Witches (The Order)Revised

Chapter 63

Merianna

When I had marched back into the castle I expected Noch to be in his office, especially since Thyrion and I didn't leave there too long ago. He wasn't there... I then remembered how excited he looked when I handed the scythe back to him. I hadn't expected for him to be excited enough to start on the scythe so quickly that he would slip through the floors and walls again. That was the only reason I could come up with for him disappearing so quickly. My guess turned out to be correct.

As I walked up to the door of his creaking smithy I could hear him fiddling around inside. I walked up to the door and knocked. "Noch, do you have a moment?"

The clanking inside the structure stopped and I heard shuffling coming closer to the door. "Is that you Demon Spawn?" He asked as he pushed the door open.

I raised my eyebrow in surprise. "You couldn't have been in here for more than a few minutes, how could you be so dirty if all you're doing is attaching a chain?" I asked incredulously. Noch was in his dirty blacksmith clothing, but that wasn't what I was baffled about. He looked like he had been working in front of a forge for a whole day instead of a few minutes.

"Creating masterpieces is no simple matter. I don't care what I look like while I do my best work." He huffed. "Now you probably didn't come here to check on your weapon. What do you want, Demon Spawn?"

I huffed right back at him. "Is Raska back yet?"

"I have not seen her yet, but she should be coming back soon. Once she does we'll just let her know about the visitor. I assume you found Fog and let him know already?"

"I did indeed." I confirmed with a smile. I needed to ask him about the time before the calamity, but how do I start the subject? Noch usually avoids talking about what happened back then, and whenever I tried to ask previously he'd just twist the conversation into a completely different direction. I wasn't completely sure how much of a taboo topic it was for him.

"What's wrong Demon Spawn? I can see you practically running circles in your head." He gave me a look that said I should better spit it out or get out.

"What exactly happened in the time before the cataclysm? What caused the cataclysm in the first place? Back then, were deities beings that physically interacted with people?"

Noch looked taken aback by my questions. I knew he didn't expect me to ask something like this. I have respected his wishes to steer clear of the subject up until now. I knew that he didn't want to talk about it, but this was just something I had to know. After Thyrion brought it up, and mentioned the name Denaue. My heart just couldn't calm down. I felt like I was in a slight panic the whole time, and there was no way for me to resolve the panic because I didn't exactly know what was causing it. The information shouldn't be affecting me as much as it was.

"Why the sudden serious interest in the long past?" Noch asked. His demeanor suddenly changed from the carefree Noch I've forever known, to a serious one that almost seemed threatening.

"I asked Thyrion what he knew about the Dark Warlocks and their goal. He told me that their goal was to bring back an old Dia of war and chaos named Denaue that was destroyed in the time before the cataclysm. I can't get it out of my head." I muttered. Noch looked like he wanted to rip Thyrion a new gullet. I knew his glare was pointing towards me, but his intended target was most definitely the one that gave me the information.

Noch heaved a sigh, stalked back into the smithy and sat down on a rickety stool. "I'd rather keep the past in the past since none of it helps the present. I'll have a word with Thyrion later, he should have told me about the Dark Warlocks rather than you. I tend to stay out of their business, but when it concerns the long past, then it could be a different story." He mused as he rubbed his face vigorously.