Chapter 53

**Merianna**


I heaved a sigh as I closed my eyes and soaked up the rare beam of sunlight. It was a surprisingly clear day for the ever cloudy region, and the perfect time to be outside. The roof of the Order was definitely the most relaxing place to be in my opinion, especially on days like these. Frighteningly high and far away from everything going on yet still within the vicinity in case something happened, but most importantly nice and warm.

Yesterday's discussions were running through my head since we walked out of Noch's office. Almost everyone was there, Fog, Nana Ara, Raska, Jasnine and Councilor Ferina also dropped in for a visit. Luckily Junnie was absent for a change.

Thyrion had shared what he had learned first. He had followed the woman we spotted and slipped into a meeting that the coven held as soon as she got back. It seemed like she was acting as an emissary of sorts, and laid down conditions that she had been tasked to bring back to the coven. It seemed like the conditions were the same as for the previous covens that were also pressured by the Hunters. A child for protection.

The thought made my skin crawl with loathing.

Thyrion had shared that the coven unanimously turned down the offer and planned on getting the Council's help as soon as possible. He noted though that not all of the people in the coven seemed to share the same feelings. It made me relieved that we already had Councilor Ferina’s support in this, and that she was taking an active role.

Next I told them about what I saw in the woods. I told them about the dark cloaked man and the Hunter that obviously seemed to be under his command. Talking about the demons I saw around him was a little harder since they were so extremely distorted, but every detail was important. I told them about the charm that the cloaked man placed in the ground, and what I thought it was for after examining it.

Everyone seemed agitated about the information shared and quickly started to throw theories and plans left and right. Plans from evacuating the coven to setting up an ambush for the Hunter horde that would emerge without a doubt. Just remembering the brainstorming chaos made my head throb.

“We have to get the Coven to safety as soon as possible. The Hunters will know about their refusal and will send an army to attack them soon.” Councilor Ferina fretted.

“We can't just jump in there and evacuate everyone. The members in the Coven that don't agree with the unanimous vote will without a doubt alert the Hunters in some way. People have lost their confidence in the Council for a while now.” Fog reasoned.

“Why don't we then set up a trap for when they come through that Gateway? We don't tell the Coven anything, share false information with them when they contact the Council so no one could alert the Hunters, and then ambush the crap out of the Hunters when they emerge?” Jasnine threw in. It wasn't a bad idea actually.

“But then the members of the Coven that could have sided with the Hunters can easily come out of the village and attack us from behind or give the Hunters new locations to open the Gateway in. Maybe the cloaked man can even open multiple Gateways in the same location.” Raska piped up, which gave me an idea.

With everyone's voices flying over my head, I hesitantly raised my hand to be noticed. “Yes Demon Spawn?” Noch said as he pointed to me and everyone else went quiet.

“Why not catch them in a confined warded area then?” I asked like it was supposed to be the simplest thing ever.

“Please explain.” Councilor Ferina ordered while looking at me intently.

“Well, if the charm is a marker, why not move it without them noticing and put it somewhere where we have control? We can put a dummy charm in the spot where the real charm is and move the real charm somewhere else. If they open the Gateway in a warded area, they won't be able to open another one outside of that space. Within that warded area, we place an illusion that looks exactly like the path to the village, that way they will run straight in without knowing that they are inside our domain. We can then catch the cloaked man or at least contain him which will make him close the Gateway because he can't fight and maintain one at the same time, no one can. So we can somewhat control the amount of Hunters that come out, and keep ourselves safe from any potential coven witches that would want to attack us from behind. At the same time, a small group can be sent to the Coven to keep an eye on them, and when the attack happens we will be able to pick up who could be possible traitors. They will obviously be in the loop and start getting antsy if they don’t see the attack coming that they’ve waited for. On the other hand it might be possible that the cloaked man noticed me in the woods and might open another gateway in that area again anyway. If that is the case then the group of witches stationed in the village can then evacuate the coven members that are against the Hunters, and detain the untrustworthy ones within one of the buildings. We make our own marker by the village to then travel from the warded trap back to the village for battle. It will then only be a gamble to see how they decide to open a gateway.” I said in the silence.

Everyone looked at me for a second like they couldn't believe what had just come out of my mouth. Noch was the first one that broke out in cackles though. 

“Am I a good teacher or what?!” He boasted.

“You didn't teach me anything of this sort.” I commented dryly.

