Author Games: Path of the Guildpact

Semifinals: Elijah Karsur

A flame scraped the edges of the clouds before imploding. Ash drizzled down like rain. The black, shriveled pieces sparked a brilliant red as they kissed the ground. The crisp air smelled of firewood and smoke. When the last piece of cinder landed, the sky grew bright again. It felt like a weight had been lifted from everyone's chests.

Yet, Elijah's chest still weighed heavy. He hoped it was merely from the crowd. People writhed against each other like the coils of a serpent. He had already done his fair share of shoving and pushing, and was now resting with a good seven feet put between him and the nearest guest. Sticking his hands in his loose pockets, he distracted himself from the uncomfortable tightness in his chest by letting his gaze wander.

There were people from all over. He watched an ogre lumber by, her long, white hair pulled back into a semi-manageable ponytail. She was hunched to better argue with a pale faced vampire whose hands were currently tied up in fixing their jacket, which seemed to be three sizes too big. Between the feet of a vedalken that stood at the edge of the crowd, a familiar flash of bones scamppered. A small burst of green sparks shot into the air somewhere to Eli's left, and an angel with purple tipped wings hurriedly swooped down to interrupt anything before a fight could break out. The familiar reminder sent his eyes to his side for a moment before flickering back out to the crowd.

Eli had no clue where Mikaela had gone off too. His fingers curled a little tighter at the thought. Rolling his eyes at his own reaction, he flexed them back out til they scrapped the bottom of his pockets. She was most certainly fine, probably just off paying her respects. Admittedly, he planned to skip that point of the agenda completely. It wasn't personal, which was his exact problem. He barely would've spoken two words at his closest friend's funeral, assuming in this case that he did have one. There simply was nothing he felt worthy to mention for the former Guildpact.

The word former ran an unusual shiver up Elijah's back. His eyes truly focused on the people before him, and he swallowed a dry feeling that entered his mouth. The whole thing had never seemed a big deal... until now. The thought gnawed at his gut somewhat- that one day it would be one of them laying in the coffin. Would as many people show up then as they had now?

A heavy breath blew through Eli's lips as he stubbed the edge of his foot in the grass to distract himself. A clump of sod loosened, coating the top of his shoe in loose dirt. He kicked it back off lazily, staring out at the field. This time, the faces blurred together. He caught ahold of anger and sorrow and unease, but each expression disappeared with the shuffling of feet. His eyes lingered when they caught ahold of a clueless face, the amber eyes overshadowed. Elijah blinked, and the details flooded back again. Worry bid adieu to relief, and the left corner of his mouth tilted towards the sky.

"Mikaela, over here."

The angel turned in surprise, her ash brown hair following her movement. It no longer cascaded choppily in tangled waves, but fell gently upon her shoulders, neatly combed. Her hair, while fairly shiny, was no match for the armor she wore. It seemed to wink back at the sun, the metal hardly touched. The chest plate hugged her body gently, stopping with the sleeves just past her elbows. Elijah wanted to called her beautiful, but he couldn't. No matter how well she may have been dressed, what mattered more was her mood, and right then it had landed something worrying behind her fiery eyes and caused her teeth to rake the bottom half of her lips.

Still, she ducked around a grudge match between two elves and broke free of the swarming masses. The tips of her mouth curved, and an easy sigh passed her lips. "Hey, Elijah."

"You know we're not getting penalized for not dressing up, right?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow, hoping to be a welcome distraction.

Mikaela scrunched her nose, "As you've so helpful demonstrated."