Chapter 58

**Thyrion**


It had been years since I had seen so many Hunters gathered in one area to fight against us. Glancing around at the battle around me, I was reassured to see the Hunters getting overwhelmed by our own numbers.

While I was glancing around I saw Raska cackling away as she disposed of Hunters at every turn. I frowned as I noticed what I did not see. I did not see Merianna fighting close by at all. My heart suddenly sped up and I frantically started searching for her as I dealt blows.

My heart started pounding when I couldn’t see hide nor hair of her. “Raska! Where is Merianna?!” I yelled over the chaos.

“She isn’t there on your side?!” She yelled back with concern.

“I wouldn’t be asking if she was!” I impaled a Hunter in my growing frustration and kept searching. I was at least thankful that the Hunter’s numbers were diminishing, but still worried since I couldn’t see her.

I spied Noch cracking a Hunter’s scull not too far away and yelled over to him as well. “Noch! Is Merianna over there?!” Noch had a flash of annoyance dance over his face until he realised what I was asking. He straightened and glanced around himself, only to frown.

Not even a minute later a tremor rocked the ground and many people glanced around in worry. The witches were looking around to see if any of us were the cause, but worried when no one obvious was working elemental magic.

A puff of dust suddenly burst out of one of the buildings’ doors and another tremor ensued. I quickly glanced over at Noch and didn’t like the glare he was shooting to the building at all.

“Back away from the building!” Noch commanded and the witches all scattered from the area like disrupted flies. All the Hunters within the area were too confused to move quickly and got caught in the uproar when the ground suddenly rocked upwards and caved in in a startling display of destruction.

Dust went flying into the air and I caught a glimpse of something white and fast shooting out of the hole that had appeared. Before I could blink I saw Merianna’s guardian crouched a few feet away with Merianna herself clutched tightly to him.

“Got yourself into some trouble again Demon Spawn?” Noch yelled over to her.

“Maybe a little more than usual!” She sassed back as she tried to wiggle free. Her guardian didn’t seem to want any of it though and only clutched her tighter and made her practically disappear behind his shield.

I could hear her complaining to him, but my focus had now been turned to what else was emerging from the hole. Dark energy came seeping out like a shroud and made the hairs all over my body stand on end.

I hissed in a gasp as a Demon General emerged from the dust with a person dressed in a cloak right on his heels. The cloaked man that Merianna had seen, the person responsible for forcing covens into dark deals, was Dermon. The man that had been stripped and banished from the Council and rumored to be dead as of late.

I noticed on the other hand, that Noch was deathly still. He glared at Dermon with even more hatred than he had looked at me with not too long ago.

“You seem to have changed Dermon. I never imagined that I would see you siding with Demons or Hunters, no matter how bad the situation was.” Noch said as he pulled Dermon’s attention from Merianna to himself.

“Perhaps it was time to change things a bit. Clearly the path I was walking previously served no means to the end I wanted, this path on the other hand seems to give me more certainty.” Dermon said calmly as he climbed down from the rubble.

“The path you tried to take within the Council was the wrong one to begin with. You have just gone from a bad path to an even worse one.” Noch said calmly. I moved swiftly through the frozen throng of Hunters and Witches until I finally reached Hezerial’s side. I was surprised to see that even Merianna sat frozenly fascinated with the scene in front of us. I was also surprised to see that she had blood leaking down the side of her face. She was filthy from the ground and dust as well, which made it hard to see any other injuries, either way she seemed fine enough. Satisfied, I turned back to Noch and Dermon’s exchange.

“Maybe within your eyes that’s true. My eyes on the other hand have been opened. I have spent some time with the dark Warlocks and traveled all over the world. Once Vernir found me and asked to become my Guardian, he opened my eyes even more and showed me a past that had been lost for eons now. I wish to bring it back. I yearn for the old world, don’t you Noch?” Dermon asked with a smirk.

I saw a muscle in Noch’s jaw twitch with barely restrained rage. “The old world is gone for a reason Dermon. Fate did not smile upon it. The old world spiraled into chaos and madness because of the greedy nature of all intelligent beings. If your Guardian showed you the old world, then you must have seen that too.” Noch sneered in contempt.

“Oh yes I did, and it was a marvelous sight indeed.” Dermon smiled unsettlingly. I could not believe that this was the same man I had met at the Council so long ago. He seemed like a completely different person altogether.

I saw Noch’s mouth purse into a stern line. He knew that this was the perfect time to get information out of him. “And how are you going to bring about the old world Dermon? No magic within our realm exists that can bring about the magic of the old world.”

Dermon gave a patronizing smile, he knew that Noch was digging for information. “That is right Nochtandriel. Nothing within this realm can bring about the old world again. That is why I would need to bring or awaken something that can do what I need to have done.”

Noch gritted his teeth. “Why are you siding with the Hunters then? It doesn’t seem like they will be able to help you with what you need.”

Dermon gave a shrug. “Merely an experiment. I also needed something from one of their strongholds, so I played nice while it counted. Now I have no more need of them.” He said while glaring down at the Hunters that stood shocked in between the witches.

“You have betrayed us!” A burley Hunter shouted in outrane.

“It is no fault of mine that you would think that someone who betrayed his own kind would at any point in time be loyal to someone else.” He replied curtly. “Do not worry. Your death will not be for naught, in fact it will set a fire under your leader to be more ruthless.”

