Chapter 60

**Merianna**

“So let me get this straight… you got impatient and just decided to whip out your magic and go with the ‘take him by force’ plan on a whim?” Noch asked dryly as we all wandered back through a gateway into the Order’s doors with Orbus slung over Noch’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“And so because he sensed the shift in magic around you, he probably figured ‘to hell with this’ and fled with his tail between his legs.” I added while we both eyed Raska.

“Oh don’t claim to be all high and mighty. I know the two of you especially would have done the exact same thing in my place.” She shot back.

“Touchè.” We said in sync.

“All is well that ends well.” Fog muttered sagely as we all filed down the castle’s halls, making a beeline for the dungeons.

“Where in the world have you lot been?!” Came a shrill question from the opposite hallway we were walking down.

“Oh…” Noch turned to look back at the group that was following him and then back at an angry looking Arasule. “I thought you were with us.”

“Well clearly I bloody wasn’t! Where had you all disappeared to for the past half a day?! And is that who I think it is all slung over your shoulder? And what in the sweet name of all curses on the face of this earth are the two of you wearing?!” Arasule asked disbelievingly, staring at all of us, Orbus with the bag over his head and tied up exactly like the first captive had been and especially Raska and Jasnine who were still in their skimpy outfits.

“Yes it is who you think it is on my shoulders. Merianna managed to reverse-cast the spell that had been keeping Orbus hidden all this time.” Thyrion answered happily. “And these two were bait.” He added nonchalantly.

“And here I was stuck in my office working on other methods of tracking the asshole myself?! No one thought to pop in and let me know that I didn’t have to waste a perfectly good half-day’s worth of time doing something useless?!” To be fair, she did look a little stir crazy. Her hair was frizzed and she had burnt patches in her clothing that had clearly been patted out multiple times. It made me wonder what kind of tracking spell could ever warrant or even manage to cause tiny explosions in the first place.

“I tried to let you know before we left but you decided to toss a bomb my way instead. So I decided to leave you to do what you were doing in peace instead.” Fog’s smile was one of those you would give to an associate you weren’t all too happy with.

“You really should get rid of that bad habit of yours Arasule.” Jasnine tsked in fake disappointment.

“You should have tried a bit harder! I wouldn’t have wasted so much time making the tracking pendant then!” She shrieked in outrage while swinging around a pulsating crystal that was dangling from the end of a chain..

“Truth be told Arasule, mostly everyone is tired of getting nearly blown to bits every time they merely want to inform you of something important. And this is the result of your long fostered habit. Unless you find a way to stop your habit of tossing dangerous weapons at visitors that knock on your door, I’ll forbid anyone from going to seek you out in your office. If you want to find out about what everyone else is working on or their progress from now on, you can go and look for them yourself.” Fog deadpanned seriously.

I could feel that all of us standing in the hallway had the same train of thought, that Fog had finally snapped. It was honestly more of a surprise that it had taken this long for him to put his foot down. Usually Fog would try and keep things as civil as possible and try to not rub anyone the wrong way, no matter how deep in the wrong they really were. It was quite refreshing to see that he had finally had enough.

“B-but, you want me to change that habit only now?!” Arasule stuttered.

“Yes. No ifs, no buts. You change it or you stay out of the loop.” He threatened. “Not even Dorris would go close to your office.”

Arasule’s jaw dropped. “I would dehydrate and starve if you do that!” 

“Duely noted Fog!” Dorris yelled from a doorway behind us. I spun around and was surprised to see her quickly zipping from room to room as she did her rounds. She was so quick and silent that I thought I should have taken stealth lessons from Dorris when I first came to the Order and not Raska.

“Seriously?!” Arasule yelled as she threw her arms up in defeat.

“Yes, so I or someone else will check up on you later this week and see if you have managed to start working on your bad habit or not, because I’m not keen on making more castle repairs than are needed.”

For the first time in a long time, Arasule actually had nothing to say because everyone, including her, already knew that she was indeed in the wrong.

“Well, if all that is sorted then I think it would be best to get to the dungeons now since sleeping beauty here is just about to wake up.” Noch chipped in happily and started meandering past Arasule. 

We all followed behind him and Arasule pouted as she also tagged along in the back of the group. I could see that Fog’s words had hurt her a bit but she was as stubborn as ever. I knew that she was going to come up with a counter plan for her impulses quite quickly because there was no way in all the realms of existence that she was going to miss catching Dermon.

“Oh, how do you think the guy from yesterday is faring in the dungeons?” Jasnine asked curiously like she only now remembered about her and Raska’s first catch.

“Well if he isn’t rocking back and forth in a little corner by now then I’d say pretty average.” Raska shrugged nonchalantly.

“Poor bastard is laughably fragile. He sang like a canary and managed to wet himself when he was introduced to Thyrion. It won’t be surprising if he’s completely traumatized just by sitting alone in the dungeons till now.” Noch added with his own shrug.

“Well, we might actually have a bit of work to do on Orbus before he actually talks. He practically lives like a mole most of the time. A dark damp and creepy dungeon is probably going to feel just like home for him.” Thyrion huffed in annoyance.

I looked between Raska, Noch and Arasule only to notice that all three of them were sharing nearly identical grins, clearly looking forward to the torture they’ll be able to carry out soon. Whereas Thyrion’s expression remained dark. He had been tense since the moment we captured Orbus, and had seemed to be stuck in his own thoughts since then.

I grabbed hold of his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He snapped out of his thoughts at the touch and smiled down at me as he gave my hand a squeeze back. Satisfied that he seemed to be in control of himself, we all started filtering in through the entrance to the dungeons.

“Hmmm isn’t this going to be a bit cramped?” Noch muttered as we moved down the hallway.

“Use the interrogation room to the left instead of the dungeon cells at the end.” Fog reminded Noch helpfully.

“Oh right! I forgot about that!” Noch muttered and made a sharp left turn into a door that was so well camouflaged in the stone walls that it was nearly invisible.

“Don’t tell me you were planning on interrogating him in the cell just so he could see how far gone his so-called friend is already.” I asked.

“Well, that was going to be my plan, but using the interrogation room is definitely a better option space wise.”

I grunted in acknowledgement. He wasn’t wrong. The interrogation room was a very simple square space without a single window in sight. Dark, damp, dreary, and reeked of blood no matter how many times the place was purified. Well, I guess the torture equipment didn’t really get cleaned all that often. Dorris had complained about the stench and metal enough times to make it clear that she had actively abandoned that section of the castle and left it completely in the user's hands.

And yep, it was exactly the way I remembered it. The moment we stepped foot in the room, the stale, iron drenched and clammy air hit you immediately. Noch waved his hand and sent a small ball of light magic floating up to the ceiling, revealing everything else that had still been hidden by the darkness.

In the middle of the room sat a sturdy wooden armed chair, complete with shackles of course. When looking down at the ground it was impossible not to notice the copious amounts of old bloodstains that had seeped into the stone floors.

Then last but not least, were the big wooden tables in the back of the room that were littered with every imaginable tool under the sun, not to mention all the bigger tools of the trade decorating the area around them.

“This place hasn’t changed one bit.” Thyrion mentioned exactly what I was thinking.

“Never had a need to change it.” Noch heaved Orbus over his shoulder and thunked him down into the chair where he gave a pained grunt.

“Now, let’s get this party started, shall we?”