Hope hadn't expected the question.
He had been the one pressing for answers, directing the conversation where he wanted it to go. But now, with both Kelvin and even Walker looking at him, waiting for his response, he found himself at a loss.
For the first time that night, silence pressed against him in a way that felt heavy, suffocating.
Kelvin's gaze was steady—calm, unwavering, patient. He wasn't pushing, wasn't demanding an answer, but there was something about the way he looked at Hope that made it clear he expected one. Even Walker, who had spent most of the conversation lying down, idly twirling his rusted dagger, had gone still. His head was tilted slightly in Hope's direction, his dark eyes unreadable yet waiting.
Hope shifted uncomfortably.
He had never considered what came after. Never thought about the future beyond the next day, the next meal, the next escape. Living on the outskirts had taught him that planning too far ahead was a fool's game. The moment you believed you had control, the world had a way of ripping it away from you.
And now?
Now, he was here, dragged into the Ashlands by the Veil.
He had spent his whole life surviving, but not because he had something to live for. He had no grand ambitions, no deep-seated hatred driving him toward revenge, no noble desire to protect the weak.
He just... existed.
For years, that had been enough.
But here, in this cursed land, it wasn't.
Survival wasn't just about scraping by anymore. It wasn't about avoiding trouble, about running when the odds were against him. The Veil had marked him. The Ashlands had swallowed him whole. If he didn't fight to survive, he would die.
And for the first time, he realized—he wanted to survive.
He clenched his fists, staring at the flickering shadows cast by the seven moons outside their shelter. The thought of dying here, forgotten, swallowed by the Ashlands without leaving so much as a trace—it unsettled him in a way he couldn't quite explain.
He turned to Kelvin, finally meeting his gaze.
"Survive," Hope said, his voice quiet but firm.