"I am not saying the words are not true. The Hollow is poisonous and I can feel it in my bones. But don't blind yourselves into thinking the cult has not shaped the path that we are walking."
She glanced at Kelvin, sharp as an arrow. "They want us deeper, so always remember that." Darius had been silent, with his head lowered, Rhoam pressed against his back.
Now he lifted his gaze, the firelight caught against the lines of soot and sweat that etched into his face. "Trap or not," he said, with his voice deep and gravel-thick, "the core has to be faced."
Kelvin frowned, but Darius continued before he could interrupt. "Ironholt fell because we were too late to strike the heart. We cut at the edges, bled against the tide, and the fire still consumed us. If there's a core to this Hollow, then that is where the blade goes. Even if the cult is waiting. Even if it trap's the jaws close around us."
