Chapter 8

Noch

That blasted child is going to be the death of me. I thought again as we ducked underneath low-hanging branches and moss-covered vines. I tracked through the energy in the air, following the lingering effects of my healing work still alive in the air.

"How much farther Noch? Maybe we should pick up the pace?" I heard Fog say from behind me. I looked back at him and saw him carrying the girl. She looked pretty comfortable where she was, even though I couldn't see her face.

"It's still a while off, but if we take off at a jog we might get there in the early afternoon. And then hopefully be done and back before sunset." I said eyeing him. "Are you sure you can manage that with dead weight?"

Fog gave me a warning glare which I ignored. I saw the girl tighten her arms around Fog's neck and her face peeked out from behind his back. I froze as I saw tears brimming in her eyes. Her face was the face that said that she had seen terrible things, a face that might as well have said that she was much older than she looked.

I turned around in a huff. "Make sure to keep up old man." I will not feel sorry for that demon child... I hope.

We took off at a brisk jog, shooting through the undergrowth and flying over roots and logs. I needn't have worried about Fog's speed. He might have been an old coot, but he was still fast and reliable.

We passed the spot where I had found the girl earlier, then I started tracking the faint trail that she had left. Her fear, exhaustion and pain still lingering in the plant life that she had passed in a daze. Because she was not a witch, she had no way of knowing how to keep her presence hidden while travelling. Her energy was faint but everywhere, lingering like a faint smell, or maybe she did know... I looked at her again holding on to Fog.

I could barely feel her presence even though I could clearly sense Fog wasn't doing anything to cloak them. And if she did know how to keep herself hidden, she must have been in too much shock and pain to even be conscious about it. In this instance it was a good thing, time had weakened the sense of where she was, but in such a short time, it was not wiped away completely. Which gave me a clear, albeit faint, trail to follow.

Pretty soon we reached a house. I stopped tracking her energy trail and slowly closed the distance between me and the building. I quickly pulled back my searching energy, making myself blind to the energies around me. I didn't want to feel the other energies coming off from the little building in front of us, it was unpleasant. It stank of evil, rot, and death.

It was a Wraith.

A blasted Wraith had come to these woods and attacked these people in their home. Even from where I was standing outside, I could see the blood splattered on the walls inside, the door was streaked with bloody claw marks as well. The scene itself told a gruesome story, there was no need to expose my energy to the hidden story beneath.

"Nelia!" The girl yelled as she jumped off of Fog's back and grabbed the scythe from my grasp as she came storming past me. "Nelia!" She screamed running towards the building.

In a second I was in front of her, blocking her way. There was no need for her to see what lay inside that ruin.

"Let me go through!" She yelled trying to push her way past me. I grabbed her arm and made her meet my eyes.

"There is no one left alive inside that house." I almost regretted saying it, but she needed to know that going inside would be useless, if not even more harmful to her.

"Wait, when it happened she was still out. She went to the river to go and get water!" She said staring frantically up at my face.

I looked up at Fog and he nodded at me. "Let's go then, there might just be some hope." Fog and I rushed towards the riverside. We heard the girl yelling after us as we rushed forwards. She was obviously trying to keep up, but if it really was a Wraith then it might be better for her to go inside the house rather than follow after us.

Bursting through the bushes, moss and vines, we finally reached a small river cutting through the earth. We moved downstream following the faint new energy that was making itself known to my now opened senses. As soon as we exploded through the last bit of foliage we froze. The Wraith was there alright, definitely no doubt about that.

Its skin was so black that it appeared to be dripping oil, its shadow seeking to stain the soil beneath its feet. Its limbs were long and gangly, humanlike... but not quite human. Its mouth was stained with old blood caking its jagged teeth and slender chin.

It was standing over a little girl with the same face as the brat's, her silver blonde curls were wavy and came down to her shoulders. Her golden brown eyes were wide with fear and her body trembled with exhaustion.

The Wraith was leaning over her and poking at what looked like an invisible wall around her, testing its boundaries, testing its strength. That child had managed to create a flash barrier! One that could keep a Wraith at bay! I was stunned!

The Wraith suddenly spun around as we burst into the clearing.

"Well now. I've never seen one this big before." Fog said taking out his sword. "Have you?" He asked as if we were having an everyday normal conversation.

"Nope." I said brandishing my staff. "Ready yourself old man, this seems like it will be fun." I said with a chuckle as the Wraith bared its gaping maw at us. It shrieked and charged without a second's hesitation.

