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There was one place she hadn’t yet searched.One place she’d avoided.

Thalia glanced at Healer Erith, who was now carefully measuring out what looked to be the last dregs of a pain tincture.The head healer's face was drawn, her movements precise but heavy with the weight of impossible choices.Who to help.Who to turn away.

The Golem Fields were notoriously dangerous — failed constructs wandering mindlessly, unpredictable weather conditions, treacherous terrain.But if there were medicinal herbs growing there….

"That should be enough," Thalia said, helping Mona carefully withdraw her arm from the water.The angry red of the burn had faded somewhat, but the injury was still severe."Remember, keep it clean and uncovered unless the healers have sterile bandages to spare."

Mona nodded gratefully as her friends came to help her back to her dormitory."Thank you, Thalia.I won't forget this."

As Thalia watched them leave, her resolve crystallized.She couldn't stand by while students suffered, not when there might be a solution within reach.The Golem Fields were dangerous, yes — but was that danger any greater than what they all faced daily in this harsh academy?Was it any greater than the slow suffering of untreated injuries and illnesses?

She nodded to the healers and slipped out of the infirmary, her pace quickening as she headed back toward the dormitories.

***

The common area hummed with subdued conversation when Thalia pushed through the heavy wooden door.Unlike weeks before, when the space had buzzed with discussions and occasional laughter, the atmosphere now held a brittle tension.Students clustered in small groups, Northern recruits dominating the prime spots near the hearth while Southern students huddled at tables farther from the warmth.The divide had grown more pronounced as resources dwindled, invisible lines drawn across the stone floor that few dared to cross.Thalia paused in the doorway, scanning the room for Luna and Ashe.

She spotted them in the corner farthest from the entrance — Luna perched cross-legged on a worn armchair, a book balanced on her knees, while Ashe stood nearby, sharpening a small knife with practiced strokes against a whetstone.

As Thalia approached, Luna glanced up, her perpetually distracted expression firmly in place for any watching eyes.

"Your energy is quite scattered," Luna said, her voice pitched to sound dreamy and unconcerned.

Ashe rolled her eyes at Luna's mystical affectation but paused in her knife-sharpening."What happened?"she asked, her tone direct as always.

Thalia slid into the empty chair beside Luna, leaning in close enough to keep her voice from carrying."I need to talk to you both.Not here."

Luna tilted her head, dark eyes sharpening with interest despite her deliberately slack features."Dorm room," she suggested.

The three made their way to their room without drawing attention.Once inside, with the door firmly shut, Luna's demeanor shifted subtly — her posture straightening, eyes focusing with precision on Thalia.

"What's wrong?"Luna asked, all pretense of vagueness gone from her voice.

Thalia paced the small room, gathering her thoughts."The infirmary is completely out of medical supplies.No burn salves, barely any pain tincture, nothing for infections."She described what she'd witnessed — the argument between the healers, Mona's untreated burn, the empty shelves."And it's only going to get worse.With the Isle Warden blockade, no new supplies are coming in."

Ashe crossed her arms, her face grim."Maven said they had contingencies in place."

"Whatever those contingencies were, they're not working," Thalia replied."But I might have a solution."

Ashe's eyes narrowed."Why do I feel like I'm not going to like this solution?"

Thalia took a deep breath."The Golem Fields.It’s the only place I haven’t checked for smokeneedle, and I heard one of the healers mention that silverleaf grows wild there.If I could gather enough, the healers could at least treat the worst injuries."

The room fell silent.Luna and Ashe exchanged a quick glance that contained an entire conversation —concern, calculation, resignation.

"It’s best to stay out of the Golem Fields," Luna said carefully."Those constructs are dangerous, hostile.And the terrain itself is treacherous — ice sinkholes, unstable formations."

"How do you know so much about it?"Thalia asked.

Luna's smile was thin."I listen.And I read.The academy library has records of every student injury or death since Frostforge was founded.More students die in the Golem Fields than anywhere else in the Rimspire.”

Thalia's stomach tightened, but she pushed forward."I know it's dangerous.That's why I'm telling you both.I'm going tomorrow morning, early, before anyone notices I'm gone.I just wanted you to know where I'd be.In case something happens."

Ashe set her knife down with a decisive click against the wooden desk."If you're going to be stupid enough to wander into the Golem Fields, you're going to need someone with sense to keep you alive," she said, her tone gruff but her eyes filled with determination."I'm coming with you."

Relief flooded through Thalia."Are you sure?"

Ashe shrugged one shoulder."My clan's survival training focused heavily on frozen terrain navigation.I know how to spot sinkholes and unstable ice formations.Besides," her expression softened almost imperceptibly, "what's the point of all this training if we can't use it to help others?"