“That's right! I'm the good teacher here! She must have picked it up from my teachings!” Nana Ara crowed along.

“I didn't learn it from you either.” I deadpanned.

It wasn't like either of them were listening to me at all in the first place. The two of them went on a spree of who taught what and which of them was the better teacher. I didn't even try to correct them anymore.

Everyone else found the whole thing amusing though, except for Councilor Ferina. She had gone off on Noch and Nana Ara about how this was not the time for petty arguments or posturing and managed to get everything under control again. Although, control could be used loosely whenever the Order’s elders are all concerned.

In the end, they all decided that my idea was a pretty damn good one and very possible to pull off successfully. The only thing that had me worried was that they all agreed that more council members needed to be directly involved in pulling it off. More help was necessary, there was no doubt about that, but the fact that Noch didn’t seem to have much faith in anyone else in the Council had me worried.

Sitting up on the tiles, I gazed out at the forest that stretched out in front of us. “It looks like bounties are going to be put on hold for a while.” I muttered to no one in particular.

“Indeed so, My Lady. Would you consider it a blessing or a curse in disguise?” Hezeriel said as he appeared next to me.

I chuckled at his words. “It won’t be either I think. What I do think though, is that this is going to be a very interesting time to be out and about.”

“Interesting is most definitely a good way of putting it My Lady.” Hezerial chuckled as he made himself comfortable on the warm tiles as well.

For a few minutes we just sat side by side, not saying anything until Zerial had a perplexed expression cross his face. “My Lady?”

“What is it Zerial?”

“Would it be wrong of me to say that I wish for you not to get involved in this mission against the Hunters?” He asked with a frown.

“You are too overprotective Zerial. Everything will be fine, trust me.” I shrugged and layed back on the tiles again.

“I do trust you My Lady. It is this situation that I do not trust. I believe you when you say you promise to be as careful as possible, but there are always times where things can go wrong.” I looked over at his face again. He wasn’t looking at me, but from what I could see of his expression, he looked incredibly sad.

It made me wonder what he must have gone through since he reached this realm. What he must have gone through since becoming a guardian. “Well in the end, all we can do is to try our best. We are fundamentally human after all. Nothing we do is ever really perfect.”

He turned his face to me and looked absolutely torn. “Every time I meet with you again, My Lady, I wish with all that I am, that I would not have to witness your death yet again. I understand that I am but a Guardian, yet I cannot bear to see your mortal body perish in each lifetime. Even though it is inevitable in every lifetime because of your mortal body.”

With a sigh I looked up at the sky that seemed to be clouding over again. “Being a Guardian must be hard on you then, isn’t it?” I commented when I turned back to him again.

Hezerial seemed taken aback by my words. “I…”

“If I am your Lady, then it must have been hard to see me die in all the lifetimes you say I must have had.”

“You still doubt that I’m truly your guardian?” Hezerial asked with a defeated sigh.

I chuckled at his expression. “Since I don’t have my past memories, it all feels surreal. Almost like my identity had been stolen by someone else and used for a long time, only for the aftereffects of that person’s doings to come back to me without me knowing how or why. Can I ask you about what happened in the lifetime where I met you, and made you my Guardian?”

He seemed to think the question over for a moment. “I suppose that a question like that doesn’t completely breach your wish to forget your past.”

“So tell me. What happened when we met?” He gave me a perplexed look when he noticed how I phrased the question but ignored it.

“If I recall correctly, it was in the aftermath of a disastrous battle. Neither of us were involved in it, but after I fell, I landed in the midst of the bodies. I had been gravely injured by my brethren during the fall, one of my wings was nearly severed and many bones were broken.” 

I sat back up as I listened to his story. The longer I listened, the more I could see the moment forming in my mind. I could almost see a green field surrounded with forest trees on either side, I could imagine what the air must have smelled like back then. With the stench of blood hanging thick in the air, and no wind to carry it away.

“At that time, one of the warring sides caught sight of me and they called their reinforcements to capture me. Back then, as now, angelics falling from grace was a rare occurrence that had all magical beings tripping over themselves to catch one. As their group grew in number, they advanced on me and grabbed my wings and limbs so I could not escape. The agony from my nearly severed wing had me screaming so loudly that my throat felt torn.”

Tears started pricking the edges of my eyes. I could imagine Hezerial’s injured body being overrun by people swallowed by their greed. I didn’t want to think of the pain that Zerial must have been in while weakened from the fall. Seeing him as he was now, it was impossible for me to imagine that he was once so severely wounded at all.

