King Dareth tossed and turned fitfully on his bed as he slept in his chambers. He groaned silently, squeezing his eyes as he gripped the silk sheet tightly. He heard it again, that same wail. But this time, it was louder than ever. It felt as though the wail was exactly in his head.
"Damn it all!", he cursed angrily, his hands clenched in a fist.
He summoned his storm sword as a loud thunder erupted in the sky.
His eyes fluttered opened and he sat up immediately. The wail continued, this time, low but unsettling.
He sprang up from the bed and hurried to the window to check where the wail was coming from. Still overwhelmed, he summoned another thunder. He grabbed his sword as he heard foot steps hurriedly declining.
King Dareth's powers were destructive but he never treated his powers as such. His powers were double-edged sword that he treated with precision and mastery.
He had the powers of storm sorcery-control lightning and unleashing electricity, elemental fusion- combining elements; wind, earth and water to create storm and natural disasters, and storm calling- summon ancient and powerful storms from mythological realms.
These were all destructive powers given by Tempestys. He always tried as much to balance it out. However, the intensity of his powers depended on his emotions at the time.
Every passion, whether rage, fear, sorrow or happiness, escalated the ferocity of the powers that coursed through him.
This was the reason he appeared as a cold and a proud warrior king. He denied himself of having emotions. He knew the consequences of his feelings. Nonetheless, when Elira collapsed in his arms three nights ago, he had never thought that would open a gate he had long closed.
He sheathed his sword and put it away before sitting back in his bed. He had not seen Elira in three days. He didn't know what he was going to feel when he finally saw her.
He straightened his back and sat up as he heard one of the guard's voice outside his door.
"Your Imperial, you have a visitor..."
Dareth scrunched his face up. "I'm not expecting a visitor."
The guard hesitated. "The apothecary mage summoned Kiva..."
At the mention of the name, Dareth stood up at once. His jaw tightened as his eyes blazed with fury.
"What did you say?", He roared and a heavy thunder cracked with lightning in the sky.
"Your Imperial...", The guard's voice was above a whisper but sounded like a remainder to Dareth.
Dareth heaved out a deep sigh as he ran his hands through his hair. He knew not to let his rage get the best of him.
"The mage had the audacity to summon that witch back into the kingdom?", He muttered under his breath as he led the way back into the main palace.
He walked into the palace. His eyes darted across the mage and Kiva disgustingly as he walked up to the throne. He sat and fixed his gaze on the mage.
"Your Imperial!", The mage began.
Dareth cut in sharply. "How dare you? Do you think you are the King of this kingdom now?"
"I dare not defy you, Your Imperial. I was too concerned for the princess.", The mage pleaded as he fell to the ground, his forehead head kissing the floor.
"Your concerns for the princess made you summon a witch who killed people, the people of this kingdom to be exact, back into the kingdom where she committed the mass murder. Do you not care for the people of Sirevale at all?", Dareth bit his lips angrily, his gaze never leaving the mage.
"I've tried everything to get the princess back to her feet but all my efforts were to no avail...", The mage began but was interrupted by the King.
"Maybe you're just not competent enough. You need to get stripped of your title as the mage of Sirevale Royal Apothecary.", He replied, sealing his words with a devilish smirk as he grasped his royal staff tightly.
"Still not used to getting rid of your anger, I see", Kiva finally spoke, her voice raspy and low.
"You witch...", Dareth squinted as he studied Kiva. "What has worshipping spirits done so far for you? You worship spirits who ask you for human sacrifice!"
Kiva chortled, running her bony fingers across her face. She faced the mage. "I thought the King doesn't believe in spirits..."
"Spirits don't exist!", Dareth cut in immediately.
"We should go to the princess chambers, Your Imperial...", The mage pleaded.
Dareth scoffed and waved it off. "You think I will allow a murderer to treat my sister?"
The mage's face twisted in concern and desperation. "Your Imperial, the princess's condition is getting worse. I figured you don't know how bad the progression of her illness is because you haven't seen her in three days..."
Dareth swallowed hard, interrupting. "That's not the point..."
"Are you scared of what you might feel when you see her?", Kiva smirked.
"You are in no position to talk here, Kiva!", He grunted.
Kiva's lips curved as she walked slowly to the throne. "Your Imperial, if anyone is not bothered about the princess, you should be. And you know exactly why you should be..." She whispered to him and moved back.
Dareth blinked nervously. "Fine! If anything goes wrong while you treat the princess, you'll be beheaded to the gods!", He threatened.
