Echo Soul Seekers

toes. Driven by my most primal instinct to save my own skin no matter the cost, I’m just about to flee when that creepy undead Richter grabs hold of my chin and tilts it toward his. His gaze probing mine while his dry, papery, undead fingers squeeze so tightly it hurts.
    I can’t breathe. Can’t speak. Can’t run. Can’t do much of anything but meet his stare with my own. Overcome with regret for the situation I find myself in.
    I shouldn’t have come here.
    I’ve completely underestimated them.
    And now, because of it, I’m just seconds away from being conquered and crushed.
    His gruesome lips tug at the side, but otherwise, his expression remains so unreadable there’s no way to guess what he’s thinking. All I know for sure is that I have to get the heck out while I still have a sliver of a chance of surviving.
    I turn my head sharply, desperate to wrench free of his grip, when he slams his other hand hard against my back and shoves me smack through the vortex.

 
    thirty-three
    Dace
    I creep through the cave, relieved to find it free of undead Richters and demons—guess they were needed to set up the job fair—yet disappointed to find that I’m still in the Middleworld.
    Another dimension of the Middleworld—but still a far cry from the Lowerworld I was hoping for. Though I’m sure it’ll lead there eventually.
    The place is luxurious. Plush. With its rare antique furniture and priceless art covering the walls, it’s clear they’ve spent a great deal of time here. Plotting. Planning. Waiting for the entry to yawn open again.
    Throughout history, whenever they managed to invade the Lowerworld, this is the place that served as their main point of entry. Once in, they immediately set out to corrupt the spirit animals by contaminating their land and stripping them of their power and light, rendering them incapable of guiding their human attachments. The loss resulting in horrific episodes of madness, chaos, and war across the Middleworld—and untold riches for the Richters.
    Or at least that’s the story according to Leftfoot.
    And its just one more reason why I need to kill Cade.
    Then as soon as that’s done, Leandro is next.
    With his sights mostly confined to ruling Enchantment, and not exactly interested in Cade’s broader goal of world domination, he may not be as dangerous, though he still has to go. If for no other reason than I can’t bear to look at him after knowing what he did to my mom. Despite what the elders say, keeping him balanced and contained just isn’t enough.
    Not for me.
    Never will be.
    It’s time to redefine a few things.
    Time to shake up the prophecy.
    Time to make sure the whole lot of them dies.
    This is so much bigger than my being with Daire.
    And yet, while I know this is true, as I make my way through this long, hollow space, ultimately pushing through the far wall, where I find myself surrounded by sand, Daire is all I can think about.
    I stop. Gaze all around. Remembering what Leftfoot taught me—to seek the truth that lies beneath the things that I see. To question my sight just as I should question all of the thoughts I’ve been conditioned to believe.
    There is much more to this world than meets the eye. A whole other truth people strive to deny. Don’t be blinded like them. Look deeper. Think deeper. Allow yourself to go quiet and still, and allow the truth to reveal itself to you.
    I close my eyes and do as he said, and when I open them again, it’s as though a path has been laid out before me. Seeming to end at the crest of a very large sand dune that, once reached, drops straight into the Lowerworld.
    I slip through the earth, ultimately landing hard on my side. I’m quick to pull myself up and survey the place. Not having been here since my last hunt with Daire—I’m stunned to see how much it’s deteriorated in only a handful of days. The spirit animals, once happy and active, are now sluggish and listless—barely able to attend to their most basic needs. And the more I explore, the worse it appears. Every step revealing further corruption, spoilage, and ruin—all of it unfolding under an eerie hush that’s soon broken by the unsettling sound of branches snapping, trees toppling, and the amplified hum of animalistic grunting and huffing reverberating all around.
    I dart behind a large boulder just as a flash of beige fur and red glowing eyes bursts into the space where I stood.
    Coyote.
    Cade’s coyote no doubt.
    He skids to a stop