Chapter 623: Deep Winter War: The Avatars (two)

Nix bent low over the Arctic Slayer's back as it dodged through the raptors that fell from the sky like rain. Smoke and ash filled the sky while thousands of arrows were shot into the blood raptors. The battle for the air above Lake Bachoni was heating up.

/Dagger: Nix: Shit... Watch out for friendly fire!

Khione stood next to her General, her long white staff held in one hand as she met the gaze of her enemy. She sent a quick communication to her Haven Operative and stood her ground. "We are losing the air battle; move to stage three."

"Right away, Goddess."

[Shapeshifter Vorn has shared his bloodline: Ice Arachni]

The thousands of dead raptors that littered the frozen lake suddenly vanished while their comrades that were still airborne glided safely to the ground before morphing into their new form.

/Alpha: Semmi: FAJII!

Nix looked up at the shouted warning; the Scorched Earth Mage had been flying overhead when she was completely enveloped by a shooting web. Immediately Del changed directions and closed on Fajii.

/Inferno: Nix: Careful! They can use their webbing to ground fliers!

/Dagger: Semmi: Get to the ground now.

Nix leaped free of Del and caught Fajii before she slammed into the ground, the force of her weight causing him to drop to his knees. The webbing that bound her melted away at his touch. "You okay?"

Fajii hugged him close for a moment before releasing her grip. "I think so; thank you, Nix."

Nix supported her until she had her feet under her again and then promptly headed toward their target. Still holding hands with Fajii, he skidded to a stop when something large and white loomed in his path. Pushing her behind him, he equipped his bone hilts and pushed emerald fury blades into them. Then, without pausing, he struck.

[Double Thrust][Air Burst]

Combination Successful.

The ice arachnid screech when Nix's blades sunk hilt deep into the middle set of its eyes. A moment later, its head exploded apart, sending blood, bones, and brain in all directions.

An ice arachnid has been slain.

"Gross..." Nix spit out a mouthful of brain matter, scowling at Pon, who didn't bother to hid his amusement.

"Keep your mouth closed, noob." Pon looked like his face might split in half from his wide grin. Then, an instant later, he collapsed to the ice, completely wrapped in webbing.

Seeing a white blur close on its captive, Nix did the only thing he could think of. He kicked the old man out of the way and slashed with his blades. The webbed figured was tossed into the air and landed near Del and Semmi, who immediately lent a hand.

/Dagger: Semmi: We'll free him. Kill that thing.

[First Strike][Execution: Advanced]

Combination Successful.

Nix has landed a Significant Strike.

Nix has landed a Critical Strike.

An Ice Arachnid has been stunned.

[Dual Chain][Air Express][Multi-Shot]

Ronnie has followed up Nix's Attack with a Significant Strike.

Ronnie has landed a Critical Strike.

Ronnie has landed a Mortal Strike.

Arrows wrapped in miniature wind tunnels slammed into the Ice Arachnid, blowing huge holes into the spider's body as it was tossed backward by the power of the Dark Archer's bow.

An Ice Arachnid has been slain.

Ronnie was floating gently a few meters off the ground, benefiting from her bond with Wilo, an enhanced Air Elemental. She favored Nix and Fajii with a smile. "The three of us work well together."

Fajii nodded in agreement before.

[Whisper: Nix to Fajii] You and Ronnie are friends?

[Whisper: Fajii to Nix] Yes. She is fascinating.

Nix laughed and took a quick account of the battlefield. The spiders were hard to deal with. Both the Titans and the Inferno Air Forces were susceptible to their web attacks. In addition, an army of CC creatures was formidable.

/Dagger: Nix: Continue toward our objective while I summon my friends.

Nix dropped his Rubicon on the ice while Del moved closer to guard him.

Nix has cast [Rat Army].

An endless stream of rats flowed out of the Rubicon; the skittering of sharp claws on ice filled the air as the brown-furred rodents quickly moved into three large formations. Then, three larger rats moved to the front of the formations, completely ignoring the vicious fighting that surrounded them. When the rats were finally done leaving the Rubicon, a singular rat exited, and Nix stored the Rubicon.

"Orders?" General, Pon the Magnificent saluted crisply. The rat stood upright, perhaps four feet tall. He summoned a protective sphere that immediately encircled him and rose into the air.

"These ice spiders are creating problems for us. Deal with them." Nix watched as his General nodded and then floated away; he could hear that the rat leader was already barking orders.

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

Zeryn searched the bodies of her former house members. As the strongest in the Greater House of Aquarion, they had been no match for her when she attacked without warning. Her left eye had grown inexplicably cold before turning crystal blue, the signal for her to escape imprisonment.

Her pale face hid the faintest of smiles as she approached the force field that marked the entry from her prison to the lower levels of the Gemini Temple. The Aquarion placed a webbed hand against her singular blue eye. Then, she dug her sharp claws into the socket with a sudden movement and pulled it out.

Blue blood ran down the side of Zeryn's face; the pain of the moment caused her to lean heavily against the exit. She had thought that the Ice Goddess had abandoned her. Then, a few weeks ago, she once again felt the presence of Khione. "I must not fail here."

She held the eye of Khione against the barrier, the force field pulsed for a moment before fading entirely. The mission was simple. All of Inferno was fighting in Everspire; only a few non-combatant's remained behind. Grabbing control of the Gemini Temple was the first step; after that, the bonus would be killing Hyai and Filamina, two women that were carrying the Inferno Leader's children.