“During the chaos where they tried to tie my limbs together, I heard a shout from far away. Then just as suddenly as they had been on me, they vanished with a powerful wind that knocked them backwards and off of me. Only when two slender feet came to rest in front of me, did I have the strength to lift my face. And there you were, a woman that radiated anger at the people that had harmed me. I remember them yelling something about how it wasn’t worth getting killed and then running back into the forests.”

Hezerial’s expression softened as he turned his face fully to look at me. “You immediately went about inspecting my wounds and treating them as much as you could right there. Then you helped me onto my feet and took me to a cabin deep in the darker edges of the forest where no other people dared to wander. You treated me, fed me, taught me what to expect from this realm, and said that I was free to leave whenever I felt ready and strong enough. From the moment I could properly see you though, I had no intention of leaving your side, ever. My soul screamed that I had found what I was looking for, even before I had to look for what it was in the first place. As I regained my strength, I wandered everywhere after you. Whenever you needed to wander into the forest for food or wood, I would accompany you for fear of the creatures. You laughed at me when I said that and showed me how you warded the creatures away, even then, I still refused to have you wander around alone.”

Well if that instance wasn’t extremely familiar to a certain bounty I was sent on not too long ago, then I didn’t know what was.

“One day, while wandering the hilled fields around the forest’s borders, a small army of men suddenly jumped out from the forest’s edge and lunged towards us. The moment you noticed them you pushed me back with a blast of air that sent me flying towards the opposite edge of the forest. As I landed on the dirt, I heard your scream as you were caught with ropes laced with witchbane. I had never been as furious as I was at that moment. I descended on the enemy with my blade like a beast and left not one alive.”

The serene smile he was giving me at the retelling of that part, clashed drastically with the picture I had painted in my mind of the events.

“After that, I knew what I needed to do. So I asked if you would accept me as your Guardian and tie my soul to yours so I may always be able to find you. You looked so torn, yet so happy, and you accepted me. Since then, I have tried to find you whenever I could feel so much as a whisper of your soul.”

“That is… amazing really. To think that people used to be like that. If an angel were to fall now, everyone would try to stay as far away from it as possible.” I mumbled. “Wait a minute, was it because of that moment?” I asked incredulously.

“It was pure coincidence that the enemy that attacked you was in fact the same clan that found me on that battlefield and tried to capture me. Apparently their entire clan went extinct after that.” Hezerial said happily with a grin.

“Now I’m wondering if that extinction might have been your doing…”

“Nonsense my lady! They merely had an internal dispute and decided to disband the most powerful clan of that time to avoid being destroyed by a certain angelic that might still hold a grudge.”

“Your verbal tackt is becoming frightening.” I commented at his grinning face.

“I will take that as a compliment My Lady.”

I chuckled and stood up to stretch now that the sun had gone away again. “I have a feeling that this current situation with the Hunters is going to be a difficult one. I also don’t know if the wards that will be used to catch the Cloaked man would prevent a Guardian or Familiar from materializing to aid their witch. Especially since the Cloaked man could very well have Guardians or Familiars besides the demons we saw, I don’t even know what those demons are supposed to be for him. They clearly can’t become familiars, but imagining a demon as a Guardian is… so fundamentally wrong.” I groaned in aggravation.

“That is what I fear, My Lady. I do not wish to be parted from your side during this time. I may be overprotective, but I always am for good reason. You always tend to land yourself in trouble, My Lady.” Hezerial deadpanned with a raised eyebrow.

“I see you’re also starting to imitate my facial expressions… it’s not amusing.”

“As long as it gets my message across I do not care.” He smirked.

Before I could give Hezerial a piece of my mind I heard Nelia’s voice calling my name from below.

“Meri! Come out from where you’re hiding! Noch needs you in the office! They are about to start without you!” Strangely enough she didn’t attempt to move to a different location to keep looking for me. She stood perfectly still in my sights as she waited. When she didn’t hear any reply for a few seconds, she got frustrated. “DO YOU HEAR ME?!” She hollered at the top of her lungs.

“It’s truly scary how she always knows my general vicinity whenever she goes looking for me.” I murmured to myself before turning back to Hezerial. “Now let’s go see what they have plotted.”

“Lead the way My Lady, I shall follow you wherever you go.” He said, and promptly dissipated into the ether. With a smile I jumped off the roof and landed with a whirl of air in front of my startled sister.