Aleric kept searching, straining his magic and concentration to the limit. The graveyard was fairly large, but he had enough power to search even the farthest corners of it.
At first, he thought he couldn't sense anything because his spell had failed. Then he noticed several tiny remnants scattered around. Elated, Aleric reached out, about to fill them with Dark energy, only to realize that these remnants belonged to animals!
A mouse, a few toads… Aleric even felt the remnants of dead insects, but he couldn't sense the soul remnants of a human.
At this moment, Aleric's Dark energy ran out. He couldn't keep the spell active any longer, and it collapsed on itself, releasing a green wave of unspent Dark energy in a circle around Aleric.
Where this wave touched graveyard grass, it immediately withered and died, just like all the insects living in it. When the wave fully dissipated, there was a ten-foot gray circle around Aleric.
