"Nix." Her words were soft, like a gentle wind. She picked up the Ravager and hugged him.
Ravager Nix chuckled and nudged her with his black nose. "I know why you can't use comms down here. The lower levels of the Keep are neutral, like the ocean."
"Soupy!" Ducky skipped across the room, her blue eyes filled with happiness as she swept up both her and Nix in one swoop.
"Ducky." The round face was smiling at the Water Witch while clutching the Ravager tightly.
"Hey... Don't squeeze so hard!" Nix squird free of the combined grasps of his spirit companions. "How long have you been down here?"
Soup knelt until she was eye-level with the Ravager. Her Jade hand stroked his black-furred head while making a cooing sound. "Nix."
A pulsing glow from behind them caused the entire group to turn. A silver cloth hung in the air over the corpse of Glacia. The Ravager approached cautiously and studied it.
/Family: Nix: I'll link it.
Silver Witch's Mantle
Elental: Unassigned.
Description: This Mantle was originally gifted to Glacia by the Goddess of Winter to preside over all Covens.
/Family: Pradi: No stats? What's it do?
/Family: Ducky: What do want to do, Nix?
/Family: Nix: Equip it.
Ducky advanced slowly, a pale hand reaching out tentatively to touch the mantle. The mont she did, it appeared around her shoulders and lengthened until it touched the floor. The color shifted into a deep blue, the Water Witch's eyes seed to focus on sothing directly in front of her. A wave of her hand caused a realm map to appear in the air.
Nix had seen realm maps before, but they had been layered; these were presented side-by-side. When Ducky moved her hand, the next plane rotated into view.
The City of Cyphix was highlighted, a purple point blinked over the city's location.
/Family: Nix: That's the Cyphix Coven, right? Show us Oasis.
The map of Oasis was easily recognizable; there was one marked city.
Nix glanced at Prada, who was also studying the map. "Know much about Oasis?"
Pradi shook his head. "Never been there."
"That's Beco, an illegal slaver city in the Su'Dhassi territory." Nix frowned at the map. "I doubt if Pon left any of it standing."
"It's a closed Coven site. I have the option of opening it up." Ducky had never heard of Beco, but she was aware that Pon had tracked his daughter's abductors through the Su'Dhassi territory.
"No. Send all the data regarding closed Coven sites. If Glacia closed them, then she had a reason." The Ravager turned towards Soup, who was still kneeling next to him. "I assu you have a way out?"
/Family: Ducky: What do you want us to do?
/Family: Nix: Keep an eye on this Hulo person. Link that mantle that you are wearing.
Blue Witch's Mantle
Elental: Water
Description: This Mantle was originally gifted to Glacia by the Goddess of Winter to preside over all Covens.
/Family: Pradi: It customized to the wearer.
/Family: Nix: Ti to go. Stay alive and out of trouble.
Ducky hugged Soup tight for a mont, stroking the quill-covered head. "So beautiful!"
The Ravager glanced at the exit; they'd already been gone longer than he planned. "I want to see how you're getting in, Soup."
Soup nodded and scooped the Ravager up. She waved at Ducky and then quickly exited the room.
The Sea-Turtle moved with grace and speed through the water-filled lower halls. At tis, her feet would barely skim the surface. After several minutes of twists and turns, they arrived at a small cavern that was half-filled with water. Nix was forced to use Night vision because of the lack of lighting.
"This is the entrance to the ocean?"
Soup sat him down and knelt until she was eye-level again. Her round aqua-marine eyes glowed slightly in the darkness. "Nix."
"Thanks for the help today, Soup. You always co through for ."
Soup patted the top of his head while Nix took a better look at her. Up close, her skin was definitely that of an amphibian. Smooth green scales covered a feminine but well-muscled form. The green quills that covered her head extended down her neck before stopping at her shoulders.
"This cavern must be your entry point. Can you take this Ravager puppet back to camp?"
Soup nodded and scooped up the Ravager in a hug. "Nix."
"Thanks. See you back in camp."
A mont later, Nix sat up in his bunk, pushing the sleeping Orion onto the floor. He was back in the tent he shared with Shae and Fajii. "Anything happen while I was gone?"
