Dorin quickly grabbed the now five-sided ego, as he didn't want to be chased by a horde of beasts again. The die was similar to before, with every side depicting a black molar. The center of each side was fiery red, like Eki's eyes, and the amount of redness increased as the numbers got larger. The one had a red dot, but the five was completely filled.
The last time he saw it there were two numbers lit up, but now it was just the one. It had a purple stamp that looked like Eki's wings, telling Dorin that was where his companion resided.
'I might not get to see you again for a while, Eki.'
Dorin's hungry liquid had ravaged through the remains of the hundreds of beetles, and returned to Dorin as a flood of black which swirled around his feet. Eventually it compressed together, revealing his other ego. The three was now lit up, and Dorin knew that at the moment this was his most reliable weapon.
Dorin had never had more than one ego at a time before, and he felt the grooves of each of them against his palms as he held them in separate hands. He had seen his ego beasts devour other egos before, and he wasn't sure what would happen if they consumed one of his own.
A glint in the distance caught Dorin's eye, and he activated his vital sight. A pure white aura was at the very edge of his vision, creeping towards him.
'I knew she'd survive.'
"Dorin?" A large white beetle stood in front of Ara, who carried a smaller spear than when they had fought.
"I thought we made a deal."
"I'm not here for you." Ara hesitated for a moment as she looked at the pile of empty shells beside Dorin. "Rae is in trouble."
. . .
Fiera
"I have reason to believe that Tocho knows of our plans."
"Impossible, I haven't seen anyone from Tur in years. They might not even know that I have taken control of Murad."
Fiera stood silently by the door as the two Spires sat opposite a grand table.
"I let an envoy into Liranel." Laqi clasped her hands together. "I had hoped that Tocho would give up once he knew of our strength, but it seems that he has created a virtue."
"I knew we should have gone forward with the plan before this years forging." The Spire of Murad banged his fist on the table. "Just because you command our army does not mean you always know best Laqi."
"I know, Taol. The time has come to break this world."
"From what I've been told, that will happen no matter what we do. Why should I risk anything?"
"You know better than anyone what Tocho is like."
The tension of the room rose as the two Spires considered new plans before screams from below interrupted them.
"How am I supposed to believe that this isn't you?"
"My virtue is standing right there." Laqi gestured behind her.
Fiera bit her lip and clenched her ego as the screams outside rose, as she knew that she would need to fight.
. . .
Morah
"Are you sure that thing is leading us the right way?"
"Completely, that deserter must have come from Murad."
Morah and Muata had just entered the swamp outside of Murad, taking care to stay away from the water. "What do we do if he see him?"
"Who?"
"The frog king."
"Shut up about that." Muata gave her an angry glance. "Even if such a myth were true, two sparks can handle a mere frog."
"That's how it became the frog king, by eating a spark." Morah opened her satchel and grabbed her most reliable ego. "A mighty one too."
"Focus on the task at hand, we're getting close." The red shard had become as big an an arrowhead, and a fire burned in its center.
The two of them crunched dozens of shells under their feet as they wandered through the swamp, and Morah could tell they were fresh kills. Tiny beetles attempted to climb on their clothes, but they were quickly dealt with.
"What happened here?"
"It must have something to do with Dorin. Kill any beetles that you see."
Morah tossed out her ego, and a gust of wind blew back all the beetles before four green lights returned to her. A wide sword with swirled engravings grew as tall as Morah's head, and she hefted it over her shoulder.
'If only it weren't so heavy . . .'
The further they walked through the swamp the larger the fire in Muata's hand grew, to the point that even Morah could feel its heat.
As they reached the walls of Murad, Muata pressed his hands together. The fire compressed inside on his palms, turning them bright red. "He's here somewhere."
Muata opened his palms to reveal a blob of fire, which he placed on a tree at the edge of the swamp. It took a moment for it to catch, but eventually the entire tree was up in flames.
It burned to ash within a minute and in its center the blob reformed, three times as large. It spread itself in every direction as if stretching, before opening up like an egg.
'What is that?'
Morah took a step back as a dark red creature stepped out of the flames. It had a beak similar to the arrowhead in Muata's hand, with one black eye and one white. It opened its wings and shrieked before shooting into the sky.
"Was that . . . are you a flame?"
"I am now."
. . .
50 CHAPTERS!!! A big thanks to anyone who has gotten this far. This is the first book/webnovel I've ever written, and I plan to continue it for a long time.
The summer is coming and I can't wait. The next volume begins Dorin's true villainy, and I hope to do the genre justice.
-AuthorEgo