Phoenix Phire

"This is a lot of work, Fajii." Nix tried to frown at the smiling Aquarion, but he found himself unable to. "I only have Emperor puppets available for Orions, Dire Wolves, and Ashobel."

"Hmm. Thank you, Nix." Fajii clapped happily, well aware that he wouldn't say no to her. "I will definitely give you something nice in return."

Leva had shown up with the remains of a Nether Creature called Shade Falcons. They had been slaughtered by the thousands when a larger predator invaded their territory. The Shade Falcon was a large predatory bird about the size of a drake. It was completely black and had long wicked claws that did Nether damage. The Scorched Earth Mage had been keeping him company when his minion reported in. Immediately Fajii asked for one of them to be enhanced into her armor.

Right after that, Nix was bombarded with requests from the rest of Alpha Team. This forced Nix to put his foot down and declare that if you wanted a different animal enhancement, you'd have to assume the cost of all the materials required to advance your chosen puppet to Emperor. Unfortunately for Nix, everyone on Alpha team seemed to be insanely rich from all the raids they had been doing for the past year.

Nix cursed his life choices several times. Instead of enhancing armor, he spent two days creating four additional Emperor pets. The other four Gladis crafters did their part in upgrading Inferno equipment and then left to do their own thing. To add to that, he animated 113 Air Raptors and 240 Sea Hunters; the only upside was that his Animate Title ranked up to Animate III.

It was late into the evening when he laid the last puppet out. He took a moment to catalog them.

Shade Falcon [Fajii]

Description: A giant

bird of prey with enhanced

night vision and stealth.

Ice Wraith [Pon]

Description: Flying

Ice Creature with two

Ice Attacks; Snow Blindness

and Winter's Edge.

Frost Tiger [Wind]

Description: Largest

of the Spire Cats, its

attacks do Ice damage.

[Quick Kill] Instantly finishes

a creature under five percent

health.

Sand Leopard [Semmi]

Description: Medium-sized

Desert Cat with enhanced

night vision. [Sand Shifter]

The Sand leopard can instantly

shift to any position within one

hundred meters.

"No wonder you sleep all day." A voice spoke from the doorway, causing Nix to turn.

"Hey, Nebs. Got something special for you." Nix handed her the upgraded version of her Netherbreaker Armor.

Changeling: Shape Shifter Set [Nebula only]

Description: This armor is the [Changeling]

Sand Leopard/Shade Falcon Shape-Shifting Set.

All ambient sound

within one meter of the wearer is

completely suppressed.

+ 3000 to Armor Class

+ 200 to all Base Stats.

+ 200 Poison Resistance

+200 to Lightning Resistance.

Enhancement: Complete Camouflage

is activated at will.

Enhancement: A poison counter is added to

each successful attack.

Bonus: Ice Shield

Immune to Nether Effects

Immune to Control Effects

Special Effect: [Enhance Mana]

Nebs slipped the armor on, her mouth opening wide in surprise. "Two forms?"

Nix nodded. "Don't tell anyone until after I finish the rest of the upgrades; the second form comes at the expense of an additional enhancement. I thought you'd like it."

Nebs nodded and immediately shifted into the Sand Leopard shape. "Really awesome. I'll pay you for the extra form."

Nix shook his head. "My loyal Alpha Team fronted the credits for additional Emperor pets; there are always a few extras."

Nebs stalked around the room before leaping up on his workbench. "Thank you, Nix. I won't tell anyone for a while."

Nix couldn't help himself; he reached up and scratched her head. "I have two forms on mine also."

Nebs changed back to her human form and sat comfortably on the workbench. She ran a hand through her short black hair. "Gideon said that from now on, wherever you go, we're going too."

Nix added the puppet enhancements to his team's gear while Nebs watched. "Want to stay here in Ionova? It's not exciting, but we could use a City Administrator."

"I was hoping you'd ask me."

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

The thin teen sat her packages on the boardwalk and rerolled her sleeves that kept falling down. She had spent the day in Free Trader City buying different fabrics for a new outfit, so she didn't notice the three men who followed her from the gating platform.

"Hey, beautiful!" A dark-haired man, with an unshaven face, approached her; the smell of alcohol and body odor followed him.

