The Wellspring's Curse

The mountains, grass, and water-that is all there is in the vast world... except at the Wellsprings.

Mankind clings to life around these miraculous, shifting sites-places where stone and precious metals erupt from the earth, where beasts and blessings pour forth in equal measure. Beneath them lie dungeons and mines, twisted labyrinths crawling with monsters and ancient relics. But when the Wellsprings recede, they leave behind the Blight, and all their gifts begin to rot. Magic turns sour. Beauty becomes horror. And still, mankind endures-bound to the lands of Lyvaris, kept alive by the Wellsprings... and imprisoned by them.

Auren is a hunter with no tribe, no loyalty, and a reputation for failure.

When he accepts a contract to retrieve the mythical Heartscale-a relic no one has ever claimed-he finds himself entangled in a struggle older than the cities themselves. The Heartscale is not a cure. It's a key.

It unlocks the truth behind the Wellsprings, and the Church will kill to keep it buried.

Armed with a soul-bound knife and haunted by the corpse he left behind, Auren must decide whether to flee the coming storm...
or break the chains that hold his world together