Chapter 46

**Merianna**

Junnie didn’t let go of me until Councilor Ferina brought her hand of justice down over her head. At that point I made a mad dash for the Gateway and jumped through it as quickly as possible.

After that, everything ran about the same way as the previous time. Trainees and other members fell in to help the members of the coven that had been attacked while others that had been in the fight, went about to get their injuries treated and weapons mended. I was glad to know that the Council was taking charge of the Nirns, there was no way that I wanted to accidentally stumble into their hard headed leader again.

I was interested in what Noch was going to do to Thyrion though. So I followed on his heels as he went straight for his office with Thyrion still imobile on his shoulders.

Nelia was following close behind me and Fog was right in tow as well. I assumed that Fog wanted to tag along to make sure that Noch wouldn’t go overboard, and he probably told Nelia to come along in case there were injuries during Noch’s "questioning". I was just nosey.

The minute Noch waltzed into his office, he slammed the door shut right in my face.

“Noch! Open up!” I said as I slammed my weight into the heavy wood.

“Youngsters aren’t allowed past that point. Stay outside demon spawn!” Noch’s muffled yell came from inside.

Just as I was about to yell right back at him and attempt to kick the door down, Fog stepped forward and knocked on the door politely. “Adults are allowed to come in then I assume?”

“No!” Noch yelled again.

“Oh what a shame then. I suppose I will just have to invite myself in then.” He said in amusement.

He then made a wave with his hand at the door, and it miraculously swung open without any protest.

“I guess being the one that restored the castle and gave it life makes locked doors useless, doesn’t it?” Nelia said without expecting any real answer from any of us.

“Indeed my dear. Now in you go.” He ushered us inside and then closed the door behind us again.

Noch looked livid. He had thrown Thyrion onto the carpet at the foot of his desk and was attempting to glare holes into Fog’s head. “Can I not exact my revenge in peace?”

“Afraid not. I’m curious as to how Thyrion ended up at that battle when he did. He was clearly there before we even arrived.”

Noch seemed to lose a bit of steam when he realized that Fog was right. Looking down at Thyrion, he flipped him over on his back with the toe of his boot. “Thyrion, I know you are already awake. Answer.” He demanded.

Thyrion groaned on his back and stretched his arms over his head. As he did that I could hear multiple vertebrae popping back into place. “Well hello to you too. Long time no see. Glad to see you’re still alive.” he droned.

Noch’s face turned into a livid mask of amusement. “Oh yes, so glad to see that you are still alive. This will make pummeling you into a pulp even more enjoyable. So thank you for staying alive.”

Thyrion froze his movements at that. “Fair enough.” he said slowly sitting up.

“I am glad to see you well Thyrion. I’m sure that you have lots of stories to tell.” Fog said while walking over to one of the couches.

“I’m glad to see you too Fog, it’s been too long.” Thyrion said with a bright smile. I heard Nelia next to me make a small noise in the back of her throat and looked over at her.

Her cheeks were tinted a slight shade of pink and her eyes were riveted on Thyrion’s smiling face. Oooh this should be interesting. Grinning to myself I took her arm and walked us over to the opposite couch.

“Now what were you doing by that coven? Were you aware that the Nirns would attack them?” Fog asked, leaning forward to plant his elbows on his knees.

“I didn’t know. I was only there following a few rumors and gathering information.” He said while leaning back on his arms.

“What rumours?” Noch asked harshly.

Thyrion just shrugged. “It’s my business, not yours.”

“You little piece of Troll-”

“Holy heavens, can’t a feline get any sleep around here?!” Interrupted a sleepy sounding voice from above one of the bookshelves. Strider sleepily hopped down from the bookshelf and landed behind my head on the couch’s headrest. He looked about ready to pass out again right where he landed, poor thing barely had his eyes open at all.

“Hi Strider.” I said while turning towards him slightly.

“Oh, Merianna is here? No wonder there’s yelling.” He said irritably, still not properly opening his eyes. He plonked down right where he was with a huff and looked about ready to fall asleep again.

