Rex didn't flinch under Morwenna's scrutiny. He met her gaze with a predator's stillness, refusing to allow her suspicion to derail the grim calculus of the room.
He could feel her distrust like a physical heat between them. She saw the risks; she saw the potential for another catastrophe like the one on the island, but she didn't yet see the necessity of the slaughter to come.
"The site wasn't chosen by whim or desperation, Morwenna," Rex said, his voice cutting through the stifling tension like a blade. "It was selected based on the Underlayer intelligence archives' documentation of the northern zone's defensive properties."
"The archives are explicit: that zone is a death trap for any attacking force that lacks geological class support."
"The terrain itself is hostile, designed to grind intruders into powder."
