451 Res

Gideon took a deep breath and then inhabited the mud-encased rat; immediately he was taken into the enemy stronghold. The beautiful ice structures of Khione's throne room were completely destroyed. A pale woman wearing an ice crown and a white, blood-splattered robe stared off into nothingness. Her thin icy fingers strummed lightly on the arm of her throne.

"Nix..." The Ice Goddess spoke his name like a curse. "Bo'Raz! Bring me the Eidengal tome!"

Gideon watched as a giant silver man walked into his view holding a gold-cased book, as soon as he handed it to her he shifted and became two smaller silver men. Immediately after, Gideon uninhabited the puppet. They never watched for longer than a minute, he glanced up at Nebs who was keeping an eye on him. "We got some Intel."

"We're meeting the Inferno Officers in the morning, we can submit it then." Nebs leaned back on the bed, her eyes darting all over the oversized room. "Did you know about this skyscraper? It reaches into the clouds."

Gideon shook his head slightly. "Inferno has some serious shit. You know what the lifestyle players from Inferno call Haven?"

Nebs shrugged and tossed out a guess. "Heaven?"

Gideon nodded. "Bingo. Even the dragons had to bargain to gain entry. And now we are here!"

Nebs laughed at the look on the assassin's face. "I'm never leaving."

***************

Fajii shared a smile with Shae when Nix walked in. "Back from the Gladis Hub already?"

Shae popped a handful of ghost peppers into her mouth. "That didn't take long."

Nix kept his face expressionless and walked into the kitchen. "Tharaka briefed me on a few things, nothing really important." He inhaled deeply, smelling the scent of apples in the air. "Did Hyai bake something?"

"She did." Hyai stepped out of the pantry, already laying out the items for the next day's meals. "It's hard to get used to Haven again after living in the Turtle House."

Shae nodded in agreement. "Could you bring the Turtle House here?"

"It is pretty nice." Nix grinned widely while the Inn Keeper cut him a large piece of apple pie. "I'll keep it in the Great Desert, for now, we'll end up there eventually." Nix's Breach Commander interface buzzed at him, meaning that one of the other Commanders or a dragon was trying to reach him. He activated it and a moment later a life-sized holo of Deidra was standing in front of him.

"Good evening, Nix." Deidra wore an elegant blue gown, her hair was down over her shoulders for once. "You wished to contact me?"

Nix nodded slightly. "I promised Sinfaya that I would speak with one of your brethren regarding the Krelandur."

Deidra bowed her head slightly. "If I may, I shall speak to one of my candidates on her behalf."

Deidra waved off his words with a small gesture. "Let me do this, I will report back to you by the morning."

Before Nix could say anything else, the holo closed leaving him staring into space. "Where you two going?" Fajii and Mina were heading toward the door, he hadn't been paying attention because of the holo-call.

/Inferno: Shae: We are going to Loki, party at Bev's house.

/Inferno: Bev: That's right! Don't be late.

/Inferno: Nix: Party at my sister's house? How come I wasn't invited?

/Inferno: Bev: Girls only!

/Inferno: Nix: How come Pon wasn't invited?

/Inferno: Wind: Heh!

/Inferno: Pon: Lame.

Nix closed his eyes while enjoying another bite of warm apple pie. "How come you aren't going?"

Hyai sat next to him. "I wanted to spend some time with you."

Nix grinned happily. "That's very sweet. Want me to take you someplace nice?"

Hyai smiled sexily. "Does this require clothes?"

Nix struggled to maintain eye contact. "Clothing is always optional."

The Archon glided effortlessly through Haven's night skies a few minutes later, the bright glow of his companion illuminated everything around him.

Nix dipped one wing and moved closer to the Djinn, Hyai's curved figure could be seen through the flames. "This is you flying naked, right?"

The Djinn's flaming hair tossed in his direction. "I'm clothed in flames."

"Here we go." Nix landed softly, a few meters before the sand started.

"Goodness." The Djinn stepped from the sand onto the emerald-colored glass. "The entire desert?"

Nix shook his head. "No... Eighty percent or so."

"Beautiful." The Djinn's light reflected across the smooth surface, although her flames were high grade the glass beneath her feet showed no signs of melting. "Can you show me your evolved flame?"

Nix nodded and dropped his archon form.

[Aura Ignition: Emerald Fury]

A high pitched keen accompanied the flames, the emerald coloring was a few shades lighter and much brighter than his previous version.