I reached my fingers closer to him and lightly started scratching his chin. He immediately started purring and leaning into my hand. This was normally impossible since he didn’t like to be handled like a normal house cat while being a Familiar that could take on the form of a human.

“I wonder for how long you’d be able to remain so relaxed.” Thyrion piped up lazily from the floor.

Strider stopped his purring and snapped his eyes open. His ears went completely flat the moment he noticed who exactly was in the office.

“Hi there partner.” Thyrion said with a smirk.

“This is going to be bothersome.” Strider mumbled and stood up. “I just remembered that I have something I need to- hey! Let me go!”

Noch had been looking between Strider and Thyrion with furrowed brows, and as soon as Strider started making an excuse, he nabbed him by the scruff of his neck and held him close to his face.

“Partner?” Noch asked skeptically. “Now Strider, I know you wouldn’t be stupid enough to have contact with the man I had declared my enemy behind my back, right?”

“Enemy...?” Thyrion asked miserably.

“W-well you see Noch…” Strider muttered trying to get his thoughts around a convincing story.

“I’m listening.” Noch loomed menacingly in Strider’s face.

Poor Strider looked about ready to jump out of his skin. He was adorable though, with ears flattened to his skull and his fluffy tail wrapped around himself, trying to make himself look as small as possible. I wish I could turn him into a pillow, I would imagine that, that would make sleeping extremely comfortable.

“Poor Strider Noch, you’re not the only one that has been investigating the troubles the Hunters have been causing.” I piped in.

Noch turned his murderous gaze over to me. I couldn’t care less though, Lillian was much scarier.

“And you know this how?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Why should I tell you?” I glared back at him.

The air practically crackled between the two of us as we stared each other down. Noch’s glare trying to intimidate the information out of me, and mine not caring in the slightest because he knew I would take any opportunity to crawl underneath his skin.

A slow appreciative whistle came from the floor and both Noch and I turned to the source. Thyrion was lying on his side with his weight propped up on his elbow.

“It’s not every day I get to see someone stand up to Nochtandiel without even breaking a sweat.” He said with a self satisfied smile on his face.

“No one asked for your opinion.” Both Noch and I said at the same time.

“I’m guessing this is a regular occurrence?” Thyrion asked as he turned to Fog.

“Quite regular indeed. There isn’t a day that goes by where these two aren’t at each other’s throats.” Fog huffed out in annoyance.

“He starts it every time!” I defended myself.

Fog jumped in before Noch could open his mouth for a retort. “Now now, we all know the drill. Now, care to enlighten us on the investigations you mentioned.”

With a sigh I leaned back into the couch. “Strider got Thyrions help to gather information on the Hunters.”

“Merianna!” Strider yelped from where he was still clutched in Noch’s grip.

I shrugged at him. “It’s not like it’s going to be much of a secret since the two of you are in the same room anyway. Also, right now it would be useless to point fingers and accuse whomever of being morally wrong or *fraternizing with the enemy*.” I mocked.

“Meri is right. You guys need to calm down and actually be working together right now. The issues with the Hunters are much more important right now than your personal grudges.” Nelia pointed out in her no-nonsense tone. Whenever she talked like that it was impossible not to feel like you were being scolded for being childish. If Fog were to say the same thing, it would fly right over everyone’s heads.

Noch glared right at Nelia next, but then let go of Strider with a sigh and went to go and sit down on his office chair.

Thyrion was watching this interaction with a lot of interest. “Well now, double trouble it seems. Are the two of you sisters? I think I might have blacked out at the introductions when Noch was squeezing the life out of me.”

“Oh not just sisters.” Fog said smugly. “Twins in fact.”

Thyrion blinked and looked between the two of us. “The facial features makes sense to me, but not the eyes or hair colour.”

“Demon Spawn had to colour her hair black for a bounty I sent her on. Once her hair grows out it’ll be identically blonde.” Noch muttered from his desk.

“It’s staying black.” I countered.

