Dark Hunger

The soldiers were so busy using their magic that they didn't notice Caleb. 

"What are you doing?" Caleb growled. 

The soldiers whipped their heads back and found their king. His eyes flickered a yellow. His fangs had lengthened and his claws were lengthening. The muscles of his body were bulging as his beast was clamoring to come out. "Seize him!" said their leader. The man had his instructions to capture the king and bring him to the dungeons. 

Caleb wasn't shocked. He knew that there were people working against him in Ixoviya. "Who has sent you?" he asked in a beastly voice. 

"That is none of your concern," said one of the soldiers who attacked him first with his sword. The moment he lunged himself at the king, Caleb held his wrist in the air and grabbed his neck with his claws. He dug his claws in his neck and squeezed it. Blood spurted out of his mouth and nose and the next moment his head fell on the ground with a thud and rolled away. 

Caleb looked at the rest of the soldiers. He gave them a warning, "Now you will either tell me who sent you or you will meet the same fate as this one!" He picked up the sword of the dead soldier and wiped his bloodied claws with his shirt. However, none paid heed to his warning. They charged at him together. Caleb flung his hands forward and blasted two of them with his magic and met the other two with his sword. He grabbed the throat of one soldier as he stabbed the other one with the sword in his chest. He pulled his sword out and sliced the torso of the one he was holding. The remaining two who were blasted with his magic were thrown some fifty feet away over the trees. Loud screams disturbed the peace of the night. Caleb confronted their leader who was breaching his spell. He strode to him and asked in a lethal voice, "Who sent you?" 

The leader had taken his sword out of the sheath and then attacked him saying, "The man who has sent you knows that you possess something very valuable." 

Caleb met his sword in the air and a loud clang resonated. He growled at the soldier and his lips peeled back. "Do you know what the punishment is for attacking your king?" 

The soldier spat on the ground. "You mean the king who ran after his wife?" He kicked Caleb in his knees. Caleb stumbled back and he lunged at him with full force. But Caleb met him again and pushed him away. 

"Yes, the king who went to get back your queen!" he said. 

The soldiers retorted, "I don't recognize that vampire as my queen. There is no Ixoviyan who would recognize her as their queen. She will face a lot of hatred if you bring her to Ixoviya. There hasn't been in the history of Ixoviya that someone other than a sorcerer would become the king or the queen. So you better stop dreaming about it!" He lunged at Caleb again. 

Fury rose in his chest and it burned his blood. "How dare you speak of my wife with your filthy tongue?" The soldier swung his sword towards Caleb's neck but he deflected it. 

"Your wife or a turned vampire. She is not even a pure blooded vampire. The moment she steps in Ixoviya, she will be killed. So how about this King Caleb," he said with a scoff as he glared at Caleb with the blade of their swords meeting in a cross. "You run away once more. And this time don't come back! We are going to kill every one of your werewolves and that fucking bullshit brother of yours if he dares to enter the kingdom." 

Shock surged wildly through Caleb. He couldn't believe the amount of hatred the soldier spewed. It became important for him to know that the hatred was universal or limited to only a few people. Daryn had not reported about any faction or a group of people who were against the king, so it was highly possible that this soldier acted on someone's behest. "I am asking you for the last time. Who sent you?" 

"Your fucking vampire wife!" said the soldier and before he could blink his eye, his body fell with a loud thud and his neck rolled on the ground with a shocked expression. 

Caleb spat on the ground beside him. He strode to the wall where it was being breached. He noticed the dent and blasted it with his magic. When he entered, he saw Auril and his trusted soldiers with their sword ready and green magic swirling around their bodies. He growled at them ferociously. The soldiers immediately lowered their sword and bowed to him while Auril retreated his magic. "Bury every damn body out there except for the one that is lying closest to the perimeter. That one needs to be sent to the palace as a message."

Caleb turned to the wall, repaired and then marched off to Auril's tent where he drank a lot of water. He spilled the remaining water in the pitcher over his head because he wanted to control his temper. Otherwise, he would go and mangle the body of that soldier who disrespected his wife. He placed the pitcher on the table and tipped his head up, closing his eyes. His jaws clenched tightly. 

Auril was absolutely stunned when he saw Caleb emerging from the gap. He wasn't expecting Caleb and his anger was rising by the minute at his absence. At the same time, he couldn't help pitying him because the man actually never got a reprieve from Lore's shenanigans. It was as if there was something or the other always working against him. Seeing that Caleb was trying to hold his temper, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who were they?" 

Caleb exhaled heavily trying lose his temper with the breath. "Someone is against us and is slowly spreading the poison of hatred amongst Ixoviyans. If we don't deal with it soon enough, it is going to be extremely tough for Elize." He remembered what the soldier said. 'She will face a lot of hatred if you bring her to Ixoviya.' 

"Why don't you go to the palace and resume your position?" asked Auril as he walked to his bed and sat down. 

Caleb turned his neck to look outside where he heard his men dragging away the bodies. He had given them a temporary pass to break the wall. "I can do that, but now I know for sure that they are going to kill Elize at the first opportunity they get. They are already spreading hatred against her. If I delay going to Ixoviya, I am afraid that the resentment amongst the netizens is going to increase. And if I go now, I am sure they will be looking for one chance to do away with her." He rubbed his chest at the thought. He couldn't afford to put his wife at risk. 

"So, what do you plan on doing, Caleb?" asked Auril. "The situation is very complicated." 

Caleb tilted his head and said, "I have an idea.. It might work or not."