Dark Hunger

The abandoned house had seen its glory but now… every wall was covered with soot. The glass windows had shattered and creepers climbed wildly over the walls. Rodents and small animals ran around unhindered. Brambles grew all around the house. In the morning, the house was shrouded in the gray and purple lights of the morning before the sunrise. 

In a circle he had drawn in the middle, lay a carcass of a wild beast. He chanted and put his hand above the carcass. He pulled his dagger out and poked his finger with it. A blood drop fell on the carcass. He extended his hand for others. One by one, he poked the tip of their finger and dropped the blood over the skeletal remains of the beast. 

He started chanting spells as he walked while drawing a circle around them. A subtle wind followed from the shattered glass windows. He went to stand in his place and continued chanting. The wind fluttered their cloaks wildly and soon it caught enough speed to remove the hoods from their heads. Their hair lifted as wind swirled around their bodies and fluttered their clothes wildly. They intertwined their fingers and together raised their arms. Others joined in incantations. They started reciting the chants in a certain rhythm, as if to lure the magic by their song. The carcass lit inside with white fire. The blood drops on it evaporated, spotting the fire with red crackles. 

Clouds that hovered over the kingdom of Ixoviya that night were low and there was a possibility of good rain. The wind around them caught strength by every incantation that came out of their mouth. It bore done over the house in a shrieking tempest. The trees around the house swayed and creaked, supplicants before the ill-tempered evil. A female dog howled in the distance followed by yapping of its puppies as if she was trying to protect her litter by carrying them away from this place. 

The winds arrested dust, twigs, small grass blades and shattered glass with it as it rose up. Their voices raised with those ancient spells and the ground beneath them rumbled. They were going against nature to ward off the clouds that had drifted towards Ixoviya from Lifye, the river of life. All at once, they left the hands of others and clapped once in unison. White lights shot to the skies through the fractured ceiling. It struck the low hanging clouds and the winds followed the trail like a storm. Within a few minutes the storm blew away the clouds from Ixoviya and Yelgra to the north. 

They stood there fixed on the ground in a circle until the angry winds they had summoned, subsided. By the time they were done, they were covered with dust and dry leaves. The carcass inside had burned to ashes. He waved his hand over it. A swirl of wind picked it up and carried it out of the window. 

"The king is too strong, Urhan," said the woman. "If he comes to know about this spell, he will have us beheaded! Don't take his generosity upon you for granted." She had been warning him from a long time, but Urhan was only growing restless over the days. 

"The king has removed all his magic from the land and he wouldn't suspect anything," he replied in a cold, distant voice. With these five courtiers who he had trapped by saying that he would take them down one by one if they didn't support him, he had been successfully warding off the clouds from the kingdom only to bring drought like situation. And he had succeeded. The local tributaries had trickled. The fish were dying and the crops weren't getting enough water to survive. Many villages were already under the influence of the drought. 

Ixoviya was a very rich empire, for the king owned several gold mines. Urhan knew that Caleb could as well import a lot of things from other kingdoms, but he had put many rogues at the borders from advance to stop anyone from getting goods in the empire. His initial plan was to bring down Caleb, throw him in the dungeons and then kill the vampire queen. But now his plans had changed a little. He had found a vessel, a woman, who could be used to amplify the magic of a sorcerer, by using her own energy. If she held any sorcerer, they would be able to absorb her mana and use it to enhance their magic. He was going to use that woman to use Caleb's powers. He was going to get the throne and then get his sister back. Seeing Laurel with that long streak across her face, pained him. 

The king and queen had made it clear to the court that Laurel was a traitor. And despite the fact that her character was tainted, they had retained Urhan. This gesture on their part showed how generous and good at heart they were, but Urhan knew that they had retained him to keep a close eye on him. It had become extremely difficult for him to come out of the house without a close watch on his movements. And so, he always created a portal inside his house to enter this particular manor. Vengeance hummed in his chest constantly. It simmered his anger and it was mingled with his lust for the throne. 

"What if he comes to know about this magic, Urhan?" asked one of the men in a worried voice, who followed him out of the dilapidated house. 

Urhan gave him a cold stare. "He won't unless one of us speaks up." 

The man pursed his lips. He knew that if he spoke further, Urhan would become wary of him and he didn't want to incur the priest's wrath. Not only was he close to the king, he had shown Ixoviyans that he had sacrificed his tainted sister to save the queen. 

Urhan created the portal for himself and stepped in it, leaving the others to go on their own. 

--- 

Elize found Caleb staring out of the window as she sat in a thickly shaded corner of the room. Framed in the curved arch and backlit by the strong sunlight, his features were cast in shadows. In his fishnet jacket, he looked surly, his demeanor off. Over the month, the clouds would roll out of the skies even after they promised rain. He had heard the news that the crops in the villages were dying. Poultry and livestock were getting affected.

In the night when he woke up, he had walked to the window and had opened it. The sharp smell of crisp air laden with water wafted in. A smile was playing on his lips when he had returned to her. He had curled his arm on her waist and said with excitement, "It should rain by morning." His excitement infused her senses and she chuckled. She had turned her back towards him and he spooned her welcoming the cool breeze over their naked bodies. 

However, now, Caleb stood by the window, sweat trickling down his face. His locks clamped on his neck. The servants had come to fan him with large fabric fans, but he had sent them back. 

The heat was oppressive and Elize was beginning to get worried. From her corner, she said, "I had gone to look at the stock of grains in our stores. We have plenty to last for at least three months. But if the villagers come here or ask for help, it wouldn't last more than a month." She waited for him to answer, but Caleb didn't even move from his position, his hands clasped at the back as he watched the dying grass of the castle's otherwise lush green gardens. "Why don't you buy food from outside kingdoms like Draoidh or Silver Vales? And what about Aztec?" 

Caleb wasn't surprised at her knowledge about the kingdoms. She had been sitting in the library of the castle and reading all the books about the world she was going to live in. 

"Aztec is itself facing a drought-like situation," he replied. "There hasn't been rain on its lands for a long time." He paused. Brantley was waiting for his mate to marry him and he knew that the wait was going to be a long one. Sometimes, he felt bad for Brantley. He wondered what Dawn would do when he would give birth to his mate. Would she let him come near her or not? "I can ask Queen Adrianna."

"What about Daryn? You can ask him to import wheat and other grains here." 

He turned towards and let out a humorless chuckle. "I can't imagine Daryn exporting a truckload of grains to the Lore. But the idea isn't bad." He drew the curtains. "But this isn't the solution, Lizzy. There is something which isn't matching…" The feeling was like a gnawing ache in his heart. He didn't know what it was, but something ticked off. It was time for a random check of the activities of his people.. He closed his eyes and his aura spilled out of him in the form of hazy radiance.