For a second the Hunter blanched white before Dermon raised his hand and made a jerking motion. A gurgling sound escaped the Hunter before he suddenly went limp and crashed to the floor. One of his comrades quickly bent down and rolled him over, only to find him dead with blood starting to seep out of his mouth and nose.

Before any of the Hunters could act or say anything else Dermon raised his hand again in a sweeping motion and jerked it again. This time all the remaining hunters dropped like flies and didn’t even twitch again as they died.

I felt a wave of dread crash over me at the sight. Everyone stared in silent horror as Dermon smiled serenely down at what he had done. This was dark magic, forbidden magic. Looking up at Noch again I could see him thinking the same as he gritted his teeth in fury.

Noch raised his staff calmly and glared at Dermon. “Nothing good will come from any of this Dermon. You will not die peacefully, I can guarantee it.”

“I do not expect anything else. I had given up on this realm as it is a  long time ago. I am done catering to what everyone else wants. I am now only serving my own wants and needs, and I have never been happier.” He smirked.

“Fog! Retreat, get everyone out of here!” Noch yelled as he dived forward towards Dermon. Ela materialized a few feet in front of him and dived for the Demon herself.

“Everyone! Retreat!” Fog yelled and chaos erupted.

“We need to get out of here as well My Lady.” I heard Hezerial mutter to Merianna in his arms.

“No! I’m staying right here! You can go back to the Order if you want to but I want to fight! I owe him a good blow to the head!” Merianna writhed in anger as sparks of lightning escaped from her skin.

“You really do like to be stubborn don’t you?” I asked in amusement.

“I don’t want to hear that coming from you!” she said and tried to kick at me from where she was still cradled in Hezerial’s arms.

“Come come now my dear!” I heard Junnie chirp from Hezerial’s other side. Merianna froze and slowly turned around to look at Junnie’s grin. She didn’t flail to get away as she normally would though, Merianna actually tilted her head slightly and frowned.

“Are you alright Junnie?” She asked which shocked Junnie and made her look down at Merianna with a soft smile instead. 

“You are a mystery, you know that?” She said as she ruffled Merianna’s hair. “Now it’s time for us to get out of here, unless you want me to carry you?” She said wiggling her fingers at Merianna.

“NO! You’re not going to touch me! Hezerial, lets go!” Merianna commanded, and with a chuckle Hezerial stood up with a nod to us and disappeared in a flash.

I looked over at Junnie and finally saw what Merianna must have seen. Junnie stared sadly over at Dermon as he battled fiercely with Noch. Their battle was a spectacle all of its own and could strike anyone with awe.

“Are you really alright?” I asked Junnie. She turned her face to me and smiled softly. Only a few people who knew the dynamics of the old Council knew that Junnie previously had a seat as a Council elder, and was in fact in love with Dermon back then when things were still tranquil.

“Sadly we can’t change the past. It stings Thyrion. I never thought that seeing him again would hurt so much, especially with the way he is now.” She whispered as if her voice couldn’t find the will to work properly.

“I’m so sorry Junnie.” I said and slung my arm over her shoulders. I could remember the day that Dermon had been discovered with forbidden texts and was found to be practicing forbidden magics. Because of her love for him, she was suspected as well, but she wasn’t found guilty of practicing the forbidden magics. She did however know that Dermon was practicing the forbidden magics and kept his secret from everyone. Whereas Dermon got stripped from his seat and exiled from the council, Junnie was stripped from her seat but was saved from being shunned by Ferina.

The earth rocked underneath our feet and brought us back to the present. “Thank you Thyrion, now let us get out of here before Noch decides to bury us along with Dermon.” She squeezed my shoulder and sprinted off towards the forest where the portal awaited.

Quickly glancing back at the fight I was surprised at how much power Dermon had gained. In the past he didn’t stand a chance against Noch, but now he seemed to be battling quite evenly with him. In fact he seemed slightly perplexed that Noch didn’t stumble or fall at his blows. It seemed that he didn’t take into consideration that Noch never stops working with his magic and is forever finding ways to improve even more. Which I always found to be a little excessive, yet now I was glad of it.

I saw Ela attacking the Demon viciously with two swords, and seemed to be pushing it back. I was quite impressed with the spectacle in front of me. It was not every day that I could enjoy such an impressive fight.

“Get out of here Thyrion, unless you want me to finally kill you like I promised!” Noch quipped after he managed to hit Dermon with a blow that sent him falling backwards.

“Oh now don’t be so sour!” I quipped back. “I am merely admiring the fight and seeing if you need any help.” I replied with a devious grin.

“Ha! Help from you would probably land all of us in the recovery room, now go and help out the others at the Order. I’ll be there in a little while.” Noch commented. Dermon however picked himself out of the rubble with barely a scratch on him. “Maybe a little longer than a little while.” He corrected himself.

“Alright I will go, just yell if you need help!” I smiled.

“I’d rather have Arasule at my back than you.” He said dryly.

“Oh now that’s mean. My poor heart is crushed Noch!” I uttered in mock hurt.

“More than your heart will get crushed if you don’t stop irking me and leave right now Thyrion.” Noch warned in a serious tone.

Turning serious myself I resigned myself to leaving this in Noch’s hands. “Very well Noch, have fun!” I yelled and sprinted off to the gateway.