Dawn was very tired as Grinna woke her up early the next morning. It came as no surprise, they had talked quite late into the night and had only had a few scant hours of sleep. The rangers didn’t seem to be affected by the short night. Grinna was cheerfully preparing breakfast, while Nathan silently packed away their bedrolls. The morning was cool and clear, the sun just beginning to rise above the trees. Ankou had parked himself beside Dawn and was following the breakfast preparations closely. The smell of bacon obviously was a major attraction.
“I can’t remember the last time I had bacon for breakfast,” Dawn said a bit wistfully. Grinna smiled at her and said: “Well, enjoy it while it lasts. We’re good for today and tomorrow, afterwards it’s back to hunting our food. Can’t carry too much when we’re traveling.”
They sipped their tea and ate breakfast rolls stuffed with bacon. Dawn slipped half of her own portion to Ankou.
Afterwards they broke camp directly, Teren putting some earth over the embers to make sure the fire was properly extinguished.
“Ankou, can you lead us to the demon’s caves?” Dawn asked. The lynx blinked at her for a long moment, turned gracefully with an elegant flip of his tail and set off in the direction of the Kharlin village. They all followed him closely. Grinna looked from Dawn to Ankou and back. “You have quite the bond with that cat. Such a thing is very rare, you know.”
Dawn shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. No one in my village had an animal companion, but Greenriver is pretty small so that isn’t saying much. I was very surprised when Ankou appeared in the middle of a fight against beasts and helped me. I think it has to do with my path.”
Grinna asked gruffly, “So you have a path, but what are you doing alone here in the wilds? It’s not a very healthy environment for a young girl alone, and you obviously have no training in survival or fighting.”
Dawn sighed. “I ran away when my parents wanted to marry me to an older man from Greenriver and didn’t seem inclined to take no for an answer.”
“And you just ran away? That’s very courageous I admit, but forgive me for saying so, it’s pretty daft at the same time.” Grinna was scanning their surroundings while walking and talking to Dawn at once. Teren was once again bringing up the rear.
“It was a bit more complicated than that. You see, when they wanted to marry me to Beran, I sneaked into the Temple before my 15th birthday and managed to get a blessing. It was when I learned that the blessing could be taken away by my parents that I ran.”
“Hmm, let me guess. You didn’t get your blessing from the Goddess.” Grinna stated.
“No, I tried, but the Goddess stayed silent. But the Trickster was different.” Dawn said.
“And do you expect to live alone in the wilderness from now on? That’s a pretty harsh life.” Grinna was shielding her eyes against the sun as she looked out in the distance.
Dawn grimaced. “Tell me about it. But I only need to stay here until I am sixteen, afterwards no one can take away my path.”
“That may be true. But what will you do afterwards?” Grinna asked.
“I want to be a wise woman. Our village had one, Marja, and she was my friend and mentor. I can be her apprentice when I get back.”
Grinna massaged her neck. “I don’t want to dampen your enthusiasm, but that may not work out as you expect it to.”
Dawn looked at her astonished. “Why, what do you mean?”
“Let’s say you manage to live in the wilds for more than a year and get back to your village alive. That’s by no means certain, mind, but just for the sake of argument we say you are successful. What do you expect will happen then?”
Dawn thought for a moment. “I guess they will be pretty surprised to see me again. My parents might still be angry because I ran away, but at least my mother will be glad that I’m back, I’m sure.”
“All right, but what about the rest of the village?”
Dawn was taken aback, but thought some more. “Well, they will not exactly be thrilled with me. In their eyes it is unseemly for girls to be competent in anything other than household chores and child minding.”
“And there you have the problem.” Grinna said boldly.
“What problem?” Dawn didn’t understand what the ranger meant.
“You villagers are used to their old wise woman. If you had entered a normal apprenticeship with her, you would still have had a difficult time of it, because you are too young for them to accept you as an authority. But now, you have spent time in the wilderness alone, hunting and fighting, activities they see as unseemly in a girl. They will never accept you as a wise woman. You are too young, you are too unruly, they will see you as a bad influence on their wives and daughters. It will never work.” Grinna looked at her compassionately.
Dawn stopped, dumbfounded. It had never occurred to her, that the villagers would not accept her as a wise woman. She had been blinded by her own desires.
Grinna laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry. But I thought it better that you are aware of the problem now, rather than later. I can tell you a thing or two about stubborn traditionalists. They didn’t exactly care for women in the rangers either, you know.”
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Dawn shook her head. “I have to think about it. I believe you may be right, but this comes as a shock.” Grinna nodded and fell silent. Dawn tried to think but her thoughts turned around and around in circles.
