Chapter 55

**Merianna**

The tension in the air was almost palpable as everyone waited for a glimpse of the anticipated gateway within the hole below. It was strange to see the members of the Order all being so quiet and motionless. I had never seen everyone being so still before. I expected as much from the Council members, but I expected at least a little but of horsing around from our members. Whispering, shoulder bumping, slight head butting… I expected anything to start happening with those knuckleheads, but they were surprisingly focused.

When I whispered this little observation, Raska chuckled. “Chaos in the Order only ensues when you and Noch are down each other’s throats.”

I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel about that. Was it really such a spectacle to behold whenever Noch and I fought? Did Noch and I always just end up riling everyone else up? I always assumed that they all horsed around with each other even before Nelia and I joined the Order. It still boggled my mind to imagine them all being as stoic as they were being now.

We sat in the same positions for hours, people took turns to take breaks within their teams to ensure a strong ambush at any given time. My mind was starting to wander around as I saw the afternoon light fade from gold to a dark blue. If the Hunters were to attack, it would be soon according to their recent patterns.

If luck was on our side, they would appear tonight, if it wasn’t on our side, we could be sitting in these spots for at least a few days on end until they eventually reared their little heads. I really hoped that the Fates were on our side today. I couldn’t see myself sitting here for longer than at least one night. If it ended up being longer than that, I might just end up begging Noch to give me one of his dreadful bounties. I didn’t like sitting still for very long unless it was by choice. This wasn’t by choice.

The Council witches had the illusion of the village’s forest active inside the hole. From where I was sitting I could only make out the hazy image of a forest hovering over the destruction that Raska had left behind, apparently the illusion was a lot more solid inside the hole. I made up my mind to check if that was true the moment we got the signal to jump in and attack.

As my mind was running around with useless scenarios, I almost missed the spark of light that flashed at the far left of the hole. Raska on the other hand didn’t miss it at all and pointed to it excitedly as she barely managed to contain herself.

Thyrion and I tensed on either side of her as the spark grew into a solid ball of light that started to expand outward and form into a gateway. The tension in the air intensified and almost made it harder to breathe as everyone around the hole tensed for battle.

Within a second of the gateway forming its distinct circular shape, the first set of feet appeared and was followed by the first Hunter to emerge. When the first Hunter emerged, he quickly looked around himself then immediately jumped into a sprint. As soon as he moved, the next Hunter emerged and followed hot on his heels. Then it was like an endless stream of them suddenly jumped forward through the gateway.

I kept my eyes peeled for the image of the cloaked man to appear, but as soon as the first Hunters ran into the end of the illusion, our time was up. It was funny to hear the Hunters crash into the far wall as Fog gave the signal to attack, but I was so focused on the gateway that I nearly toppled into the hole head first when Raska let out a whoop and pulled me down with her.

I barely had enough time to flip myself upright for the landing before smashing into the ground. “Warn me next time before you pull me into a hole!” I yelled at her as I pulled out my swords and gazed around myself.

“Stop daydreaming then maybe I wouldn’t have to pull you!” Raska retorted as the Hunters all suddenly realized that they had been tricked.

The Hunters all frantically started whirling around and fighting the witches that, to them, seemed to drop from the sky and appear out of nowhere. I had to hand it to the council witches, the illusion was most definitely very realistic. If I didn’t know that it was an illusion, I would never have guessed otherwise until I realised that the “plants” around my feet didn’t feel real and the trees were nothing but air. This environmental foothold was a big advantage to us, and I was glad for it.

I saw our members using the edges of the illusion to toss the Hunters into the walls and disorient them, only to strike when they least expected it. Some Hunters were stunned, expecting to fall backwards into the ground, but instead hit a wall and bounced back into the waiting weapons and spells of the witches in front of them.

My blades sang and cut through the Hunters that I could reach. My attention was still divided though and I kept shooting glances towards the gateway. I expected the cloaked man to emerge from there at any minute, and I wanted to be one of the first people to unveil him.

It was during one of my glances through the chaos that I realised that it was suddenly getting smaller. I cursed loudly and clobbered the Hunter in front of me with the hilt of my sword so I could see better. It was most definitely getting smaller, and rapidly too.

“Noch! Gateway!” I yelled above the cacophony that reverberated within the now cramped space.

I saw Noch fending off three Hunters as he shot a glance towards the gateway as well. I knew the moment he realised it was closing, he quickly became serious and stopped playing with the Hunters around him. He flexed his energy and burned the nearby Hunters in a blast of orange flames that nearly scorched off the Council’s illusion.

He was still further away from the gateway than I was, and I managed to catch a glimpse of the cloaked figure on the other side just before it closed. The hood of the cloak was lifted enough for me to see the bottom half of his face and the dark smirk that graced his lips, which made a shiver of dread run right through my body.

Hunters nearest to the gateway frantically tried to catch it as they realised what was happening, but the swirling membrane of energy quickly disappeared with a pop and they were stuck. I heard Noch curse as he missed his chance and turned back to fighting the Hunters around him.

