As expected, the removal of the three Titans from the Agony Burrough took three cycles; the curtain of light continued to make its journey back and forth across the three Burroughs. Once Morti, his father, and Gil were safely removed, Inferno began extracting the rest of their people. On Nix''s advice, they also removed two of the unconscious Ice Faction members from each Burrough.


    Bali nced at the Ravager as her team carefully removed Alpha from the battlefield. "That everything, boss?"


    Nix''s sharp eyes scanned the area around them; they had roughly two minutes until their self-imposed safety window forced them to retreat. "No. Grab that one also."


    Bali frowned at therge chunk of ck ice. "Someone in there?"


    "Yes. Lc Rem, a witch from the Ice Faction." Nix scratched the ck Ice Sculpture with his ws; although they were as sharp as daggers, they didn''t leave a mark. "Could be that she is conscious in there. Take her back and put her under guard."


    Bali nodded. "Anything else?"


    The Ravager watched the distant curtain heading back toward them. "Start the experiment, make sure Nezbit is present."


    "Aye, Sir!"


    Bali and her group quickly left the Burrough, leaving the Ravager alone with his thoughts. The experiment was to kill a few of the ''spellbound'' enemies and see if they could be resurrected. If they could, then Inferno would face a grisly choice.


    /Inferno: Ronnie: We''re all back at base. Good luck at the Keep!


    The Ravager''s eyes turned from yellow to red as its thermal vision was activated. The bodies of the fallen enemy stood out like lit shlights. Without hesitating, he brought his sharp ws across the throat of the nearest person. From there, he darted to the next and so on, as the minutes passed by the body count continued to climb.


    **********


    While the evacuation teams were busy recovering their members, the rest of the camp had set up a long med-area consisting of four tents ced end to end. The battle has put a sour taste in everyone''s mouth. Although they didn''te out any worse than the enemy, it definitely wasn''t a win.


    A small group gathered outside of the med-tent. Seven of the Ice Faction fighters were ced on cots and ced under guard.


    "Do it." Ronnie shook her head slightly, shuddering when Alfie killed one of the unconscious prisoners. It had no effect on either Bali or Del. Perhaps the Ain''Dhassi race dealt with ughter differently. "You''re up, Nezbit."


    The Inferno cleric nodded and approached the corpse, immediately she shook her head. "Message says that this person can''t be rezzed."


    Ronnie let out a sigh of relief. "Good. There''s no way I could have wacked my friends."


    Bali ced a hand on her friend''s shoulder. "I would have done them for you."


    /Inferno: Ronnie: If you''re still in range, Nix. It didn''t work.


    "Ice Faction numbers are dropping." Alfie had cleaned off his de, and within a few minutes, the corpse vanished. He had his hud disying the faction numbers for the Bone Fortress. The Ice Faction count was ticking downward steadily, sometimes dropping quickly before pausing for a short time.


    Ronnie stepped into the med-tent and quickly checked on her sister, who was lying on a nearby cot. "What''s going on? Is the curse killing them?" She ced a hand on Sharl''s warm forehead. To the casual observer, the Inferno tank appeared to be sleeping.


    Nezbit followed her in and started checking their friends. "Simple diagnosis spell calls it an ''Unidentified Affliction.'' Sorry, that''s not helpful."


    *************


    Several hourster, the heavily scarred sea turtle chirped softly at the Ravager as it washed away the blood matted on its ck fur. A cloud of crimson appeared where it submerged itself, the long body rolling slowly. After a few minutes, it stopped and turned its focus to the turtle.


    "Been fighting again, Soup?" Ravager-Nix paddled out and climbed on his spiritpanion''s shell. Apparently, she could sense the danger and gave the shoreline a wide berth. "Definitely shouldn''t go on shore until this is over."


    The mid-day sun''s warmth quickly dried the puppet as it took a few minutes to bask while gathering his thoughts. "Got a real bad feeling, Soup. Riddle me this. What kind of spell can take out that many people? The trap obviously backfired."


    The minutes ticked by while Nix stared at the blue sky. Soup waszily paddling his back left flipper, causing them to rotate counterclockwise slowly.


    "Perhaps I''m asking the wrong question. I should be considering who, not what." Nix slid off Soup''s back and into the surf. "Stay in the water until we figure this out."


    The Ravager increased its speed as it crossed through the Dawn Burrough and into Honor, where the traps had been set. The Ice Field that had once covered the area had been melted away, and the ground beneath it drained of all life. Nix easily found the first trap, clearly evident like a festering wound. Sharp ws started digging through the soil as it burrowed deep into the earth. Within a few minutes, he reemerged from the hole with part of a broken canister. "A clue... Mystery still unsolved."


    Nix spent the next hour recovering simr canisters from the other six traps. Destructive spells of this magnitude weren''t possible. Grouping seven of those spells into a huge trap would have taken careful nning and an expert magic-user.


    "I''ll contact Ducky; perhaps she has heard something." Ravager-Nix darted across the Honor Burrough and into Dawn. Sharp ws dug suddenly into the rocky surface, causing it toe to an abrupt stop. In front of him were several Ice Faction bodies. "You guys shouldn''t be here." He noticed that it had only taken two or three minutes for the bodies to disappear during the wholesale ughter. A feeling of dread filled the puppet as it nudged one of the unconscious Ice Faction members.


    The Curtain of Light advanced once again through the three Burroughs; Nix sat patiently next to his unconscious enemy as he waited. He sliced through the throat of his target when the curse was within twenty meters. He ignored the blood that was saturating his dark fur and focused on the wound. The light passed through them, and for several seconds, Nix didn''t move.


    The Curtain of Light was not a destructive spell; the wound he had inflicted vanishedpletely. "It makes lesser creatures fall asleep." Recalling this particr group, he had finished them right as the spell washed through the area. "Let''s call this an ''Oh Fuck'' moment."


    Nix took a few moments to finish off the enemy, this time waiting until all of them disappeared. Instead of setting out for the Keep, he reversed course and headed back to camp. The spell was no longer refreshing over the Inferno members since they''d been removed from the area. How long did something like thatst?


    ************


    "Stop worrying." Del was lying on the feet of an unconscious Nix. "Everyone is fine; no one is going to start dying."


    Ronnie hadn''t left Sharl''s side, touching her face every few minutes to make sure she was okay. "You can''t know that! Why did the Ice Faction drop by more than a thousand in thest four hours?"


    Nezbit shrugged slightly. "Perhaps because they are still being exposed to the spell. Everyone here is fine, at least for now."


    Bali shared a nce with Del; both of them had guessed immediately. "Come on, Ron... Nix headed north; within a few minutes, their numbers start dropping."


    Alfie muttered a curse under his breath. "Damn it. I should have thought of that."


    "You think Nix did that?" Ronni stared at the Ain''Dhassi ranger for a moment while considering the possibility.


    "Did what?" A ck-furred creature poked his head into the med-tent; the upants instantly recognized its elongated snout and sharp fangs. "Good job setting this up."


    "Nix!" Bali hopped across the tent in three quick bounds and tried to hug the Ravager. It sidestepped easily and continued.


    "No hugging." Since his bunk was taken already taken, he climbed carefully onto Fajii''s cot and took a seat. "Need to pick your brain a bit, Nez."


    ******Reminder******


    Nezbit was part of the group that killed Bulo, the ck bear, very early in the story. Not to be confused with Neb, who is often called Nebs. Both are clerics, but only Nez is part of Inferno.


    ************************