Phoenix Phire

A day had passed since the death of Talon Kane; as promised, Shae asked Nix to spare the life of the Delix. The Inferno Leader had considered it for a moment before he refused and removed his head. After the questioning, Shae once again left the Bone Fortress on a mission given to her by Nix.

Pon and Nix stood next to their Golems while trying to figure out how best to deploy them.

The old mage's face was set in a disgusted scowl. "You and I aren't going to be helping with the Zed Burrough?"

Nix shook his head. "If Shae is able to make contact with Halla, then we'll have some help for a special mission."

Pon's scowl faded immediately. "Special mission? The Turncoat Graveyard is about to reset. Is our help coming through one of the Covens?"

"Affirmative," Nix noted that Alfie and her group were walking toward the graveyard in question. "Let's head over and check it out."

Jun Li stood at the Turncoat's Graveyard. Unlike the previous Burroughs that was broken down into precincts, the five Burroughs surrounding the Keep were not divided into smaller sections. While she was reviving two hundred of the Undead allies, Semmi was at the Deceit Graveyard, recovering the fighters that died during the last battle.

Nix and Pon followed Alfie as far as the Honor Burrough before stopping. Fighters coming from outside of the Bone Fortress respawned here.

"Remember when we first came here, old man?"

Pon nodded. "How can I forget, you landed on me."

Nix smiled at the memory. "Five of us kicking ass. Seems almost unfair now."

"Fuckem. I love unfairness when it's tilted in my favor."

Thirteen people appeared in the spawning area at the same time; only twelve of them were skeletons.

Pon pointed out the obvious. "Guess the ferret guy is our person?"

Nix nodded and waved toward the person who was obviously looking around for someone. The Che was covered from head to toe in white fur, small ears pricked forward when the two fire mages approached.

"Yellow eyes, black hair, and absolutely beautiful. You must be Uncle Nix." Brilliant green eyes stared at the Inferno leader before bowing deeply. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Deya, a proud member of Inferno City."

Pon laughed loudly at the description. "Someone paid you to say that!"

The beautiful eyes turned toward Pon. "Old, wrinkly, and smells of..." The black nose sniffed the air a few times before she finished her sentence. "sulfur. You must be Pon."

Nix held back a laugh and shook the offered hand; the Che was thin and not quite five feet tall. The Ferret woman squeezed his hand tightly before throwing herself at him in a tight hug.

/Inferno: Pon: The ferret people usually so friendly?

/Inferno: Nix: Some are.

The Inferno leader politely extricated himself from her grasp. "You know why you're here?"

Deya nodded. "We should discuss this someplace else.

Nix nodded in agreement. "Follow me."

"You're just like my dad described." Deya favored him with a fanged smile when she fell in step beside him.

/Inferno: Pon: Is it me? Or does she really like you?

/Inferno: Ronnie: Who we talking about?

/Inferno: Semmi: It does sound intriguing.

/Inferno: Pon: Our ferret girl that arrived today. She's extra nice to Uncle Nix.

Inferno: Semmi: Uncle Nix?

/Inferno: Ronnie: Woah! Off-limits!

/Inferno: Fajii: One of the Che is here?

Nix shot a glare toward Pon, who was grinning from ear to ear. "Who's your dad?"

"Tofo."

Nix stopped in mid-stride. "Fatty was your Dad?"

Deya nodded in agreement. "He was a bit tubby. He said you were fierce! And someone he could trust."

Nix sighed heavily and gripped the Che girl's hand in his. "I've said those same things about him. I loved those guys, Tofo, Amb, and Po. My fierce ferret friends."

********Author's Note********

Nix met the three ferret men in chapter 132. All three died transporting Spectrum in chapter 225.

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

Deya laughed at the description, a soothing sound that made Nix smile. "Uncle Amb and Uncle Po wanted to come to visit you; they just never had the chance."

The memory of his ferret friends put Nix in a good mood. Even though all three of them were dead, their memories still made him smile. "Did Fatty tell you about the giant snake that ate him?"

Deya rolled her eyes but kept her grip on his hand. "His favorite story! Do you really have Emerald fire strands, Uncle Nix?"

"Yeah. I'll show you. What's with this Uncle business?"

"Dad said you were his fierce brother. Doesn't that make you my Uncle?"

"Hmm... I suppose it does." Nix shrugged at Pon, who seemed to be hanging on every word. "Got an opinion, old man?"

Pon nodded. "Can never have too much family."

