Sixteen-year-old Red Helldiver of Lykos, the youngest and best driller his clan can remember.
Darrow is the son of a hanged rebel and the greatest clawDrill pilot of the Lambda clan in the underground mining colony of Lykos on Mars. At only sixteen he is his clan's Helldiver, descending alone into the deep tunnels to carve helium-3 veins with fingers he swears flicker faster than fire. Reckless where his elders preach caution, he defies his uncle Narol over a gas pocket, nearly burning to death cutting his own foot free with a slingBlade, all to chase the Laurel and beat rival clan Gamma.
He is married to Eo, whom he loves past reason, and carries the memory of his father, executed for leading the Dancers-Rebellion. Proud, quick-tongued, and contemptuous of the Grays who lord over him, he mocks the Gray captain Ugly-Dan and dreams of one day cutting his throat. When the Laurel he was certain of is instead awarded again to Gamma, his confidence curdles.
Tall and still growing at sixteen, slim and angular of face, pale skin pocked and scarred with burns and cuts from the mines. Hair like old blood, rust-red; irises just as rusty red. Red circle-and-arrow Sigils on the backs of his hands.
Protagonist and narrator; the prodigy Helldiver of the Lambda clan, husband of Eo.