Caleb found her looking at him with pride and hunger and… he couldn't wait to get to her. He stared at her for a moment and their eyes locked, each trying to convey something. Once he had his fill of her beauty, he averted his glance away from her and focused on the people filled in the hall. Each one of the Ixoviyans present in the room came one by one, offered their gifts to him and returned back to their seats.

"Congratulations Brother," said Ileus and instead of giving him a gift, stepped up the throne and hugged him. Caleb hugged him back tightly. He had heard from Daryn how Ileus had helped them to defeat Sedora.

​​

"Thanks Ileus," Caleb acknowledged with a smile.

"We need to talk as soon as you as the ceremony is finished," he whispered in his ear.

"Sure," assured Caleb.

Brantley was standing right next to Dawn and there was an awkward silence between them. Dawn noticed that more of his hair had turned golden with darker streaks on the inside. None of them spoke to each other and she found him glancing at her belly every now and then. When the ceremony was over, he couldn't resist asking, "When is the due date of delivery?"

She knew it was coming. "In two weeks from now," she replied quickly.

He nodded and straightened himself. The man seemed to be on his nerve ends. He tried to show his calm by removing an invisible piece of lint from his expensive silk shirt's sleeve. When Ileus returned, he got up to give his gift to Caleb. He returned back to where he was sitting with Dawn and resumed glancing at her belly as if he was trying to talk to his mate. Dawn shook her head and softly chuckled.

Later when the court was dismissed, everyone proceeded to the adjacent hall for the grand feasts. Over there more members joined. Although Caleb was constantly followed by the guards and council members, while walking out of the court, he stopped at the place where Elize was. He was shocked to see that she wasn't there. He turned his head around to see if she was around but the girl was missing. Not liking the situation, he thought of going back to his chamber to her but was interrupted by one of the council members.

"My king, you have to attend the grand feast organized in your honor. People are waiting for you over there."

"Can't I come later?" he protested irritably.

"You most definitely can, but I would suggest that you do not delay it. You can leave the celebration lunch after you have shown your face there."

He nodded with a grimace and walked to the hall for the feast. As soon as he entered, more congratulatory messages flowed in and it looked like he was swarmed in a sea of nobles and vicegerents and other dignitaries. It was almost an hour and his need to see Elize gnawed inside. He somehow got past all of them and was rushing to his chamber when he ran into Ileus.

"We need to talk now, Caleb," said Ileus. "I will be leaving shortly."

"Can we wait for half an hour?" Caleb was impatient to reach Elize.

"No, I can't!" Ileus grated. He held Caleb by his upper arm and dragged him to the study. Daryn, Brantley and Lazarus appeared from somewhere and joined them.

"What is going on?" Caleb said, jerking his hand away. Daryn shrugged showing his ignorance.

"I will tell you once we reach the study," replied Ileus.

Caleb sent a message to Dawn through the mind-link to go and see Elize before entering the study. As soon as they reached the small room, Ileus used his magic to cast a spell that barred any sound from entering the room. When they all sat down in their chairs, he instantly began. "There is breach in the portals of the Land of Gaira!"

"No!" Brantley almost jumped from his place. "That is one nasty news! How do you know?"

"There are shadows coming out from there and we need to seal it before more shadows leak. My mother says that it is a piece of Vikra's soul that had slithered past the portal of Gaira."

Blood from Caleb's face drained. "The last time this happened was when you were just a child. What caused the breach? This could be very dangerous."

"You bet!" said Ileus as he raked his fingers through his hair. "The more disturbing news is that the shadows are all traveling in one direction and that is the kingdom of Zor'gan."

Both Daryn and Caleb stared at him as their minds froze.

Ileus nodded. "Yes, the shadows are traveling and they say that they are following their Master."

"How do you know?" asked Lazarus, obviously extremely flustered and agitated as hell. Vikra was forced back in the Lands of Gaira years back by Adrianna and he would hate to see him back. The ghost of a wizard had proven to be a pain in the neck.

"How do I know what?" asked Ileus.

"That Vikra is their Master? From what I heard last was that they thought you are their Master."

Ileus frowned at Lazarus. "You must be mistaken, Lazarus. I am not their Master, Vikra is. And the horrifying part is that these shadows, these battered and tattered spirits are now following Vikra to the land of Zor'gans."

"In that case we need to send them back!" Lazarus shot at him. "I thought you had the power to send them back."

"What are you even talking about?" said Ileus. "I don't have those powers."

Lazarus now doubted if the boy knew about what happened with him when he was a child. He kenned that perhaps his parents hadn't mentioned anything to him, so he changed the topic. "When did you find out about this?"

"One of my Mozias reported it on a routine patrol on the periphery of the Wizard Kingdom. He saw a shadow slithering out from under a rocky outcrop at night and it glided in the direction of the desert kingdom. He followed it as much as he could under the invisibility spell. He had to stop when the shadow slid past the dunes, into Zor'gan. He couldn't enter the border because a raging dust storm forced him to retreat."

"Why would these shadows go to Zor'gan? Kar'den is not into witchcraft!" said Lazarus.

The two brothers looked at each other. There was a moment of understanding between them. Their faces were ashen white.

"Unless—" Daryn's eyes were wide with fear.

"Unless what?" asked Brantley with a frown.

"Unless Sedora is there…" Caleb completed the sentence. Sedora was capable of performing this kind of voodoo and witchcraft. Was she calling the spirits? Was it her sorcery? Goose bumps lined his skin and Daryn got up to walk to the window. It was so complicated that he didn't know what to do. Adrianna had sealed them inside Gaira long back and Sedora was summoning them? He looked at his cousin. Ileus had only helped them at every given opportunity and here they were—carrying the burden of the deeds of their mother.

Suddenly Dawn opened the door of the study.