to be prepared to spend years learning and practicing. You’ll only get the merest glimpse of an inkling today. Now follow me, time’s a-wasting.”

She led Dawn to a hut standing far away from all others, on the outer edge of the village cavern and partly built into the rocky walls. They entered and stood in her living quarters, furnished with a fur covered bedstead on the left and a big wooden table with several chairs in the middle of the room. A rocking chair out of braided willow branches stood in a corner next to a metal brazier. On the side wall, a wooden shelf with a dozen leather-bound books was taking pride of place.

A stone door led into another room at the back. The older woman showed Dawn her small laboratory in the back room, which was a room carved out of the rocky walls. There, walls and floor were completely made out of stone. Afterwards, Lutha gave her a beginner’s tome in alchemy and told her to read the first two chapters on safety precautions and simple preparations.

“Careful with that,” she admonished her roughly. “It is not something I can easily replace.”

She herself worked in her laboratory while Dawn was reading. When Dawn had finished with the chapters, Lutha asked her a great many questions and after Dawn passed this impromptu examination with flying colours, a notification popped up.

You have leveled up Alchemy +1

Happy as a clam, she was allowed to proceed to the laboratory now, and aid Lutha. Together, they were preparing a mixture of bird droppings, tree resin and finely pounded coal dust. The resin was heated first and then mixed with the dried and ground bird droppings and the coal dust. After they had blended these ingredients into a viscous mass, a foul smelling, dark oily liquid was added during the final step.

Dawn was curious.

“What exactly are we preparing here?” she asked

“Well, we talked about the need for a lot of fire arrows in the council meeting, didn’t we? The liquid we concocted will be used to soak some fabric which is fastened around the arrow shafts. This is the basis for the fire arrows. It is a special recipe of mine. The fire it causes is tenacious and will not easily be doused by water.” Lutha told her proudly

“And what is that dark liquid? I have never seen it before?” Dawn wanted to know.

“No wonder. It is quite rare. The liquid is called Naphtha. In some places there are pools of it coming out of the earth. It is highly flammable and has to be handled with some care.” Lutha answered.

As they worked, Lutha instructed Dawn in the correct measures for the preparation.

“You have to work meticulously all the time. One false step and you might easily set your laboratory on fire or even cause an explosion. And keep in mind that many of the ingredients used in alchemy are dangerous or poisonous if they get in touch with your skin, so always take care not to get them on your hands.”

The Kharlin woman warned her earnestly.

Dawn was delighted to see another notification pop up after Lutha’s explanation.

You have leveled up Alchemy +1

Finally some progress! If she could only stay and train with Lutha for a few weeks, she surely would improve her skill by leaps and bounds.

After the liquid had cooled down, they soaked square rags of fabric in the oily mass and, handling them carefully with tongs, hung them up in the stone-walled back room to dry a bit.

Lutha gave a satisfied sigh, slicked down the fur behind her ears and said.

“That should be enough. Well done Dawn. You clearly have some talent for alchemy and will be able to get far if you work at it diligently. Now, let’s scrub everything clean and then we’ll see if we can get a bite to eat.”

Cleaning the laboratory and all the tools and pots they had used took quite some time, so when they came up to the village center, the time for the midday meal had long since passed. Still, there was a pot with vegetable stew left next to the fire place, more than enough for them to share.

They ate silently, Dawn lost in thoughts. The village was a lively during the day. Several Kharlins were working on crafting projects, some building wooden furniture, others fabricating clothes from leather. A few smaller children were playing with spinning tops under the watchful gaze of a female Kharlin.

“Now, for my next project I can’t have you underfoot in the laboratory, I need to concentrate. ” Lutha told her when they were finished and returned to the hut.

‘Seems like I’m not able to take in any more today,’ she thought.

Hesitantly she looked in on Lutha, who was busying herself with a complicated apparatus, where a colorless liquid was bubbling fiercely.

The older woman looked up and said absently.

“You can leave now, if you’ve finished with your chapter. I will be busy with my distillation for some time still,” and waved her away.

Dawn wandered out into the village and was wondering what she should do now. Finally, she decided to leave the village and go out for a breeze of fresh air.

Outside, the day was hot, the late afternoon sun still burning down fiercely. She was standing on a wide rocky promontory, looking out from above over hills, forests and streams extending far into the distance in front of her. When she turned around, the entrance to the village was cleverly hidden behind a big protruding rock. Only a small goat path lead up to the promontory. Not far away, movement caught her attention and when she concentrated she realized it was the hunting party, returning to the village at great speed. The Kharlins in their brown and green garb blended into the forest almost uncannily and were hard to spot.

Dawn waited for them to arrive, glad to see her friends returning safely. But as they approached, she saw that a couple of Kharlins were injured. She could make out bandages on the arms and shoulders of several, and Dermo was limping severely, a big bandage encompassing his right thigh. She could see him gritting his teeth as he walked. Obviously he was in great pain.

Dawn flew down the small path towards the group heedless of any danger of falling. They obviously had been in a fight. She needed to help them, heal them. Anxiously, she scanned the group for Ankou. Where was he? Had he been hurt.