Dorin, Ara, and their ego beasts pushed the wave back, getting closer to the spiked beetle that seemed to command the thousands of bugs that were running rampant through Murad.
"We'll have to fight it together, I don't see any other way." Ara's eyes were set on the creature.
Dorin didn't want to admit it, but she was right.
"Where are you, sin?" An unfamiliar voice boomed through the city.
Dorin and Ara looked at each other for a moment before continuing to push against the wave that was growing stronger with every pulse from the spiked beetle.
"HELP ME!"
Dorin recognized that voice. 'Rae.'
Dorin's hungry liquid could no longer hold against the wave of beetles, and it returned to Dorin as it melded into his skin. A rush of power flowed through him, and Dorin swung his spear alongside Ara and her companion.
Red marks pierced the ground where he struck, and from them flowed his hunger. It pulled in the tiny beetles, and pools of the black liquid formed inside the marks.
Ara magnified the moonlight onto her body and split into three images that each had their own spears. They destroyed the last remnants of the current wave and rushed towards Rae's voice.
Anya flew into the sky to meet a wave of large beetles that glided over the walls of Murad towards them.
"Taol?" Dorin felt a shock run through his body as they reached the square that held the bodies.
"Wh- Wh- Who?" Ara's various images responded.
Taol struck the spiked beetle with a long staff, but the monster didn't budge, locking his weapon in its sharp pincers. "Where are you Laqi!" He was forced to let go of his staff which it then bit in half.
"Isn't he supposed to be dead?"
Dorin rushed towards Taol without responding to Ara. Just as the beetle jumped with horrifying speed towards Taol, Dorin threw his pronged spear. The monster was thrown back and pinned into a wall.
Taol looked at him with a similar shock, and Dorin saw him reach into one of his pockets. "Stay away!"
A small glimmering object was thrown towards the spiked beetle, hitting it square on the head. The monster shrieked once more, making Dorin cover his ears. Bright lights erupted from its location, and a small square board lay on the ground beside Dorin's spear.
"What did you do?"
"It's locked away . . . for now." Taol looked Dorin up and down before letting out a sigh. "This is not how I wanted our reunion to go."
Dorin wanted to respond, but a strange sensation filled his body and blurred his sight. Dorin quickly activated his vital sight and a pink aura filled his vision. The street was coated in pink, and the only thing that Dorin could see was that there was something walking towards them that was much brighter than anything else.
The bright pink aura belonged to a small dog, but Dorin could only see it with his vital sight. It moved slowly, and any auras that it came near were turned pink within moments.
Dorin could barely move his limbs as an intense drowsiness overtook his body. He quickly rolled the ego that contained Eki, and five dark strands covered his left arm. The feeling of holding his weapon helped him shake off his need for sleep, but it still affected him greatly.
His ego had turned into a pitch black cleaver, with a canine tooth handle and a red eye at the front of its blade.
Dorin couldn't afford to get any closer to the creature, as he was barely able to remain conscious at their current distance. He stretched his throwing arm, going through the motions that it would take to reach the beast with his weapon. His dark hungry liquid dripped to the floor, as if his weapon was salivating with each motion.
The pink aura neared him, and Dorin felt his mind start to numb. 'Now or never.'
Dorin let his cleaver fly, and he saw a red eye with his aura sight open up to reveal its fanged maw, just like Eki inside the ball of beetles. A strand of pink aura shot out from the beast and it met the maw between the two of them. The two auras swirled together before exploding outward with enough force to throw Dorin into the air.
Dorin rolled backwards into the street, eventually hitting a wall and losing consciousness.
. . .
Ara
Ara awoke to find her companion tearing apart a large beetle that had climbed on her leg.
'. . . Thanks.' Ara didn't like the feeling of needing protection, but since her companion was connected to her, it wasn't quite so bad.
Looking around, Ara saw Dorin roll into a wall with a solid thump. Ara rushed towards him, and looked towards the direction he had come from.
Black cracks covered the street, and a harsh scraping filled the area. Ara covered her ears as it grew into the sky, a long crooked black line that pierced the clouds above Murad's two towers.
"What did you do!" Ara shook Dorin around, but he didn't stir.
"He saved us all." Taol dropped Dorin's spear in the boy's lap. "This world is about to break, and we need to deal with that creature as fast as possible."
"How?"
"It's currently trapped inside of my ego, and it will only come out stronger unless it has a rival." Taol looked towards Ara's companion.
"No way. That monster is far too powerful for him." Ara put a gentle hand on her ego beast, which nudged into her touch.
"It's either you let your ego beast fight that monster, or it comes out of my ego in a few minutes and devours us all."
Ara hesitated before taking her hand off of her companion. She looked into its eyes for a moment as it clacked its pincers together with glee at its master's attention. "Okay then. How do we do this?"
"Let your beast walk into the square, and hopefully you can at least give us some time."
"What do you mean?"
"Your ego is connected to your soul, and unless you want to sever your ego from yourself, then you will be pulled along with it."
Ara bit her lip, clenching her spear as a combination of fear and nervous excitement filled her body.
"Lets get on with it then."
. . .
End Of Volume 2: Escape