Witches (The Order)Revised

Chapter 79

Merianna

"My Lady, we should get moving." Zerial said hesitantly as he glanced at my still fuming expression. Matters weren't helped by the fact that Thyrion didn't seem to have any intention of letting me go anytime soon. And I was too weak to try and fight him off.

"I don't want to."

"Please, My Lady." He seemed agitated, like he wanted to get me out of there as quickly as possible. Not like that was new.

"Noch might need our help." I insisted stubbornly.

"That's what we are here for. You, on the other hand, can go back to Nelia and get treated." Thyrion said, while indicating Raska and Arasule. It seemed like Ela had already taken Jasnine away, since they both were nowhere to be seen.

"But still!"

"Come now, don't be a mumpsimus. I know you have some personal issues with Dermon, but I'll take care of him for you." He retorted.

My eye twitched in irritation. "I'm not a mumpsimus! YOU are! You seem to have a tendency to dive into anything that you know is wrong!"

"I do not!"

"Where's Noch's staff then?"

He clamped his mouth shut and frowned disapprovingly down at me. Raska and Arasule on the other hand, both started laughing even though Noch and Dermon were fighting furiously close by. A gust of strong wind blasted past us, which caused us to become serious again.

"This is the first time I've seen a fight so intense." I said, while staring at the battle. And it really was intense. Noch was switching between long and close range combat so frequently that I could barely keep up with his pace. Dermon seemed to be holding up and deflecting his attacks as soon as they were about to hit him. It was nothing like the fight they had in that village not too long ago. But to think that being merged with a demon would change his capabilities by this much. It was mind-boggling.

"This is normal for us, who are a bit older." Thyrion said as he also looked closely at the battle. "Noch is a special case though. Out of us all besides Fog he's one of the strongest among witches, considering his age."

"Age..." I mumbled to myself. That reminded me again of the images I saw just a while ago. Somehow they were clearly triggered by Dermon's circle, but why, and how? I sneaked a glance at Hezerial, who seemed to be keeping a sharp eye on our surroundings and the battle. He was uncomfortable and clearly didn't want me anywhere near this area. He knew something. I would have to ask him later when we get back to the Order.

I nearly fell as the earth rocked under our feet again. It seemed like Noch was now gaining the upper hand again. He had pulled out his staff and was bashing something into the ground with it. Although I couldn't see what that something was, I knew that it must've been Dermon that was being pummeled.

"Ouch, that looks like it must hurt." Arasule piped up from behind.

"It looks like this is as far as Dermon can go against Noch right now." Raska added.

I had to agree. It looked brutal. I didn't want to be anywhere near the business end of Noch's staff. Each blow felt like one of Nana Ara's explosive spells going off underground. My eye caught something emerging from the other side of the treeline. It had gotten darker now as the sun was setting and heavy clouds had moved in as well. It had gotten hard to make out details in the dim lighting. Squinting my eyes, I was able to make out a figure in a dark dress.

I was about to ask the others who that figure was, when it suddenly sprinted towards Noch with incredible speed!

"Noch!" I yelled in warning. He managed to catch sight of the incoming figure and braced himself against the incoming blow. The hit sent him tumbling in our direction, but he was soon able to land on his feet again, not too far from our little group.