Fey banked over the ocean and then picked up speed as she leveled off and headed into Dawn. Both she and Morti now had a new statistic called 'Emperor's Will, one part of the description clearly stated that Greater Spells would only have the desired effect. Nix had something similar that developed in the last day, but it was called something different.

[Sea Affinity]

One of your companions has gifted you their Sea Affinity. Your resistance to water-based spells has increased. The power of the deep has reinforced your soul enabling you to ignore the side effects of Greater Spells.

Nix leaned over the side of the silver Drakon, his eyes scanning the shallows of the ocean below. He could see Soup just below the surface, racing out to sea towards some unknown enemy. Although she hadn't contributed much in the land battles, her strength was continuing to grow. "Has anyone from the Dragon Council approached you?"

"Yes." Fey flew lower over the water; any drop in elevation would have caused her silver wings to graze the ocean. "I'm not sure what they want."

"You have the same strength as a wildling dragon. According to Tai'Qui, you are the first known Dragon/Drake hybrid."

"They want me to become a dragon?"

Nix shook his head slightly; he was wearing his [Thine Enemy] ring and enjoying the short flight with his companion. "Who knows what dragons want? I can look into it further if you wish."

"I want to stay with my family, help you kill Khione, and then return to Haven."

Nix smiled at her words; Fey was as awkward at times as any teen. "What about Muncie?"

Fey dipped suddenly, both her wings brushing the water before she managed to climb higher. "Muncie? He's m-my friend."

Nix felt a small temptation to tease her but decided against it. Muncie was a Necro-Animator, the dragon puppet that Inferno recovered from the Vega fight in Everspire may make a difference when Inferno goes to war. "I'm going to find a way to bring him in after we break this spell and wake everyone up."

"Really?" Fey sped up and banked eastward toward the first beachhead. "I do miss him."

"I thought as much." Nix pointed at the beachhead where some of the battles had taken place. "Put us down there, and I'll summon Morti."

[Whisper: Ronnie to Nix] What should I do with the Dragon Hearts?

[Whisper: Nix to Ronnie] Be careful removing them; I plan on giving them to Fey.

Fey landed softly and waited until Nix hopped down before morphing into her human form. "Just scour the area for dropped loot?"

Nix nodded. "Yes. Grab everything, no matter what it looks like."

[Summons Mortimer]

The Titan cub had returned to his bone form; he nudged Nix with his smooth skull and then started looking for loot.

Over the next hour, the trio scoured the Dawn Burrough. They managed to find the Burrough Commander's Tidal ring along with various pieces of armor and weaponry. Much of it was witch-based, but Nix stored it anyway.

"Hey, Nix. What mission are you going to send Lilac on?" Morti talked around a large shield that he had in his mouth. "Keep the shield?" Nix shook his head. "It's crap. I was going to have Bensic and Cyra do a mission for me. If successful, we will release them after Khione is defeated."

Morti spit out the shield that was now covered in bear slobber. "Lilac is going to team up with them?"

"Yep. That's the plan." Nix paused as the veil passed through the group; none of them gave it any further thought.

"The veil looks dimmer." Fey stared at the curtain of light as it continued on its path. "What's that mean?"

"It means Ronnie has removed one of the Dragon Hearts. It will weaken each time she does until it finally collapses altogether." Nix tossed another piece of crap armor into the scrap pile. Although it was useless to them as armor, both he and Pon required more material for crafting.

/Inferno: Nezbit: Pon is showing signs of waking up.

/Inferno: Nix: He moving around?

/Inferno: Nezbit: No, but I heard him mumble, "the fuck is going on?"

/Inferno: Nix: Thanks, Nez. Keep me updated.

The silver-haired Mage used her staff to uncover items, pointing at them until Nix or Morti returned to pick them up. "What's our plans after we break the spell?"

Nix dropped another armload of crap before pocketing a dagger that he knew Sasi would like. We'll have control over four more graveyards. "That means we can summon eight hundred more troops. This trap that was meant to turn the tide has definitely worked."

Fey's pretty face lit up in a smile. "But in our favor, right?"

Nix nodded. "I'm going to bring everyone in that I can. Muncie, the Drakes, the Aquarions, and however many members of the Alliance I can fit in here."

Fey stopped her progress at the border of the Misery Burrough. "The Veil dimmed again."

/Inferno: Pon: The fuck is going on here?

/Inferno: Nix: Finally woke up, old bastard?

/Inferno: Nezbit: Pon is up. :P

/Inferno: Nix: We heard. Nez will bring you up to speed, old man. Just hold tight for now.

