Nix followed Shae through the long gra.s.s of her world . For a Salamander, Shae had a high appreciation for forest land and all things green . She slipped her clothes off and walked into one of the steaming pools .

Nix stopped at the edge and disrobed, he tested it with a foot . It seemed comfortably warm . "Did you cool the pools down Shae?"

She shook her head and eased herself into the scalding water . "Your tolerance for heat improves every day . "

"Maybe so," Nix smiled noncommittedly and sunk down into the water with a contented sigh . He ducked under the water and then surfaced to slick his black hair back with both hands . "Something on your mind Shae?"

Shae moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her soft b.r.e.a.s.t.s pushed against his back . "Does something need to be wrong? A friends.h.i.+p like ours needs to be tended carefully . "

Nix laughed when she kissed his shoulder . He leaned back against her and closed his eyes . "You are right of course . "

She leaned against his back and sighed contently . "Am I missing something in my world Nix?"

"Some wildlife would be nice . You'd have to allow a few cooler pools for that though . "

"There are a couple of them south of here . "

"If you are interested in creating a habitat, then ask Fajii to plant things here . This dark volcanic soil is great for growing things . "

Shae shrugged against his back, "I don't know much about gardening . "

"My mom and sister loved to grow things in our back yard when I was a kid . " He smiled at the memory of them, "I secretly grew ghost peppers," this time he laughed aloud .

She leaned over his shoulder and looked at his face, "you're very handsome when you laugh Nix . " She paused long enough to kiss his lips . "What's a ghost pepper?"

"It's a pepper so hot that it burns your mouth . "

Shae clapped her hands excitedly . "I want some Nix!"

"Might be tough to find, but I do know a chef . " Nix's eyes fell on the egg he had retrieved from the Earth Temple . "How close is that egg to hatching?"

"Hmmm . . . less than a week I would say . It's not a Lamia egg like we thought though . " Shae closed her eyes, her red hair floated on the surface of the water .

"Not a Lamia?"

Shae shook her head, "I thought it was at first, but in the last few days I discovered I was mistaken . "

Nix stared at the egg, he had no idea what kind of egg it was . He had a.s.sumed it came from the Lamia Queen . "What then?"

"It's a Naga . "

The term sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place it . "What's a Naga?"

Shae moved away from him and submerged herself in the water for several moments be surfacing . Her light brown eyes watched him with unhidden amus.e.m.e.nt . "In simplest terms, it would be the male version of a Lamia . "

"Oh, I see . . . " Nix pondered her words carefully, Shae's senses were better than anyone he knew . "I had thought it was the Queen's egg . "

"It probably was, it's valuable Nix . For whatever reason, there were no Naga in the temple . That may have been some long-forgotten law . Whatever the reasoning, this Naga needs to be bound to someone . "

"You mean as someone's companion?"

Shae nodded .

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"Not me, I only have one slot left and I'm looking for something a bit more stout . " In his head, Nix considered something like a bear . "Why does he have to be bound?"

"If he's the last of his kind, which I a.s.sume he is . Then his life is quite precious . "

"Right, binding to a companion grants him life protection . " Fey had admitted to Nix that this was the reason she had wanted to bind with him . If a companion was slain, she could be revived three days later . A drake in the wild would die and probably end up as armor .

Shae walked to the sh.o.r.e, her skin dripped with water for only a moment before it dried . The air around her s.h.i.+mmered for an instant as her form changed .

Nix knew he was staring but he couldn't help it . Of course, he realized that Shae utilized her human form because she liked it best . He was also aware that Salamanders weren't human . She was nearly nine feet in length, her smoothly scaled skin reflected every color in the spectrum, the glow around her looked like a rainbow . He approached slowly, not because of any threat but because he wanted to soak in every detail .

Her voice sounded soft in his head . "What do you think Nix?"