"Nothing." Del padded toward the exit without speaking further.
/Inferno: Nix: Co back to camp; we won't be needing the Trinity fla.
/Inferno: Pon: Damn you! I have been waiting for two hours! Let's blast sothing.
/Inferno: Darsi: Permission to engage roof targets, Trip-7.
/Inferno: Nix: Granted. Take out whoever you can and then report back to base.
/Inferno: Shae: Sothing happen, Nix?
/Inferno: Nix: Yep. We managed to kill Glacia and Sandi.
/Inferno: Pon: The fuck you say?
/Inferno: Nix: Learned so valuable intel. Officer eting on the beach, right away.
When Nix exited his tent a mont later, he nearly collided with Gil and Mortimus in their human forms. Soone had braided the Titan Warleader's red beard. "Coming down to the beach?"
Gil nodded. "How'd you manage to put down Glacia while in puppet form?"
Nix slipped off his [Thine Enemy] ring and reverted back to his skelly form. "Had so serious back-up."
The trio walked down to the edge of the water. The Inferno Guild Leader stepped one bony foot into the surf.
Nix has activated [Mariner].
Nix grinned at the two Titans. The return of his Elental abilities ant he could once again use the Mariner form. He held out a webbed hand for the Titan Turtle to examine. "Like it?"
Gil nodded. "It makes you a little less ugly, but not much."
Nix waded deeper into the water before subrging. He lay in the shallows, letting the surf wash over him.
Fajii and Semmi arrived a few minutes later; the Aquarion needed no invitation to join Nix in the water. He was tempted to challenge her to a race, but he already knew what the outco would be. Without the benefit of enchanted items, Nix's Mariner form couldn't keep up with Fajii or any of the other Aquarions.
Sharl headed a procession that included most of the Inferno Officers. The guild tank sighed in envy when she saw that Nix was in the water. "I'd kill for a swimsuit."
Nix held back the comnt he wanted to say. "Latest count says 5867, Darsi and Ronnie must have managed to put down quite a few people."
Jun Li glanced at Ronnie who was busy rolling up her pants legs. "We should post a few ranged fighters there from now one. Give them the green light on any group with five or more."
A few minutes later, Soup arrived in her Sea Turtle form with the Ravager puppet secure on her back. She slapped the water happily with a flipper when she spotted Nix in his Mariner form.
Nix relieved her of the puppet and spent a mont with her. He'd recognized her as soon as she broke through the Ice barrier that Glacia had trapped them with. The two of them shared a symbiotic bond companion bond; when he grew stronger, so did she, and vice versa. "I'll co back later and play with you."
The Inferno Leader watched as Soup headed back out to sea; when she was finally out of sight, he returned to the Inferno Officers who were waiting on the beach.
/Officers: Gil: Soup is looking good.
/Officer: Nix: Stay away from my turtle.
/Officer: Jun Li: First order of business. Nix managed to take down both Sandi and Glacia. Did you get any intel?
Nix uploaded the realm map that he copied from Ducky. An instant later, everyone's hud buzzed.
/Office: Nix: We have a current listing of all Covens. So of them were purposefully deactivated.
/Officer: Semmi: How many active?
/Officer: Nix: Just the two we know about in Mid-Everspire and Cyphix. We'll need to send teams these other Covens.
/Officer: Del: This one in Beco, if I can send word to my people. They will investigate that.
/Officer: Shae: I can do that. I'm heading back tonight to talk with Sinfaya.
[Whisper: Nix to Shae] I want that dragon puppet. She should be able to figure sothing out.
[Whisper: Shae to Nix] I'm on it.
/Officer: Jun Li: Our priorities for incoming fighters are the Drakes and Muncie.
/Officer: Nix: And the Aquarions. I found out sothing nice today. The lower levels of the Keep are not actually part of it. Soup found a way in and has been hunting there.
/Officer: Semmi: It's neutral ground? We should keep this to ourselves!
/Officer: Jun Li: Agreed. We'll put this aside until we've taken all the Burroughs.
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