Molls nodded her head, making her green hair sway gently. "Maybe so, but I couldn't have done it." The death of the Intrepid by Nix's hands had shaken the druid slightly; she hadn't thought he would be that ruthless.

"You've seen the cutscenes; his opponent is Khione." Circa finished off his lunch and washed it down with a drink from his canteen. "Who knows what would happen if he loses."

"An Ice Age, most likely." Lu's deep voice spoke from the boardwalk, he walked silently in his green armor, his bow hanging loosely from one shoulder. "I, for one, prefer things warmer."

All three players ducked reflexively when a deafening roar filled the air above the market place. An instant later, a silver drakon flew over the city, the beating of her powerful wings throwing up a dust cloud and sending vendor items flying in all directions.

Lu was the first to recover. "That's Fey, right?"

Circa nodded, he spent more than a few moments staring at her in both of her forms. "Without a doubt, she was carrying something in claws."

Lu was already running toward their horses that were hitched to a nearby rail. "Heading west, Nix said the next part of his quest is in that direction!"

Three horses exited the Ever Flame Gates a moment later and turned west with their eyes on the sky.

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

Fey circled several times, her keen eyes searching for any clues as to the Water Sprite's location. She periodically thawed Nix out with her flames, although it seemed like the Salamander form was able to hold the worst of it at bay.

The entire area was wetlands, swampy ponds, and lakes that were blended together by brush, marsh, and the occasional tree. From the air, Fey spotted several groups of stones that had been laid out in a discernable pattern. She landed in the middle of these and promptly morphed into her human form.

A pale, thin hand felt Nix's head, instead of being warm, it was ice cold. "Nix? We need some a.s.sistance here; a water elemental would be good."

Nix dropped his salamander form and activated his spirit ring.

Mina appeared a moment later, her pale eyes alert. "What's wrong, Nix?"

A fog rose up from the ground, completely enveloping the trio. "The drakon must leave now." An ancient voice spoke slowly as if each word it uttered was in a battle to be heard.

Nix staggered to his feet with the help of Mina and Fey. "Are you Enu Bak?"

The fog thickened until the trio could barely see each other. "The drakon must leave," the voice repeated.

Nix nodded to Fey, "circle the area; you can back us up if we need you."

Fey spread her thin arms wide and changed back into her drakon form. "I will be close!"

As soon as Fey left, the fog in the immediate area began to thin, and the ground beneath them started glowing. Mina summoned her Vilas and gripped Nix's hand tight. "She's gone, please come out."

Water seeped out of the ground, pouring upward into a transparent sphere before taking the general form of a small male. "Thank you for that. The fire in the drakon is harmful to me."

Nix studied the transparent sprite, it seemed weak, but the voice from before was powerful. "How come your voice is different? And how come my flames don't harm you?"

The sprite moved closer. "So many questions. My voice is different because there are two of us here. Your flames aren't harming me because they are tempered in ice. Good for me, but fatal for you. You would already be dead if it weren't for your Ice blessing."

Several globes of light emerged from the glowing ground slowly; they came together and merged into one. "Welcome..." The voice held enough power to make the hairs on the back of Nix's neck stand up.

Mina's gaze switched from the sprite to the light and then back to the sprite. "Are you Enu Bak, the water sprite?"

The water sprite moved closer to Mina, its body barely bigger than her head. "I am the water sprite, but you are Enu Bak."