/Hunter: Jun Li: There are weapons and armor everywhere.


    /Hunter: Nix: Take everything. All of you have seen what happened here, these were all very strong people.


    /Hunter: Sharl: Where''re all the bones? Shouldn''t there be lots of bones?


    /Hunter: Nix: Dragon fire is the highest tier, it turns bones into ash.


    /Hunter: Jun Li: Why didn''t it affect you Nix? You took a st directly.


    /Hunter: Nix: He was only a fraction of what he used to be.


    Mt and Nix walked side-by-side. The streets were overgrown with weeds and moss covered the walls of every building. They walked to the edge of the city and climbed stone stairs up. The city was wedged carefully on the top of a mountain peak.


    "Have you ever seen anything like this Nix?" Mt stared out at the mountain range, "they called this Everspire?"


    Nix nodded slightly. "I believe this city was once part of the Sky Kingdom. I have no idea what caused it to end up here. We should put this entire topic aside for now."


    "I agree." Mt turned to face Nix, the Aquarion looked rattled. Perhaps it was to be expected since the water creature had just faced off against the most fierce fire beast of all.


    /Hunter: Jun Li: Nix, we''ve found something. Come at once.


    Nix and Mt headed North, they passed the salvage crew along the way, the dragon was slowly disappearing.


    /Hunter: Jun Li: Take a left at the statue, there''s a courtyard with an open grate on the ground. Sharl will meet you there.


    Nix cursed when he noticed the open Iron gate leading to the Courtyard. It was exactly the same as Deidra Mtui''s. Sharl waved to him from the opened grate and led them down a steep stone ramp.


    /Hunter: Nix: Howe it''s always underground?


    /Hunter: Sharl: Cuz bad shit happens underground.


    Nix stopped at the bottom of the ramp. "The f*ck is this?"


    /Hunter: Nix: Sharl take Mt and find the House of Dragons, it should be attached to this courtyard. We need more information. Take every book, document or anything that looks important.


    Nix moved beside Jun Li who appeared to be counting. "How many?"


    Jun Li''s pretty face was smudged with dirt, strands of her hair had worked loose and hung in her face. "Thirty-five, from the appearance of the floor it should have been more like eighty-five.


    The bodies of dragonspawn wereid out in an orderly manner, each of them was encased in an amber-colored wax.


    Nix touched the wax, it was sticky and warm on the tips of his fingers. "Eighty-five would match up exactly to the scales we pulled off the Tainted. He was bringing them back."


    "Are these dead then?" Jun Li could see the clear images of faces through the amber.


    "They must be, or else he wouldn''t have used his own scales to animate them. Whatever art he was using warped their bodies and abilities. We wouldn''t have matched up well with this group in their prime."


    Jun Li suppressed a shiver. "This ce was so creepy. Onest thing I wanted to show you."


    Nix followed Jun Li to arge raised tform. There were several tubesing out of the floor when he picked up one, three feet of sharpened bone slid out. "This tform is big enough for a dragon. Draining his blood maybe?"


    Jun Li shrugged, "I was thinking the same thing, only maybe mana or life-force?" She looked back toward the bodies that were still encased in wax. "What about them?"


    "Go help Sharl and Mt. I will finish up here."


    *********************


    Nearly two hourster the group reconvened at the dragon corpse. Sometime during the previous hour, it started dposing at an elerated rate. Even the bones were bing brittle. There were piles of boxes and containers of all shapes and sized. The group had to raid the surrounding shops to amodate the incredible hoard. Nix faced the group, just the stacks of weapons and armor alone were impressive.


    /Hunter: Nix: Everything here, and I mean every single piece is going to be stored in the Gemini Treasury and secured. No one can know what we found here. All the books and documents will be turned over to Ronnie, she will be researching this.


    /Hunter: Jun Li: There''s a lot of nice stuff here, but I see the point.


    /Hunter: Sharl: What''s next for us then?


    /Hunter: Nix: We''ll consider our actions carefully, but for now we will continue to challenge the nar trials and prepare to raise the Greater House of Inferno.


    /Hunter: Nansu: I don''t even have proper recipes for most of this stuff, but I''m going to work on it.


    /Hunter: Nix: Work on leveling up. The level cap in Oasis is 125, once you get there you can upgrade your ss.


    /Hunter: Jun Li: Our Gemini sses can be upgraded to the 5th tier at that time.


    /Hunter: Nix: Let''s go, we''ll store this and I''ll make a report to Deidra.


    /Hunter: Jun Li: Is that wise?


    /Hunter: Nix: If I give her enough information it will end there. I don''t want her to start investigating.


    I don''t think she''s the enemy here, but we aren''t likely to start drinking together.


    ****************


    [Direct Contact: Deidra Mtui]


    Nix sat on the throne of the Gemini Temple and opened upmunication with Deidra.


    The lifesize holo nced around the room and then at him. "That wouldn''t be a throne would it?"


    Nix didn''t bother to hide his smile. "It is."


    "Were you able to find the source of the Tainted?"


    Nix shook his head. "They kepting through multiple breaches. Who was sending them?"


    Deidra shook her head. "I have no idea. How many did you kill?"


    "I think the number was around 120. We''d have been in trouble had I not called in my Rangers."


    "Any idea what they might have been after?"


    "No. When we pursued them they were fighting with an odd ferret race that burrowed into the ground. I''m not sure who started it. When we arrived the Tainted were already dead and we had to deal with the ferrets."


    "A hundred and twenty dragon scales? That''s quite a bounty."


    Nix shrugged and suppressed an urge to give her the finger. "We''re keeping all of them." He closed themunication without saying anything further.


    [You''ve received a package from Deidra Mtui: Dragon Fir Sapling] Attached Message.


    "The hell is a Dragon Fir Sapling?" Nix peeked inside and discovered a small tree sapling, less than a foot in height.


    Nix,


    It was generous of you to leave me such a nice Tree House in Dragonvale. Now I have the perfect ce to watch the festivities next time.


    Deidra.


    Nix scowled at the message. "My f*cking Tree House..."


    A few minutester Nix was riding the demon mare through the tall grass of the teau. She moved like the wind. He rode for quite some time before finally heading back to the ranch.


    Shae greeted him when he walked in, she was sitting in the kitchen with Mt and Rico.


    "Shouldn''t you be at the Bazaar crafting something?" He ribbed his dad before giving Shae a quick kiss. All his old man did was work.


    His dad nodded in agreement. "Nice work with the g and Guideon Nicky. I never would have thought of that."


    "Yes, you would have. Going to take a shower."


    A few minutes in the shower had Nix feeling like himself again. He sat on the end of his bed while considering his next steps.


    [Whisper: Shana to Nix] Nix! I need your help, someone has taken my Gram.


    [Whisper: Nix to Shana] Someone took Maye? Are you safe? Where is L?


    [Whisper: Shana to Nix] Mom and I are at the Boutique in Jenzi.


    [Whisper: Nix to Shana] Stay there, I''m on my way.


    /Inferno: Nix: Heading to Jenzi for a bit if anyone needs me.


    Nix put his gear back on and headed into the kitchen. "I should be back in time for dinner."


    Shae and Mt were ying cards with his dad, none of them looked up.


    Nix was tempted to snatch the cards but he refrained himself. "Right... Cyater then."


    [Create Breach: Jenzi]


    Nix stepped through the Breach an instantter. Shana''s Boutique looked a lot better than it had in previous days. He pushed the door open and walked inside.