The salamander was in human form, a slim male figure with long flowing black hair that touched his legs' back. He wore black armor that was intricately scaled, the obvious work of a master craftsman. He wasn't bothered by the burning building; his dark eyes switched from Morti and then back to Nix as if he couldn't decide who to focus on.

"Black flames? Is that Necrofire?" Nix drew his hilt and pushed black ice into it.

"This is demon flame, of which Necrofire is a derivative."

/Resolute: Morti: What's he doing here? Swat him?

/Resolute: Nix: He's a spirit companion.

The Lich King's teeth clicked together loudly. "Want to give up?"

A flaming black sword appeared in the salamander's hand. "My flames will melt your bones, Lich."

Delix has cast [Blackened Corpse].

[Interupted!] Morti has activated [Trample]

Delix has been stunned.

Nix has cast [Black Ice: Sculpture].

Talon Kane has activated [Dragon Leap].

[Interupted!]

Morti's big paw swatted the dragon spawn out of the air, sending him crashing into the floor like a spike into soft mud.

Nix has cast [Black Ice: Sculpture] magic

Morti turned his head sideways as he stared at the ice-encased fighter. "Isn't that Dragon Pong?"

Nix nodded. "Yep. Sure is."

"Did you bring sandwiches?"

Their conversation was interrupted when the wall nearest them collapsed inward, making the entire side of the building shake.

Nix shifted into his Basilisk form and petrified the dragon spawn. The giant serpent's luminous yellow eyes considered the salamander for a moment before doing the same to him.

/Resolute: Shadai: I like the basilisk form, Nix. It's scary.

Nix shifted back to his Lich King form. "Leave them for now. Let's head to the next building.

Morti slammed into the door with both paws, destroying it and most of the wall as he charged out into the open area with the rest of the group behind him. The sound of fighting could be heard in several different parts of the fort; the Titan cub scanned the area around them.

/Resolute: Morti: Dad is outside of the walls. Edie is leading a team from the west; they are already in the fort.

Zeryntoro has activated [Rockslam].

Morti stepped forward, swatting the boulder to one side before it could crash into his group.

Cleric Emi has cast root.

Zeryntoro has been rooted.

/Resolute: Nix: It's the Burrough Commander.

Zeryntoro was twice the height of a normal person and more than three times as wide. His lower legs were covered in fur that ended in black hooves. His upper body bulged with muscles all the way up to a bovine head that emphasized his massive horns. A skeleton cleric stumbled into view from one side; she tripped on her white robes and fell face-first into the melting ice while the shield she had been carrying skidded towards Mort's feet.

The cleric climbed to her feet and chased down her shield before taking refuge behind the Titan cub. "It's a Minotaur! Be careful."

Cleric Emi has joined Resolute.

Edi has joined Resolute.

Rossa has joined Resolute.

Jubo has joined Resolute.

Cymric has joined Resolute.

Mo has joined Resolute.

/Resolute: Edi: Hey Nix! Want to team up and take this guy?

/Resolute: Nix: Leave the Bull guy to Morti and me. Sweep the nearby area for Ice Faction; if you don't find anyone, then help us finish him off.

****Author's Note******

This group was the last living members of the Undead Faction. They held the Xander Burrough and sacrificed themselves in order to create a grave within the cave so that Alfie and Edi could hang on.

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

Zeryntoro has resisted root.

Morti charged toward the Minotaur, his claws tossing up chunks of solid ice as he bore down on the Burrough Commander. The Creature produced a massive Kite Shield that appeared to be made of some sort of stone with the bottom of it ending in a barbed point.

Zeryntoro has activated [War Trench].

The Minotaur's shield stabbed deep into the ground as he braced himself to take the Bone Bear's charge.

A moment before colliding, Morti reared back and slammed both paws into the kite shield. A loud cracking echoed the sound of the strike as the bottom of the shield was sheared off, and the enormous Minotaur knocked back into the burning building.

Nix has cast [Storm Rider][Execution].

An instant later, Nix appeared behind the fallen creature, his Black Ice blade slicing through the Burrough Commander's upraised arm while taking off one of its curved horns.

Zeryntoro has activated [Raging Bull].

A Minotaur has become Enraged. All incoming damage is nullified. All strikes from the Minotaur are critical strikes x3.

The Burrough Commander roared in pain as he climbed slowly to his feet. His eyes had turned blood red, the veins on his muscles threatened to burst from the skin.

A dozen strands of Emerald Flame wrapped around the Minotaurs neck as Nix braced his feet into the burning embers and hauled backward. Before the creature could respond, powerful jaws clamped over his Bovine muzzle dragging him toward the ground.

