373 Inheritance (1/2)

”Why are you still sitting with me?” Yena's single eye watched him; it was dark brown like chocolate.

Nix cringed inside at the weak sound of her voice. It sounded exactly like someone who was dying. Everyone liked Yena, but she had no family, and her only close friend was in a bed a few feet away. He had stayed because no one else came. ”Well... I got a bit of a crush on you.”

”It's a persistent poison Nix, with no antidote.” Yena's lips curved in a smile. ”You don't have to say something like that.”

Nix shrugged and squeezed her hand. Yena had hit her target from a hundred meters away, despite having an arrow sticking out of her shooting eye. Anyone else would have stayed down and died. ”Fine, I'm here on someone else's behalf.”

/Inferno: Ducky: Can you push them in dragon eggs, Nix? Like you did with Del Tali?

/Inferno: Nix: Maybe. We have some time. I want all hands on deck. Have Captain Locas come and see me.

”Hmm... One fib after another, I don't mind, though.” Yena's smile faltered slightly when she heard the sound of Jaro sobbing quietly, Dresa's bed was on her blind side so she couldn't see them.

”I'm working on a plan, but I need to know a bit more about the poison.”

Yena nodded slowly. ”Could I have some water?”

Nix grabbed a glass from the nearby table and poured it half full.

”You want to know how long it takes to kill its victim, right?” Yena was an alchemist; she was well aware of the effects of the Serpent Clan's terror poison. ”Two days, if the patient is strong.”

Nix cursed under his breathe. ”Can we do anything to extend that a bit?”

Yena closed her eye, even to Nix's untrained instincts, she seemed like someone who might not make it through the night. ”There was a man named Rias; he was poisoned and disappeared into the north. We found him a few weeks later, frozen solid in a block of ice.”

”Does that help us?”

”Shush, damn, you're impatient. We were preparing him for burial when he woke up; apparently, he wasn't dead.”

”Did the cold cure him?”

Yena shook her head slightly. ”No, he died two days later. You asked me how to slow it down.”

”Nix.”

A voice from the door caught his attention. Captain Locas had already arrived. The blond ranger still sported the mohawk that Ronnie had given him.

/Inferno: Nix: Special mission Locas. I want you to sit with this woman; her name is Yena.

/Inferno: Locas: Of course.

Nix squeezed her hand and motioned toward the door. ”This is Locas; he's been admiring you from afar.”

Yena's single eye looked skeptical. ”Must be really far, since I've never seen him before.”

Yena frowned slightly. ”That damned Bali. What an irritating little squirt.”

Locas laughed in agreement and sat in the chair next to the bed. ”On that, we agree. If it makes you feel better, I can't beat her either.”

”It does make me feel a little better.”

/Inferno: Nix: You got this Captain?

/Inferno: Locas: Yes.

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

Two hours later: The Titan Clan War Room.

”Lili was the target?” Nix considered Ducky's words while she gave Mortimus a full report. The Water Witch had spent several minutes patiently questioning the assassin captive.

After she finished speaking, the War Council debated the intel she had gathered. Mortimus, all of the Stewards and Scarlett, sat together at a round wooden table. Jaro was the only Steward absent from the meeting.

Surprisingly Gil was quite vocal; he seemed to have a strong grasp of tactics and battle strategy. ”We are missing something. Won't they expect us to respond overwhelmingly and wipe them out?”

Nix nodded in agreement. ”I don't like it either. It's not adding up. Were they expecting a flawless mission that would leave them in the clear?”

”What would you have us do?” Scarlett spoke directly to Nix, the rest of the Stewards, and her husband had already given their recommendations. Although the Clan Leader wasn't an experienced fighter, she would offer common-sense advice.

”How old are you, Scarlett?” Nix's yellow eyes scrutinized the Clan Leader as if trying to guess.