I cursed right along with him as I turned my attention back to fighting the Hunters that were in front of me. There was nothing I could do about the cloaked figure not doing what was expected, but I could at least finish what had been started.

Because of the turmoil around us, I completely missed the small figure that silently emerged from the darkness of where the gateway disappeared. All I saw was a blaze of fire suddenly shooting straight towards me. Thyrion and Raska were right behind me so I quickly grabbed the both of them as I dove towards the ground.

The ball of flame exploded into the Hunters that Raska and Thyrion were fighting and engulfed them in seconds. I stared as the intense flames seared their skin in seconds and suffocated them another second later. The intensity was so focused that it felt like I was watching the effects of Noch’s or Fog’s flames.

I rolled over and stared at the small figure that stood behind me. It was a child, a young boy that couldn’t be older than ten or twelve years. Why on earth was a witch child here? Where had he come from? Who brought him? My panicked brain struggled to make sense of what I was seeing, but was clearly struggling for too long. The boy lifted his hands again and another ball of flame started forming in his palms.

“This is like seeing you when you were little all over again.” Commented Raska before she quickly erected a barrier around us just as the boy released his attack.

Heat blasted over us and seeped through the barrier a little. The fact that the heat from his attack could be felt through Raska’s barrier was testament enough to how strong this child was. Even I could barely penetrate her barriers on good days if at all.

We couldn’t kill a child, even though as much as my mind rebelled, he was clearly on the side of the Hunters. Or rather, the cloaked figure. This was probably why the Hunters wanted witch children in the first place. They got the children, indoctrinated them, probably had the cloaked figure train them only to use them against their own kind. Maybe even against their own parents or former coven.

Rage boiled in my veins at the thought of the calculated stepps the Hunters were taking. My mind flashed back to the smirk I saw before the gateway closed. These were most likely his calculated stepps. If I didn’t get a hold of that cloaked figure soon, I would drive the whole Order crazy with my bad mood.

The child shot another blast of flame into us which rolled over Raska’s barrier. As soon as the heat dissipated I jumped out of the barrier’s safety and dove towards the child with my element crackling on the palms of my hands. The boy stared at me cooly as I advanced on him, he showed no sign of fear or any emotion at all for that matter. He merely lifted his hands directly towards me as mine was raised towards him. I ducked under his next attack and slipped through the shadows to emerge behind him.

He seemed to finally be surprised at my sudden disappearance, his flames sputtered in his hands and he glanced around wildly. I gave him a small shock with my element and grabbed a hold of him before he slumped lifelessly to the ground. Looking down at his childish face, I couldn’t believe that someone would send a child like this into a battle against seasoned witches.

“I’m taking him up to Fog!” I yelled over to Raska and Thyrion who had resumed fighting the Hunters that were still alive and fighting in earnest.

“Be careful!” Thyrion yelled back as he shot a binding spell over the few Hunters in front of him. I raised my eyebrow when his binding spell continued to constrict around the Hunters until they were crushed. It was oddly disorienting to see them being crushed by practically nothing.

Shaking off the thought, I clutched the child tightly in my arms. I gathered air around myself and jumped up towards the surface as quickly as possible. There were more Hunters fighting in that cramped space than I was comfortable with, and I was not in the mood to get injured. Once I broke through the illusion’s boundary, I sprinted to where I saw Fog watching the fight play out below, never missing a single detail of what looked like organized chaos.

“Fog!” I yelled out to him.

He saw me approach with the child and nodded in acknowledgement. “Thank you for bringing him here. I will hand him off to the Ga’s as soon as Noch is finished, they might need him to open a gateway to the Order. To think that they would go through with something like this when they hate us this much is beyond me.” He muttered darkly while staring down at the boy.

“Do you think the cloaked man will come back?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer myself.

“It’s doubtful, he purposefully sent these men through the gateway and made sure not to show himself at all.” He mused as he took the boy from me and placed a hand on his cheek. I could feel Fog’s fae magic emerge and put the boy into a deeper sleep.

“I just wish I knew what his goal was. Why send in a witch child with all these Hunters to fight against trained witches? Or did he believe that he was still sending them towards the village?” Fog asked no one in particular.

“No, he knew it was a trap.” I said surely. Fog lifted his face to me and waited for my explanation. “He only opened the gate from the one side and never stepped out. He also only sent the child through and closed the gate once the Hunters themselves started realising that it was a trap. And not just that, I swear I could see him smiling under that hood before he closed the gateway. I have a bad feeling about this Fog.” My gut was practically squeezing the life out of itself with that bad feeling.

“Your feelings aren’t the only ones that are telling you that at the moment. I too feel like this is something that is going to get worse first, before it will get better.” Fog said as he looked over the battle that almost seemed finished. I was actually surprised by how much things had changed down there within the span of me talking to Fog.

A flash of fire suddenly appeared to Fog’s right and a square of parchment took shape as the  flame dissipated. Fog grabbed the fire message before the breeze could carry it away and quickly read it. His face turned deadly serious as he crushed the parchment in his fist.

“The village is being attacked.” He gritted out.