Chapter 76

**Merianna**

My blood ran cold as despair slowly crept over me. Jasnine, kind and gentle Jasnine. Motherly and cheerful Jasnine. Was staring at me with the blackest eyes I had ever seen in my life. There was no way to differentiate between Iris, Pupil or white of her eyes. It was all black, like she had black tourmaline spheres for eyes.

“My Lady!” I suddenly heard Hezerial call out as my hearing returned again.

Even though my emotions were in turmoil, I had to do whatever I could to throw her off me. It felt so terribly wrong to try to attack Jasnine, but she was clearly not herself right then. I threw a punch into her face that made her head jerk sideways with the impact, but it didn’t seem to have much of an effect on her. Her grip merely intensified on my shoulders and her face turned back to glare at me.

It was so odd to see Jasnine’s face making that kind of expression. Even when fighting with the Nirns on her bounty last time, she never made this kind of face. It was eerie and sent shivers down my spine.

Jasnine’s head suddenly jerked up, and she was lifted off me within a second. Completely taken off guard, I stared at Jansine, and then noticed Ela pulling her away from me by her hair. I couldn’t help but notice that I was forever getting saved by everyone over here. Was I just in the way?

“You alright there, squirt?” She asked as she easily pulled Jasnine’s arms behind her in a lock hold that prevented her from doing anything.

I couldn’t help but grin up at her as my body twitched with another set of spasms. “I guess things could’ve been better. What’s wrong with Jasnine?”

Ela hummed as she also gave me a once-over. “She’s been possessed. At least it seems that she’s been taken over by a lesser demon instead of those monsters over there.” Ela said nonchalantly as she nodded her head towards where Zerial and Jernok were still fighting furiously. Zerial seemed to catch his breath as he glanced my way and saw Ela by my side.

I turned back to her with a struggling Jasnine in her arms. “So this is what it looks like when someone’s possessed?” It was certainly a first for me. Book descriptions couldn’t really do justice to the sight in front of me. She almost looked like she had gone feral and struggled so hard that I could hear one of her arms dislocate. I raised my eyebrow at that, while noticing that she didn’t seem to feel the pain.

“Well, depending on the demon, it can always either be worse or less than this.” She commented dryly while tying a long purple dyed rope around Jasnine’s hands and elbows behind her back.

“Shouldn’t we … exorcize her?” I asked hesitantly. This was completely new and uncharted territory for me.

Ela chuckled as she threw Jasnine onto the ground and proceeded to tie her feet and legs together too. “This rope of Arasule’s will keep her contained for the time being. We will drive the demon out later. When Jasnine turned around and attacked Arasule and the others in their group, Arasule threatened to make the demon possessing her into an elixir or weapon when she can get her hands on it. So for now, I think this much is fine.”

I took a second to try and process that thought. “An elixir?” I asked, just to make sure I heard right.

“Indeed. Something that would boggle the mind of every living and non-physical being in this entire realm. If she does manage to do it, I doubt any non-corporeal being would ever want to come near her again.” Ela smirked as she hauled an incapacitated Jasnine up under one arm, making her look like a sack of potatoes.

“We should get out of here quickly. I don’t know for how much longer this cave is going to hold now that the barrier is broken.” I said as I grabbed her outstretched hand. The integrity of the cave was being tested every single time Noch and Dermon dealt a blow. They didn’t even need to touch the walls to make the surrounding area shake anymore. The stalactites were already falling from the ceiling, ready to impale anyone who might accidentally pass by underneath.

“My Lady! We must leave.” I whirled towards Zerial’s voice in time to see him decimate the demon he had been fighting with. A single stab and flash of energy from his blade was all that was needed to reduce the creature to nothing.

“I agree with that. Help the Counselor first! Then we can leave!” I yelled over the ricocheting booms of Noch and Dermon’s fight.

Zerial quickly sprang into action to help the struggling Counselor Jernok as Ela started dragging me and a growling Jasnine towards the exit.

A sudden worry sprang to my mind. “What about Raska and the others?” For all I knew, they were still trying to find this area inside the cave system.

“No need to worry. When Noch ran to this location, I had the feeling that something dangerous was going to happen, so I popped in by them momentarily to tell them to run if they wanted to live.” Ela responded without a care in the world.

“Oh, that’s reassuring.” I muttered. Go figure, Ela had been around Noch for long enough to already predict the most likely outcome.

My muscles were still slightly spasming as I tried to hobble along as quickly as possible. It seemed to take forever until we managed to reach the tunnel. Glowing stones were now rolling and skirting along the floor as they had been knocked off of their nooks by the tremors rushing through the ground. With the way the cave groaned and shook, you would have thought that an earthquake was in full swing.

