Chapter 55

**Noch**

After having hauled the new captive all the way to the dungeons I opened the cell door and plonked the guy down without a care in the world. Grinning down at him I found this guy’s grit quite entertaining.

“Oh come now. I know that must have hurt at least a bit. No grunt? No ouch?” Using the surrounding air, I moved my magic to manipulate the air into fine blades, and flicked them over to cut the bag open.

“See? I knew you weren’t still unconscious. I like the glare though, it’s been a while since anyone has looked at me with that much hate.”

The new captive was giving me a scathing glare but didn’t even move from the position I had plonked him down in. He was covered in dark clothes, in a way I would describe it as one of those gothic or emo looks. I had to admit, his sense of style was surprisingly nice. It was also nice to see that Raska and Jasnine had made sure to tie his hands and feet.

“Nothing to say? Your mouth isn’t covered so nothing’s stopping you.” I asked with a grin.

“Why am I here?” He asked gruffly.

“Ooooh see? I’m glad to see your vocal cords are working just fine. And I’m pretty sure you already know. You’ve been awake for a while now so you probably heard that bit of information already.” Leaning on the cell’s doorframe I materialized my favorite smoking pipe and lit it for a puff.

He clicked his tongue and finally rolled over so he could sit somewhat properly. “I’m not going to tell you guys anything.”

I shrugged and took a deep pull of my cocktail, exhaling in satisfaction. “I’ve been through a long few days lately and don’t necessarily feel like staying down here to drill you for information either. No matter how tempting it might be…”

“Who are you guys?” He asked boldly.

“Hmmm, the captive asking the questions.” I tilted my head a bit. “Well, not like it would matter if you actually knew or not. My name is Nochtandriel.”

It was quite fascinating to see my name click in this guy's mind. I was actually a little surprised that he recognised my name in the first place. It had been dreadfully long since I had been active in anything that would need my attention in the outside witchy world. It made me wonder if this warlock was one of the lucky ones that managed to reincarnate a few times.

“What does the Order want with Orbus?” The dubious fear on his face almost made me want to stick around and play a bit more, but I couldn’t help the yawn that cracked my jaw.

“Oh we’ll get to that tomorrow. All you need to know right now is that your little friend made a very big mistake when he decided to play around with a soul binding spell that was quite firmly stuck to one of my own people. We have quite a big bone to pick with him, so it might be better for you to just give us the information we want tomorrow before we have to resort to more unpleasant means.” 

The guy noticeably gulped at my threat. “I barely know the guy, there isn’t much I can give you.”

I waved his excuse away with my pipe. “Trying to wiggle yourself out of the situation are we? Sorry but, no dice. We already know you guys know each other well enough to get together every now and then. Be it to exchange pleasantries, catch up, or plot something behind the scenes. Your goose is cooked, the only thing you have a say in though is on HOW that goose gets cooked.”

“W-what do you mean?” His face blanched pale at that. I could only imagine what stories he had heard through the grapevine for him to look like that.

“Well, depending on how you cooperate, the goose could either be plucked but alive, gutted and raw, seared, medium, well done, properly dead or charcoal.” I turned my pipe upside down and let the hot coals inside fall to the floor for emphasis.

“It might be a good time to start thinking about whether or not it’s actually worth staying quiet or not.” I was liking the fact that I probably looked terrifying to him at this moment. “I’ll give you all of tonight to think it over. And you better pray to whatever deity or god you believe in that the husband of the member your friend had been playing puppeteer with, won’t be the one to come and get the information from you.”

I clicked my fingers and the ropes on his hands and feet suddenly fell away with a plonk. “Oh, and it will be quite useless to try and get any kind of message through to Orbus. The castle is a pretty sturdy fortress and has a mind of its own at times, if you aren’t careful you might just end up like that poor idiot over there.”

I pointed over to a cell across from this one where the figure of a previous captive had been partially absorbed by the walls. Poor sap had been completely integrated into the walls and literally became a part of them after he tried doing what I do on a daily basis in order to attempt an escape. Sadly he didn’t take into consideration that the castle doesn’t like strangers pulling that stunt.

“No magic can escape the subspace either. So even if you did manage to miraculously somehow get out of the dungeon or try and send a magic message, you’re pretty much stuck.”

“This is crazy!” He exclaimed while running his hands through his hair.

I shrugged. “For now you can think about things. At least you have a clean bed, working toilet, and food over there.” I said pointing to a warm plate of dinner on the stone table to the left.

“I look forward to your answer in the morning.” I turned and waved my hand, hearing a satisfying clank behind me as the cell door slammed shut and locked securely.

Tiring day indeed. Or more like a tiring week, I couldn’t wait to get some food in me and just crawl into my bed so I can sleep like the dead. I hoped that the Demon Spawn wouldn’t have any more power fluctuations. She had seemed surprisingly stable since we had established the memory library in her mind, but her body did still need to adjust.

I scoffed and smiled at my own thoughts. “Not like she would give us any more peace now that she’s back. It was a nice 2000 year vacation while it lasted.”