Witches (The Order)Revised

Chapter 64

Noch

It felt good to get rid of the Demon Spawn. I understood her curiosity, but some things were better left in the past where they belonged. What she told me made the uneasy pit in my stomach get even worse though.

"Did you find anything interesting while there Jasnine?" I asked.

Jasnine was looking around the smithy at all the weapons that were halfway done and strewn about. "There was something that I found quite fascinating while there." She mused.

"And that was?" I prompted.

"Dermon seems to be more like a puppet of the Demons than anything else." She said with a dark expression. "While we scouted the area, Raska and I saw Dermon communicating with the Demons. I don't know if the Warlocks are aware, but it seems like something a lot more complicated is going on than what we originally thought."

"As if our original findings weren't complicated enough." I groaned.

"That's true. After seeing Dermon between the Dark Warlocks, I just can't understand why he was with the Hunters and assisting them." Jasnine muttered in irritation.

I was also wondering about that issue, something just didn't sit right. Why would Dermon infiltrate the Hunters, when he's with the Dark Warlocks? What was the purpose? "Maybe Dermon first used the Hunters to find the Dark Warlocks? They are a secretive bunch after all, but the Hunters tend to try and keep track of anything that isn't wholly human, in their eyes anyway."

Jasnine looked thoughtful for a minute. "That's true, it does seem like he has spent more time with the Hunters than with the Dark Warlocks so far." She mused. "But why stay with the Hunters then even after finding the Warlocks? With his level of skill he could use them then disappear without leaving a trace for them to follow."

By this point I felt like the frown on my forehead was becoming a permanent fixture. Then something seemed to dawn on me. I suddenly slapped my forehead, which surprised Jasnine. "Diversions!" I exclaimed.

"Come again?"

"It makes sense that Dermon used the Hunters at first to find the Warlocks, but after finding the Warlocks he had to have filled them in on how he found them. But since he was still working with both sides when we fought with him last, the Warlocks and he must have collectively thought of using the Hunters to their advantage. Especially since Dermon already 'gained their trust'. All of them could be using the Hunters in order to keep us at bay from interfering." I said quickly as I started to pace in a tight circle.

"That would make sense. But that plan would probably be up in flames by now right? Since Dermon killed the Hunters he was supposedly working with. They must know that he's a traitor by now."

"No, not necessarily. I don't think they know at all. Dermon is still a very sneaky bastard. He didn't leave a single Hunter alive. There was no one able to report back to the organisation other than him. And since they trust him, for the most part, he can come up with whatever story he wants to and still stay in their ranks."

Janine plopped down in the stool that Merianna had vacated. "Oh now this is turning out to be very bad isn't it?"

I scoffed. "This is the worst position we've found ourselves in in a long time. Not only is all of that going on, but apparently the Dark Warlocks are dead set on reviving one of the first deities of this realm that was supposedly destroyed."

Jasnine's head snapped up to me. "You're jesting! How is that even possible?! Both the destroying and reviving part."

I could see that her poor mind was reeling with what I said. "The destroying part you don't need to think about, that is something that only happened before the cataclysm. Depending on the information that the Warlocks are receiving, where they are receiving it from, and the people they are working with now, things could get even more ridiculous."

"And here I thought that the world be lived in right now was ridiculous enough." She retorted. "I assume you're talking about the Demons that Dermon is associated with right?"

"That's right. Demons and Angels are beings that aren't necessarily tied to this one realm and it's cataclysms. They can be here during the one cataclysm and go to another realm altogether, then come back again when new life has begun. Their knowledge can be boundless depending on their age and experience. They might very well know how to revive a deity whom people in this realm revere."

"If that's true, can't they also just as easily trick people into reviving someone else?" Jasnine blurted out.

Janine's question was an innocent one, but the moment it left her lips, my stomach dropped like a pile of stones into a lake. "I sincerely hope that is not the case."

"Is there something worse than the deity the Dark Warlocks are wanting to revive?" Janine asked with a worried frown.

"There is always something worse lurking in the dark than what you think there is. I would much rather deal with a deity of Chaos than what the Demons could be planning on bringing into this realm if they have a heavy hand in all this." Jasnine straightened as if a chill ran down her spine.

"We can't just be sitting around then can we? Should I make preparations to infiltrate?" She asked seriously.

My mind was reeling with what we just discussed, but my gut also said that I couldn't ignore it. "I think you can start making preparations for battle. Check all our weapons, start pulling the hard headed people in from their bounties, but keep your activities quiet until I have a talk with Fog. We don't know if what we are speculating is true or not. We might need some extra help in finding out the details."

"Are you talking about enlisting help from the Fae?" Jasnine asked in surprise.

I heaved a sigh. "Yes..." I answered half heartedly. "I really don't want to, but it might come to that."

Jasnine snorted. "By the way you say that, it makes it sound like you had tough run-ins with the Fae in the past."

I glowered at Jasnine. "Don't even get me started. I know their ins and outs but I still can't get over their wordplay. Nothing is ever straightforward with them! Maybe means yes or no but they don't want to say because they're having too much fun watching your inner struggle. You can't say Thank You without getting indebted to them. And once you are in a give and take relationship with them you can't just bow out of it whenever you want without them retaliating in some petty way!" I growled in annoyance.

"Dorris is a Fae though, and you seem fine with her." Janine smirked.

"Dorris is a special case, I swear she's more human than Fae. She's more on Fog's level." I grumbled.

"Which is probably why you are going to go to Fog with this information so he can talk to the Fae for you?" Jasnine asked, even though she already knew the answer very well.

"That is exactly right." I grinned. "Why put myself through the torture if someone else can do it for me?"

Jasnine laughed and stood up from her stool. "I'll start with what I can." She then spied Merianna's scythe lying dejectedly on my work table. "Don't forget that you also need to finish whatever you were going to do with Merianna's new toy, I'm sure she's going to need it soon."

I looked down at the weapon and pursed my lips. Work on the weapon first, then talk to Fog later? I hated making important decisions like these. "Oh Jasnine! When you go inside you'll probably run into Fog coming out of the dungeon by now. Send him this way for me." I said with a grin. Why choose between the two if I could have both at the same time?

She laughed because she knew what I was thinking. "I will do that for you." She chuckled as she disappeared out the door.