Chapter 68

**Merianna**


After our visit to Fog’s friend in Faerie, there wasn’t much else to do but wait. During these few days, I tried to stay as far away from Junnie as possible. My actions wouldn’t be suspicious to her since I always tried to avoid her anyway, but I still couldn’t help but worry.

I didn’t like having to sneak around my own home to avoid a clingy outsider that was adamant in becoming best friends. Noch had finished my scythe, which I was extremely happy and thankful for. It was most definitely the best weapon I had ever received in the Order. It truly made me feel like part of everything.

As discussed previously, a while back, Nelia also received a new wand. One that was a lot sturdier than the previous one she broke over my and Noch’s heads. The only downside was that she had developed the habit of smacking everyone to health with the darn thing. It was indeed a very efficient method of healing minor injuries or illnesses, but I still couldn’t wrap my head around the method of inflicting an injury to get rid of an injury… the Ga’s seemed to have a ball with it though. They constantly shoved injured people in Nelia’s direction and used the excuse that she needed the experience as a trainee.

I needed to learn some more intense healing spells… and soon. The memory of the day she whacked me and Noch with her previous wand still made my head sting.

Other than me having those thoughts and practicing with my new scythe, I caught glimpses of Fog, Jasnine and Raska skulking around in the shadows and preparing for imminent battle. Thyrion only seemed to be lazing around in the garden most of the time, which irked me since everyone else was busy.

“Thyrion!” I yelled up from below the tree he was lazing in again. “Come and spar with me. Everyone else is busy.”

He tilted his head and looked down at me with one eye open. “Is that so? What is in it for me?”

I pouted up at him. “I know you’re just as bored as I am, and I just got my new scythe. Noch made it, don’t you want to test his newest creation?” I smirked.

I knew I had him once he glanced my way. “Are you really that bored?” He asked with a smirk.

“What kind of question is that? Didn’t I just say that I was bored?” I pouted.

Thyrion chuckled and rolled himself off of the branch, only to land nimbly on his feet. “I hope Fog gets some information soon. This waiting is driving me crazy.”

I heaved a heavy sigh. “You’re not the only one. We need to kick Dermon’s head in as soon as possible. I need to pay him back for last time.”

“Ha, is that maybe one of the reasons you want to spar with me? Training in disguise?” He grinned in amusement. For some reason, that grin of his irked me a little. I had the crazy urge to either stare at him or shove his head in a different direction so he wouldn’t look directly at me, or even to punch his teeth in, although that one was at the bottom of the list.

“Call it what you want. I don’t care. It’s not a lie that I’m bored out of my skull.” I deadpanned instead.

“Don’t let Noch hear you say that.” Thyrion said with a sneaky grin. “He might just give you more lectures to write on parchments and scrolls.”

My expression of disgust must have been too obvious. Thyrion didn’t wait for me to say anything and instead burst out laughing. 

“Merianna! There you are!” Raska yelled as she came jogging up to us excitedly.

“You’re back Raska?” I asked in surprise. I had thought that they would be busy for at least the whole week.

“Indeed, I am!” she declared, and threw her arms around me in a tight hug. A little too tight, I might add.

“What brings you here, Raska?” Thyrion asked with a chuckle. He clearly saw my suffering as prime entertainment.

“Oh, I came to fetch the two of you. Noch has called for a meeting, only a chosen few people can attend. You and Merianna are to come along.” She said, as she finally allowed me to breathe again.

“Is Fog back yet?” I asked with my gasp of air. I remembered seeing Fog leave the castle at noon, heading towards the forest. My guess was that his favor had come in.

She grinned slyly and grabbed my hand. “Indeed, and with a lot of interesting information.”

She needn’t have said anything more. That was all I needed to hear in order to start sprinting towards Noch’s office.

Once we finally reached the space, it was clear that we were the last people to arrive. All the elders of the Order were present. The only exclusions were me, Thyrion, Nelia and the Ga’s. I couldn’t believe that everyone was able to fit into Noch’s little office, but was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t stuffy at all. The moment we entered and closed the door behind us, I felt Noch’s energy wash over the space and seal us in a barrier that trapped sound. It was good, since I had no clue if Junnie was slinking about the Order’s halls or not. She clearly loved to appear and disappear as she pleased.

“Alright, now that Demon Spawn and Bastard Spawn are present, let’s start this meeting and come up with a plan, shall we?” Noch asked with a deceptively innocent smile.

“Indeed, my acquaintance had reached back out to me with some disturbing information that I think would be best acted upon as soon as possible. It might not be convenient, but the Council’s power might be needed to help us in this situation.” Fog started off as he crossed his arms and relaxed into one of the couches.

“Is it really that bad?” Asked Jasnine with a worried frown. I didn’t like the expression that Fog had on his face and glanced over at Nelia. I could clearly see that she also didn’t like the atmosphere that was being set.

“Yes, unfortunately.” Fog replied. “It seems that things are very complicated. As you had hinted at previously, Noch, it does seem that Dermon and the Warlocks aren’t completely unified and have their own plans. Although, who is using who is still a little unclear.”

