After a few minutes of searching for his companion, Dorin knew there was only one way to find Eki. He would have to connect to his new ego beast for the first time, and see life through its eyes.
'I can only hope that the shadow is gone.' Dorin had held off on connecting with Eki just in case there was some lasting effect from the shadow.
'Here goes.' Dorin closed his eyes, and felt for the connection inside himself. To look through Anya, it was as if there was a string connecting the two of them. Once plucked, he would see the world through their eyes.
Eventually Dorin found the connection, but as he wrapped his mind around it he felt an aching hunger. With no other choice, Dorin let himself fall into that feeling.
. . .
"-you said you would stop the fires."
"I said that I would take them with me, and I think I'm going to circle around the village one last time to say my goodbyes."
Dorin could hear Jerl and the man much clearer than before. 'How much trouble are you in, Eki?'
All Dorin could see was flame. His vision was tinted red, and he could barely think straight due to the feeling of desperate hunger.
Suddenly the feeling dimmed, and Dorin watched as Eki devoured the flames. It was as though Eki was drinking the fire, and the more it drank the taller it became.
With the added height of Eki, Dorin could see the aftermath of the conversation.
The wheezing man was dead, burned until blackened. Jerl was nowhere to be found, but Dorin knew that wouldn't last.
"Come out, come out, boy."
Dorin tried to order Eki to leave, but it was as though the connection was limited to his sight, unlike with Anya.
His companion devoured all the flames in sight, and as Eki grew larger, it was as though the fire from around the village was being siphoned towards him.
Dorin couldn't be sure, but from Eki's vision it looked like his companion was now taller than he was. 'That's . . . great.'
"What the-"
Dorin was pretty sure that Jerl had noticed that the fire was being drawn to something
'Eki, we need to leave. Come back to me.' Eki seemed to look towards Dorin's direction, but after a moment he went back to devouring the flames.
"Where in the dark did you come from." Eki turned to see Jerl running towards him.
Suddenly his vision went completely red, and Dorin was forced to cut the connection due to the hunger being too much to handle.
. . .
Gripping the earth underneath him, Dorin needed a moment to get over that aching feeling in his stomach.
Dorin ran into the village, hoping that Eki would be able to handle Jerl for the moment. He thought it would be obvious to find the two if they were fighting, but all he saw was the flames being siphoned away. 'Well that's another way to find them.'
The flames were scalding, but Dorin had become used to far worse pain. The hunger he felt from Eki's perspective told Dorin that he wouldn't be finished until there was no flame left to consume.
Eventually Dorin arrived, and watched as Eki tore Jerl apart. His companion had a smashed leg, but that didn't stop him from crawling to devour the man. The fawn had become a fully grown elk, and was now the size of an ember bear.
Dorin could only watch as the village darkened. All the fire was gone, as was Jerl. Dorin hadn't even heard the man scream, which led him to believe that Eki's mysterious power killed the man.
Eki burped, and Dorin saw his ego fly out of his mouth. The two was now lit with a fiery red glow.
Dorin was glad that Jerl was no more, but there was something seriously wrong with Eki. His companion was struggling to come to terms with its leg, and began to gnaw at it.
'I . . . can't let this continue.' Watching his companion scream in pain, crawling on the floor, Dorin knew what he had to do.
Dorin rolled his ego, which landed on a one. A red star wrapped around his body, manifesting into a fang the size of Dorin's middle finger.
Walking up to his companion, he put the fang to his throat. Just like what had been done to him in his first life. 'I'm sorry.'
Eki looked at him with his red eyes, and Dorin felt his body freeze. His heart gripped harder with each beat, and Dorin fell onto Eki with the fang, his body weight allowing it to puncture the beast's neck.