Dark Hunger

Caleb smoothed her hair out of her face. "Are they then?" 

"Hmm. But I felt that you were working a lot against force." She tipped her head up to look at him. "Were you?"

He recalled the force and spells he had to use to gather the clouds over his kingdom. It was tough. "Yes," he breathed out. The pitter patter of the rain on the glass of the windows was the reminder that he had gained some leverage, but he wasn't sure how much more he had to do. He already felt weak, as if he had used a lot of magic. He knew that it would take at least a week before he regained his health. 

--- 

That day Urhan and five others had found another dilapidated building and started the spell to ward off the clouds away when they realized that as soon as the clouds rolled away, they started coming back. They could feel the presence of strong magic against theirs. It was as if something was wrenching the clouds back in their place. 

They dropped more blood over the carcass in the center to conjure more winds for them to go, but even after the combined magic of the five of them, they didn't stand a chance against their king's sorcery. They just watched the lightning tearing the skies and falling over the ground in the distance, burning grass and trees. It was absolute mayhem. 

"Stop!" Urhan barked, afraid that the king might come to know of the magic they were using. "Let him bring the rain for now. If he senses our magic, he will send for feelers and then we are doomed." They all pulled their magic back. "We will resume when this rain stops."

"How about we stop the rains?" asked the woman. 

"And attract his attention?" Urhan scoffed. "Let us stay put for a while. We will come back after the kingdom revels in this deluge." 

Urhan came back to his house and changed into dry clothes. He wanted to see how his sister was doing. The last he had seen her was when Edyrm had recuperated. But both of them bore marks on their skin and both were seething. They wanted revenge from Elize one way or the other. He gave them the idea to go and meet Owen and Nessa. When Urhan created the portal in his house and stepped out, he was standing right in front of the porch of Owen's house. He timed his entry when the two would be there. Owen's house was looking like it needed so much repair work on the outside. Paint had peeled off in various places. The wood of the rail of the porch was chipped. The garden was flooded with reeds and brambles grew in abundance. He walked to the porch and knocked. 

Nessa opened the door and her eyes flew wide open in surprise. "You must be Laurel's brother!" He gave her one tight smile and nodded. She stepped aside to give him space to come inside. 

When Urhan came in, laurel rose from her seat and rushed to him. "Urhan!" she said and hugged him. He was the only person who tethered her back to Ixoviya where she longed to come back. 

Urhan hugged her tightly and closed his eyes. "How are you?" he asked gently. 

Laurel pulled away from him and replied with tears in her eyes, "You can see yourself." 

Urhan's throat choked and he wished a thousand deaths for Caleb and Elize. He sucked in a sharp breath and then his gaze went to Edyrm who was watching the brother and sister. 

"Welcome to our tiny home," Owen blurted with a shrug. "Of whatever my sister has left for me!" He was jealous at how these two siblings loved each other and how much Elize hated him. She couldn't even give him a little bit of wealth her husband owned. The little bitch was such a traitor. Had it been anyone else, she would have made sure that Owen lived a grand way the rest of his life. 

Nessa left for the kitchen only to fetch them cookies and tea. When she was seated in front of them, she couldn't believe that she had three more people who hated Elize. In her mind she promised herself that the day she met the little cunt, she was going to stab her in the heart… a hundred times. "You time is near, Elize," she muttered. 

"Laurel was saying that you all don't know where Elize and Caleb are right now," Owen remarked, pulling Nessa out of her thoughts. 

Urhan's lips kicked up in a half-smile and he raised his eyebrow at Laurel. She pursed her lips. She had to feed lies to Owen and Nessa for the next part of their plan. He turned his face to look at Owen and sipped his tea. "That's right. We don't know where they are. But we have a plan to get them to us. Once they are here, we can trap them and then you can demand all the money you want, while we get the two of them." 

"Why would you need them?" asked Nessa. "Once they give us the money, we will let them go, so that they continue to give us more money." 

Urhan swirled the tea in his cup. He lifted the cup to his lips and drank it all. "You see, ask them for whatever money you want. I don't care. But when they are here, you get your money and we get them. If you agree to this deal, then we will tell you the next part of our plan. If you think you have a better chance at finding them and getting your work done, then I am sorry, we wasted your time!" He gestured to Laurel and Edrym to get up. 

Seeing how things were slipping so fast from her hands, Nessa said, "Please wait. We agree to whatever you have planned. Please just let us in!" 

Urhan poked his tongue in his cheek. "Fine," he said. "But we need you to promise." He dug his coat's pocket and took a paper out. "I need you to write down here that you will not back out once you are in this plan with us and that we can use your help the way we need." He paused and handed them a paper. "Both of you have to sign it at the end."

Owen gaped at the dull yellow sheet that could crumble at his touch. Before he could protest, Nessa grabbed the paper, grasped a pen from the pen stand and furiously wrote what Urhan asked for. She shoved the paper in Owen's hand. "Don't be a fool. Sign it." She pointed to the last line. She had written that once they got their money, they would sever their ties with the group sitting in front of them. Owen's lips curved up at his wife's cleverness. He signed his name. What he knew was that with this paper it was not as if Urhan would go to the court and challenge him. He scoffed at the foolishness of the weird trio. He handed the paper to Urhan with a smile. 

"Thank you," said Urhan as he looked at the paper and the signs. He brushed his hands over the signs. The ink from there flew out of the paper and got absorbed in his palm.. The two were his prisoners for life.