Chapter 238 - Minion (1/2)
”Hey, Nix! Can I get my belt back?” Rabi was happily riding on Morti's back, seated between his older siblings Uta and Sasi.
Nix removed the altered buckle from his inventory and rea.s.sembled the belt while he walked. ”It might be better if I just replaced it.”
Rabi shook his head vigorously while slipping it back on. ”This is my new lucky belt!”
Morti waddled down the road, his shoulder brushing against Ducky while he walked. She had one hand resting against him. ”We need to get a bigger door on the Guild Hall so that I can fit.”
Ducky nodded without saying anything, even if the door were bigger, the room itself would hardly contain him.
A tall girl stood alone on the steps, waiting patiently for the group to arrive. She held her hair in one hand to keep it from dragging on the ground; in the other, she gripped a Mages staff.
Morti stopped when he saw her, his big nose huffing several times in her direction. ”Do I know you?”
The young girl looked to be about sixteen, with her pale complexion and silver hair she could have easily pa.s.sed for Wylie's younger sister. She stared at the ground when the group turned their focus on her. ”Afraid not.”
Morti moved closer and stopped to let the Qi family dismount. With his nose raised in the air, he huffed at her again, causing strands of her silver hair to fly in all directions.
”Morti! You're messing up my hair.” She shook her small fist at him and took a step backward, her feet tangled in her long white robe, causing her to stumble.
”Careful,” Nix stepped forward and caught her by the arm before she fell. He patted her head gently. ”Take your time Fey. It's not easy learning to walk on two legs.”
Fey nodded and favored him with a smile. ”Welcome back.” She carefully stepped to one side and let the group walk inside.
Ducky grabbed the white-robed mage by the hand and squeezed slightly. ”You look beautiful, Fey. I'll help you inside.”
Morti flopped on the ground with a sad m.o.a.n. ”I knew it was you.”
Fey shook her head while letting Ducky bring her inside. ”Didn't.”
Morti groaned loudly and placed a paw over his eyes. ”Did so.”
When they walked in the Guild Hall, Deidra was reading the intel that the Qi family had brought back from the Nether. Her perfect brow was furrowed while she read. After finishing, she finally looked up and noticed that everyone had arrived. ”Welcome back.”
Elan Mtui was seated between his mother and Nix; he took a moment to shake the Inferno Guild Leader's hand.
Nix glanced around the room; all of his officers were present along with a few guests. ”I'm interested in learning what went on here while I was deployed to the Nether.” He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned slightly to see Shae standing comfortably behind him.
[Whisper Shae to Nix] They aren't our enemies, but be wary anyways.
[Whisper Nix to Shae] I will.
Nix leaned back in his chair, trying not to notice that Shae was caressing the back of his neck with her fingertips. ”I'll start then. Breach Commander Mtui asked me to accompany the Qi family on an incursion mission into the Nether. After meeting up with them, we entered the Dark Temple through an Octagon Gate.”
Mtui was looking at the briefing Uta has sent to him. ”How bad was the trap?”
Sasi answered for the Qi family. ”All Cla.s.s and Archon abilities were disabled. Our inventories couldn't be accessed, all of our gear was confiscated, and we were locked in cells.”
Pon snorted from across the table. ”Doesn't sound that bad. How'd you get out?”
Sasi turned her dark eyes toward the old mage. ”With a belt buckle, some straw, and a few dead rats.”
Uta nodded in agreement. ”Taxidermy, I believe it was.”
Nix continued, ”we escaped our cell and overpowered the guards to get our gear back.”
From there, Uta took over the narrative. ”We sent Ducky to scout the position of the Dark Bishop and gather Intel. During her absence, we discovered a Chancellor in the library. We eliminated him and proceeded to the rendezvous point where Ducky was waiting with the Fallen Chancellor.”
”Leva was there?” Deidra noted that the brief only mentioned the death of two Chancellors, not that Leva had been one of them. ”What was she doing there?”
”Ducky bewitched her and brought her back. After gathering Intel from Leva, the Chancellor took her own life.” Uta was expecting the room to grow quiet; it had been an impressive display of strength.
Deidra focused on the Water Witch for a moment; she was carefully braiding the Drakon's hair and not paying attention to the meeting. ”This is when you met up with Inferno and joined hands to kill the Dark Bishop?”
Uta nodded and smiled at the Inferno members seated around the table. ”I've never seen a more impressive group.”
Nix stood and allowed Shae to have his chair. He brought up a giant holo-map of the Izzin Area. ”Two deployments were going on while Alpha Team was heading into the Nether.” He motioned for Sharl to take over.
”I was in charge of the Izzin deployment.” Sharl studied the map for a moment before she continued. ”This was the same encroachment from a few weeks ago. The patch on the breach is holding, but they were attacking it from our side.”
Mtui brought up a second holo that showed the actual patch in the tunnel. ”Those patches can only be broken from our side. This was an attempt by them to reopen the pa.s.sage for a fullscale a.s.sault.”
Nix changed the holo-map to show Isla'Fairbal. ”The second incursion took place east of Isla'Fairbal.”
Banzi zoomed in on the destroyed Fish Farm. ”Do you recognize this place, Nix? A Demon named Belchi claimed to have inserted a demon heart into a vampire named Kedric.”
Nix looked at the image on the holo. They dug a foot or so into the ground, nowhere near deep enough to find the corpse they were looking for. ”So Kedric was a spy for the Nether? That's a surprise. I killed him and destroyed his heart; he won't be giving them any information.”
Deidra glanced at her son and nodded. Breach Commander Mtui stood up immediately. ”I will be taking all non-Inferno members back to Solomon City. Our part in this operation is complete.”
Uta and his siblings stood up and bowed toward Deidra. ”Well done Inferno, the Qi Family hopes to work with you again in the future.”
[Whisper Sasi to Nix] My family would like to talk with you at length. Please visit us at the House of Tempest next time you are in Solomon City.
[Whisper Nix to Sasi] I will, thank you for the invitation.
Deidra waited until everyone left before she started speaking. ”Since you fought so hard, I wanted to tell you the reason behind this offensive, although a few pieces are missing.”
Nix wanted to ask questions right away but decided it was better to wait. ”Please do.”
”The plans we recovered show that the Nether was planning on taking Solomon City. They devised a scheme to deal with me and neutralize our three Breach Commanders.”
Semmi already had a hundred questions, but she focused on one that might get answered. ”Why would they want Solomon City?”
”There are eighteen cities in the Sky Kingdom; they are held in the air above a continent that is considered very hazardous. In the beginning, when the Sky Kingdom was formed, we didn't have access to the lower planes, and our resources were extremely limited.”
”You battled other cities for resources.” Semmi put it together quickly. ”What happens once a city lost resources to the point where it couldn't function?”