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"No. I fight with my family." I raise the machine gun. "You murdered them. I believe in the eye-for-an-eye approach to justice."
"You want to swap eyes with me?"
These creatures can be incredibly stupid, but they also have a vicious type of cunning. Vicious and gruesome.
"I prefer to eat human eyes," the monster says. "But hearts taste the best."
Fury rises inside me, searing and sharp, and I can't hold back any longer. I roar as I bolt for the beast, pulling the trigger to spray round after round at the thing that murdered my surrogate family. I don't stop firing until the beast hits the floor with a thud that vibrates the entire castle. When the bullets run out, I get my knife and stab it straight into the creature's heart.
He lies dead, his eyes open and vacant.
It's over. The Echo has won. The only decent beings living in this world have died while following my orders. The family I cultivated here no longer exists. I am alone.
The weight of the loss envelops me, and the bitter taste of it seeps into my soul. I trudge over to the marble throne Sefton had erected and drop onto it. Every muscle in my body slackens. The gun falls from my hand, clattering on the floor. I let my head fall back against the throne and shut my eyes.
"You grieve for your friends, but you cannot give up yet."
The female voice that spoke those words makes me crack one eye open. A pretty Echo creature with scaly flesh and small spikes on her head stands several yards away, watching me with a bland expression. When she blinks, her inner lids flick across her eyes, and her green eyes have an iridescent quality that makes them almost seem to glow.
I leap off the throne and rip my knife out of its scabbard, wielding it at the pretty beast. "Your buddies killed my family."
"They were not my friends. I serve no master."
"Who are you?"
She moves closer. "I am Aldith, guardian of the Echo's Heart and Lifeblood. I also protect the Brain."
"What brain?"
"The Echo is a living thing composed of magics. It cannot think or act like a human or an Echo creature. It has no sentience of its own, thus it requires another being to keep the Brain working properly." She steps even closer, seemingly unfazed by the big knife in my hand. "I have waited for you. I had no knowledge of who you might be, but I sensed you would come."
"If you live in this castle, you are not my ally."
She scans the throne room, though she seems only faintly interested in it. "I don't live here. The castle belongs to the one who claimed it. That would be you."
"You think I want to live here?" I shake my head. "You're insane. And I'm out of here."
I stomp toward the doorway.
"Don't you wish to know why I came here?" Aldith asks. "Or would you prefer never to know your true destiny?"
"Don't believe in that shit."
"You, Gabriel Merchant, cannot escape your destiny. Belief is not required, but cooperation is mandatory."
I glance back at her. "Sorry, I'm fresh out of cooperation."
She sighs. "I regret the need to force your compliance. But you leave me no choice. The fate of two worlds depends on you, and I know of only one way to convince you of that. I'm sending you to Sanctuary."
"To where? You're nuts, lady."
I walk out of the throne room—and straight into the entryway, where my friends lie dead, their blood staining the floor. My feet won't move. My eyes force me to look at their faces. They stare at me with the starkness of death.
My friends. My family. Every one of them was murdered by the monsters who inhabit this world. What made me believe I could protect them and bring them to a place where no one could find us? I'd been so arrogant.
Outside, the footfalls of a gigantic beast detonate like synchronized bomb blasts. Then the racket stops.
Aldith appears in front of me. "Your ride is here."
