Pedestal

Chapter 1

A/N: It's short but hopefully satisfactory...

T/W: Swearing and violence

Aelon climbed down from the shooting range and stared ahead at the scene before him. They had won, if only by a little. The castanic male thought that there had been too many casualties to call it a complete victory. His team had been sent to eradicate the ambush unit. The captain had taken a chance sending mostly ranged fighters, however, it had allowed team 11 to pick them off safely. That is, until the enemy summoned their eagles. Oh what a clever move, Aelon thought. To wait until we were burned out and hopeful for the end. Rest assured, when the team saw those huge black wings hurtling down at impossible speeds. The moral which had been enhancing their fighting, rapidly diminished.

Aelon decided that he should probably head back to base and see who had survived the massacre. He could see priests and mystics gathering like crows around the wounded. He hadn't even stopped to think about whether any of his own had died. He knew that his high elf brat would be ok. Aelon laughed to himself. That bastard always came back to him, whether he liked it or not.

Severed limbs littered the floor and the castanic found himself struggling to avoid them. Revolting. Truly revolting. He did his best to step over the bodies and whenever he saw a short, horned one he would pay his respects. It pained him to see his own fallen and mutilated. The castanic population was already low before the war. Nowadays, parents didn't want to raise children in a world like this, so they stopped having them all together.

Aelon stopped short when he saw a familiar face. His blue hair was what caught his attention first. It was considered a rare colour within his race and the man who he stared down at was the only one Aelon knew who had it, along with his daughter that is. Aelon's fist repeatedly pummelled the ground. This dead man had a young daughter. A daughter who would now have to live her life without her father. Aelon swore aggressively and prayed to the man's family.

A chuckle sounded behind him. Aelon knew that voice. If that racist scum said anything offencive he would happily rip his throat out. He clenched his jaw, preparing himself for the first blow.

"You know, that man sacrificed his life for a young high elf." He emphasised the 'high' as if that would make him and his race anymore superior. He laughed without humour. "Better off a demon than my race. Don't you agree, Aelon?" The castanic growled in warning, of course, the elf took no heed.

"Nihmadel, you bastard. You let him die didn't you. If it's got horns, then it's not your responsibility. This man had a daughter. Don't you feel anything!?"

"If you were so clear on the situation then why didn't you save him?" His lips turned upwards into a sly smile. Aelon's eyes widened and his mouth tightened into a grim line.

"You bastard. There was no way. No way I could have saved him." Nihmadel raised an eyebrow at the raging man, who was clearly fighting very hard not to rip his head off. The elf puffed out his chest and smiled down at the broad man beneath him.

"Are you quite sure? I know I'm not the only one who saw that arrow miss. If you hadn't been so focused on watching how my younger brother was coping, maybe that little girl would still have a father." Nihmadel grinned and Aelon instantly understood the implications. Stay away from my brother. Or I'll tell your family, they'll disown you and it will be another demon gone. It scared Aelon how this piece of shit was related to his gentle, stable friend Uyumi.

Aelon slammed Nihmadel to the ground and muttered a stream of curses as he punched him. The impact caused the elfs head to jolt backwards. Still the bastard grinned. Blood was running down Nihmadel's face and his teeth were coated in it. Aelon grimaced at the sight and went for the finishing strike, to knock him out cold for a while.

"Shorty." A soft voice called. "I think my brother has learnt his lesson, you can stop now." Aelon's tense body relaxed immediately at Uyumi's voice. He rose and stepped back from the disgusting man below him and stood beside his high elf friend.

"I told you not to call me that." Aelon grumbled. Uyumi smiled at his pout. He turned to face his brother who rolled his eyes at the pair. Uyumi knelt beside his brother and healed his wounds. Nihmadel noticed that he healed them quickly though, not giving the skin enough time to heal so that the process was painful enough to get the message.

"You really shouldn't rise to my brother's taunts, Aelon." Uyumi said, a slight tinge of resentment in his voice. Aelon bit his lip so that he wouldn't say something he'd regret. The bloodied man on the floor scoffed. "Come on shorty, let's head back to base." Aelon sighed in submission, left the elf on the floor and carried on walking over the mass of bodies.