The smooth surface of the y tub shone like marble when the emerald mes finally died down. Nix stepped into the in-ground container, wrinkling his nose as the acrid smell emanating from the red surface. After digging out a hole one meter deep and three meters wide, Nix had spent a few hours bringing in y to line the surface.


    "We don''t want to miss the meeting, Nix." Fajii watched from her perch on a nearby rock. She offered her assistance but was turned down. "Looks like a really big bathtub."


    Nix shook his head slightly. "I wouldn''t have put this much effort into it." He stepped out and took a seat next to the Aquarion while inspecting his own work with a critical eye.


    Fajii''s verticle iris''s focused on him for a moment before she sped her hands around his waist. Her reddish-brown hair had grown long in recent weeks, something that had gone unnoticed by Nix. She wore it in a single ponytail that hung just below her shoulders. "A big pot for cooking?"


    "Close," Nix admitted. "Going to put all the scrap armor in there and then melt it down."


    /Alpha: Pon: Come to the TOC, Nix. Ya gotta see this. (Tactical Operation Center)


    /Alpha: Nix: On my way.


    Instead of jumping down, Fajii stood on therge rock, her brown face showing amusement as she looked down on him while keeping a grip on one of his hands.


    "Fine. Don''t make this a habit." Nix backed up to the rock, trying not tough when she climbed onto his back.


    Fajii responded by kissing the side of his neck and holding on tighter. "What''s going to happen to this world after we conquer the Keep?"


    Nix started walking toward the TOC, deliberately going slow. It was a warm mid-afternoon with a cloudless sky. A light breeze off the water made the temperaturefortable while filling the air with the ocean''s fresh scent. "No idea. These make good training grounds. We''ll probably try to hold onto it while keeping some sort of war game going on."


    "What did you think of Shae''s news?"


    Nix pursed his lips slightly while trying to navigate a smoother path through the rocky soil. The news from the Falcon, Lion, and Scorpion Titans had all been the same. More than half of the former ns of Everspire had reverted to their Titan forms. It was something Inferno had been hoping for when they started the conversion operation. "We''re moving ahead; the sudden increase in the Titan poption isn''t going to go unnoticed."


    Fajii nodded in agreement. "Khione will answer if she still has the ability to do so."


    Nix spotted the rest of Alpha outside of the TOC. Unexpectedly, Lc was still among them. Since the purple-haired witch had given them solid intel, it was decided that one of the Inferno members would take her as a spiritpanion so she could be summoned into a redemption mission. "Why is Lc still here?"


    Pon was standing with Wind and Semmi, watching the interaction between Lc and the person chosen for the task, Donri.


    /Alpha: Pon: They already bonded, but he can''t bring himself to do it.


    Nix let Fajii slip from her ce on his back. The n was for Donri to bond with Lc and then put her down.


    /Alpha: Pon: A keg of Semmi''s Golden says he asks me to do it.


    /Alpha: Wind: Done! He''s going to ask Nix.


    Donri stared at the witch, his pale forehead glistening with sweat. "Can''t you do it yourself?"


    Lc shook her head before ncing back at the group watching. "Sorry, I don''t have a self-destruct spell."


    Donri''s ck mes circled him once again. They red for a moment before dying outpletely. "Nix! Step in here and help me out."


    /Alpha: Pon: Damn it.


    /Alpha: Wind: Thanks for your contribution.


    Nix left Fajii with the group and advanced toward the freshly minted spiritpanions. "Once we''re done with the Bone Fortress, Donri will resummon you, and you''ll get an assignment from me."


    Lc nodded her head; it was what she had agreed to. "Just use those green mes and end this."


    Nix''s eyes shifted between Donri and Lc. "I don''t think so; this is between the two of you."


    Donri''s dark eyes stared in surprise when the Inferno Leader walked away. "Nix! Come on! We''re old friends."


    /Alpha: Pon: Nice... Do I still win if he asks me?


    /Alpha: Wind: No.


    /Alpha: Nix: Meetings going to start, time to go.


    The sudden sound of a fist striking flesh caused everyone to turn back around. A shocked Donri was sitting on his butt, staring up at the witch in surprise. The Necrofire Mage cursed loudly and tried to scramble to his feet, but before he could manage it, a booted foot mmed into his gut, knocking him back into the dirt.


    /Alpha: Semmi: Oh god! I changed my mind, let me have that one.


    /Alpha: Wind: Agreed, I can squeeze one more in.


