Witches (The Order)Revised

Chapter 15

Merianna

I nearly started gagging the closer I got to the source of all the chaos. Nope, not because if the smell, the bubble of fresh air I had wrapped around my head was doing a perfect job at keeping any unpleasant smells away from me, thank the heavens.

I was actually almost losing my breakfast, because of the many members around me who had already lost theirs, or who were still in the process of losing it wherever they stood.

My stomach was clearly very sympathetic towards everyone else's.

To keep myself from hearing or seeing the gagging horde I doubled my efforts with constructing my little bubble of safety, and thought of all the colourful things that I could call Nana Ara once I had her in my sights.

A gust of wind suddenly picked up from behind, moving towards the main source of the smell where more members were horizontal instead of vertical. I recognized the spark of Noch's energy in the breeze that flowed past. Thank Hecate for his smart thinking.

As I walked closer I saw Noch staring into the distance, and Fog was looking disapprovingly at Nana Ara as she grumbled with a scarf tied around her face. She was busy examining some black pieces of cloth that laid on the floor among heaps of wood and stone debris, completely ignoring the havoc she had created.

Oh yes, she definitely used the experiment that blew up in the Order the day of the maze trail. And refined it without a doubt.

"For the love of all things cursed Nana! Did you really have to refine that potion?!" I yelled as I got closer to them.

Noch, Fog and Ara all focused their gazes on me as I stopped in front of them. Fog's eyebrows were raised, Noch had a thoughtful expression and Nana scrambled to her feet and then rushed right into me.

"Merianna! Are you alright?! What happened?! Are you hurt? Did you get stabbed? Hit? Bludgeoned?!" She fired off at me as she patted me down, checked my head for cuts, and walked a circle around me to check for hidden injuries.

"I'm perfectly fine. A little tired but fine. You can stop picking through my hair Nana, I don't have a head injury." I said ducking out of her gentle grasp.

"You didn't get injured?" Asked Fog while lifting his eyebrow even higher. I had the fleeting fantasy that his eyebrows might just go flying off his face soon.

I shrugged. "I might have a few cuts and bruises but nothing serious."

"Demon child, you look like you just crawled out of a Wraith's nest after it had some fun with you and then ate something right over your body. In other words, terrible." Noch commented flatly while bringing in more fresh air and the remnants of the rain.

I calmly looked up at him without raising to his bait... much. "And you look like you're about to lose your breakfast, or did the moss sprites suddenly make an appearance and decide to make your face their new home?"

Ara laughed, Fog gave a tired grin and Noch snorted in indignation. "I would wager you to be flat on the ground if you dropped your little cocoon of air. You can blame it all on your crazy Nana here, as well as the fact that any wards that might still have been functioning in this area now being history."

Ara cringed slightly and gave a feeble chuckle while her hands fiddled with the back of her skirts. I turned my disapproving look to her.

"Nana, I thought you learned your lesson at the order when your experiment exploded and gave the center statue a new design."

She fiddled with her skirts some more. "Well, I also thought so, until I noticed that the potion exploded through the weak side of my cauldron where a previous experiment left a crack. The smell and side effects aside, it was a gloriously genius mistake." Her eyes lit up with a proud smile that was hidden behind the cloth.