Both the Northern and Southern grounds now lay firmly under Frostbourne Clan control. I had nowhere left to go, save deeper into the wilds.
The farther I traveled, the more unknown danger waited ahead. My body was still far too broken to carve out a new home for myself. A lone wolf couldn't survive the coming winter—not one covered in wounds and cast out by their own kind.
I bit down hard against the urge to cough up blood and kept walking straight into the deep woods without looking back. Darkness swallowed everything. Then while I hid from every unseen threat, I stumbled across an old mine tunnel. There, far below the earth, I found natural hot springs still steaming gently with faint warmth. I lowered myself into the water and let my wounds soak.
The heat stung, sharp and burning all
