Chapter 30 Threads Of Bond And Spirit

• The winds of late autumn had sharpened, snapping through the fortified village walls with an icy bite that promised snow soon to follow. Inside the Outer Healer’s Hut, however, the chill was kept at bay by the low-burning hearths and the heat of focused training.
• Xueya stood at the center of the room, her midnight hair pinned loosely atop her head, a few rebellious strands framing her golden eyes. In her hand, the Virellin needles gleamed—a set of ethereal tools born from her bond with spirit healing, wrapped in vines of silver and faint pulses of blue light.
• "Today," she announced to her gathered apprentices, her gaze lingering—perhaps a heartbeat longer than necessary—on Baelorn, "you will observe the foundational use of spirit healing using these needles. Watch closely. Think carefully. Or you’ll end up sticking them into your own spleen."