I don’t want to go back into that body. It’s a relief being out. There’s no more pain and for the first time in days I can actually think straight.

Actually, it’s kind of weird that I can think at all considering I’m, you know . . . dead. I guess this is just what the afterlife is like.

Below me, the others—Marina, Six, Setrákus Ra—they all move in super-slow motion. I can see so much. Every particle of smashed temple still floating in the air is visible to me. The beads of cold sweat on the back of my grandfather’s neck are visible to me. The pulsing glow of Loric energy inside all of them, even Setrákus Ra, that’s visible to me too.

How can I see all this?

I only wanted to break Setrákus Ra’s hold over me, to shatter his disgusting Mogadorian charm so that he couldn’t hold me hostage anymore. I wanted to help my friends. Something told me the best way to do that was to throw myself into that swirl of energy. I figured I would die and I was almost okay with that. I’m glad it isn’t just darkness and worms. Whatever this next stage is, though, I hope it isn’t all watching people I love fight to the death in slow motion.

Ella.

The voice comes from all around me. Not one voice, many voices. Thousands of voices. Yet somehow, from that chorus, I can pick out ones that I recognize. Crayton. Adelina. Eight. They’re calling to me.

You have work to do.

I fall towards the ground and my body. For a moment, I’m filled with panic. Am I going back inside my old skin to once again be puppeteered around by my grandfather? But then, suddenly, a feeling of calm washes over me, like I’ve been wrapped in a warm blanket. Nothing can hurt me, not now.

I should smack into the ground. Instead, I keep right on going. I pass through the dirt and rocks, and soon I’m submerged in total darkness. It doesn’t feel like I’m falling anymore. It feels like I’m floating through space—no gravity, no weight, just endless peaceful drifting. I lose track of which way is up, which way goes back to the world and my friends, my body. It doesn’t seem important right now. I should probably be freaking out. Somehow, though, I know that I’m safe.

Slowly, light begins to shine around me. Thousands of bright blue pinpricks float around me, like the way dust motes drift through a beam of sun. It’s just like the Loric energy I dove into. The particles expand and contract, reminding me of lungs. Sometimes they blend together into vague shapes, then quickly break apart.

Somehow, I get the feeling that I’m being watched.