I spent the rest of the morning with my friends. There were just twenty minutes before the first warning from the pyramid, and I wanted these few moments of joy before the blood and deaths.
So I sat at the cookfire, and I talked with Bari and Dara. I listened to Bari complain about the porridge and tell his terrible jokes. I listened to Dara talk about her research, her eyes lighting up when she described the patterns she had found in the pyramid's resonance. I watched them laugh and argue and exist, and I memorized every detail of their faces, their voices, their mannerisms, because I knew that in a few moments, I would be alone again.
"Elric," Dara said, her voice cutting through my thoughts. "Is there something on my face?"
I blinked and shook my head. "No, I am just admiring your beauty."
Silence fell on our small gathering, and even Rex, who was looking away towards the pyramid, turned towards me. Bari's mouth was slowly opening in shock.