The Aquarion still gripped the Eye of Khione in her right hand as she headed toward the upper levels of the empty Gemini Temple. She stepped through the doorway leading to the stairs before freezing in place. Confusion filled her eyes as she stared at the vast nothingness in front of her. "What...?"

In the newly freed Cyphix City in Colonial, Sinfaya stared at the spatial box that she had painstakingly created. Thanks to Nix, her abilities had increased greatly. He had forbidden the dragons from leaving until after the Khione battle, but he had given each of them one of his Nether Rat puppets so that they could continue to take care of their cities. "My flames may not measure up to Deidra's, but you're in my world now. Even if you manage to escape, you are no longer in Haven."

While in the Bone Fortress, Nix had spoken at length with Elan Mtui regarding Zeryn. Her strength had always been good, but it skyrocketed shortly before Inferno's sudden rise to fame. He then decided to send Bensic and Cyra Yune into the lower levels of the Gemini Temple to apprehend her. After speaking to Eri Sandkiller, the ranger who had gone undercover at the House of Aquarion, Nix had decided that his hunch was right and that Zeryn was probably one of Khione's faction. Deidra had told him that Haven couldn't be cracked by Khione, but if one of her people were already inside, it represented an unacceptable security threat.

[Whisper: Sinfaya to Nix] A pulse of Khione's power erupted from the trap we set. It seems you may have been right.

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

Morti rumbled across the frozen lake like a runaway freight train. He was covered in webbing, but none of them had been able to hold up to his enormous strength. Finally, he closed on Vorn, who was standing in front of Khione.

/Dagger: Nix: Knock Vorn to one side; he can't be injured anyways.

/Dagger: Morti: Yep!

Vorn equipped a shield and spear and braced himself to receive the charging Titan. However, before the cub could arrive, a flash of silver descended and grabbed the General. Bathed in flames, the shocked shapeshifter was lifted into the sky by a silver dragon.

Nix morphed into his emerald salamander form and moved to flank Khione as the Ice Goddess was forced to defend Morti's attack. She held her long staff at arm's length and chanted a spell. An instant later, the Titan cub slammed against the shield that she had erected.

[Khione has cast Ice Shield]

The transparent sheet of ice cracked slightly but held against Morti's attack as he peppered it with both paws.

Semmi has established a [Shadow Domain].

Darkness enshrouded the area for nearly a hundred meters in all directions. Instead of attacking, Semmi retreated slightly, intent on holding the shadows as long as possible. Wind immediately faded into the ground only to appear behind Khione a moment later.

/Dagger: Semmi: She can't establish her Ice Domain when another Domain is in place!

/Dagger: Nix: Smart girl...

[Backstab][Shadow Strike][Hamstring]

Triple Combination partially Successful.

Wind has landed a normal attack on Khione.

Wind's Shadow Strike is ineffective; Khione is immune to the Shadow element.

Wind has slowed Khione's movements by twenty percent.

Before Khione could respond, a dozen emerald fury strands wrapped around her torso, pinning her arms to her side with a sizzling, singeing attack that filled the area with the smell of burnt flesh. Nix braced himself and held onto the strands as three more of the Dagger group arrived.

A flash of silver and gold blades announced the arrival of the Inferno Swordmaster. Chiba's old face was sporting a creepy smile as she flashed around the barrier and aimed both blades at the same point. Then, a heart-shaking scream erupting from the Ice Goddes; the power of it picked up Chiba, Donri, and Sharl, before tossing them several meters away.

Chiba has crippled Khione.

The left hand of the Ice Goddess landed on the frozen lake bed, severed cleanly at the wrist. An Instant later, Morti broke through the ice shield and slammed a huge paw into Khione's chest. Although the damage was negligible, the power of the strike sent her skidding across the ice like she was on skates, dragging Nix with her.

A column of black fire settled on Khione the moment she managed to stop herself.

[Blackfire: Imprisonment]

Attack interrupted by [Phase Shift].

Donri has received the backlash, three times the strength of the attack.

Inferno's Black Fire mage collapsed to the ground with a groan. Khione appeared a few meters away, free of the Black Fire and Nix's fire strands. She brought up her staff as the Titan cub charged her once again; however, she was struck from behind this time.

Sharl put the full strength of her attack into her halberd thrust; it stabbed barely an inch into the Ice Goddess's back. Then, with and swing of her staff, she struck the Inferno tank; although Sharl blocked with her shield, the power of the strike sent her back nearly five meters.

/Dagger: Sharl: Damn, she's strong!

[Balefire: Hex][Dread Fire: Master's Strike]

Pon has landed a Significant Attack on Khione.

Pon has landed a Significant Attack on Khione.

Khione is injured and is more susceptible to attacks.

Khione reeled back, her ice-blue eyes showing both pain and shock. A moment later, she was wrapped up in Emerald Fury strands again, effectively stopping her from retaliating.

Morti's powerful jaws clamped down on her shoulder, forcing her to bend low to the ground as he wrenched his head from side to side. His claws dug deep into the ice as he braced himself to stop her from moving further.

[Dual Chain][Trueshot][Air Bolt]

Triple Combination Successful.

Ronnie has followed up Pon's attack with a Significant strike.

Ronnie has followed up Pon's attack with a critical strike.