Phoenix Phire

Deidra stood next to her son, their forces had taken over Tent City outside of Belatora. "The House of Dragon and Tempest will stay, send everyone else back."

Breach Commander Mtui nodded, secretly pleased at the chance to see some action. Since Inferno's defeat of the Nether King, there was barely anything for him to do. "Right away. I'll make sure Speaker Sasi stays..." His voice trailed off as a sudden surge of power drew his attention to the west.

A brilliant column of white light shot upwards through the clouds, the night sky lit up and distorted as if someone was stretching it.

Deidra's eyes focused on the sky. "Spatial anomaly. Where's the rebel camp?"

Elen Mtui gestured toward the column of light. "In that direction." A whirlwind of dust and flying debris caused him and everyone nearby to cover their faces as two dragons assumed their natural form and headed toward the light.

/Inferno: Ronnie: The hell is this? Where did Deidra and Tai go?

/Inferno: Wind: Toward that light.

/Inferno: Bali: Never go toward the light...

The two dragons approached the rebel camp at full speed, despite their enormous size both of them were nearly as fast as one of the SkyKings. They landed within a few meters of each other, the dragons staring at the mass of swirling dust and earth.

Tai'Qui changed to her human form and made a gesture with one hand, almost immediately the earth element in the air settled back to the ground. She stared at the white dragon, laying unconscious amid the rubble. "Who is that?"

Deidra moved closer, she also shifted into human form. Her sharp eyes taking in the remains of the destroyed camp. The white dragon was big, nearly the size of herself. "The only spatial specialist I know of is Sinfaya."

Tai shook her head slightly. "She seems too strong to be Sinfaya. Have you ever seen her dragon form?"

Deidra shook her head. "No."

"Me neither." Tai examined the sleeping dragon. She didn't seem to be injured. "No sign of Nix, I'm going to wake her."

Deidra nodded. "Be careful."

The white dragon stirred suddenly before Tai could cast anything. Her large eyes blinking open as it climbed unsteadily to its feet. "Deidra and Tai'Qui?"

Deidra frowned at the familiar voice. "What happened here?"

Sinfaya stared at the camp, her sharp mind working. "An attack... There was nothing I could do."

Tai's normally calm face looked angry. "What happened to the camp? Where is Nix?"

"They are fine. I moved everyone to a protected dimension when I felt the danger." Sinfaya didn't have to look at her own form to know that her strength had skyrocketed.

[Whisper: Sinfaya to Nix] You can breach out, the danger is gone. We have company, I told them we were attacked and I sent everyone away.

[Whisper: Nix to Sinfaya] Understood.

A moment later, a breach formed a few meters away. Dozens of people exited quickly, the last two out were Nix and the black Orion that accompanied him.

Tai rushed forward and hugged Nix, her sharp eyes checking him for any injuries. "What happened?"

Nix shook his head slightly. "Not really sure. It was an attack of some sort, before I could respond Sinfaya transported us out of there."

Deidra sighed in relief. "I'm glad you are okay. I don't sense any Ice."

"I think we should assume that Khione can use multiple elements. I was in her compound earlier today, what I learned was troublesome." Nix shook his head slightly, the camp was completely destroyed.

Deidra frowned at the Inferno leader. "This is probably a direct response to your intrusion. Why were you there?"

"None of your business." Nix scowled at her and then opened a breach to Belatora.

[Whisper Nix to Cathor] We're moving our base to General Remis's tent city.

[Whisper: Cathor to Nix] Won't we be vulnerable there with our numbers?

[Whisper: Nix to Cathor] No. Reinforcements should have already arrived.

Tai seemed surprized by Nix's anger. Was he still mad at her also? "We were worried about you."

Nix sighed and placed a hand on Deidra's shoulder. "I'll cover Khione's stronghold in the meeting." Although he was often at odds with Deidra's manner, it was nice talking to a dragon that didn't cry every time he spoke.

[Whisper: Sinfaya to Nix] I'll return to my sanctuary and wait for your orders.

[Whisper: Nix to Sinfaya] I'll set up Krelandur for you.

[Whisper: Sinfaya to Nix] Thank you, Nix.

Sinfaya stared coldly at Nix. "I agreed to lend you my forces for the Dhou campaign, don't involve me directly again.

Nix watched her leave without another word, his face carefully expressionless. Not a bad bit of acting on her part.

Tai'Qui opened a breach to Belatora. "Why is she helping you?"

Nix shrugged slightly. "She came seeking sanctuary in Haven. This is the price we agree upon."

Cathor and his soldiers entered the breach, until only Nix, Deidra, Tai was left. "You guys go ahead. I need to do something quick."

