Nix leaned his chair back until his face was in the sun and then closed his eyes.


    /Go Fish: Jun Li: I''ll tell you if you get a bite!


    /Go Fish: Nix: Thanks.


    /Go Fish: Jun Li: Want me to check your bait?


    /Go Fish: Nix: It''s fine.


    /Go Fish: Jun Li: Want something to drink?


    Nix opened one eye and nced at the Gemini Champion. Since the misunderstanding the day before, Junie had been going out of her way to be nice to him. "We''re good, Junie. That''s not something that would really bother me to start with."


    Junie smiled at the Inferno leader and cast her line into the river. "Who made these poles?"


    "Fat Jubo," Nix replied.


    /Go Fish: Semmi: From Alfie''s group? How can a Skelly be fat?


    /Go Fish: Nix: Not sure. That''s just what he calls himself.


    "GOT ONE!" The Ravager sshed out of the water on the other side of the river. Arge silverfish flopped out of its elongated mouth and onto the rocky shore. "Rabi has caught one!" Without speaking any further, it immediately started eating.


    /Go Fish: Semmi: Hmm... I''ll keep my pole.


    /Go Fish: Nix: Same, although my Rotter would work better here.


    /Inferno: Alfie: Ready to question the prisoner?


    /Inferno: Nix: Yeah. Is Pon there also?


    /Inferno: Pon: Already here.


    /Go Fish: Jun Li: Just keep the line in the water; we''ll watch it.


    /Go Fish: Semmi: Today is your day off, Nix.


    "It''s fine. If you catch something, save it forter." Nix left his equipment and headed toward the trail leading to the building they had constructed to house prisoners. Del stretchedzily on her rock before getting up to follow him.


    The two walked in silence while enjoying the mid-morning weather of the Bone Fortress. Every time the Undead Faction took over a Burrough, the result would be a sudden warm spell thatsted several days. The Honor Burrough was almost alreadypletely green. The six Burroughs that they''d conquered since then were thawing at an unprecedented rate.


    Del''s furred head rubbed against his hand while they walked. "I was thinking, Nix. This is actually a seed world. Right?"


    Nix nodded, letting his hand rest on her head while they continued on their path. "A seed world that''s anchored to Eidengal. Bone Fortress has a lot of special rules."


    "What happens when we defeat the Keep and erase the Ice Faction from this ce?"


    Nix waved at the guard who was standing in front of their prison; without pausing, the skeleton guard waved the pair through. "It would make a great training world, especially for the Titans."


    Pon''s old face lit up with a smile when Nix entered the containment area. The mage gestured toward the rock encased figures. "Who we starting with?"


    "Shae."


    "Huh? Shae isn''t here?"


    Nix nodded a ced a hand over his chest. "I know; we could use her insight on this one." He pictured the smander in his head, a momentter, the air in front of them shimmered as a new person arrived in the room."


    Shae''s pretty face showed some surprise; she hadn''t expected to be brought back today. "Did something happen?"


    Nix pointed at the two living statues. "One is Talon Kane; the other is a smander."


    She ced a hand on the nearer one. "Demon fire."


    Nix nodded. "That''s what he said; let''s question him first."


    Nix equipped his sword hilt and pushed white sonic mes into it. It buzzed loudly like a high-pitched cutting tool as he slowly began removingrge chunks of the rock from the figure. Once the rock was removed, the Inferno leader ced a hand on the ck Ice; the ice around the smander''s face fell away under his touch.


    Within a few seconds, the dark eyes of the smander blinked open. His eyes nced between Shae and Nix, both of who were in their human forms. "Had I known the Lich King was you, I would have run instead."


    Pon snorted loudly. "Fucking straight you would have."


    "Let''s make a deal." Nix ced a hand on the imprisoned smander''s ice-covered shoulder. "I''ll be honest with you, and I expect the same from you."


    The statement seemed to amuse the ck-haired smander. "How could you know if I''m telling the truth? For that matter; why would I believe anything you say?"


    Nix stepped away and moved beside Shae. "First truth, no matter what you say, Talon Kane is going to die."


    Delix didn''t reply, but his eyes showed apleteck of concern.


    Nix was temped to rap his knuckles on the smander''s forehead since the prisoner seemed content to stare wordlessly at Shae. "How did Talon Kane get into the Bone Fortress? Does he have a specific mission here?"


    Delix ignored the questions and spoke to Shae. "Two Irridescent smanders, not something you see every day given their rarity."