By the time Fey, Morti and Nix picked through Misery; Inferno members had claimed three more Dragon Hearts from the Honor trap. Alpha and the Titans woke up at nearly the same time. Over the course of the next hour, the rest of Inferno, along with most of the other undead, was back in the fight.

Jun Li let Ronnie run the show while she took the time she needed to recover. Before Ronnie's excavation team could continue uncovering the fifth heart, the Greater Spell collapsed.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Spell is down, Nix.

/Inferno: Nix: Recover the rest of the hearts. I'll come to find you when we are done in Agony.

[You may once again summon Chupa.]

/Inferno: Semmi: None of the sleepers are to do anything taxing until tomorrow. We'll grab a good night's sleep and then have an officer's meeting to plan our next move.

Nix crossed into Agony and started scavenging for items. "We could use a bit more help." He placed his hand over his chest and let his thoughts dwell on the red-haired salamander. A moment later, Shae appeared in front of him; although she looked tired, her face showed her relief. "Nix! Deidra told me about the sleep spell."

"I couldn't bring you in a while in the Ravager puppet." Nix squeezed her tight when she jumped into him. "The spell is broken; we are still gathering the components."

[Whisper: Shae to Nix] Deidra said the spell would need seven dragons to successfully cast?

[Whisper: Nix to Shae] Apparently, they substituted Wildling Dragon Hearts for real dragons.

[Whisper: Shae to Nix] Dragon Hearts? Were you able to recover them?

[Whisper: Nix to Shae] We're in the process.

[Whisper: Shae to Nix] Going to give one to Fey?

[Whisper: Nix to Shae] At least one, perhaps more, if they will benefit her.

Shae finally released him, laughing when Morti pushed his wet nose into her neck and huffed her hair. "Do you want my help?"

Morti stepped away and nodded. "These are all the guys that Nix killed. He didn't have time to loot them."

"Um... I didn't kill all of them. We did bomb the hell out of them before the spell triggered. Less than half of these are mine." Nix stretched his arms over his head, suddenly feeling tired. "Let's wrap this up so we can eat something."

Several hours later, after Inferno had recovered all the Dragon Hearts and turned in for the night. A small group sat in a steaming pool of water, talking about the different strategies they might employ over the coming days. Alpha team, Chiba, Beta, Jun Li, and Elan Mtui represented nearly every [Thine Enemy] ring in the camp.

Nix was sitting between Fajii and Shae, enjoying a moment of peace.

Pon's old face was the only part of him visible above the water. He'd taken upon himself to heat the pool to a nearly intolerable level for anyone who wasn't a fire mage. "How'd you know this was here, Nix?"

"Raine brought me here," Nix admitted. "She has teams actively searching for any Khione sympathizers in Oasis. Her people also kicked the crap out of the Trifecta."

After being talked over for nearly an hour, Nix made Fajii switch places with him so that she could sit next to the salamander.

[Whisper: Beta to Nix] I can't believe Chiba is on her best behavior.

Nix glanced toward his Swordmaster. She was in her goddess form, smiling and acting nearly normal while talking with Commander Mtui. Every once in a while, a "Chiba thing" would slip out of her mouth, but Mtui either ignored it or didn't really mind.

[Whisper: Nix to Beta] If he isn't nice to her, I'll turn him into a decoration.

Beta laughed suddenly from across the pool, quickly covering it up by hugging Wind. Chiba had some very interesting decorations at her place. Among them was a large demon penis and a statue of her first love. Milamber was actually inside the statue with a black hand attached to him; secretly, she wondered if Chiba would ever release him.

********************* magic

Tai'Qui roared happily and carefully used a taloned forefoot to pushed the dragon egg into the mud-pool she had been carefully preparing. An instant later, the earth dragon changed to her human form and maneuvered it into the exact spot she wished. She stood naked in the mud that rose to mid-thigh. She could feel the mud pulsing with elements as the dragon egg slowly absorbed them like a starving child. She was the last of the three Haven dragons to conceive. Tai knew this because she could feel the dragon embryos' presence inside their respective dragon eggs.

[Whisper: Deidra to Tai'Qui] May I open up communication with you?

[Whisper: Tai'Qui to Deidra] Of course.

A life-sized holo of Deidrea appeared in front of her a moment later. She offered Tai'Qui a polite nod. "Is everything alright?"

Tai nodded happily. "Yes, thank you. The color is something I'm not used to."

"Color?" Deidra paused for a second, as if afraid to ask anything else. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Is it green?"

Tai nodded. "Like a brilliant emerald. Yours too?"

"Yes. It shines like his Dread Flame."