Noch just shrugged. “We will see once it grows out again. Or perhaps washes out at some stage.”

“Now now you two.” Fog sighed. “We don’t need another round of bickering.”

With a defiant huff I crossed my arms and diverted my gaze away from Noch. Noch in fact did exactly the same.

“I suppose that is the best I can hope for right now.” Fog said as he leaned back into the other couch. “Now, Thyrion. Please fill us in on what you have been picking up lately.”

Thyrion turned so he could lean his back onto the small table between the two couches. “Where do I start. I think you already know of what I know, since I’ve been exchanging information with Strider for a few years now.”

Strider on the other hand seemed to think that the spot between Nelia and I was the safest, since he promptly molded himself into the small space between us. Effectively disappearing from Noch’s line of sight.

“Mostly I’ve picked up that the Hunters have been making deals with all kinds of witch covens. Exchanging mostly children for promises of safety. I’ve noticed more disturbing things as well though, and I was going to fill Strider in on this when I met up with him again but,” he crossed his legs and sat more forward “just the other day, I saw a witch from that coven, speaking with a cloaked figure in the woods. I first noticed the figure when I saw him stepping out of a Gateway.”

Noch suddenly leaned forward, intent on what he was saying. “Did it look like the Gateway was being supported from one point to another like with the archway in the Atrium?”

Thyrion thought for a second. “No it didn’t. It seemed like that Gateway was purely created by that man himself. I don’t know if he was working with the Hunters, but there was a bad feeling crawling up my spine.”

“I guess it was a good thing that I didn’t kill you yet.” Noch muttered unhappily.

All of us shot a questioning look to Noch. With a big sigh he decided to explain himself. “I think the person I saw in the building during the last Hunter attack, is the same person that Thyrion stumbled across. Not anyone can just create a fully functioning Gateway without an anchor. Only very talented witches or some Council members are able to do that.”

A silence fell over us after the revelation. “Do we know of anyone who can do that and that would for some reason have resentment against witches in general?” Nelia asked, surprising me with her involvement.

Noch sat back in his chair with a frown. “I already know someone that is able to create a Gate, and that I don’t particularly like very much. But, as for hating Witches, no. He only hates me, and would make only my life miserable rather than destroy other people’s lives.”

An idea suddenly jumped into my head as I remembered when Fog explained the laws to me. “What about retired Council Members? Or Council Members that had been kicked out?”

Noch looked at me with big eyes. “You know what, that could very well be the best suggestion.”

“You’re right. There have been cases where released Council Members took things a bit too personally and caused quite a few messes in their attempt at revenge.” Fog said as he thoughtfully stroked his beard.

“Are there many Council members that had been dismissed?” I asked curiously.

“Not really, only a few since the reformation a few decades ago. Since then we have lost track of them. The Council members themselves would be able to track them back down to check on their current movements.” Noch reasoned.

“It won’t hurt to ask Ferina. She will be coming here right after she is finished with moving the Nirns into the Cathedral’s holding cells.” Fog said next as he leaned back.

“Does that mean Junnie is coming here too?” Dread crept into my gut.

“What’s this? You don’t like Junnie?” Thyrion asked from the floor. Everyone else was looking at me with amusement though. And I did not appreciate it.

“I don’t like being handled like a doll.” I stated dully.

Thyrion chuckled, I swore I could hear Nelia give a whimsical sigh next to me. *I need to have a talk with her after all this is done. I doubt this guy will be good for her. He’s shady and acts like he knows his way around women far too well.*

“Speak of the devil and she shall appear!” I heard a feminine voice announce from the door.

I whirled around and stared dumbfoundedly at Junnie that held the door open for Councilor Ferina in an exaggerated pose. How did she do that? How did we not hear her? Did Fog leave the door unlocked?

“No one invited you!” I blurted out.

“Actually my dear, Fog invited us.” She said with a sweet smile.

A muscle started jumping under my eye as Thyrion practically fell over laughing.

This day was just getting longer by the minute.