"He's a deserter." A familiar voice shouted from the group of sparks behind the elders. "Kill him before he betrays humanity again!"
"Show your face and explain." Drae said.
The crowd shifted to let an old man through, who stood just behind Sala.
'Muata.'
"This boy ran away from his forging." Muata pointed at him. "I gave him temporary shelter, thinking he was a lost child, and he destroyed everything I held dear."
"Is this true?" Vale widened his already frightening eyes at Dorin.
"I was being hunted. Any of you would've done the same in my position."
"Taol." Muata's face turned red as he turned back towards the crowd. "I know your hands are all over this. My brother would still be alive if you hadn't-"
"Shut up." Drae did a shooing motion with his hands. "Your meaningless quarrels are boring me. Save it for journey home."
Dorin wasn't liking all these questions. There were only so many that he could answer truthfully, and some of the people here could easily refute him if he lied.
"From what we've been told, the sin also came from Tur. How is it that there were two transcendent sparks from the same city?" Sala joined the questioning, to Dorin's despair.
'Damnit.'
"That was a one time offer, elders." Vale said. "Either I take the lions share of the power, or you give me the boy now."
The two other elders whispered amongst themselves for a moment.
Dorin saw several people he recognized among the crowd, and most of them were staring daggers at him. Kari and Lonn had kept their eyes on him since his first word in this world. He didn't expect to see either of them, since they weren't supposed to be sparks.
"Deal." The two of them said in unison.
Vale grinned from ear to ear. "Come virtue, lets leave this place immediately."
Dorin joined Liranel's Spire behind the old man, along with a few other sparks he didn't recognize. They seemed to treat the Spire with some sort of respect, good or bad, as they gave her ample space.
"See you at the Life Spire, Vale." Drae gave a small chuckle. "Or not."
As they left the room, Dorin spotted a spiraled staircase leading upwards, circling along the wall.
"Carry me, virtue." Vale clapped his hands, rubbing them together.
'Dark hells.'
. . .
Ara
At the crown of her nest, Ara looked over the tree tops searching for Balo.
'An entire day . . .'
One of her images patrolled the area around her camp, a spotter for any threats. So far there had been nothing her image couldn't take care of, a few large frogs and birds, but everything was destroyed in a single thrust of her spear.
Ara even practiced her magnification, burning things from afar. Luckily she was in a swamp, as a few trees had been burned to their stumps because of her efforts. Anywhere else and everything would have turned to flame.
'It's time to leave.'
Ara knew that Balo would be have been back by now if he could, so something must be wrong.
Jumping from tree to tree, Ara continually sensed for her connection. She knew which way Balo had gone originally, her only clue towards finding him.
"BALO!" There was a rustling over the horizon ahead, and she rushed over.
Soon enough she could feel Balo's presence. It nearly overtook her mind at first, as it was much stronger than she remembered. Her companion had grown to match her height, meaning that Balo was the biggest creature she had ever seen.
Tree contorted slightly as Balo walked on their crowns. He sunk into each step just like Ara had down in the mud.
'You got big.'
Once Balo noticed her, he took flight. He wobbled towards her in the air, as he was not nearly as graceful with his new size.
Ara saw several smaller shapes follow behind him, beetles that were of various species. Some jumped, some flew, and others had simply clung onto Balo the entire ride, no doubt encumbering him further.
Balo landed on a tree beside her, snapping many of its branches. Its stowaways had jumped off before his precarious landing.
'Who do we have here?'
Most of the beetles had the similar white circle atop their heads that she had seen before. One of them was bigger than the rest, and immediately jumped back towards Balo.
Balo nudged his head into the other beetle, and Ara saw some of its white coat merge with the imposter. It had the image of a crown on it, and Ara felt a sense of repulsion from it.
Ara jumped to Balo's tree and separated them. Balo seemed confused at first, but once Ara pulled out her spear her companion clacked his pincers together loudly.
Defiance filled Ara's senses as her connection with Balo began to darken.
'Light save me.'
Ara refracted the light with her spear, creating an image. She wasn't strong enough right now to do more than one.
Balo simply moved towards Ara slowly, as if expecting her to bow down. His sheer size encompassed most of her vision.
Ara connected her spear with her image, and as the ends of their blades overlapped, a blinding white ray of light shone on Balo's crown. The feeling of his defiance was hard to overcome, but Ara felt something greater within her. Her ego pulsed in her hands, and smoke began to rise above the ray of light, burning into Balo's white shell.