"Is better than certain death here," she interrupted. She grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to meet her eyes. "In this place, the only way back to the surface is to go deeper into the heart of it. We don't survive by hiding. We survive by pushing through the fire."

Elara reached the hatch and wrenched it open. She shoved Kael inside just as the catwalk buckled. She scrambled in behind him, sealing the heavy door seconds before the room was engulfed in a backdraft of flame.

"For now," Elara replied, already crawling forward into the narrow pipe. "Keep moving. We haven't reached the sunlight yet."