They finally went into the princess chambers. The fireplace which was blazing before they walked in seemed to dim as if they also feared something as Kiva walked in.
Kiva's body shook uncontrollably as she watched the princess. Elira's body was now paper white pale, her lips dried and chapped. The hollows on her neck were now deeper, protruding the sharp collarbones. Her veins were thin, black and plainly visible, that one could almost plug them out.
"Elira...", Dareth's voice trembled as he saw her.
Kiva didn't flinch. She didn't utter a word. She brought out four ancient stones from her apron which had green stains of potions on it.
She walked closer to the princess and placed the stones in a triangle on her chest and one on her temple.
For a moment, nothing happened. Suddenly, the princess began to convulse violently on her bed.
"What are doing, you witch?", Dareth roared as he attempted to lunge at her.
The mage held him back. "Your Imperial..."
Dareth eyes widened as a black feather dropped on the princess's bed. "What is that?"
He didn't get a reply.
Kiva pulled Elira's robe slowly, exposing the half sigil on her chest.
She hummed. "An incomplete Stormrune ritual?"
"Yes", Dareth sighed.
Kiva picked the feather up and examined it carefully. She shook her head and put the feather in her apron.
"What is going on, Kiva?", The mage asked, his eyes pleading desperately for answers.
Kiva bent toward the princess, and put one of the stones in her mouth. "A powerful spirit has latched onto the princess..."
Dareth sniggered and stared at Kiva. "I guess you lost your touch. A spirit?"
Kiva's expression grew into a slight frown. "Instead of contemplating and being conservative to your beliefs about spirits, you should be bothered about getting the spirit away from the princess. The princess is on the verge of death..."
Dareth staggered back. "What did you just say, you murderer witch?"
"The stone I put in her mouth and the apothecary's sages can only sustain her for a moon. You have worse things to be worried about rather than innocent sprits...", Kiva stopped and gestured to Elira. She continued. "The princess received half of her powers from the storm god. You have to be careful. With her powers and the powers of the vengeful spirit that had latched onto her, she might become an evil spirit..."
"Magic don't...the gods don't do that...", Dareth spoke, his lips quivering.
Kiva moved closer to him. "You believe in magic and gods?"
Dareth arched a brow. "Yes, what has that got to do with this?"
"But not in spirits?", She tilted her head.
"No. Spirits don't exist.", He replied sharply.
Kiva smiled, the smile quickly wiping off her face. "There are things older and more powerful than the gods. They are older than the gods you bow to. The gods you bow to even serve them."
Suddenly, Elira began to shake violently in her bed. The wail began again, so loud that every one covered their ears. Kiva's eyes widened in recognition of the wail.
"Is the princess chosen?", She whispered to herself absentmindedly but Dareth and the mage heard.
"What are you saying?", The mage asked.
Kiva didn't reply. She walked past the mage and gazed at Dareth who was still covering his ears. "Your Imperial, did you hear that?"
"Yes. What was that? That cry has been a torment for me for a while now", He replied.
The mage's jaw dropped. "You heard it?"
Kiva's eyes fluttered in surprise. She sighed.
"That's a wail no one hears. No one hears that wail except the chosen person and mediums, witches and mages."
King Dareth could not find his words. He just sat back in the chair, as he buried his face in his palms.
Later that evening, Dareth's best friend and also one of the royal warriors, Karl, came visiting.
"I received a letter from Eryndor Kingdom. They need some of our royal warriors. The winter thieves have invaded their warehouses, stealing prowess people cultivated...", Karl said as he downed a bottle of wine. His eyes panted to Dareth who leaned on the railings of the window, staring at a corner. Karl knew Dareth had not been listening to him.
He stood up and tapped him gently. "Dareth, are you okay?"
Dareth spoke, without facing him. "Karl, do you believe in spirits or their existence?"
Karl snorted with laughter. "Who believes in such nonsense anymore?"
The King nodded. "I know, right? It's arrant nonsense."
He stared on at the big black raven as it fluttered it's wings. A willowy woman in a pure white dress but barefooted, and her silver hair elegantly laid smoothly on her back whispered to the raven. He knew that wasn't human as an unexplainable mist surrounded her. The woman's back was turned to him so he could not see her face.
"Did you see that?", He asked Karl pointing at the woman and the raven.
Karl's brows furrowed. "What? There's nothing there. You only took a shot of the rice wine, are you drunk already?"
The wail was even louder and closer this time.