Rhea's words sat in the room for a long time.
Together, they are something the Hollow cannot survive.
I looked at Kael. He was already looking at me, and for once I couldn't read what was underneath it, but I knew it wasn't surprise.
"Say that again," I said. I had heard her the first time, but I needed to hear it a second time to believe it.
Rhea didn't sugarcoat her words. "Three times in recorded history. Crestwood Alpha, Ironveil carrier. Three times the Hollow tried to end it before it could finish. Three times they failed to stop what came after."
"What came after," I repeated.
"That's the part I don't have for you yet." She said it plainly, the way she said everything, like withholding information would be its own kind of lie. "I have the pattern, the outcome I'm yet to find o