The sound of Nix straining to hold the strands was drowned out by the roars of Morti and Zeryntoro as the three of them lent their considerable strength toward surviving. Unable to move under the tremendous strength of the Titan cub, the Burrough Commander howled in frustration as his Rage counter neared zero.

The powerful red aura around the Minotaur faded suddenly, resulting in his massive strength failing completely. The Bone Bear swatted him into the dirt before coming down on him with both paws. An audible crack could be heard as the Burrough Commander released an agonizing howl.

Nix has cast [Storm Rider]

An instant later, Nix appeared behind the Minotaur, his Black Ice blade stabbing downward through the creature's neck and into the ground below.

Burrough Commander Zeryntoro has been slain.

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

In the aftermath of the battle, a handful of enemies were taken prisoner while another Graveyard fell into the hands of the Undead faction. Nix dug out the two petrified members of the Ice Faction and had them carried back to camp. Instead of flying back on his Shadow Raven, Nix decided to walk back with Morti.

"Sometimes, it's fun just to wing it." A familiar voice spoke from behind the duo. Semmi smiled at the Inferno leader. "Forgive your fishing buddy, for being dumb?"

Nix nodded. "Of course but you'll owe me one." The blond officer wrinkled her nose at him. "Junie is sorry too."

Nix snorted impolitely. "Then she can tell me in person."

"Great job today, Commander!" Alfie's group saw the duo walking back and had decided to join them.

"Thanks for the back-up." Nix didn't have to pretend to be impressed. After the Commander died, he helped them clear out the central part of the camp. It was obvious how they managed to hold the tip of Xander Burrough for so long; they were very good.

The sound of metal on metal contact followed by a loud curse caused Nix to turn the other direction. Cleric Emi picked herself off of the rapidly thawing soil, holding out her muddy bone hands like they had snakes on them. "Of course, I found the only mud in the Burrough." The undead cleric carried a shield but appeared to be weaponless.

"You don't carry a mace or anything?" Nix noticed that several of her friends politely looked away.

The skeleton cleric froze in place, with her hand covered in mud; she had no way to hold her robe off of the softening ground. "I'm not allowed to hold weapons."

Alphie let out a loud laugh; a moment later, the rest of her group joined in.

[Summons: Nightmare]

An instant later, the demon horse appeared in front of them, pushing its muzzle into the Lich King's face.

Nix's boney hand stroked her head for a moment before gesturing toward the cleric. "Give our cleric a ride back to camp."

"Really?" Emi handed her shield to one of her friends before accepting a hand-up. "Thanks!"

Nix held on to Nightmare's lead and resumed walking beside the Titan cub. "Next time, we'll team up with your dad."

"Sounds good. He passed me up in kills today."

Nix placed his free hand on the cub's shoulder. "Can't let that happen, right?"

Morti's rumbling laugh made the small group join in. "Yeah. I gotta catch up!"

[Whisper: Cymric to Nix] Thanks for letting Emi ride. She's a bit on the clumsy side.

Nix glanced over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't going to fall off. His mom had been like that. She was banned from using knives in the kitchen. The memory warmed him for a moment before he put it aside.

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

[Bone Fortress, 1800 hours Ice Faction: 2,820 Undead 1,761]

Nix summoned Shae so that she could attend Officer's meeting. The small group sat in a circle outside of the TOC.

/Officer: Semmi: What was Talon Kane doing here? Is Jargon backing the Ice Faction?

/Officer: Nix: Jargon Kane uses a dominant ability to control the Trifecta leader actively.

Nix felt everyone's eyes on him, so he continued.

/Officer: Nix: It something I suspected since I ran into Hulo while I was inhabiting the Ravager. I verified the ability with Deidra. I also checked whether or not Jargon Kane was aware of current events. He is not.

/Officer: Pon: How can you be sure?

/Officer: Nix: I took Talumbir and gave it to Una Chelonia. He would have been notified when I initiated the takeover.

/Officer: Wind: Damn, Boss.

/Officer: Semmi: What about the House of Kane?

/Officer: Nix: I expelled them.

/Officer: Semmi: We lost 40 today, but we trimmed their number by two hundred. We'll revive our 40 people in two days.

/Officer: Jun Li: At which time we'll also pick up an additional two hundred fighters from the Turncoat graveyard.

/Officer: Nix: That's our timeline; every two days, we'll move to the next Burrough.

/Officer: Semmi: Recent events have shown that we are all feeling stress. Half of us take tomorrow off, the rest take the day after that off.

[Whisper: Chiba to Nix] Since we're off tomorrow, let's try and get some bladework in.

[Whisper: Nix to Chiba] Sound good.