"Temperature good enough?" Hyai left the water running and pulled one of the bathroom stools closer before sitting down. The new houseguest had regained consciousness but was suffering from the lingering effects of exposure.


    "T-Thank you." Emi''s teeth chattered when she spoke; although she was fully healed, there was a deep-seated chill in her bones.


    "Don''t worry about it, Hun." Hyai pushed a strand of light red hair back behind her ear. "Alpha team is going back in; any intel you could share before they leave could prove very helpful."


    Emi slid down in the water until she was fully submerged before sitting up a momentter and slicking back her hair with both hands. "I thought I''d never feel warm again."


    Hyai waited patiently. From what Nix had told her, Emi was one of the hardened veterans from the Bone Fortress, someone with a lot ofbat experience. He expected that she would bounce back quickly.


    "King Duran had called for a great feast, as might be expected after so many years away from home. We weed a moment of respite." Emi filled her hands with hot water and sshed it on her face before continuing. "That thing arrived after we had spent an entire day celebrating. The snow was already starting, but the King was adamant about ignoring it for a few days while we recovered."


    "How is it that you were outside of the city?"


    "There''s an inactive Fire Temple at the edge of the Great Desert; it was built underground to mask its presence. Edi sent our group to investigate the possibility of activating it."


    "I see. What happened to the rest of your group? Nix said you were the only one."


    Emi sighed heavily. "The sky above Eidengal opened up, and that thing dropped down. We returned to the city on our Bone Crows; by the time we arrived, only a small section near the western wall was left open."


    Hyai stroked the girl''s wet hair when tears began running down her cheeks. "Take your time."


    ***********


    Nix studied the map on the second level of the TOC. Mortimus was briefing the Titan Stewards about their current objectives. As the current Steward of Ionova, Nix had decided to sit in on the briefing while waiting for Emi to recover. The Titans had already dispatched two of the four Regional Lords in Everspire. "They move fast."


    Del looked up from licking her paw. "The Titans have stronger forces. In Oasis, the Ain''Dhassi have teamed up with the Izzin to kill one of the regional lords."


    "Really?" The news came as a surprise to Nix. "How''s your family? Are they safe?"


    Del''s blue eyes blinked at him. "They are fine. The Ice Howlers in Oasis are much stronger than the ones in Colonial."


    "Makes sense, Del. The levels are much higher." Nix frowned as he brought the thought to its conclusion. It meant that the Everspire Howlers would be even more dangerous.


    [Whisper: Semmi to Nix] When you''re done on the second floor,e down and join us.


    [Whisper: Nix to Semmi] I''m done here, be down in a bit.


    A few minutester, Nix and Del joined the rest of Alpha near the TOC center hud. Semmi greeted them both and then jumped right in.


    "ording to Emi, there''s a Fire Temple hidden in the Great Desert. We''re going to cut loose that damned leech that''s sucking Eidengal dry, and then we''re going to find that Temple." Semmi brought up the current image of Eidengal andpared it side-by-side with Arcturis''Fraiza from the library. "As you can see, we''re dealing with something farrger than anything we''ve ever killed."


    "You give it too much credit." Nix closed the AF image and zoomed in on Eidengal. "It''s a fucking leech, swim in enoughkes growing up, and you know what they''re like. Wee in on the ground, find the tendrils, and destroy them."


    Semmi nodded in agreement. "As long as we stay out of the air, we should be fine. Finding the Tendrils might prove difficult."


    /Alpha: Del: Those tendrils were all on track when I was recovering your corpses. I saw ten of them altogether.


    /Alpha: Wind: Why wasn''t Emi with the rest of her group?


    /Alpha: Nix: She was, until she fell off of her Bone Crow.


    Pon stifled augh; he''d seen first hand the walking catastrophe that was Emi. "It''s a good thing she''s a healer."


    An hourter, Nix, Pon, Del, and three Ashobel puppets stepped through a breach leading to the Great Desert. Jun Li, Wind, and Semmi were all seatedfortably at the TOC, happy to be taking on the bitter cold with as an Ashobel puppet.


    /Alpha: Nix: Bring up Track; let''s monitor them while we head toward the first tendril.


    /Alpha: Del: Understood, I''ll put the nearest four up.


    [Tracking Results: Tendrils only]


    Tendril 2.2 Km NW


    Tendril 2.4 Km NW


    Tendril 2.5 Km N


    Tendril 2.5 Km N


    Nix nced at the shared hud. "Make sure nothing sneaks up on us, Del."


    Alpha team traveled along the surface until the snow reached a depth of about three meters; at that point, they weren''t making much headway given the slow footing and low visibility. Nix ignited his aura and melted his way to the desert surface.


    /Alpha: Nix: From here on in, we are under the snow.


    /Alpha: Jun Li: Finally, I couldn''t see anything except for Semmi''s furry back.


    /Alpha: Del: We drifted off course a bit, 800 meters straight ahead.


    Nix created a gap between himself and the rest of the team; the Emerald Fury mes melted everything it touched, including the frozen sand beneath his feet. As the snow fled before the Inferno Leader, the tunnel quickly froze back into ce, leaving a perfectly round path burrowing under the frozen desert.


    The group stopped a half-hourter when Del told them they were close. They hade face to face with the first Tendril, it resembled arge white pir of ice, extending in both directions.


    /Alpha: Nix: Shit... I thought it would be smaller.


    The tendril was about five meters in diameter, with intricate grooves etched into it. The air around Nix snapped and crackled in protest as he approached their objective.


