Drae
"It's over."
The three elders Vale, Drae, and Sara sat on their thrones underneath statues of their likeness.
Drae was unconvinced that his Spire would be slain without any of the champions or other Spires present. "Not necessarily. The world can stabilize until a new Spire is found."
"Even so, it won't last the hour with three champions in such close proximity."
"As humanity's most recent champions, how long did it take before the two of you came out?" Vale glanced side to side at Drae and Sara, he was in the center of the three of them as the leader of their clan.
"The night we met was the last of our world."
. . .
Kari
"Please be okay."
. . .
"I'll do anything."
. . .
"Who's there?" Kari grunted and felt a weight on her hand. She didn't have the strength to open her eyes fully.
"It's Lonn."
"What are you doing here?" Kari felt him lift his hand from hers.
"I . . . I didn't know where else to go."
Kari tried to sit up, but a sharp pain from her leg stopped her efforts.
"Don't try and move, they say that you'll be in this bed for at least a month."
Kari finally opened her eyes in shock, seeing Lonn in full. "W- What happened? Your arm. . ."
"My father crippled me." One of Lonn's arms was covered in bandages, hanging limply at his side. "He didn't want me to become the spark."
"None of this would've happened if Dorin hadn't run away." Kari felt tears welling up in her eyes.
"I should've told you to give up- that I couldn't risk losing you." Lonn took her hand. "How could I give up knowing that you fought till the end."
"Lonn . . ." Kari had always known about his feelings, but he had never spoken to her about it.
"Even if you don't feel the same way, know that I would do anything for you."
Kari let that sit for a moment, feeling both the strength and gentleness of Lonn's grasp. She felt around where the pain was coming from and found that her right leg was gone. Tears fell soon after, and she pulled Lonn towards her.
"Make Dorin pay."
Their tears merged as they slid down their faces and a dark red teardrop solidified between them, growing larger with each moment.
. . .
Ara
Dozens of beetles buzzed around Ara as she swung her spear all around her body. She couldn't afford to stop swinging, as it was the only thing keeping them away.
Every few swings she managed to make hard contact with a beetle, audibly cracking its shell.
After a few minutes of this, Ara found herself in sense of battle euphoria. Nothing had ever scratched her itch to fight quite like this before.
With every solid strike Ara felt her body strengthen, and the zone of safety she created with her swings widened.
The tide of the battle turned as Ara had managed to deal lethal blows with every swing of her weapon. Eventually there were only a few beetles left, and they hesitated to make a move.
One of them walked up to her and made a bowing motion. They remained at certain distance away from her as she still maintained her aggressive stance.
Something inside of Ara had reacted to the beetle's submission, and she tapped its head with her spear lightly. Suddenly the beetle's shell began to morph, turning from purple and black to a solid white.
A joyous chattering startled Ara as the now albino beetle climbed on her clothes. It had a spiked crown atop its head which glimmered in the moonlight.
'What did I just do?'
The other beetles came up to her, and before she could do anything the albino beetle met them in the middle. It pressed its crown onto their shells, and a white circle appeared on their heads.
The marked beetles scurried away, and Ara felt her legs give out as she fell to the ground. The adrenaline she had felt from the battle was gone, and all that was left was her screaming muscles.
Eventually the beetles returned, dropping dead frogs right at her feet.
'Thanks?'
Ara couldn't eat any of it, but her new companion could. The albino beetle waited for her orders before tearing them to pieces.
The occasional stray beetle would find its way to Ara, but it didn't take long for the albino beetle to dominate them. Soon enough a dozen beetles were under her command, and the pile of dead animals beside her grew up to her knees.
Ara burned a few of them by baking them in the magnified moonlight from her spear. With a few crispy frog legs in her stomach, she felt good enough to walk again.
The albino beetle was now as tall as her hip, and it flashed its golden wings ever so often as if testing them.
Ara spun her spear around, and she felt stronger than she ever had before. The sense of victory over the beetles had been pulsing through her body ever since they had bowed towards her. The crown that was on her finger burned, and it was the best feeling she had ever felt.
'I'm coming for you, Rae.'
. . .