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

Deya stood confidently in front of the small group from Inferno. Fajii managed to find some leggings and a shirt to wear even though the Che insisted that neither were necessary. "I'm a miner, specifically adept at finding the exact mineral you are looking for."

Nix put a hand up, causing her to pause. "Sorry, Deya, this is Chiba and Beta."

Beta smiled politely at the Che miner. The Mtui operative had discovered long lost family in Core'Dium, which of course, was where her race was from. "Are you related to Halla?"

Deya considered the question for a long moment before answering. "Just about all the Che are related in some way or another. If we are, then it would be quite distant. He's not like my Uncle or anything, although I call him that."

Chiba's old face showed a lack of concern; she was only half-listening as she sharpened one of her swords. "What if Hulo has already found it?"

Nix muttered a curse under his breath. He could only begin to guess why the Hulo wanted it. "We need to get into the Keep."

Deya green eyes glanced north toward the Ice Fortress. "The person searching is stuck in the Keep?"

/Inferno: Semmi: We're moving out in six hours. Land battles only, now that we're in view of the Keep, I don't want them to know how devastating our AirPower is.

Nix read the guild message and took note of his team's frowns. No one wanted to sit out the Zed battle. "Yeah, and we can't get to him yet."

Deya shrugged as if it didn't matter. "Then we are fine."

Chiba's sharpening stone stopped in mid-stroke. "How so?"

Deya pointed west of them, toward the ocean. "The Spectrum is over there."

Deya has joined Inferno.

Chiba has joined Pathfinder.

Pon has joined Pathfinder.

Deya has joined Pathfinder.

Beta has joined Pathfinder.

Chiba stared out over the ocean to where the Che Miner was pointing. "Do you see an island out there, Apprentice?"

Nix shook his head. "Sure don't."

/Pathfinder: Beta: Are we equipped for an underwater mission?

/Pathfinder: Nix: Let's scout it real quick and then see what we need.

Deya screeched in surprise a short while later and clung tightly to Nix as Chupa suddenly took to the air. The Raven gained altitude quickly, followed by three Bone Crows. Without waiting for directions, Nix point Chupa in the direction the Che Miner had indicated.

/Pathfinder: Pon: How big is this World seed?

/Pathfinder: Nix: It's mostly ocean, but I've never attempted to find out.

[Whisper: Pon to Nix] What if we fly off the end of it?

[Whisper: Nix to Pon] Flies on a windshield.

[Whisper: Pon to Nix] Really?

/Pathfinder: Deya: We are passing directly over it.

Nix banked Chupa in a wide circle and studied the ocean beneath them. There was no sign of land or even a reef of any kind. "Just circle here, Chupa."

/Pathfinder: Nix: Going to take a closer look. Don't let your Uncle Nix fall off.

/Pathfinder: Deya: Huh?

Nix removed the Rotter puppet from his inventory and inhabited it. The Otter spared the surprised Che a glance, making sure she was holding on, and then abruptly jumped off. "Cannonball!"

The Rotter entered the water and stealthed before heading straight down. Light from the sun penetrated several meters into the surface of the calm seas. Slowly the light dimmed as he advanced lower. Neither the pressure nor the darkness affected the Rotter's ability. Visibility in the darkening depths appeared like a summer day to the hybrid's eyes. Although the Rotter didn't seem to have any sort of thermal vision; its underwater sight was crystal clear.

/Pathfinder: Deya: I just dropped you by accident, Uncle Nix. Should I be concerned?

/Pathfinder: Chiba: My poor Apprentice...

/Pathfinder: Nix: Very funny.

After nearly two minutes of diving straight down, the first glimpse of seaweeds came into view. As on Colonial, the plant growth grew straight up light stalks of corn before branching outward in a wide variety of greens and blues. Within a few seconds, it thickened and became nearly unpassable. A glimpse of brown told Nix that he'd found the bottom.

The dense sea foliage made the search go on much longer than it should have, but Nix found a clearing where the rocks formed a small canyon. At the end of it, a large cave was visible.

/Pathfinder: Nix: Found it an entrance. Kind of looks like an old mining shaft.

/Pathfinder: Chiba: Old shafts are good.

/Pathfinder: Nix: On my way back up.

The Rotter returned to the surface and immediately went limp; a few seconds later, Nix snatched the puppet out of the water when Chupa buzzed the surface with a flyby.

/Pathfinder: Pon: Going to have Shae bring us some Aquatic gear?

/Pathfinder: Nix: No. Something way better.