#Chapter 61: Sanctuary Healing

Consciousness returned slowly, like swimming up from murky depths. My eyelids felt impossibly heavy as I struggled to open them, squinting against the unfamiliar brightness. Where was I? The ceiling above me wasn't the one from my bedroom, or any room I recognized. Panic fluttered in my chest as I tried to piece together my fragmented memories. "Easy now," a gentle female voice said from somewhere to my right. "You're safe." I turned my head—even that small movement sent pain shooting through my skull—and found a middle-aged woman with kind eyes watching me. Her hands were folded neatly in her lap, and she wore the traditional healer's pendant of Crescent Valley Pack. "Where am I?" My voice came out as a hoarse whisper. "Crescent Valley's healing sanctuary," she explained, rising to pour water from a crystal pitcher. "You've been unconscious for three days. Your injuries were quite severe, but you're stabilizing now." Three days? The last thing I remembered was... fire. Pa