The Only Way

Ara 

"What happened to you?"

" . . . " Rae shook his head and continued walking ahead of her.

Dusk arrived as they spotted Murad. A two-pronged tower touched the clouds in the center of the city, Ara had never seen anything so tall. A swamp bordered the city, which slowed them down considerably.

"If the Spire gave you any information about what we're doing here, now would be the time to let me know."

Rae didn't respond, continuing his forward march. Ara thought she saw something move under his clothes, but it disappeared inside a single blink. 

As they neared the outer limits of the city, there was a slum similar to Ara's home. It was located on the edge of the swamp. All around them rotten wood floated atop syrupy mud, the remnants of sunken buildings.

"Our lives are not our own, Ara." Rae stopped just at the border of the slum. "If you want a chance to change that, let me handle the rest of this alone."

"The Spire gave me this task, and I have failed him before."

"You have no idea who that man really is. What he is capable of."

"I know that he is one of the pillars of humanity, without him we would never have been born."

"We were all brainwashed." Rae itched his shoulder. "Destined to become the playthings of a higher power. Not even becoming the spark has given you free will."

Ara felt an anger rise up within her. The recent loss to Dorin had overtaken her mind. and the shame of defeat burned deep. "I have always had free will. I simply claimed my duty, unlike Dorin."

"Dorin was the smartest of us all."

. . .

Morah

"Bring the carcasses to me."

Morah took a moment as Muata rubbed his hands together with a devilish grin. "Of course. . ."

The dozens of shells had no meat, so they were relatively light. Their chitin was still fresh, and the smell was not easy to get over. Morah dragged them to Muata anyway, wondering if continuing the search was still a good idea. The aftermath of such a battle showed that Dorin was not an easy target.

"Yes . . . YES." One by one the shells disintegrated into more red crystals which combined with the fiery shard in Muata's palm. 

"When will it be ready?"

"This should be enough to locate him, but I will need far more for anything past that." A flash of light came from Muata's shard, shooting towards further inland.

"There are hoofprints in that direction."

"So he is a flame."

The two of them shared a look. Morah turned back towards Tur, suddenly the option to return home sounded much better.

"I will not give up until that boy is dead. If you're going to continue the chase by my side, there can't be any more talk about turning back." Muata began to follow the hoofprints, leaving Morah behind.

Morah looked back and forth a few times as the light from the shard faded in the distance. 

'This is the only way.'

Morah ran towards the dim light in the distance, adding her own footsteps to the trail.

. . .

Dorin 

A wetness slid over Dorin's face, and he opened his eyes when it reached his ear. A red eye stared back at him above a bright moon.

'Light save me, Eki.' His companion was much friendlier than he remembered, but the fear that Eki wielded still managed to pierce Dorin's mind. 

Dorin was covered in mud, and from the indent he had left in the ground combined with the added pain in his side, he must have fallen off of Eki's back at some point. Dorin wanted Eki to take him far away, but who knows how far they had actually gone. 

His wound had healed, but there was still a dull pain from where he was pinched. 

Dorin was still baffled at the sight of his companion, who he had torn apart just a day ago to create various weapons and clothing. 

'It must have something to do with my revivals.'

Dorin had little understanding of how his original ego truly worked, but the impossibility of Eki's resurrection could only be due to the ten-sided die's mysterious power. The only thing that made any sense was that when he had been brought back to life against Ara, so was Eki. 

The croaks of various frogs filled the area, and it made Dorin wonder about what else could live in this swamp.

There were various lights in distance from opposite sides. One was dim, at the edge of the horizon, but the other lit a large portion of the distant sky.

'Where did you take me?' Eki gave him another lick, which Dorin didn't have the heart to stop him. His companion had saved him being pinched to death, and Dorin was pretty sure that the demon that had once controlled Eki was gone.