Chapter 577: Ashobel Problem (1/2)
”Temperature good enough?” Hyai left the water running and pulled one of the bathroom stools closer before sitting down. The new houseguest had regained consciousness but was suffering from the lingering effects of exposure.
”T-Thank you.” Emi's teeth chattered when she spoke; although she was fully healed, there was a deep-seated chill in her bones.
”Don't worry about it, Hun.” Hyai pushed a strand of light red hair back behind her ear. ”Alpha team is going back in; any intel you could share before they leave could prove very helpful.”
Emi slid down in the water until she was fully submerged before sitting up a moment later and slicking back her hair with both hands. ”I thought I'd never feel warm again.”
Hyai waited patiently. From what Nix had told her, Emi was one of the hardened veterans from the Bone Fortress, someone with a lot of combat experience. He expected that she would bounce back quickly.
”King Duran had called for a great feast, as might be expected after so many years away from home. We welcomed a moment of respite.” Emi filled her hands with hot water and splashed it on her face before continuing. ”That thing arrived after we had spent an entire day celebrating. The snow was already starting, but the King was adamant about ignoring it for a few days while we recovered.”
”How is it that you were outside of the city?”
”There's an inactive Fire Temple at the edge of the Great Desert; it was built underground to mask its presence. Edi sent our group to investigate the possibility of activating it.”
”I see. What happened to the rest of your group? Nix said you were the only one.”
Emi sighed heavily. ”The sky above Eidengal opened up, and that thing dropped down. We returned to the city on our Bone Crows; by the time we arrived, only a small section near the western wall was left open.”
Hyai stroked the girl's wet hair when tears began running down her cheeks. ”Take your time.”
***********
Nix studied the map on the second level of the TOC. Mortimus was briefing the Titan Stewards about their current objectives. As the current Steward of Ionova, Nix had decided to sit in on the briefing while waiting for Emi to recover. The Titans had already dispatched two of the four Regional Lords in Everspire. ”They move fast.”
Del looked up from licking her paw. ”The Titans have stronger forces. In Oasis, the Ain'Dhassi have teamed up with the Izzin to kill one of the regional lords.”
”Really?” The news came as a surprise to Nix. ”How's your family? Are they safe?”
Del's blue eyes blinked at him. ”They are fine. The Ice Howlers in Oasis are much stronger than the ones in Colonial.”
”Makes sense, Del. The levels are much higher.” Nix frowned as he brought the thought to its conclusion. It meant that the Everspire Howlers would be even more dangerous.
[Whisper: Semmi to Nix] When you're done on the second floor, come down and join us.
[Whisper: Nix to Semmi] I'm done here, be down in a bit.
A few minutes later, Nix and Del joined the rest of Alpha near the TOC center hud. Semmi greeted them both and then jumped right in.
”According to Emi, there's a Fire Temple hidden in the Great Desert. We're going to cut loose that damned leech that's sucking Eidengal dry, and then we're going to find that Temple.” Semmi brought up the current image of Eidengal and compared it side-by-side with Arcturis'Fraiza from the library. ”As you can see, we're dealing with something far larger than anything we've ever killed.”
”You give it too much credit.” Nix closed the AF image and zoomed in on Eidengal. ”It's a fucking leech, swim in enough lakes growing up, and you know what they're like. We come in on the ground, find the tendrils, and destroy them.”
Semmi nodded in agreement. ”As long as we stay out of the air, we should be fine. Finding the Tendrils might prove difficult.”
/Alpha: Del: Those tendrils were all on track when I was recovering your corpses. I saw ten of them altogether.
/Alpha: Wind: Why wasn't Emi with the rest of her group?
/Alpha: Nix: She was, until she fell off of her Bone Crow.
Pon stifled a laugh; he'd seen first hand the walking catastrophe that was Emi. ”It's a good thing she's a healer.”
An hour later, Nix, Pon, Del, and three Ashobel puppets stepped through a breach leading to the Great Desert. Jun Li, Wind, and Semmi were all seated comfortably at the TOC, happy to be taking on the bitter cold with as an Ashobel puppet.
/Alpha: Nix: Bring up Track; let's monitor them while we head toward the first tendril.
/Alpha: Del: Understood, I'll put the nearest four up.
[Tracking Results: Tendrils only]
Tendril 2.2 Km NW
Tendril 2.4 Km NW
Tendril 2.5 Km N
Tendril 2.5 Km N
Nix glanced at the shared hud. ”Make sure nothing sneaks up on us, Del.”
Alpha team traveled along the surface until the snow reached a depth of about three meters; at that point, they weren't making much headway given the slow footing and low visibility. Nix ignited his aura and melted his way to the desert surface.
/Alpha: Nix: From here on in, we are under the snow.
/Alpha: Jun Li: Finally, I couldn't see anything except for Semmi's furry back.
/Alpha: Del: We drifted off course a bit, 800 meters straight ahead.
Nix created a gap between himself and the rest of the team; the Emerald Fury flames melted everything it touched, including the frozen sand beneath his feet. As the snow fled before the Inferno Leader, the tunnel quickly froze back into place, leaving a perfectly round path burrowing under the frozen desert.
The group stopped a half-hour later when Del told them they were close. They had come face to face with the first Tendril, it resembled a large white pillar of ice, extending in both directions.
/Alpha: Nix: Shit... I thought it would be smaller.
The tendril was about five meters in diameter, with intricate grooves etched into it. The air around Nix snapped and crackled in protest as he approached their objective.
/Alpha: Pon: This is fucking cold, Nix. I'm actually burning mana to stay warm.