I traveled north until Moonshadow's forests gave way to open snowfields. Along the road, I heard about a pack whose sacred spring was dying from a blight no healer could remove.
The Frost Wolf Pack let me through its gates when I offered to examine the water.
Alpha Kael asked for no confession about my past. He led me to the Heart-Spring and waited while I tested the cloudy grey water.
The blight had turned the spring lifeless. No insects touched its surface, and the stone around the basin carried a dark residue.
For weeks, I worked at its edge. I kept my hands in the freezing current and fed healing energy into each poisoned vein.
The work was slow enough that my fingers stayed numb long after I left the water.
Kael remained nearby. He didn't give orders over my shoulder or demand a
