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1 " Her green eyes looked him up and down in appraisal. “Not bad,” she mused, offering him a hand. She hoisted him to his feet. “We might make a survivor of you yet. "
― Ari Ryder , Netherworld
2 " He quickly shoved stew in his mouth to give himself space to think. He’d often had nightmares about the Netherworld—a dark and horrible place with changing landscapes and impassable tests. Gran was right. Hardly anyone survived who chose to fight, but stories were told of some who’d been granted second and even third lives. It made Casper nervous. One day, he too would have to face that cursed place. He’d face the Keeper, and he’d have to make a choice: to fight for his life at the risk of his soul or move on. 'I’m definitely moving on,' he thought to himself. 'It’s not worth the risk.'He wondered what had made it worth the risk to Gran’s friend. Who would risk the peace of the Afterlife to come back to this horrible place? "
3 " Soon a light emanated from somewhere up ahead. He could finally see the black, rocky confines of the passage. He continued forward, heart racing hopefully. He broke into a run, grinning when he finally burst into daylight. He found himself on a cliff overlooking a vast desert. His first trial had begun. "
4 " Casper watched in horror as the beast pounced on the man, biting and ripping him in half with its strong jaws and clawed hands. The miller’s heart pounded in his chest, eyes transfixed in shock. The beast gave a high-pitched shriek. Casper crouched instinctively, hiding among the stinging brush but not touching it—he wouldn’t make that mistake again.The beast sniffed the gory mess spread across the desert floor but didn’t eat it. Instead it huffed and melted into the sand. Casper stared at what used to be a fellow Waylander, now a bloody pile of meat on the desert floor. The buzzards descended quickly on the feast. Casper’s heart hammered, and his mind raced. To die in the Netherworld was to be lost forever. That poor man had just been erased from existence eternally. "