Markham paused, as if he'd never considered the matter before.
"Without it, vegetation withers, leaving behind only desolation. We call it the Deadlands."
Melinda was still negotiating with the various family heads while Matriarch Whitmore sat with her eyes closed, appearing to rest.
Now, she opened them to answer Ethan's question.
"The Deadlands?" Ethan repeated.
"Yes, the Deadlands. A place utterly devoid of life. Those who enter it contract something… inexplicable. Indescribable."
"Anyone who sets foot there is doomed. Even if they manage to return, they're soon met with an unnatural death."
Matriarch Whitmore assumed Ethan was simply asking what the Deadlands were, so she gave him a brief explanation.
Ethan took in another strange piece of information. And then a thought struck him.
…
If Energy Cores were that powerful, what would happen if someone absorbed one directly—or even ate one?
