Ara
"Welcome to the backdoor of Tur." The Spire pressed a stone in the city walls, and a portion of them turned from grey to white before disintegrating.
The two of them walked through a hole just big enough for one person, and a dimly lit hallway lay in front of them. Ara thought it was very similar to the passage through the colosseum.
After a few minutes of walking they reached another wall, where the Spire created another hole. Once they squeezed through, they were outside the city.
"Where are they?" Ara looked around for the who they were supposed to be meeting.
The Spire took out a coin, and flipped it in front of them. A flash of light blinded Ara for a moment, as a dark shape appeared in front of her.
"Hello, Ara." A familiar voice came from ahead of her as her eyes cleared.
"Rae?"
"Yes, yes. Such a touching reunion." The Spire said with a touch of annoyance.
Rae looked much different than Ara remembered. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days, and his eyes had lost all of their youthful hope.
"Take him to Murad." The Spire disappeared into the darkness back through city walls. "Don't fail me this time, spark."
. . .
Fiera
The river that ran through Liranel was murky. All of the waste and trash that the city held was dumped into it, eventually throwing it back into the ocean.
"What are you looking at?" A womanly voice came from behind Fiera.
"I thought I saw something move in the water, Laqi."
"What an unlucky creature." The Spire held Fiera from behind. "I doubt it will last the day."
The Spire slid her hands on Fiera's skin, tracing the black rings on her arms. Fiera thought they were ugly, but didn't dare stop her. "When this is over it'll just be us, Fiera."
"What if there is someone even stronger than me out there?"
"You are the first virtue of this world, a star that shines brighter than one could imagine. Let me handle the Spires and you and your beast will have no equal."
"But-"
"It's no use worrying, Fiera." Laqi sighed. "Leave that to me."
Fiera bit her lip. The thought of fighting with her life on the line scared her. She had only ever done so once in her life, and barely managed to survive.
A splash from the river caught their attention, and Laqi took her hands off Fiera's skin.
". . . What was that?" The two of them walked right up to the water's edge, and Laqi put her hands on the water's surface.
The water stuck to her hands as she slowly lifted them up. Eventually the water fell back to the river, and a fish was all that was left.
"How did this little thing get all the way over here?" Laqi held up the creature, which was furiously flapping in her hands.
"What . . . what is that mark?" Fiera pointed to the fishes underside, which held what looked like an eight. She had commanded similar beasts, but the mark didn't match her own.
Laqi crushed it in her hands, and its two halves fell to the ground. Its head continued to thrash around, fruitlessly biting her shoe. "Change of plans."
"What do you mean?"
"We need to consult the stream-tenders. There is another virtue in this world."
. . .
Dorin
Dorin had continued to bash his face into the invisible boundary for several minutes before he fully realized the meaning behind it. This world was fake, just like what the Spire had created for his original forging.
'My entire life has been meaningless.'
Dorin's inner crisis was interrupted by a nudge from Jax, who could sense his emotions. A sense of belonging flowed through Dorin, remembering the companions that he made along the way. His mother bird, Anya, the surprisingly useful elk, Eki, and now his emotionally intelligent brother, Jax.
Dorin wanted to promise Jax that he would protect him, but Dorin could barely protect himself in recent history.
'If I don't want to lose another companion, then my only option is becoming stronger.'
A surge of hunger flowed through Dorin, and he realized that if he didn't eat something soon then would probably regain his human form.
Dorin turned around towards the swarms of ocean life, and Jax followed behind with a happy spin. They might be surrounded by predators, but the only way to truly grow was to take risks. With the two of them together, as long as they didn't come across another beast with a black aura then they would have a good chance.
Jax led the way towards a large red aura, a crustacean with two claws of monumentally different sizes. Dorin kept its one big claw busy, while Jax rushed in from its weak side. From there it was quick work, and the two of them crunched its meaty shell between their teeth.
Dorin watched Jax start to convulse, making him worried. His companion turned upside down, flopping his body around as his mouth opened wide. Suddenly his ego shot out from Jax's mouth, and all the ocean creatures in the area rushed towards them.