My heart started beating wildly as a long crack suddenly snapped open above our heads. Thoughts of us all being buried alive under the weight of the mountain suddenly flooded my mind. I never thought about it before, but dying under these circumstances would be truly horrific. I was already injured and drained, there would be no way for me to keep myself safe or dig myself out if I were to get struck right then and there. Ela was amazing though. I wondered if she would be able to keep all three of us safe in such a situation.

I gripped Ela’s waist a little tighter when another viscous tremor boomed through the cave. A series of cracking and groaning sounds followed suit and showered a barrage of stones and pebbles down on our heads. I didn’t have time to process what was going to happen when the large crack suddenly split wider down the tunnel’s roof above us.

I heard Ela curse next to me and noticed that Jasnine had started struggling in her grip again. This was not a good situation at all.

I didn’t have much time to try and think. The gaping crack above our heads suddenly seemed to cave in on itself. An involuntary gasp escaped my lips as I caught sight of the ceiling collapsing in on itself.

Something suddenly enveloped me in a strong grip and the air whooshed past my ears so quickly that all I could hear was a whistling whine, while my eyes squeezed themselves shut. The next thing I knew, was a sudden stop. I felt something warm wash over me and cautiously opened my eyes.

The waning sunlight burned my eyes. I quickly squinted to glance around us. We were back outside at the edge of the forest. I glanced up to see who had me in their arms and smiled to myself when I saw that it was none other than Zerial. But the trembling arms that were wrapped around his neck made me quirk an eyebrow.

“Whenever an Angelic tells me to ‘get on’ ever again, remind me not to accept.” I heard Councilor Jernok’s voice emerge from behind Zerial as the arms suddenly slipped loose and a heavy weight fell onto the ground.

“Where’s Ela?” I asked worriedly.

“Over here. I’m not so weak as to at least avoid that kind of danger.” Ela scoffed from behind my head.

I was so glad to see that she was safe along with Jasnine, that was still wriggling in her arm like a wild worm. “Did everyone else also make it out safely?” I asked as I glanced around us.

“Merianna!” I heard Raska yell from behind the treeline. She quickly rushed over to our side, and even though I was still in Zerial’s arms, she reached up and quickly enveloped me in an uncomfortable hug.

“I’m so glad you guys made it out safely.” I wheezed as my windpipe bent at an uncomfortable angle.

“You had me worried sick!” I flinched as she yelled in my ear.

“It wasn’t my idea to get kidnapped.” I tried to reason.

“YOU STILL HAD ME WORRIED!” She yelled while letting go and pinching my ear. “Now where is Noch?” She asked as she stepped back to glance around.

“Nochtandriel is still inside the cave.” Zerial answered, while turning back to glance at the entrance.

“I can just imagine how things are looking in there by now.” Thyrion said as he came out of the treeline as well. “Merianna, you look hurt, you should go into the forest to where Nelia and the Ga’s are waiting.” He said with a frown as he looked me over.

“I’m fine for now. We can always do that afterwards. Look at Jasnine, Ela says she’s been possessed by a lesser demon.” I pointed over to Ela who now had a struggling Jasnine on her knees in front of her.

“Crap.” Thyrion said with a frown as he looked at her. “Do we know for how long she’s been possessed?” He asked, directing his question directly to Ela.

“No, there isn’t really any way of knowing, especially if we have a crafty demon on our hands that likes to hide and play dumb.” She said with a sneer.

That little exchange made my heart skip a beat. “Wait a minute. If we don’t know for how long she’s been possessed. Is it possible that Jasnine could have been the mole that we were wondering about?”

Thyrion and Ela both went still for a second. Heaving a sigh, Raska patted my head. “Maybe, it’s highly possible if we think of it that way. Maybe the demon took over her mind at times when she was vulnerable to give feedback to the enemy.”

“Now that would make a lot of sense if you ask me.” Arasule said as she arrived next. “But we still can’t be too sure until I get to extract that valuable little bit of research specimen from her body.” Her grin made goosebumps run over my arms.

That being said, I now wondered if my impression of Junnie had been wrong? It was highly likely that Jasnine’s possession could be the root cause of our issues, and not an ally betraying us, right? Junnie had started growing on me like Noch had. Having her around wasn’t all too bad, in fact it made things entertaining. 

I should probably let her suffocate me all she wants when we get back. As a silent apology for doubting her of course.

I was just about to open my mouth to add to the conversation when a vicious shudder rocked through the ground. The earth under our feet heaved so violently that nearly everyone lost their footing. Everyone’s attention got pulled back to the mountain, as that was where all the chaos was originating from.