Dark Hunger

Elize flung her hands forward and an arc of crimson light emanated from her which had tiny pin pricks of white light that sizzled inside like firecrackers. However, the moment the arc drew in the air, it collapsed. The little bursts of light in it collapsed soon and dissipated into the air. She looked at the soldier with a grim face. 

"Try it again," he said sternly as if he was teaching her. 

"What is your name?" she asked him as she looked at his serious face. 

"I am Byrd," he replied with all sincerity in his eyes. He took a deep breath and then repeated, "Try it again, Your Highness." 

Elize liked the way he said Your Highness to her. It sounded as if he believed in her. She nodded and then closed her eyes. Once again she delved into the pool of her magic and this time willed to bring out a thicker thread. She let it travel all the way to her finger tips. Her hands and her fingers tingle with the magic. It was as if she wanted to let it out of her body, she wanted to fling it out. With force she flung her hands forward and drew another arc in the air. The moment she did that Byrd also threw his hands forward and a white light emanated from him. It traveled in the air and mingled with hers. 

A shaky breath left her when she saw that the two magicks entwined with each other. They coiled and coiled, small firecrackers bursting inside them, until they formed a full circle. 

"Jeez!" Elize gasped. She hadn't expected the circle to form so easily. Her eyes flung wide open. Her hand flew to her mouth and she squealed, "I have formed a portal!" 

Byrd looked at her with stunned surprise as though she was disturbing him. He wanted to ask her to focus on what she was doing but the queen was so excited and felt so complacent that she didn't pay attention to it and the portal collapsed right in front of her eyes. "What?" she said feeling heartbroken. She looked at Byrd with her lips curved down. 

Byrd shook his head. "When you are forming a portal, it is opening a doorway to another location. You have to be very focused when creating it. We can try again, but for that you need to build up your energy. I have brought some fresh animal blood for you. Please have it and then we will try again." 

Elize was taken aback at the frankness with which Byrd spoke about the animal blood for her. Not even once did he flinch, which made her feel comfortable with him. Over the past four days, she had been keeping her distance from all the men in the settlement because she thought that they would dislike her a lot. But this… this was new and comforting. "Sure," she replied with enthusiasm. 

"I will meet you here in an hour. Till then don't try any magic tricks. Just regain your energy," he said and she gave him a faint smile.

An hour later Byrd returned to her and she was more than ready. She had also changed into her slacks and a sweater. She wore a cloak over it, ready to leave this place if the portal succeeded. Byrd was standing there in the center. She was surprised to see that there were two more soldiers standing with him. 

"Your Highness," he said. "Focus on your magic and bring it out. Bring it out with the same intensity as you had brought it out earlier. And this time all of us are going to help you." 

Excitement bubbled to life as her gaze snagged to her side to see him. She felt weird that they would extend their help to her, but at the same time, she also felt good that they stood by her side. Focusing back to what she was supposed to do, she closed her eyes and then brought out her magic. As soon as she had flung her hands in the air, a crimson arc formed with small stars that shimmered inside. This time none of burst and disappeared. They remained sparkling. Byrd joined his magic with hers and then she saw that more light entwined the two of theirs. A smile crept up on her lips. The soldiers were all helping her form the portal. Soon a wide portal with crimson and white lights opened up for them. Elize gasped but she didn't lose focus. It looked strong. 

"Now speak the location," Byrd instructed. 

"Northern Mountains," she said. 

And Byrd added, "North of Whiteclaw Pack." 

Elize snapped her head to look at him with wide eyes. He shrugged. "I saw them entering this location the last time they left." 

Symbols appeared on the portal. They started arranging themselves on the top and as soon as they arranged, the other side of the portal opened as it aligned itself with that location. It was as if a door was opened to a dark forest beyond. 

"Enter," said Byrd. 

Elize didn't know if she was doing it right or wrong, but she gathered all the guts she could. With her hand on her sword, she stepped into the portal and when she looked back, she was surprised to see what happened. 

--- 

Five days back. 

Caleb and Auril had stepped out of the portal in the foothills of the Northern Mountains where the Whiteclaw pack thrived. Over the last few months there had been tremendous unrest in the pak and some of the neighboring territories as they fought for freedom from Silver Vales rulers. Their Alpha, Murtagh, had been placed in house arrest by the queen for treason. This had become the bone of contention. For many years the Whiteclaw pack had been quiet because the queen had promised her daughter to their Alpha. However, situations changed greatly when Iona found her mate, who was the demon king of Galahar. Now Murtagh was extremely agitated. The tribes under him constantly fought for control or they fought against the king's army. King Dmitri used to send his second in command, Haldir, to take care of this border pack. The king's army had camped here in the outskirts. Haldir was still in the capital.

Caleb had sent a message to all his trusted people across the Lore to let him know if they saw any movement. And it was one of the men in the king's army who spied unusual movement and reported it to their commander. 

When Caleb arrived at the Whiteclaw pack, he was sure that he would once and for all kill the demon king and go back to his kingdom. When they entered the camp of the soldiers, they soon located the spy who had given this information. A young werewolf, he had taken them all the way to the slope of the Northern Mountains over which pines grew like they were marching down, like they were the sentinels of the place. Along with Auril, he started scaling the dangerous heights. 

One day later, Caleb stood on a cliff beside the snow swollen river. He closed his eyes as the damp wind bit his face.. He wanted to whiff the air for any known or unknown smells.