On board an airship bound for Rephidim, Envoy is approached by an Earth Mage by the name of Iona, who is curious about Envoy's history. Roho, meanwhile, tends to an airsick wolf. Their conversation is interrupted when Roho picks up noises belowdecks, and he and Envoy rush to investigate. They find that Snowstorm is bringing Cryona out of "statis", and that something is amiss. Snowstorm indicates that the fuff'nar that Cryona's life force was linked to must have been killed, and they'll have to find some way to sever the link, or else Cryona will die as well.

Envoy seeks out a Spirit Mage, while Roho tries to keep Cryona from going into seizures as she "thaws out". Envoy comes back with Zhu ye Qing, who discerns the nature of the link, and proceeds to use magic to hold off the effects of the link, as he does some diagnostic spellcasting, and at last severs the link. Cryona is saved, for the time being – but the fuff'nar her life force was linked to is dead.