    /Alpha: Pon: I want to rethink my earlier position!


    A column of ck fire enveloped the witch a momentter, but not before she made an obscene gesture at the Donri. When it burned out, only a small cloud of ash was left behind.


    Donri remained seated on the ground, despite Pon and Nix openlyughing at him. He was certain that kick had been aimed for his groin. "That Witch is a menace!"


    Nix shook his head and high-fived Pon. "She''s pure gold, definitely a top tierpanion."


    Pon nodded in agreement. "If she doesn''t kill you first."


    [Bone Fortress, 1100 hours Ice Faction: 5,879 Undead: 412]


    /Officer: Semmi: Thanks foring. As before, I invited our Titan friends along with the Eidengal leadership.


    Duran stopped strumming his mandolin and sat it on the table. He made it clear that he was only a bystander in this show and that Inferno was free to act however they wanted.


    /Officer: Jun Li: I''m going to put up our objectives and leave the floor open for questions.


    [Objective] Shore up our defenses along the Dawn/Misery/Agony borders. Bring in all the drakes and establish our air power. Push into Deceit/Aguish/Despair Burroughs.


    /Officer: Semmi: We don''t have a time table, the earliest we can move is two days since we are waiting for four different graveyards to reset.


    /Officer: Jun Li: We''ll be able to add eight hundred more troops to this fight. Until we hit the Keep, the numbers will favor us.


    /Officer: Semmi: The Honor trap was their chance to really hurt us; we shouldn''t give them too much time toe up with something else.


    /Officer: Jun Li: Once we are ready, we''ll get rid of our prisoners. This will give usplete control over Dawn, Misery, and Agony.


    /Officer: Shae: I''m going to speak with Sinfaya and have her help us get some special items in here.


    **********Author Note*********


    Sinfaya is the third Haven dragon, she specializes in spatial magic.


    *********************************


    /Officer: Nix: I''m going to take the Ravager into the Keep and kill cia with the help of some friends.


    /Officer: Pon: None of us can go in there.


    /Officer: Nix: We''ll discuss it en route. I''ll need Shae, Pon, and Fey to apany me. Let''s get Darsi and Ronnie out there also.


    /Officer: Shae: How long until we go?


    /Officer: Nix: Seventeen hundred hours.


    ***********


    Pradi has activated [Wave Runner]


    The former Trifecta thief skimmed across the surface of the water, his feet eliciting no ssh at all as he moved silently toward his objective. "She should be easy to find... " His words filtered off as a bank of fog started to envelop the area he was in. It was one of many tricks the nymph used on him.


    A sh of movement caused the thief to increase his speed. He''d been stalking the caverns and lower halls for the better part of a day, every time he caught sight of his prey, she somehow managed to avoid him.


    Pradi skidded to a stop at the entrance of a hallway he hadn''t yet been down. Unexpectedly, it was dead-end. His quarry had finally be cornered.


    She didn''t attack when he stopped running, in fact, she hadn''t really tried to hurt him at all. She could raise and lower water levels, create massive fog banks, and even form powerful whirlpools.


    "Hey, there!" Pradi lowered his hands, his dark face showing his interest. "You look nothing like Ducky."


    Her smooth skin was the color of jade, bits of seaweed formed a wrap that covered her from the chest to mid-thigh. Instead of hair, she had a series of greenish quills thaty t against her head. Two round eyes and a wide mouth would have looked normal on a human, but her round and ttened nose took away any semnce ofmon ancestry.


    He approached cautiously with his hands held out to either side. "I''m Pradi." Approaching a few meters closer showed her form in more detail. She was on the short side, probably less than five feet. The fingers on her hands were long and webbed, with the slightest hint of smooth scales on her skin.


    The water swirled around her, she stood effortlessly on its surface, the same way he did. Although alien, her face has a certain innocence to it. Her eyes were blue like the ocean depths and showed her curiosity.


    "You''re a sweet girl, right?" Pradi halted and stood up straight. "Let''s be friends." He opened his hand and showed the rock that Ducky had given him. Holding it up to his eye, he peered at her with it.


    An instantter, she appeared directly in front of him. Her fist mmed into his chest hard enough to send him skipping across the surface like a t rock on a calmke.


    Pradi swore softly when his skid was abruptly ended by arge rock. He climbed to his feet slowly, rubbing his chest where she had struck him. "Damn... Should she be able to hit that hard?"