448 Blood Fusion part one (1/2)
Tai glanced at Deidra warily, even his jesting words sounding like a sword being pulled from its sheath. ”It was like we thought, a directional attack aimed at you in the event of that Inferno managed to destroy Khione's stronghold.”
”I figured as much,” his eyes strayed to the turtle house. Would Min have been killed if the turtle house hadn't protected her? ”Tell me how she did it.”
Tai nodded, with Khione's wards destroyed, her worms were able to investigate the matter fully. ”Think of it as a magical cannon. The runes were set in place to redirect any attacks capable of damaging her Ice Seeds.”
Nix swore under his breath. ”Nothing like shooting yourself in the foot. If it was a defensive spell, why is half of her mountain destroyed?”
”I believe it was because she didn't imagine that her seeds could be destroyed, the destructive force generated by them, completely overloaded her defensive spell.” Tai shook her head slightly, ”I believe that Inferno will kill Khione.”
Deidra watched the interaction in silence, her understanding of humans was limited, but it was a limitation that Tai'Qui apparently didn't share. ”What will you do now, Dracora'Zai?”
”Talk with the officers.” Nix took a deep breath, more than anything he wanted to kill her himself, without endangering his NPC friends. ”Don't you mean Cora'Zai?”
Deidra stood up without answering and placed a hand on his shoulder. ”I will come to Haven tonight.”
Tai'Qui pursed her lips slightly before nodding in agreement. ”Yes. I will also if that is acceptable.”
”I will arrange it after the meeting.” He waited until they both left before opening a breach from Ionova to the Great Desert; a moment later, several members from Inferno walked through.
/Officer: Nix: Let's go inside, Shae, Mina, and Fajii are already there.
Nix paused long enough for Hyai to catch up with him; without speaking, he enclosed her hand in his. He had discovered the power of fury flames when he first landed in the Titania Forest; its drawback was that it ran through his mana reserves very quickly; Hyai's Djinn-sharing could hold it indefinitely. ”You okay?”
Hyai responded by leaning closer and kissing his cheek. ”Don't worry about me, Hun.”
The Inferno Officers gathered comfortably around the large kitchen island, some of them pulling chairs from the living room to sit down.
/Officers: Nix: Guess we should get started. It looks like we dodged a bullet today, in hindsight, it wasn't thought out properly.
/Officer: Semmi: Our Titan forces are not prepared properly.
/Officer: Pon: The Titan's purpose was for the ground assault. I have to believe that we wiped out a large portion of Khione's forces.
/Officer: Jun Li: Probably true, but we can't afford to believe it without proof.
/Officer: Nix: I'm going to bring a group of outsiders into Haven today; Deidra, Tai'Qui, and the Pathfinder team from the Salamander Guild.
/Officer: Jun Li: Are Deidra and Tai already moving in?
/Officer: Nix: Yes. We can expect Sinfaya will come with them.
/Officer: Pon: Why bring in Gideon and his group?
/Officer: Nix: They're trustworthy, and I want them to monitor Khione's Eye from the safety of Haven. Maybe we can get some hint of how hard we hit her.
/Officer: Wind: Today was hard, boss. Bali was still lying on the ground, crying when I left.
/Officer: Shae: Bring those Trams into Haven also, until this is over.
/Officer: Ronnie: She'll be fine in a few days. We all will.
/Officer: Mina: Perhaps we should take a few days to recover.
/Officer: Semmi: That's a great idea. We can prep for the Harvest Festival.
/Officer: Nix: Two days. Then we'll return to Everspire and finish the Free Trader Quests.
/Officer: Jun Li: Let's plan on the Harvest festival right after that.
/Officer: Semmi: Our top three clerics are now statues. That's going to be an issue moving forward.
/Officer: Nix: We have plenty of cleric allies if it comes to that, but I'll assign someone to look into it.
/Officer: Jun Li: In the meantime, let's bring them into Haven also. Having to assign guards will use up manpower that can be allocated elsewhere.
/Officer: Nix: Anything else?
/Officer: Fajii: My acolytes will be moving to Haven to work with Tai'Qui. We'll have to ask our allies to take over security for Loki and Ionova.
/Officer: Jun Li: I'll contact Resolute, they can take over both locations. (Resolute is a member of the 12 Pillars and is also Inferno's first ally)
********************
[Haven 1900 hours, Nix's Horse Ranch]
”Where's your little friend?” Nix opened the gate to Nightmare's stable and led her out; apparently, the goat was still in Belatora. He swung easily into the saddle and patted her shoulder. ”Gonna eat that bastard, the first chance I get.”