Dark Hunger

Laurel stepped inside the house as Nessa stepped aside. Edyrm followed her in and Nessa closed the door behind them. Laurel's face was covered with a white scarf. When she stepped in, she found a man perched on the sofa and watching TV. "You must be Owen," she said in a muffled voice. 

Owen narrowed his eyes and nodded once, tightly. "And who are you?" he asked, with suspicion on his face. He flitted his gaze between the two of them as he got up. 

Laurel removed the scarf from her face and jerked a strand of hair back. Owen and Nessa gasped at the red and black mark across her face. It was so horrible as if it had divided her face into two parts. It stretched right from the right side of the forehead to the left chin. Nessa shuddered and held Owen's arm for support. "Wh—who did this to you?" she asked in a whisper. 

"Elize," Laurel lied with ease and then looked at Edyrm who nodded. "He was standing there when Elize did this to me." 

"Oh gods!" Owen rasped. "Please, please sit," he offered them warmly. So, these people were also victims of the atrocities of his sister. 

Edyrm and Laurel sat down. The demon took his hat and black muffler out and placed it on his lap and once again Nessa and Owen stifled a shriek. Half of his face was burned. Its skin was horribly stitched in place. Nessa trailed her eyes to the line of the burn that disappeared beneath his shirt. The right eye was almost as if someone had put a living orb on a plain surface. Half his lips were burned showing some of his jaw and teeth till the back. 

"Elize did that too," said Laurel. This time she spoke the truth. 

"That bloody bitch!" Nessa gritted. "How did she do all this to you?" She couldn't believe that a vampire like her could make these innocent people suffer so much. 

Laurel weaved another smooth lie. "My husband," she pointed at Edyrm, "and I worked in Caleb's company. She had come to visit us once. My husband protested her proposed two-million-pound plan because it was absolutely ridiculous. She lost her temper, but Caleb stopped her that time. Later we were invited to their house for dinner where we both were captured and tortured. She belted me and left me scarred like this while she burned the small room where she had tied us. That room was an isolated one lying abandoned in their property. Somehow the two of us saved ourselves and found our way back to Yorkshire." 

Nessa leaned back on her sofa, placing a hand on her heart. "This is horrible!" her heart went out to the couple sitting in front of her. "Tell us how we can help you and we will do everything we can. That bitch has left us with nothing. If she couldn't do anything for her brother and his wife, then who are you? She has no compassion and is an absolutely ruthless woman. I wish she burns in the seventh ring of hell's fire!" 

Laurel pursed her lips and sighed. "That is true. We had thought of getting back at her. We went to the police too but she and Caleb are nowhere to be found. And that is why we both have come to you as a last resort to help us." 

"And we are going to help you!" Owen said decisively. 

--- 

Two weeks later, clouds formed again over the kingdom of Ixoviya. It was early morning but the overhead clouds were starting to clear and move off, leaving the land yet again parched. Elize was knelt beside Barbie, her dog. She was yet to name her pups. She was scratching at the back of her ears and she was greedily pawing her for more. She watched the morning from the shadows of the castle and felt terrible about it. 

"No!" A bellow made her jump. 

Abandoning a whining Barbie, she got up and rushed to the heavily draped windows to peek on the outside. A loud thud sounded in the garden's greenhouse. Caleb, dressed only in his trews and looking ahead with wild eyes, enraged as hell, strode out in the open space. Before she knew it, Barbie was already barking and had gone to her Master. Caleb came to a stop right in the center of the castle's main garden. He looked up at the clouds that were slowly rolling away, giving way to the harsh glare of the sun. He raised his hands up at the clouds and roared, "Don't you dare leave!" 

His gaze darted to the ground from where he picked up a stick. He drew a circle with it around him. 

"Oh gods!" Elize murmured in a shaky voice. A shudder passed through her body as unease rose in her chest. She wanted to stop him but he had already created a barrier line and no one could enter it now. All the servants of the castle stopped and rushed to the windows to see what their king was doing, too horrified to step any closer. 

Elize knew what he was about to do. The sorcerer king was about to cast some very dangerous spells, one which could hit him. He was playing with his life but all Elize could do was to watch him from the shadows of the castle. She held her chin high and didn't flinch. She ordered every servant, "Everyone stay inside. No one moves out." 

The servants were already scared. The ones on the inside also hurried in as her order traveled out. 

Clouds that were rolling away rumbled in protest. Caleb put his hands up and closed his eyes. He started chanting. All at once, a thick swirl of black clouds raced towards him and wrapped around his body in a way that he was no longer visible. They swirled rapidly around him, dangerously, hissing, protesting. The circle that he created was suddenly lit in a ring of bright yellow fire. 

She could hear Caleb chanting in the center, covered by a swirl of clouds. Her gaze went to the dense gray clouds on the west that were laden with water. A fork of lightning flashed across them as if trying to warn Caleb of dangerous consequences. But the sorcerer king was relentless. With every other word that spilled out of his mouth, the winds gained speed. They became strong and soon they were howling across the garden in rage. The open windows of the castle slammed across, banging on the stone wall. The trees around swayed wildly and creaked, supplicants before the mightiest sorcerer king. 

Elize pressed her hand to her heart as she stood witness to the rising turbulence. Her dog had run inside and was now hiding beneath a table with her ears and tail tucked in, howling and yelping. There was no way she could stop this madness now. 

Knots formed in her stomach. Caleb was the strongest sorcerer and she knew the kind of magic he held in him and the strong will he used to control it. He had taught her that too.. Only a sorcerer like him could create this kind of magic.