Fey looked up and favored them with a tentative smile. "Hello."

The two smaller men picked up her packages as if to help her, while the bearded man stepped closer. "Didn't we see you in Free Trader City? We can give you a hand with these packages."

"I'm staying at the new Inn at the City Center." Fey followed the group while they walked, a few blocks away they turned down an alleyway and increased their pace.

The bearded man smiled apologetically, "we are going to the Inn also, but we need to pick up our other friend first."

Fey frowned at the delay. "I'll take them by myself then, in a bit of a hurry since I need to get these to my Tailor."

A few blocks away, Bali and Ronnie were just coming back from the Turtle House, they were both in Dire Wolf form and were racing down the cobblestoned street. It was Bali who pulled up and stopped.

"Fey found some new friends?" Bali could smell the alcohol on them from a few blocks away. "This is going to be bad."

Ronnie wasn't used to the wolf senses, yet so she was still struggling. "Bad for who? Come on; this should be interesting."

The two wolves sprinted down the well-lit street and turned into the alley before skidding to a halt. Fey had managed to recover her packages, but she was backed up to the side of a stone building.

"Come on, let's play a bit." The bearded man motioned for his friends to spread out, and they formed a half-circle around the teen mage.

"Play?" Fey sat her packages against the wall and turned toward them. "What shall we play?"

The bearded man loosened his belt and stepped closer. "That's more like it. Why don't you take off those robes."

"Sure... Give me some room, please." Fey waited until they complied with her wishes and then spread her thin arms wide.

Garot smiled nastily when she spread her arms, unexpectedly they continued to stretch out until they became wings, and sixty feet of silver drakon appeared in her place. "Wh..."

Fey extended her finely scaled silver head until it nearly touched the bearded man's face. "I like games. Do you have a favorite?"

Garot dropped to his knees while his two companions abandoned him without a second thought and ran towards the gating platform. "I was only having f-fun. Please don't hurt me."

The drakon tilted her silver head slightly. "Hurt you? Why would I do that?"

The smell of fresh urine filled the air as Garot lost control of his bodily functions. "I'll just leave... Okay?"

Fey morphed back into her human form and picked up her packages. She carefully stepped around Garot, who was still on his knees. Her steps stopped when she saw a familiar face. "Ducky?"

Ducky was walking casually with the two men that had been with Garot. "Nix is waiting for that fabric, Fey; you should hurry."

Fey glanced at Ducky's companions. "Are you going to play with them?"

Ducky nodded. "I am. Hurry along."

The Water Witch waited until Fey was out of sight before turning back to Garot; he was just climbing to his feet.

Garot has been bewitched.

Ducky smiled sweetly. "Did someone ask you to follow Fey?"

Garot shook his head. "No, we saw her in Free Trader City and decided to have some fun."

Ducky leaned closer, her blue eyes uncommonly cold. "What kind of fun?"

Garot returned her smile. "We were going to take turns raping her and then hide her body before heading back to Free Trade City."

"I see." Ducky gestured to the two men with her. "These men are your friends?"

Garot nodded. "Yes, they follow me."

Ducky has released her hold on Garot.

The Water Witch leaned closer to the two accomplices. "Garot is a beautiful and willing woman, feel free to have your way with her."

"What?" Garot backed away and drew his dagger; his two friends did the same. Instead of fighting, he chose to flee toward the gate.

From across the street, the two wolves had resumed their human form and watched the entire episode play out.

"Holy crap..." Ronnie's dark eyes danced with mischief. "Think he'll get away?"

Bali's pale face was beet red as she slowly nodded. "He's a bit faster than his friends. What the hell was that?"

Ronnie pulled her by the arm in an effort to put some distance between themselves and the alley in question. "That was the elder Sister administering family justice."

The tiny ranger let out the breath she'd been holding. "Morti may be the strongest, but Ducky is way scarier."

Ronnie pursed her lips and considered their option. "Still too early to go to sleep. What you want to do?'

Bali turned toward the Gating platform. "We could head to Free Trader City and see if Garot got away.

Ronnie laughed at the little ranger. "You sly cat! Want to track him down?"

Bali nodded. "If he managed to get away, we should still teach him some manners."

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