Dark Hunger

Elize could feel that the spells were removed from there. Byrd and two soldiers surrounded her instantly. It was extremely weird. Sun was rising fast and they had to find a place for her to hide from it. He barked instructions at his men to find a place for her to stay in. However, the moment he did that, he heard clops of horse hooves. "Swords!" he shouted and then surrounded their queen in two circles. 

Surprise flickered through her when she saw that the men who were coming towards them bore Ixoviyan flags. 

Around ten soldiers had come. They halted their horses in the distance and then dismounted. The leader of the group came forward. Byrd and his men parted in order for Elize to see the man. He bowed to her and said, "Your Highness, Prince Daryn, has asked us to take you to Norhall Castle." 

--- 

Norhall Castle

As she stepped in the castle's main hall out of the portal, she met Daryn. "Where is he?" she asked, her voice shaky out of excitement. She was craving to see him, feel him, be surrounded by him. She just needed an assurance that he was there… 

Daryn's brows were knitted with worry. "In the healer's room," he said and Elize just rushed to the healer's room along with him. He was really impressed and thankful to her for leaving him a message through one of the guards about coming to the Whiteclaw pack and taking Caleb from there. As soon as Auril had come along with Caleb, he had come to Ixoviya. Daryn felt that he could vomit seeing Caleb's condition. His skin was torn at various places and flesh was hanging out. Blood caked all around. His hair was matted and his body was reeking of infection. He shuddered at what was made out of his brother and when Auril said that he was still better, Daryn couldn't imagine what all he had gone through. He had brought him to Ixoviya without a moment's delay. 

When Elize opened the door of the room where Caleb was, she found him to be surrounded by green shimmery lights. His body was stark naked and the healers had applied a crimson paste with green tinge all over. She felt that her feet trembled. She froze, looking to see him. After a heartbeat, trembling ceased and she took a step forward. Through the green healing lights, she was able to take her first look at Caleb after so long. 

Her lips parted as her hands fell away to the sides. Her gaze swept over him. "Gods," she whispered, focusing on his face. Her eyes gazed at the wounds he had suffered at the hands of the demon. And that made her want to bring back Edrym to life and kill him all over again. The agony came in wave after wave with every step she took closer to him. His pain affected her like needle pricking in her heart. Her head spun and she did everything to stop herself from puking. Shock, anger, helplessness—all those feeling mixed and swirled inside her stomach making a thick knot, making her bile rise to her throat. She reached near him as far as she could and whispered his name. A dry heave rolled through her body and she trembled once again. "When is he going to be well?" she asked no one in particular, but expecting an answer nonetheless. 

"His body is too fragile, Your Highness," came the voice of the healer. "We are doing our best to heal him." 

Her lips quivered. Mentally she reached out to him but there was silence in the bond they shared. 

"Elize?" came Daryn's soft voice. "You should also take some rest…" 

"Yes, Your Highness," the healer added. "It would be better if you clean up. I can send a lady healer to look after you in your chambers. We have to keep the king away from other possible infections." 

Elize jerked her head towards the healer and he cringed. But she understood what he was doing. He was only protecting his king and doing his job, which she appreciated. She nodded. She turned and then left for her bedchamber. Every step away from Caleb was heavier than the last, but she had to leave… for his safety… 

When Elize entered her room, she found that it was just the way she had left it. Her lady servant had followed her and a lady healer was sent later. 

When the servant helped her take her clothes out, she noticed all the nicks and bruises on her body and then she saw how Elize was looking at her bed with abandon. First, she drew all the curtains as she was instructed and then, she ran a hot water bath for her. The lady healer came and applied potions all over her body. Even though Elize was a vampire and they should have been very scared of her, somehow the vibes from her were so positive that they didn't feel afraid of tending to her. 

--- 

It was no surprise that nightmares found him in his sleep. 

There was blood splattered everywhere—on the walls, on the stony floor, running down in small rivulets around him, near his feet and pooling in the dips in the floor. The air was reeking of sanguine smell, of putrid flesh, of metal and piss. He couldn't even scream when Edyrm feasted on his flesh, when he poked his beak past his skin and picked flesh from there. He wanted to go to Elize, to hold her one last time, to see her smiling face one more time, to smell her, to calm her, to be calmed… So many things he wanted to do and he had no time… He had to protect her at all costs. He had lost consciousness as he plunged into darkness. He welcomed pain over giving away the name of the place where she was hiding. 

A shrill scream pierced the darkness. Elize was somewhere nearby. She was being tortured. How did they find her? He wanted to reach her to tug her to him, but her hand kept slipping out of his grasp. "Don't leave me, Caleb. I want to stay with you." 

He reached for her, but as soon as his fingers touched her, she vanished. His heart pounded loudly. Something pierced his skin again and fiery pain sliced across his body. There were screams everywhere. 

Caleb jerked awake, a scream stifled in his throat, burning his throat. He gasped for air. He wanted to move, but he couldn't. A warm body had wrapped itself around him and when he somehow peeled his eyes open and took in his surroundings, someone murmured soft words in his ears. Fire in the brazier spread a buttery glow in the room. He wasn't in the demons' lair, being torn into. He was in a bed in a room, with a soft body against his, fingers that stroked his hair, a voice like honey that assured him again and again that everything was fine and that they were safe. With his body trembling, he wrapped his arms around her. 

Elize. 

When reality came back, his nightmare slowly faded.. She was with him, his face in the crook of her neck.