Hyai feet left the ground, her flames growing brighter as she moved around Nix in a slow circle. "This may be the most beautiful place in Haven." Cautiously she held out her hand. "May I?"

"Sure, but be prepared to drop it in case things go sideways." Nix reached for her hand, the Djinn form could hold any flames. "You can tell me what it feels like."

*****************

[0900 hours, Gemini Temple]

/Officers: Jun Li: The rest the group turned? That's a dozen of your kind?

/Officer: Lucid: Yes. I should bring the Scorpion Titans back to their Clan.

/Officers: Nix: Sindi challenged the Desert Fox totem two days ago, it is now the Desert Scorpion Clan.

/Officers: Semmi: Lucid and Sindi will remain with them, take the time to annex the neighboring Red Bull Clan.

/Officers: Pon: How are they going to do that?

/Officer: Nix: Lucid will challenge and become the totem for them. They will give us two Scorpion totems.

/Officer: Semmi: Eventually we'll start to use our converted Titans to take over all the Clans until they are evenly divided between the Scorpion, Falcon, and White Lion Titans.

/Officer: Nix: I should check-in with our Falcon Titan, after we wrap up things in Belatora I pay them a visit.

/Officer: Wind: What do we need to finish up with Belatora?

/Officer: Nix: Darsi, Fey, and Ducky are still there. I'll take you and the old bastard to wrap things up.

/Officer: Ronnie: Me and Bali are being pushed aside?

/Officer: Nix: She can train the Trams in Haven for a bit, you should take care of your friend.

/Officer: Ronnie: Fine. We're coming next time!

Wind joined Pon and Nix as they were exiting the Gemini Temple a few minutes later. King Lubo was sitting on his calmly on his shoulder, its dark eyes darting everywhere. "We gonna wait a few days as we planned?"

Nix glanced at Pon who shook his slightly. "Prey waits."

Pon nudged Nix with an elbow and pointed toward the pair walking toward them. "Company, take your time we'll wait on the balcony."

Nix nodded and veered away from his two companions. Deidra had been acting weird since the blood fusion but this was the first time he'd seen Tai. "Good Morning."

Tai had her brown hair tied up with a green bandanna, she smiled warmly when he stopped. "How are you feeling, Nix?"

"I'm fine, thanks for the help the other night." Nix lowered his voice slightly. "Were you able to speak with one of your friends?"

"Yes. Everything is already arranged." Deidra glanced at Tai who nodded slightly. "The three of us will be leaving for our Krelandur in an hour. We will return sometime tomorrow."

"Great." Nix opened up his Breach Commander interface and brought up a detailed map of Haven. "I assume you've started your nurseries." According to Tai, they could use their abilities to build one in a few hours. "Just point out the locations for me and I'll make sure you aren't bothered."

Tai pointed to a location that was in a swampy region of Haven while Deidra chose a mountainous area that was fairly close.

"Let me know if you need anything else." Nix scratched his head slightly. "Is it odd if I say good luck with your Krelandur?"

Deidra smiled for the first time since before the blood fusion. "No. Thank you for your wishes."

Nix joined Pon and Wind a few minutes later on the ranches second-floor balcony. "All set?"

"Got room for me?" A familiar voice cackled from the doorway, it slid open to reveal an old man carrying a bottle of wine.

"That's my wine, Master." Nix scowled at the swordmaster.

"I'll pay you back with my body." Chiba smiled and took a long drink from the bottle. "How much sex would that be?"

"None... That bottle is free." Nix closed the door that she left open and then led them down the outside stairs. "Join Alpha."

[Whisper: Pon to Nix] What did you find out in Virtuna?

[Whisper: Nix to Pon] All three of their accounts are locked "In Accordance with Game Lore." Whatever that means.

[Whisper: Pon to Nix] Is there a time limit?

[Whisper: Nix to Pon] Yeah. 90 days and it will unlock.

[Whisper: Pon to Nix] That's great f*cking news, boy! Anything else?

[Whisper: Nix to Pon] Tess and Gypsy Rose are both men.

[Whisper: Pon to Nix] Bullshit! Tess used to flirt with me all the time.

[Whisper: Nix to Pon] Just saying...

/Alpha: Chiba: So... Khione is cooking us up something in Eidengal?

/Alpha: Nix: That's what Gideon told us. We'll have to wait until the mid-spire quests are done.

[Create Breach: Haven: Belatora War Camp]

Nix opened a breach and gestured his group through. "Quick and ruthless, let's deal with Remis's faction."