Fog dodged to the left wile I dodged to the right. The wraith didn't hesitate - it went straight for me, catching me by the leg and lifting me clear off of the forest floor and straight into the nearest tree. The force of the blow was absorbed by the spelled jacket I wore but still left me staggering to my feet again.

Fog dived on the Wraith, slashing viciously, his sword almost looking like the beating wings of a hummingbird as he slashed and stabbed, keeping the Wraith's claws and teeth away from him while also trying to sever its head in the same breath.

I saw Merianna running to where her sister was and coming up short as she hit the flash barrier. Her sister didn't seem to recognize her or register that she was there really. I wondered for how long she had kept the barrier up.

The Wraith yowled and jumped up into the canopy, making leaves scatter and fall all around us. I glared at the area where it had disappeared to and listened. Everything was silent, and the sounds of normal animal life was starting to pick up again.

"It's gone." I told Fog who only nodded, but didn't relax his guard.

I walked over to Merianna and her sister. Merianna had the scythe held at the ready with her back to her sister, ready to strike at anything that would come within ten feet of her.

"You can relax now demon spawn. It has fled for now." I said, falling into a sense of boredom without having to even try. I was hoping that the Wraith would stick around some more for a bit of one on one action with a real challenge instead of small fry.

Merianna just looked at me with wide eyes and a pale face. Her sister behind her blinked as if finally realizing then that something was different. I felt the barrier around Nelia snap like an overextended sapling, suddenly snapping back to its original shape. The barrier disappeared and she slumped to the ground. Merianna heard her fall to the floor and let the scythe drop in an instant. She turned around and bent down to her sister's side, instantly pulling her into her lap and hugging her fiercely to her chest.

I bent down to have a look. "Move aside runt, let me have a look at her." I said while starting to pull Merianna back from where she was hunched over her sister.

"No!" She exploded, slapping my hand away. I sat there blinking at her with my hand still in the air. "Leave my sister alone! You don't really care! You don't really care about me or my sister's health! I don't even know if you have actual feelings!"

I cocked my head to the side and frowned down at her. She looked just about ready to faint, throw up, or tear my face apart.

It seemed like she was the type to talk a tough game, make fun of people, or attack you, when in actual fact she's just about to fall apart on the inside. "Look child, I've seen a lot and have been through a lot myself. I DO care whether she is healthy or not, why do you think I healed you up and brought you to the Order?"

She looked me in my eyes and wavered, tears starting to pool in her eyes.

"Now, please let me see if your sister is doing alright." I said as softly as possible, holding out my hands to her. She looked down at her sister and then back at me, then she moved a little to the side and allowed me to get closer.

Her sister was the spitting image of her. Same white blonde hair, dark eyebrows and lashes, and tanned skin. Well, the only thing that really distinguished them from each other was their hair, and... as I looked closer and examined her, their body structures...

Merianna had straight hair while her sister obviously had beautiful curls that were braided down to her shoulder blades. And Merianna had a strong figure for someone so young, agile, tall, slim but still toning well, while her sister already seemed to be developing curves...

"Are the two of you twins?" I asked Merianna as I checked her sister's energy, since physically she seemed to be doing quite fine, besides a few scrapes on her hands and knees, she was the perfect picture of physical health.

"Yes." Merianna said softly as she watched me work. "I was the first born though, I should have come this way instead..." She said balling her small fists in her lap, scrunching up the material of her skirts.

I gave a heavy sigh and looked at her. "You were scared out of your mind, who wouldn't have run the opposite direction?! If you had come towards danger instead of away from it then I would have had incredibly high doubts about your sanity. If you had run this way first, both you and your sister would probably be dead by now without me or Fog even knowing of it." I put my palm on the top of her head and ruffled her thick hair.

She didn't shrug off my hand or shriek and scratch me, in fact she just sat there like a statue and stared at me with wide teary eyes while I ruffled her hair. So I kept doing it until she finally snapped out of it.

"Get your hand off me!" She growled and pushed my hand off of her head with a bit of effort. I grinned down at her.

"Come now Merianna," Fog said as he came closer and smiled at the two of us. "You are exhausted and your sister needs some good rest in a decent bed and the both of you need some food. All of which can be found at the Order. I'm sure that by now Ara would have gotten a room set up and ready for you and your sister. She might be a Hag from the deepest pits of hell but she does seem to genuinely like you."

Merianna lit up and smiled the first genuine smile I'd seen on her face since I found her in the forest. "That sounds great!"