    /Alpha: Pon: This is fucking cold, Nix. I''m actually burning mana to stay warm.


    /Alpha: Nix: Let me know if your mana drops below half. How''s my Ashobel doing?


    /Alpha: Semmi: No worries, like a stroll in the park.


    Nix pushed Emerald Fury mes into his two bone hilts and shed at the tendril. The results weren''t spectacr; the me de only sliced about a foot into the pir. When he struck, the ground shook violently while the tendril began vibrating with a high-pitched whine.


    /Alpha: Nix: Start hitting!


    The Ashobel moved to one side and started shing at it with their powerful ws while Pon began spamming a low-level fire spell. It was tedious and slow going. More than twenty minutester, Nix finally severed the tendril its base. It retracted slowly upward, leaking dark blue fluid that sshed onto the frozen ground as it retreated from view.


    /Alpha: Nix: Does anyone have some containers? I''d like some of this if possible.


    /Alpha: Semmi: Pon has a few draft barrels.


    /Alpha: Pon: They''re full. We''re out of luck.


    /Alpha: Semmi: Dump them. This stuff could be useful.


    /Alpha: Pon: Dump a barrel of Semmi''s Gold Draft?


    /Alpha: Semmi: Yes, please.


    Ashobel Wind shared a nce with Nix, the alien eyes of the snow creature showing his amusement. This represented the ultimate test for Pon.


    [Whisper: Wind to Nix] This could be the end for those two. No way Pon dumps those barrels.


    [Whisper: Nix to Wind] He''ll cave. He''s stubborn but not stupid.


    The Fire Mage stared at blue blood pooling onto the ice; for some reason, it thickened and bubbled instead of freezing instantly. "Fuck... You''re going to pay me for these barrels."


    Nix shook his head. "No way. I leave it up to you. If you don''t want to dump them, then don''t.


    [Whisper: Wind to Nix] Heartless... I like it.


    Pon''s cussing echoed in the ice as he stepped away from the pooling blood and dumped the first barrel into the snow.


    /Alpha: Semmi: Good job, Pon.


    Nix and Wind bothughed ruthlessly at the distraught mage.


    ********************


    1400 hours, Lana City


    Darsi approached the frozen city on foot. Lana was about half the Free Trader City size but boasted the strongest economy of any territory within Everspire. This was mostly due to their artesian-like crafting abilities. Anything with the ''Lana'' stamp on it is always sold. Their work in arge variety of disciplines blended quality artistry in aesthetically pleasing designs. Although the walls around the city were quite high, the gates themselves were missing.


    "Stop! Please identify yourself, neer." A burly guard wrapped in fur approached her.


    "I''m Darsi, from the Inferno Guild." She paused when the guard took a visible step back. "My business is with Madam Ravine."


    The guard bowed respectfully. "Is he with you?"


    Darsi favored the guard with a slight smile. "Who would he be?"


    "T-The Guild Leader of Inferno!"


    Darsi shook her head. "No." Although Nix was going to meet her, she was well aware that his list of enemies was just as long as his friends'' list. "Are you going to help me?"


    The guard chewed on the ice hanging down from his untrimmed mustache; the look of disappointment in his eyes was clearly evident. "Take this road through town, left on Market Street will bring you right to her business."


    "Thanks." Darsi waved and hurried away, not wanting to deal with the fanboy guard.


    Walking through Lana was much louder than she would have believed. Although there was no sort of foot-traffic going through town, the steady chopping and scraping of ice could be heard everywhere. Shopkeepers came out nearly every hour to chop the ice away from the front of their door. It was an ongoing battle that the citizens had been waging twenty-four hours a day.


    Darsi finally stopped when the road ended in arge brick building, a three-story monstrosity that was obviously a hotel. A handful of men with brooms, picks, and shovels worked diligently to keep the long boardwalk andrge double doors free of ice. She stepped around the men and entered without being challenged.


    "Greetings, I''m Madam Ravine." A pale woman with spiked ck hair and green eyes spoke from a sofa that had been ced near arge bay window. The window waspletely iced over.


    Darsi stared for a moment; for once she was left speechless.


    "Did youe here for work? Or are you paying?" Lana leaned back on thefortable-looking sofa while caressing her bare breast with the tips of her slender fingers. "If it''s work you''re looking for, then prepare for a lengthy interview." Lana parted her knees slightly while running a pink tongue over her lips.


    "Oh... Hell no!" Darsi''s face showed emotion as she stared at Madam Ravine through the scope of her sniper rifle. "Just going to shoot you in the face... Nix won''t really care one way or another."


    Madam Ravine froze in ce, the smile fading as her pale skin instantly broke out in a cold sweat. She could feel the threat radiating off of the blonde. "W-What?" Her legendary cool was shaken, she wanted to say something calming, but her mouth felt like someone had pushed cotton into it.


    Darsi sighed heavily and lowered her weapon. "Why are you naked?"


    Madam Ravine couldn''t move under the intense stare of those steady blue eyes. "T-This is a House of Pleasure."


    Darsi wrinkled her nose slightly; the scent of perfume and booze hung on the air. "Even so... Why are you naked?"


    Madam Ravine finally summoned the will to move as she picked up a silk robe from a nearby chair and slipped it on. "Because this is a House of Pleasure," she repeated.


    Darsi scanned the room; two women were crouched down behind a table on the far side of the room, both of them were naked as well. "Shouldn''t you be wearing sexy or revealing clothes?"


    "Should we?" The Madam stood up, her dark eyes studying the Inferno Sniper. "You''ll be taking over management then?"


    [Quest Updated]