Chapter 59

**Merianna**

“Now if we attach this rune here like this. And add in this one here…” I muttered as I linked another rune to the spell we were assembling. “That should solve the problem for the redirection he’s using.”

“Would it also work for camouflaging if he’s using that?” Jasnine asked curiously as she studied what I was doing.

“It should yes, since this rune could stand for a generalized meaning for ‘hide’. The specifically defined effects are usually set in motion when the spell is activated by the caster. They don’t work any differently from the runes you always taught me. Even though they look a bit different.” When I first started working on the spell, I seemed to go into autopilot. And now that I was looking at it all again, I realized that the runes I used actually looked quite a bit different from the ones Jasnine had taught me. I only then noticed that these runes were coming from older memories.

Jasnine hummed thoughtfully. “Some of these look very similar to the ones I know, but many look foreign. Where did you learn these ones from?”

I didn’t exactly have a good answer for her and didn’t know where to even start explaining even though she already knew everything about my past lives. “Uhmmm…”

“There you guys are!” Raska came barging into the room and I immediately sent a silent thanks her way even though she wouldn’t know it.

“Oh Raska, come have a look at this, it’s genius!” Jasnine said while pointing to my new rune spell.

I noticed Noch and Thyrion also meandering into the room after her. Noch wandered over and took a peek over Raska’s shoulder. “Not bad Demon Spawn.” He said, impressed.

I shrugged. “It should do what it’s supposed to, there is only one way to find out if it’ll do its job well or not.”

“So it’s all finished and set to go?” Raska asked, eyeing the spell’s composition.

“Pretty much.” I shrugged.

Noch gave a sly snicker. “Well, since it’s pretty much set.Why don’t we all go out and take it for a test drive? Raska! Jasnine! Time for the two of you to doll yourselves up!” Noch announced with a snap of his fingers.

Raska and Jasnine both shot him incredulous looks before understanding dawned on their faces.

***

“So…” I mused as I peered out the hotel window with a pair of binoculars, scanning the brilliantly lit Brazilian club street below us. “You said Raska and Jasnine was going to go with this kind of plan originally?”

Noch loudly chomped down on another popcorn kernel as he lazily looked outside. “Yes, if they were able to track him down in the first place anyway. It’s always much easier to catch prey in a trap rather than to run around after it. Well… not that Raska wouldn’t mind the chase.”

I eyed him skeptically. “And it has absolutely nothing to do with seeing Raska and Jasnine in modern skimpy outfits?”

He halted his chewing there for a second, then seemed to contemplate. “You know what, I didn’t actually think about that at first… but now that you mentioned it.” He pulled up his binoculars and scanned the street until he found the two in question loitering outside the club.

He then let out a satisfied grunt of approval and turned back to my deadpanned expression. “I rather appreciate the eye candy.”

“Of course you do…” I mused while giving him the side eye as I turned back to scan the busy streets for our target.

“I just hope your hubby will be able to stay put in his position and not try to fly out in a rage before we even had the chance to snag the guy.” He mused as he went back to chowing.

Funnily enough we were worried about the same thing. Thyrion didn’t look happy at all when Noch told us about his very simple yet effective plan. While Raska and Jasnine were going to lure Orbus into a hotel room, Fog and Thyrion were to sit on standby like Noch and me, keeping an eye on the whole situation and making sure that if for some reason Orbus did suddenly realise he was being trapped and decided to make a run for it, we would be ready to catch him without a hitch. Thyrion had wanted to be in on the immediate action but was overruled by the majority vote since we all knew that he might actually end up killing the guy in an accidental fit of rage now that he didn’t have my life hanging over his head like a voice of reason anymore.

“Well, since we’re all here together, if push comes to shove I’ll focus on keeping Thyrion in check if anything wayward were to happen.” I reassured with a shrug.

Noch chuckled. “True, you are literally the only person on this planet that would be able to stop him in his tracks merely by saying his name. Anyone else is more likely to get beheaded in the attempt of stopping him from going after someone he really wants dead.”

“Well… yeah… I won’t argue that point.” I agreed and lazily scanned the crowds below again until I spotted something that we had been waiting for this whole time. “Well well well, didn’t Thyrion’s description show Orbus with blonde hair?”

“Oh! You found him?!” Noch said excitedly as he dropped his popcorn and followed my line of sight.

“Yep, looks like we have the target, and said target had dyed his hair brown in order to blend in.” If I hadn’t been focusing on the thread of energy that the spell had left on the target, I would honestly have missed him.

“Yep, that is our guy. And it looks like the girls had also picked up on him.” Noch’s grin was practically splitting his lips.