“We can figure that out as we go along. Did your friend find out what the Warlocks were up to exactly and when they plan to execute their plot?” Noch asked, while leaning his arms onto his desk.

“It has been confirmed that they indeed want to resurrect their chosen deity and are making preparations for that. They are working very closely with the demons in order to translate and understand certain texts. In fact, it seems that they are very close to performing their ritual.” Fog answered solemnly.

“I bet that the demons are in full control of whatever might happen during that ritual as well.” Noch muttered unhappily. “Was your friend also able to observe Dermon during these past few days?”

“Yes, it seems as though he had lost the trust of the Hunters after losing all the men that were assigned to him, so he has been more present at the Warlock’s abode. They weren’t able to get a closer look at the documents that the Warlocks and demons were using. Being Fae might make us harder to notice, but not impossible. They guard those ancient texts like otherworldly treasures.”

“This is troubling. Without knowing exactly what they are going to do, we can only prepare so much. The Council would also be less likely to lend their aid for this.” Nana Ara commented with a deep frown.

“That’s true. We might have better battle-experienced people than the Council, but they most definitely have more in numbers, which would be an invaluable asset. At the same time we can’t trust them completely because we still have our suspicions about Junnie. I can’t even really bring the topic up with Councilor Ferina because of their close connection. At this point I don’t even know if we can trust Ferina herself.” Noch sighed.

“Can we even start a battle against the Dark Warlocks without the Council being at least notified about it?” Helga asked from where she stood in a corner with the other Ga’s and Nelia.

“At this point, we can’t afford them knowing. Yet at the same time, a move like this would be enough to have us all labeled as traitors and possibly cast aside by the magical community as a whole.” Noch groaned.

“But they are Dark Warlocks though, aren’t they themselves already labeled as traitors?” I asked curiously.

“Yes, but they have not made any obviously hostile movements against us personally and are still keeping to themselves. In the eyes of everyone in the magical world, we would be the aggressors, and held responsible for any and all loss of life that might occur.” Thyrion explained. He also didn’t seem to like the odds and possible backlash at all.

“If it were just up to me, I’d say, *To hell with it all*, and start storming down their barriers right now. But of course, not everyone in this building would have the same standpoint as I do. I’ve never liked the Council from the beginning, so I couldn't care less about what they say about me.” Noch huffed.

“That’s true. You sure have made quite an impression on the Council since the beginning, especially to the Head of the Council. I doubt that he would listen to you voluntarily no matter the circumstances.” Fog pointed out wearily.

“Ha! He might not want to, but I know one thing for certain. That pompous peacock dislikes Dermon a lot more than he does me. In that case, I’ll go break into his chambers and force him to hear me out. What a sad day it is when I have to talk to his face directly because of traitors and spies.” Noch lamented dramatically.

“At least try to be somewhat courteous since he’s the Head of the Council.” Fog sounded like he had given up and was just letting things go as they wanted.

Noch just gave Fog a withering look. “I can’t make any promises. Especially if that idiot is the one to start a fight.”

I knew that Noch disliked the Council, but I didn’t think that it was to that extent. Thyrion looked down at me and seemed to figure out the question that was on my face.

Thyrion bent down close to my ear and whispered. “Noch was offered the seat of Head in the Council a long time ago, but he refused. Jernok was the next to be offered the seat, but since he was only chosen after the offer was already extended to Noch, he developed a bit of an inferiority complex. It didn’t help matters that he and Noch didn’t get along well from the beginning.”

I turned my wide eyes to Thyrion, just to make sure that I heard that right. He just smiled and nodded. To think that someone so important… could be so childish. If the Head of the Council, Jernok, was really that petty, then I already didn’t like him either. And I haven’t even met him yet.

“Alright then!” Noch called to get everyone’s attention again. “We will make preparations to infiltrate the Warlock’s base within two day’s time. We can’t afford to give them more time than that to finish whatever it is they are planning to do. I will head out to the Council today to speak privately to Jernok and see what their stance is on the situation. Be prepared to most likely receive a refusal for backup.” Noch’s voice sounded alive as he said that, but his eyes told a different story.

We all exited his office and went about our own preparations as Noch made his way to the Atrium.

“I’m not sure who to pity at this point.” I heard Jasnine mutter behind me as we all moved.

“You can say that again. Jernok should be pitied for most likely getting forced to listen to Noch, and Noch should be pitied for having to face Jernok’s stubbornness in the first place.” Raska agreed.

“Well, clearly Jernok is the one at fault for both occasions.” Fog piped up behind me. “If he didn’t have such a dislike for Noch in the first place, then the two wouldn’t need to have to go through so much torture in the first place.”

At this point in time, I wasn’t even surprised to hear everyone’s mumbled agreements behind me. If I ever had the misfortune to meet this Jernok person, I would most definitely take Noch’s side. One thing I hated more than a demented evil-doer was a childish jerk.