This is chapter 3 of the dark fantasy adventure by Dean Dunakin called  "The Hollow”. Narrated by Louis Krahn.

Book Synopsis: He turned his back on a hopeless world. Now he’s the  only hope to save it. Nom is an aging transient, comfortably discontent  with his small life at the edge of a crumbling civilization. An  encroaching zone of wrongness and horror called the Hollow laid waste to  the cities and nations of his past, and now threatens his adopted home.  Nom shares the wisdom of his experience with swordsmen, scavengers, and  powerful seers who enter the nearby wasteland, but declines to involve  himself directly until a trio of youths present him with a mysterious  possibility to mend the Hollow.

Discover further information and links to the full book at https://www.dunakin.com/writing/

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