“Why on earth are you so happy at the prospect of catching someone? It feels like he could be anyone but Orbus right now and you would be having the exact same reaction.” I was genuinely curious since his overly enthusiastic attitude felt a little out of place.

“Oh it certainly doesn’t matter who we’re hunting down, I’m merely enjoying the thrill of hunting for the first time in quite a long time. I’ve been dreadfully bored over the past few centuries, so shush and let me enjoy this.”

I snorted and shook my head but kept my focus solely on Orbus as he wandered closer into Raska and Jasnine’s area. They zeroed in on him almost instantly and started flirtatiously chatting him up.

“I assume they’re playing the part of two gorgeous, clueless tourists who are looking for a good time, right?”

“Pretty much. It is the safest bet after all considering how standards had changed over the centuries.” Noch gleefully watched as Raska and Jasnine playfully flirted with the target.

“Seems to be going smoothly so far.” I observed. “So are they going to drag him inside and drug him quietly?”

“That would indeed be easiest, if he somehow has something on his person that would detox any drugs that enter his system, they always have the option of dragging him out by force through the shadows.”

I grunted in approval. “Nice, hopefully they won’t need to go that far, but this guy is surprisingly cautious. I’m not too sure that the protections he had been using were purely just to throw Thyrion alone off his trail.”

“You and me both Demon Spawn. It’s like he’s hiding from much more than just one volatile guy who has a very big bone to pick with him.”

We watched as the girls managed to get him into the club with an arm around each of their waists. I had to hand it to their acting, I didn’t think that I would have been able to stomach getting that close to the guy without actively biting down the urge to break whatever appendage landed on my body.

“And now we wait for a little bit to see how this will play out.” Noch sighed as he leaned back in his chair. “Wake me when they drag his butt into the room.”

Just as Noch said that I felt a small twinge of energy that shot through my spell that was still locked on to Orbus.

“You might want to rethink closing your eyes for a quick nap.”

“Why?” He asked cautiously with a raised brow.

I pointed down to the club and not even a second after that, we saw a small magical flare that was released by Raska to indicate that the target had slipped away and was on the run.

“Oh why bother.” Noch groaned and heaved himself up. “Alright, maybe just jumping the bastard from the start would have been simpler. You up for a chase, Demon Spawn?”

Unexpected excitement zinged through my body at the thought. “Anytime.”

Both of us dived for the window and melded straight into the shadows before slithering down along the building’s side. I led the chase as I felt Thyrion and Fog also joining in behind us. Since I was the one that activated the tracking spell, it was easiest for me to feel out where the slippery bastard was running to.

The thrill of the chase was making my aligned element charge through my magical energy. I could feel the zing of my lightning element coursing through my body and making small sparks fly out from under my feet. It was only then that I realised how much I had missed being able to actively use magic in this way. The thrill was more potent than what any death defying sports could offer a witch.

We blasted through the crowds as Jasnine and Raska also joined in behind me. We slipped down multiple streets and alleyways before it seemed he went below ground. The underground sewage and waterways was most certainly not somewhere I would have imagined him running to, but Thyrion did mention that the guy did seem to prefer hunkering down below ground level.

He was extremely close too. I felt him suddenly halt at a spot, not too far from us and I wasn’t going to take any chances. Pouring my magic into my legs, I sped off and dove for the target, tackling him as I jumped out from the shadows in one fluid motion. I ended up body slamming Orbus into a big steel door that he was about to open, then toppling onto the ground.

He let out a yelp and I had him pinned down before he even had a chance to recover or even think about what had hit him.

“Got you, you piece of Troll shite.” I grinned as he struggled beneath my petite frame.

“Who the hell are you?! What on earth are you doing?!” He gasped helplessly.

“That,” Thyrion’s voice floated up from the shadows before he suddenly appeared in front of us, “would be my lovely little wife.”

I could feel Orbus tensing up like a stone at his voice before he glanced over at Thyrion and the rest of the gang that slowly appeared after him.

“Long time no see, asshole.” His smile looked downright evil as he glared down at him. Orbus cursed under his breath and let his head thunk back down on the cement as he seemed to fully surrender.

“Time to get the answers we’re looking for.” Noch happily chirped as he quickly bound Orbus with magic.

“This time I won’t mind joining in.” And I meant it. I did not have as much anger coursing through me as Thyrion did, but that didn’t mean that I was nonchalant about the time I had missed, or the times my deaths were caused by this very warlock that was now finally in the palm of our hands.

I felt like the old me that wouldn’t mind being covered in this man’s blood.