Ara
'I'm sorry.'
Ara traced her hand over the mark she left in Balo's crown. It was the same circle that he had given to his pawns, and it cut deep into his shell. Ara was sure that it would stay a part of him for a long time.
Her companion had merely followed Ara's orders for the past couple days, without any of the familial love he had shown originally. Balo had lost his pride, and with it his joy.
Even if it pulled at her heartstrings, Balo had tried to assert dominance over her, and that went against her whole being.
His shell was beginning to turn gray, and Ara wondered if he would ever be the same.
'I asked you to make me proud of you, not to become my king.'
Balo bowed to her, and wandered into the swamp to find more food with his followers close behind. They still belonged to him, but Ara had slain the one with a crown. Balo had shrieked with more emotion than Ara thought possible, and that was the beginning of his subordination and apathy.
A rustling interrupted Ara's thoughts and she rolled her ego. One pure white line curled around her arm, and a dagger manifested in her hand.
'Of course . . .'
A purple beetle with spikes on its shell and legs pushed through the vegetation, it's antennae scrapped over tree bark. It began to climb the tree that she resided in, and Ara's heart thumped harder with each passing moment.
Ara fumed at the thought that she had rolled a one at the first sight of real danger. She had never used this dagger before, as the worst she had rolled so far was a two.
Ara hid herself in the leaves of the tree's crown, waiting for the beetle to come close enough for a single strike to take it out.
The beetle showed its head in her nest, and its pincers began lopping off every branch in sight. It's shell shone in the midday sun shining through the leaves, and the more that it cut down the better Ara could see it's vulnerabilities.
There was a kink in its armor just behind its antennae, and that's where she would need to strike. It was the only opening that didn't have spikes protecting it.
Just as Ara was about to pounce, she heard a familiar buzzing and her tree was impacted by something huge. She jumped out of her hiding place and into another tree, hoping that the invader didn't spot her.
'Balo?'
Ara tried to get a good vantage point from above, but she could only hear a grating sound from below. Her connection to Balo had grown weaker over the past few days, but it was obviously him who came to save her.
Ara didn't want to hide as a tactic to defeat her foe, but she didn't know if she would be able to fight the beetle with her weakest weapon. The dagger shone with an orange light as the sun glinted off its edge. Ara felt a strange power within, slowly growing stronger.
'I can't hide forever.'
Ara jumped from tree to tree, and eventually found the invader. Balo was struggling to keep it still as their pincers locked together. The grating sound had been from the invader's spikes streaking across Balo's shell.
Just as she was about to make her move, she felt a strong opposition from Balo. It felt just like when she had overcome his attempt at dominance, as though he wanted to prove himself alone against the beetle.
Balo couldn't get a good grasp on the invader, especially since with every movement its spikes threatened to find the chinks in his armor. Her companion seemed to change tactics, as it lowered its head and plowed its crown into the invader's body.
Ara gripped her dagger tightly, wanting nothing more than to help her companion. She felt like she had been losing him over these past couple days, and if he lost this battle he would be gone forever.
'But if I help him now, he might never get his pride back.'
Balo slowly began to walk forward and raise his head. The invader could do nothing as it was lifted from the ground. Her companion let out a screech spikes pierced its shell, but it was only for a moment as the invader's back was now stuck in the mud.
The invader's legs kicked out, and its spikes were still deterring Balo for the moment. After a few moments, Balo began to bite off the invader's legs one by one until there was nothing left but a body.
Ara watched Balo sink his pincers into the beetle's body, and his shell began to regain its pure white luster. Tiny beetles crawled around Balo's shell, but a flash of light killed them all as Ara reflected the sunlight off her dagger.
'You did good, Balo.'
Once Balo was done consuming the invader, he walked up to Ara and bowed. It seemed that this time, he still knew who was boss.
Ara took her dagger and began to etch around the circle. Balo sent a sense of fear, but Ara sent back only her satisfaction of his victory. Her companion clacked its pincers together, the first sign of happiness Ara had heard from him in days.
The bland circle now had flares all around it, and it now looked like a small sun at the center of its crown. The power that her dagger held flowed into the sun, an orange fire that now licked around his crown. Balo nudged Ara's arm, as if wanting her to draw more.
'You'll have to keep winning then.'
Dorin
"It's no wonder you died so many times." Vale said as they reached the bottom of the staircase. "Hunger only gets people into trouble."
"What's yours?"
"I lost my desire a long time ago. It's a wonder that I still have the mark."
At the bottom of the stairs was a cave that held a lake. It had a soft glow to it, as if the water itself was more than it seemed.
"What do you mean, lost your desire?"
"What do you think ego means?" Vale sat at the water's edge. "After everything that I've lost, I came to terms with the reality of this world. There is nothing I can do to save it, and every time I have tried I have only ended up making things worse."
"So you gave up. Is that why you left your ego for me to find?"
"The opposite actually." Vale turned his head towards Dorin, further than the old man should've been able to. "My last hope was to give my power to someone else, in the hopes that they would have the strength to change the world."