After a while they came out of the trees into the rockier environment with bizarre rock formations leading to the Kharlin village and onwards. Suddenly Ankou leapt onto the rocks to their left and vanished in the crags. Grinna halted and her hand fell on her sword. Dawn stopped too, and a moment later she heard the sound of horses stepping on the rocky surface. Two horses were making their way between the rock formations, their riders looking rugged and dirty. They reined in their mounts in surprise as they saw them.
“Ho there, didn’t expect to meet someone here in the wilds.” One of them, a black haired man with dark eyes and a scruffy beard hollered. His companion had sparse blond hair and blue eyes, his mouth completely hidden in a huge beard that trailed down to his navel. He was eying both women disdainfully.
“Now, what are two women doing alone in the wilderness. It is too dangerous out here. You should be at home with your husband and family.” He stated sharply.
Surprised, Dawn looked at him. He had only talked about women. But Grinna caught her eye and slightly shook her head, then told the blond man calmly: “Seems to me you are alone in the wilds too. It is just as dangerous here for you, as it is for us.”
The man scoffed. “Ridiculous. We are experienced hunters. We can fight any beasts we encounter.”
“And who says that we can’t fight?” Grinna asked almost lazily. “And might be we know more about the dangers you’re bound to encounter here than you.”
“As if women were capable of fighting beasts, don’t be absurd. That sword doesn’t make you a fighter.” The blond man wasn’t having any of it, clearly thinking Grinna’s claims were ridiculous. His dark haired companion was more laid back, he was shaking his head but stayed silent.
“No the sword doesn’t, but training with it for a few years does,” Grinna told him sharply. “If you are finished with showing off your own ignorance, you might want to hear what we have to say.”
Blondie was taken aback. Clearly the conversation had taken a turn he hadn’t expected. “What?”
“You’d be well advised to leave this region. There are reports of very dangerous beasts that are roaming in these mountains. They have killed several persons already.” Grinna said calmly.
“And who are you, to tell us to leave?” he scoffed.
“She is a ranger, and you’d be well advised to listen to her.” Said a deep bass voice from behind the two men. Teren had appeared on the rock above them, bow at the ready. Both men whirled their horses around, spooked.
This time the dark one spoke. “A woman ranger? That is … unusual.” His voice was gravelly, as if he was unaccustomed to talking.
Grinna shook her head, clearly impatient now. “Get over it. Did you hear what I say? There are some very dangerous beasts around here. If you value your hide you should leave.”
“And what are you doing here then, if it is so dangerous?” the blond man said derisively.
“We are getting paid to investigate occurrences like this.” Teren said very calmly. “Do as you like. It is your life. You have been warned.”
With that he motioned Grinna and Dawn to go on. They gave the men and their horses a wide berth and stayed alert until they had passed several rock formations and couldn’t see them anymore. Ankou appeared at their side again.
“Think we’re gonna have problems with them?” Grinna asked Teren.
Teren shrugged. “Not sure. I don’t think they’ll come at us openly in any case.”
Dawn said, “They’re looking for some friends they were supposed to meet here.” Both rangers looked at her in surprise. “How do you know that?” asked Grinna.
“I heard them talking when they were riding through. The Kharlin village is very well hidden.”
Grinna frowned. “If there are more of them it could get problematic.”
Dawn rubbed her nose. “They won’t find their friends, they are dead.”
“The demons?” the ranger asked with raised brows.
“No, that was us.” Dawn said very softly. “They wanted to kill Kharma for his pelt.”
Grinna cursed. “Damn superstitions. But I’m surprised that you are the one still alive. Hunters are not easy opponents, generally.”
“They didn’t see me as a threat, and they didn’t see Ankou at all.” Dawn stated. “And we were indecently lucky in the end.”
Grinna pursed her lips. “Still, it is impressive. And now I understand better that you didn’t want to meet them.”
Dawn asked: “What did you mean with superstition?”
Grinna scoffed. “There are rumours that a coat made of Kharlin pelt brings luck to the wearer. It is just crazy talk, but there are always people around that believe in these superstitions and are willing to pay good crowns for the pelts.”
Dawn grimaced: “That is abominable. Don’t they realize that they’re killing intelligent beings.”
Grinna looked at her almost pityingly. “They don’t care, Dawn.”
They followed Ankou through the rocks until Dawn could at least recognize the deep gorge, where the entrance to the caves had been situated. She pointed to the blocked exit. “There is the entrance to the caves. Or rather, there it was.”
The entrance was only recognizable as a shallow dip in the mountainside. The rest of it was blocked with large rocks and rubble. Parts of it had even spilled out into the gorge.
“Then let’s take a better look at close range,” said Teren.