The two dragons looked like they wanted to protest, but both left without saying anything. Nix waited until the breach closed before kneeling on the ground. He scruffed the fur on the Orion's ears. "You learned some secrets today. They are not to be shared with anyone. That includes family members."

The Orion's icy blue eyes stared at him. "I know, Nix. You are pretty amazing."

Nix puffed his chest out. "Think so? Let's get going, Bali is going to be worried about you."

******************

A short while later, Nix sat comfortably in Remis's Command tent with Wind, Ronnie, and Bali. The rest of the Inferno Officers were represented by holos from the Breach Commander Interface. Tai'Qui and Deidra waited outside since Nix wanted to meet without their influence.

/Officer: Nix: I've read the update that Semmi posted on today's actions, however, I'd like personal input from the teams.

/Officer: Jun Li: The Cultist training ground hit a few snags, but we were able to call in reinforcements and bury the place.

/Officer: Pon: There's a city beneath Khione's stronghold. I'm not sure how it is being kept a secret, but there are entire families here. We can't destroy this place without a lot of collateral damage.

/Officer: Nix: I have a workaround, prepare to engage tomorrow morning.

/Officer: Pon: Does that mean you're coming here?

/Officer: Nix: Yes. The city gets destroyed and we neutralize the Ice Seeds anchored there.

/Officer: Pon: Can't wait.

/Officer: Fajii: The Khione disciples were all dealt with. They are currently being held at our confinement area Ionova HQ. I'll need Ducky to start questioning the prisoners.

/Officer: Nix: I'll send her as soon as we wrap up things here.

/Officer: Semmi: Our Titan restoration project is advancing nicely. A second Titan has activated her bloodline.

/Officer: Jun Li: Was it Kia?

/Officer: Semmi: Yep. We're moving slow but at least it's forward.

/Officer: Nix: We'll send Sindi to challenge the Desert Fox Totem. Lucid can remain at the temple grounds for now.

*************

Author's reminder: Sindi and Nihlus are part of Tai'Qui's forces. They are both currently operating Titan puppets. Sindi is in a .25 Scorpion Titan while Nihlus is using a .25 Lion Titan.

Chief Guyanar: Old leader of the Krayven Clan, when Nix stepped down as their Phoenix Totem he volunteered to be permanently placed into the Titan Falcon.

Zinu: Cleric from the Krayven Clan who has accompanied Inferno on a few missions. She is the granddaughter of Guyanar and one of the leaders of the Clan.

*************

/Officer: Jun Li: Any word on the Krayven Clan?

/Officer: Nix: I haven't checked in on them since Guyanar assumed the Titan form. Let's refer to them as the Falcon Clan from now on, we should send someone out to make contact.

/Officer: Milat: I'll do it. The constant grinding in the Great Desert is getting boring.

/Officer: Jun Li: Noted. Vooni's former Assault team has been assigned to us permanently.

/Officer: Nix: My three amigos?

/Officer: Jun Li: Yep.

[Whisper: Jun Li to Nix] Mina died in today's mission, stepped into a hidden fire trap. She's fine, I sent her to the Turtle House.

[Whisper: Nix to Jun Li] I'll talk to her. Thank you.

/Officer Nix: For those of you who aren't aware, the Rebellion here in Dhou is being run by Sinfaya's people. She is part of the Krelandur and has volunteered her people in exchange for sanctuary in Haven.

/Officer: Semmi: That makes three dragons now. Did she take the marrow oath?

/Officer: Nix: She did. Anything else?

/Officer: Bali: Who is that Orion standing next to you?

/Officer: Nix: It's Ginger Tram, she's not in the channel so I don't care if she is here.

/Officer: Bali: Nope. All three Trams released their Orion puppets three hours ago. They are currently in Ionova.

Nix turned toward the black feline. "That's one of my creations, Orion's don't exist naturally in that color."

Ronnie walked toward it, completely unconcerned. "Sharl maybe? How many armors did you add the Orion too?"

Nis shook his head. "Not really sure. Gideon perhaps?"

Ronnie placed at hand on the smooth black head. The feline was completely unconcerned. "Its fun to mess with Nix, right?"

Bali pursed her lips slightly. "It's Del Tali."

The cat's head swung toward the Ain'Dhassi ranger. "How did you know that?"

Bali smiled and shrugged slightly. "They don't call me the greatest Ain'Dhassi ranger just because I'm pretty."

Her words derailed Nix's thoughts. "No one calls you that."

"I do," Ronnie disagreed.

Bali nodded happily. "See?"

/Officer: Jun Li: Del Tali? Isn't she stuck in a dragon egg?