Chapter 52

**Merianna**

It took Thyrion a while to get back to our meeting spot. We waited patiently in the dark as the temperature plummeted. I regretted not taking a cloak along with me, but I needed to leave it at home so I wouldn’t be easily noticed while sneaking around. It was always harder to move around with lots of fabric flapping around. The point was moot now that Thyrion was the one doing the sneaking, and I missed my cloak dearly. Oh how I wished for a fur blanket and warm fire right then. I was leaning against the trunk of a nearby tree with my knees pulled up to trap in my body heat when Thyrion finally managed to return. 

“Missed me?” Came his deep voice from next to my ear. With the jolt of surprise my first reaction was to attack and my elbow moved on reflex. I was even more surprised when I noticed that my elbow had landed squarely on Thyrion’s nose.

“Why didn’t you block it?” I asked as I quickly retracted my elbow again, revealing that Thyrion’s nose was now red with a trail of blood slowly leaking out.

“You moved too fast for me to block.” He muttered saltily as he gingerly cupped his nose. “You really don’t think first before you attack do you?” He asked with tears brimming his eyes.

“Nope, it’s a side effect from being raised in the Order. Especially around Noch.” I muttered. I would lie if I said that I didn’t feel at least a little bit guilty for almost breaking his nose. I didn’t like or trust him but I also didn’t hate him yet either. I was just glad he didn’t try to tickle me, that would undoubtedly have resulted in something being broken, Noch knew well...

“Remind me not to sneak up on you again then. I’d like to keep my nose on my face where it belongs.”

I couldn’t help myself, he looked like a dejected child in an adult’s body. I had never seen anyone look so pitiful before, especially with such a sad excuse of a pout. I barked a laugh and leaned back against the tree again. “I guess you do act like a normal human at times!” I laughed.

Thyrion didn’t laugh though, he looked downright confused. “What do you mean by, ‘act like a normal human’? I am a normal human.”

My laughter died, but a rueful smile still lingered on my lips. “You are human, but you’ve been acting since the moment we met on the battlefield. You aren’t your genuine self.” My humor turned into a glare. “I hate people that try to hide behind flattery and charm.”

Thyrion sat stunned in front of me like he didn’t have a clue as to how to reply to something like that. Finally he managed to choke out. “How could you tell?”

“Nothing can escape My Lady’s keen eyes!” Hezerial announced proudly from behind me. When I turned to look at him, he was wearing a smug smile.

Heaving a sigh I got up to my feet and dusted off my trousers. “It’s time to head back anyway, and I’ve always been good at picking out who was acting to get into my, or mostly my sister’s good graces. I guess that’s one of the reasons I have a hard time trusting people.” I shrugged and started wandering back deeper into the woods where I could already see the faint glow of our Gateway opening.

“I suppose that makes perfect sense then.” I heard Thyrion say as he also got up and started following behind me.

“I shall see you at the Order then My Lady.” Hezerial said with a bow, then he disappeared back into the Ether.

“Why is your guardian like that though?” Thyrion asked ruefully as he caught up.

“How do you mean?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“The whole ‘My Lady’ thing, if Elondara is any example to go by, then I would say that your angelic there might be a few branches short of a tree. He acts more like a servant than a guardian.” He said, completely perplexed.

“Hell if I know. I guess I got used to his strangeness already and stopped questioning it altogether.” a defeated sigh blew out of me at the realization.

“It sounds like you had to make quite an adjustment.” Thyrion chuckled in amusement.

“You have no idea. Whenever I told him to stop calling me ‘My Lady’, he would get this horrifically depressed look on his face which always made me feel bad. Nelia would also catch up on the charade and teasingly chide me for it. So I dropped the subject altogether.”

“At least he seems to truly have your best interests at heart. I pity anyone that would want to do you harm with him around.”

“Funny enough, I can get harmed plenty when it comes to Nelia. Even with Zerial around.”

“Nelia? Why would Nelia hurt you?” Thyrion asked in surprise. “She looks too nice to cause any kind of harm. I would doubt her ability to even harm a spider, let alone an ant.”

“She can get plenty angry herself when she has a mind to. Last time she whacked Noch and I over the head with her wand and ended up breaking it. Zerial said he didn’t sense any bloodlust or ‘intent to harm’ from her, so he didn’t feel any urge to protect.” After a second of silence, Thyrion laughed as we walked through the Gateway’s glow. The familiar jolt of travel through the gate flowed over me for a moment. No sooner had it started than my feet found the tiles of the Atrium, along with Thyrion’s laughter.

“It looks like the two of you are finally getting along.” Noch’s voice resounded in the empty space.

“He takes some getting used to.” I commented dryly.

“I’m easy to get along with!” Thyrion announced and carelessly tossed an arm around my shoulders. Without thinking about it, I grabbed the offending limb, twisted my hips and hoisted Thyrion over my head and onto the floor.

“Just because I’m getting used to you doesn’t give you permission to suddenly start touching me in a familiar way.” I threatened as I stomped my boot onto his stomach.

As Thyrion groaned pitifully on the ground, Noch let out a laugh and wandered in closer. “It’s not easy getting into Merianna’s good graces, Thyrion.” He said as he planted a palm on my head. “It takes years and lots of missing limbs to befriend this little she-devil.” I made a quick grab for Noch’s hand, but he pulled it back too quickly for me to grab a hold.

“You can be glad that your reactions are so quick.” I quipped as I released Thyrion with a huff.

“Oh come now, you love our little brawls. There is no shame in admitting it!”

“I think you enjoy them a lot more than I do though.” I groaned.

“That might be so! But all experiences are worth something in the end! Even those that threaten your very life while you play.”

“You are seriously twisted, and I know you know that, and I know you completely relish that fact.”

“Indeed you are correct my dear!” He mocked before his face lost it’s playfulness and turned serious. “So tell me, how was the situation over at the coven?”

I released a stressed breath. “Not good. I had split up with Thyrion before going into the village because I saw something suspicious, and I’m glad I did.”

Noch gave a thoughtful hum. “And you Thyrion? What did you get up to after splitting up?”

“I was a good boy and went into the village of course.” He wheezed as he sat up. “Things aren’t looking good there either. Things are starting to escalate a lot faster now than previously for some reason.” He said seriously as he got back up to his feet.

“For how long have you seen this type of activity going around?” Noch asked.

Thyrion thought for a second. “If you want an exact time for when I started noticing things looking strange, I don’t have one for you. I only really started paying attention to these things once I bumped into Strider. So, I’ve been gathering information for maybe about a year or two?”

Noch didn’t say anything to that. In fact, he seemed to be getting a very irritated look on his face.

“For all we know, this could have been happening for much longer than that.” I said with a shrug. “Have you ever tried sending Ela into one of the Hunter hideouts?”

Noch gave a bereaved huff. “Oh I have. Sadly though they clearly have a witch or warlock on their side. Those areas are as tightly sealed on the ether plane as they are in the physical plane. I couldn’t even scry into them like I usually would have been able to do a decade ago.”

“Now that’s insane. Strider didn’t tell me that the Hunter hideouts were warded lately.” Thyrion said, sounding genuinely surprised by that fact.

“At least that feline isn’t completely untrustworthy.” Noch muttered to himself as he turned around. “Let us continue this conversation in my office. I’m sure there is plenty the both of you would like to say.”

“After you My Lady.” Thyrion said while bowing dramatically with his arm outstretched.

“I see you really don’t value your life very much, do you?” I fumed with a glare I knew would send everyone else in the Order running.

“Only on occasion.” He quipped.

With a sigh I walked past him and followed Noch all the way to his office. Things were going to get very busy, very soon. I could feel it.