Contract Made After Death
Clause I: Seal
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Villagers swarmed from their homes, scurrying to the town's entrance. It was too late, the elves' fire upon them. Their screams echoed across the blackened timbers, a deafening chorus that raked at the heart.
Archers took care of those that remained. Their marble plate melded with the inferno, a sinister contrast to the arrows, to the black bows that let loose a sea of crimson onto the cobblestone. They reloaded, the thumps of twine like thunder.
A little girl and her brother.
I could only watch, bile singeing my throat. They fled from their home, their mother -rather, what was left of her- held out her right arm, screaming at them to return to the timbers. An ebony shaft was stuck deep within her dark skin. Her right side finally went still, her left dancing on the wind.
Her children never fulfilled her final wish.
Thumping of twine and whistling of arrows; the boy was struck in the back, tip protruding from his chest. Another had been more merciful, exiting from his left temple. He fell, still forevermore.
He was the lucky one.
The girl struggled, writhed to the doorstep. An arrow stood from her thigh, hands twisting and pulling at it. Her yelps were heard, barely, above the chaos, but they came to an end all too soon.
She went still. Her head rested on the door, watching as an elf in dark emerald robes strode to her. He fanned his hand.
A pause, wind dying before fire flowed forth, finally freed. What screams she did expel were lost in the wave. It washed over her, body charring.
The elf bowed to her, slow to rise, but continued on all the same.
The girl was a statue, her flesh blanched. An arm, a leg, her head; one-by-one, they crumbled. Her hand was last to disintegrate, caressing her brother's and mother's cheek before racing away into the haze.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Life and death—if one is lucky, they are far between, the latter negligible. Death does not choose who she takes, but she always has the chance. I was “fortunate” to be chosen, my end bloody and truly unforeseen. She waited for me on the other side, my new standards of life in hand. Once sealed, I was sent on my way. But not to Earth. Mertha, where humans were a minority compared to the dagger-toothed elves, omniscient angellum, and giggling goblins teeming on the four continents. Magic was the norm, technology now the taboo. I arrived in Sildred on Idoliam, an area waged in a war rekindled centuries after. I had much to learn, mostly through trial by fire. Many a danger lies ahead, some from myself. I will not bow; I will make the if to a when. I will complete my end of the bargain. I will return home … but what truly awaits me there? Would it be better to stay? Death and life—if one is lucky, they are far between, but neither is an end. Not when you sign the Contract Made after Death. Oh, and do play nice.
About the Author
After delving into the proverbial darkness of the human mind, T.J. Sidebottom decided to return to the light, bringing along this fragment. With what tools and skills he had attained from his first years at WVU, he molded it into this text you now hold.