Thirsty

So, where were we?

Right, we were talking about how I got a hit from Ardra in the cave while I watching the man in black spread his black colored mana all over the inner dome of the Kurma City.

I looked at Ardra through the bird's point of view. At the same time, there was another eye looking at him. The Ninth level recording device that was equipped to the leg of the bird.

It was disguised under the thick drooping feathers of the bird and Ardra was in so much panic that he couldn't bother to recognize it. He was like a money whose tail was set on fair. He was jumping around in panic as he sent the message.

"HE IS HERE. THAT BASTARD IS HERE IN KURMA CITY. HE DESTROYED THE OUTERDOME AND IS DOING SOMETHING TO THE INNER DOME. I AM IN TROUBLE. WE ARE IN TROUBLE."

He sent the message. 

Maybe he was expecting an immediate reply. Just three seconds later, he recorded another message.

"TALK TO ME. DON'T MAKE ME WAIT RIGHT NOW!!. I SHOULDN'T HAVE LISTENED TO YOU. I SHOULDN'T HAVE COME DOWN SOUTH JUST BECAUSE OF YOUR WORDS. I SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN BLINDED BY REVENGE.

IT IS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU. 

YOU SAID HE WILL BE SEALED. YOU SAID, YOUR FRIENDS FROM WEST TOOK CARE OF IT ALL PROPERLY. WHY IS HE HERE NOW?"

He yelled and spilled a lot of beans. My ears perked and I listened in on intently. Maybe only a nosy Asian aunty back here on earth would have competed with my focus at that time. He spilled a shit ton of beans.

Then he started rambling on some curse words.

Finally, there was a reply from the other side.

"It seems like the imminent death has given you a lot of courage. Did you forget who you are talking to? I advise you to shut your mouth, go back to your father and stay by his side. Participate in the defense of your city, instead of hiding in that cave.

If you disappear from their eyes, you are bound to raise some suspicions. Give me some time to handle it."

With that, the orb disappeared and Ardra calmed down. He walked out of the cave and went back to the room on top of the mountain.

I called Dhana and Dharma once again, but there was no response. Maybe they were busy powering the array. I turned my attention back to the bird that was giving me the visuals of the man in black. He was still holding his hand against the barrier, while puffing his cigar with the other.

The wolf and the horse stayed there facing each other as they growled and neighed.

If I wasn't so focused on the man in black, I could have used a couple of spells to understand it, at least partially. The barrier by then has become less bright. The black roots of mana extended very deep and it covered a lot of surface area.

I let the bird fly a bit high up, to get a better view at the barrier.

At the peak of the dome, that was the point where a massive concentration of the black mana was gathered. It was like an inverted whirlpool. I could see that the black the mana was seeping through the barrier from that point and entering inside the barrier.

I immediately redirected a couple of animals in the inner dome to get the inside view. 

And there it was, it was indeed an inverted whirlpool. Small, but definitely one, purely made out of the black mana. From within the whirlpool black mana started turning into the mist and slowly landed.

It was once again beautiful.

Beautiful beyond belief. But at the same time, terrifying as well. The birds that were high up in the sky were the first ones to feel the mist and that very moment, I felt their feelings.

It was a feeling of thirst.

And it wasn't just any normal thirst. Imagine that you are in a desert, walking through it without any water, for three days. And in these three days, you could spot water, various oases all over your path, but whenever you try to take a sip, you were unable to even touch it.

It was so bad, that you were tongue was drier than the desert sand.

That was the kind of thirds the birds felt, only it was amplified by a dozen times and more.

The bird's mind was filled with the calls to drink water, more and more.

I almost lost control of the birds. I had to let go of the control of other birds to focus on this one bird. Since the bird's soul power was far lesser than mine, I managed to do it. I looked at ground, trying to focus on the houses and the people.

The soldiers that were positioned at the border as well as the people that were patrolling the whole inner dome were the next ones to be effected by the mist.

I wanted to know more, so, I let the bird go down a bit and focused on just one person, a soldier.

The man was tall, around six feet, bulky, with an armor and a broad sword. As the mist landed on him, it seeped into his armor, garments and directly entered his skin. His eyes turned red and black colored lines appeared all over his body.

He threw the broadsword and the shield away before taking out a large canteen. It was the standard issue for the soldiers. He started drinking water from it. After he was done with that, he took out another canteen and started drinking. He was taking large gulps. 

Within two minutes, he had five canteens at his feet.

I turned to a mage. He happened to be a water mage as well. He started conjuring water and kept on drinking, liters and liters at a gulp. I could see his stomach bulging over his robe. Next, the bird entered a house through the window. A bunch of people, common citizens with no magic power whatsoever. They started attacking the big large pots.

*CRASH*

When the pot crashed, they started licking the ground. Soon, they were bloated and they started puking, but they couldn't stop it. The thirst kept on increasing and I could see it. Right then and there, the water was over in the house, they started licking the vomit as well.

The bird turned to a different house.

Same scenario could be seen there.

I saw a mother who held a baby in her hands. She was gulping down the water, while the baby suckled on her breasts. Maybe the baby had the teeth, I could see faint bite marks, on her breasts. It was like a feral creature, trying to suck the life out of his mother.

Blood started seeping out.

It didn't take long for the whole house to be empty of any liquid. By now, not just vomiting, the people started urinating as well. And what do you think they did with that urine?

Your guess is right if you guessed that they were drinking it.

I watched as I saw these mind numbing scenes. Then I heard a voice.

Not just me, everyone who was in that city, from the peasants that lost their minds because of whatever the man had subjected everyone to, to the Duke who was in the safety of the core dome on top of the mountain.

"Duke Kurma, I am really impressed by this amazing barrier you have set up to stop me. 

But it is a stupid thing to do. Because you of all people know where this barrier came from and to think that you tried to stop me with it…

I wonder how the Kurma is still a Ducal family."

His voice was cold, devoid of any emotion. Even his facial expressions were nonchalant. He wasn't even yelling, but he was heard all over the city.

"Anyway, the destruction of Kurma family is going to be my announcement to the kingdom of Daksh.

The kingdom of Daksh has lost its protector and the state of the kingdom shall revert to the time before the kingdom was born."

The voice resounded throughout the city. The same words Zephyrion told me, but a bit more extra information.

Coupled with the words Ardra told me, I could feel that some pieces of the puzzle are falling together. But there was still a lot to uncover.

At that moment, I heard another voice and this, I was familiar with. Duke Kurma.

"Your ancestors took an oath. You are bound by it. You cannot do this."

"Are you talking to me or your eldest son?" The man replied back and I froze on the spot once again. This just confirmed the suspicion we had against Ardra.

"What are you talking about?"

Duke asked, anxiety apparent in his voice.

"I am not here to clear your doubt, ask your son later, but right now, we need to decide on one thing. I am going to make the same people who are responsible for this barrier open it for me. I want to know what decision you will make.

Will you let me walk inside, or will you wait until the barrier opens itself?"