    Shae''s nced toward Nix; her lips widened into a smile. "Nix is an Emerald smander, not an Irridescent like me."


    Delix seemed to find the statement amusing, his soft chuckle somewhat out of ce given his situation''s severity. "Iridescents are rare, and Emeralds even more so since they are a mutated form of Irridescent. I''m surprised you didn''t know that."


    /Inferno: Nix: Is that right, Shae?


    /Inferno: Shae: Honestly, I do not know. It seems to fit your origin since my meta-mes caused you to evolve the form in the first ce.


    Nix snapped his fingers in front of Delix''s face. "You seem unconcerned by your Spirit Companion''s inevitable death. You think he will respawn at the Greater House of Kane, which will result in him resummoning you. Unfortunately, that is not the case."


    Delix''s face showed that he didn''t believe the Inferno Leader. "You''re talking about the ck hands? The artifacts only work for a limited time."


    /Inferno: Shae: Is that true, Nix?


    /Inferno: Nix: First I''ve heard of it. Doesn''t matter, though,


    Nix moved closer until he could feel the smander''s breath on his face. "I thought we were going to be honest."


    "ck hands have been around for a long time; the House of Kane has tested them. They expired one year after activation." Delix''s dark eyes showed amusement; he could tell that Nix hadn''t known that.


    Nix smiled suddenly. "If that''s true, I didn''t know about it. Fortunately, my ns won''t be affected at all. The Greater House of Kane no longer exists."


    His words grabbed the smander''s attention. "What?"


    Nix''s smile widened to show all of his teeth. "The Dragon City of Talumbir has been given to Dragon Master Una Chelonia and renamed Verynzai."


    "Impossible."


    Nix shrugged and moved toward the second stoned figure. "All the inhabitants have been expelled, and the Greater Houses reset. The First House of Verynzai is now the Greater House of Swords."


    Delix''s expression said that he wasn''t buying the story. "I thought you were going to be truthful?"


    Nix brought up his hud and changed Delix''s status from POW to active. "When you get put on POW status, you lose ess to your hud. Now that I''ve removed it, you should be able to use it again."


    A ming sword appeared in Shae''s hand. "Nix will free your hand for a moment, be careful what you do with this freedom."


    Nix spent a few minutes freeing the smander''s arm and then waited while the smander stretched it out.


    Delix brought up his hud, before ncing back at Nix. "What am I suppose to be doing? I can''t contact anyone."


    "I know." Nix moved slightly so he could see the smander''s hud. "Isn''t there something important missing? It should be grayed out, but yours is gone."


    Delix stared at his hud for a long moment before his eyes widened. "It''s a trick!"


    Nix changed the prisoner''s status back to pow, immediately, the hud closed. "Your Greater House Icon is gone."


    /Inferno: Shae: He thinks your lying.


    /Inferno: Nix: Yep.


    Nix pushed ck Ice into his sword hilt and, without pausing, stabbed through the head of the petrified dragonspawn. Delix gasped in shock as a transparent tendril became visible between the smander and Talon Kane. A momentter, the bond between them faded into nothing.


    The silence in the room stretched for several seconds as Delix stared at the dragonspawn. "If returning were possible, our bond would have remained."


    Nix nodded in agreement. "I only spoke the truth."


    Delix''splexion turned pasty as he stared at the Inferno Leader. "We haven''t been here long, a few weeks only."


    Shae let her ming sword burn out. "How did you get here?"


    Delix shook his head slightly, sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Talon summoned me. He was brought here through a sacrificial exchange."


    The Inferno Leader circled the prisoner while he considered the next question. "What is that?"


    "It''s a witch ritual. You can bring someone in from the outside; however, you must sacrifice one of your own faction to do so." Delix''s eyes were no longer calm; he could feel that his life hung by a thread. "I know something else! Jargon Kane wants the Bone Fortress! He wants it bad enough to have seeded several of his dragonspawn throughout the Burroughs!"


    /Inferno: Nix: He doesn''t know that Jargon Kane is controlling Hulo.


    Shae lowered her voice slightly as if telling Delix a secret. "If you can tell us one valuable thing, I will ask my mate to spare your life."


    "I... There''s something valuable here, Hulo searches in secret!" Delix''s voice trembled slightly when he spoke. "I overheard Talonmunicating with Hulo. He used a word I had never heard before."


    Nix shared a nce with Shae and Pon before leaning closer. "What word?"


    "Spectrum."