"I've always thought your human form was beautiful . " He stroked her back with one hand, "this is real beauty . "

A warm feeling flooded his senses, she was pleased by his words . "If I were to take this form during a fight, all of Glory would be in ashes . "

Nix nodded, "thank you for showing me Shae . "

Her bright eyes closed slowly and she rolled over on the brimstone rock that lined the sh.o.r.e . "You are the only one I would show . "

*********

Nix was still smiling when he exited the elemental world . Shae had fallen asleep and not moved . He claimed the Naga egg and ported directly to the Sea World . It was her aura that had kept the Manta mounts from coming near the Fire Palace, keeping it extended for such a long time had tired her out .

[Do you wish to bind with the Naga companion?]

"No . " Nix looked toward the wharf, of course, there seemed to be a group of people hanging around the top deck of his houseboat .

"Nix!" Ronnie waved when she saw him, she was leaning against the rail between Pon and Wind .

On the second floor, he ran into Hyai and one of her a.s.sistants . "Anything I can do to help Hyai?"

Hyai nodded, "let's see the Leviathan meat . "

He handed her a can which she sat on the counter and quickly opened . She broke off a piece of the white meat and dropped it in a pot of boiling oil . Hyai fished it out a minute later and took a small bite before offering some to Nix .

"Oh my . . . That's really good . Barbecue?"

Hyai nodded in agreement . "Barbecue . Head on up Nix, I've work to do . "

Nix grinned at her and unloaded two dozen cans of Leviathan on the counter . "Thank you, Hyai . "

She waved at him as he headed up the stairs . "Cya hun . "

There were four people in his bedroom when he exited the stairs . Nansu was holding Chael's face in her hands . It was obvious that she wasn't pleased with the changes the Scorched Earth path had brought . Nix took a closer look, his hair and eyes were still the same . The only real change was his pointed ears . "Looking good Chael!"

Chael grinned at him . "She hates it . "

Fajii and Sharl were sitting on his bed . There were dozens of bottles of potions spilled everywhere .

Nix frowned at them . "You selling stuff from my mattress?"

Fajii gave him a small smile . "Yes . "

Sharl laughed at the face Nix made, Aquarions didn't understand sarcasm . "Sorry Nix, we'll clean it up . "

Nix handed her the Naga egg . "This is for you Sharl . No strings attached, please take good care of it . "

Sharl's dark eyes stared at the egg . "Is that the Lamia egg I've heard so much about?"

"Yes and no . It's actually a Naga egg, the male counterpart of the Lamia . "

She held out her hands, instantly a soft web of light connected her and the egg . She must have accepted the binding right away . Fajii already knew what the egg was, but was surprised that Nix had turned it down .

Sharl stroked it softly for a moment before stowing it in her inventory . "It's counting down Nix . The timer says it will hatch in 3 days . "

"Why is everyone on my boat again? The party is on the wharf!" He motioned the four of them toward the sliding door . "Out, out! I'm going to change . "

Nix changed into a swimsuit and t-s.h.i.+rt before heading down the stairs barefoot . On the dock, Hyai already had a large barrel-shaped barbecue going and a table full of food . When she waved him away, so Nix headed toward the end of the wharf and sat down .

A beautiful song caught his ear and caused him to peer under his seat . Ducky was playing under the wharf with her sisters . Unlike her, they were still water nymphs . She reached up and grabbed his foot when she noticed him .

"Ducky . . . Don't even think about it . " He gave her a stern look that lasted all of a second before he was pulled into the water .

"Nix play . . . " Ducky laughed and circled him with her sisters . A sudden movement from underneath caused them to scatter in all directions . Soup had arrived .

"Very heroic Soup . " Nix complimented the sea turtle before pulling himself onto its smooth back . "Let's relax a bit . "

Soup swam slowly away from the wharf, keeping on the surface . He ignored the Nymphs but would occasionally move closer to the Siren so that she could stroke his smooth head .

Nix watched the interaction for a few minutes . "You're kinda popular Soup . "

Ducky slid easily onto the turtles back and settled down next to Nix . She had taken her human form . "Soupy is good . "

The siren slid off a few minutes later when Nix started to fall asleep . The gentle sway of the ocean coupled with the warm sun made him drowse off .

"Hey, sleepyhead . " Ronnie's voice pulled him out of his sleep .

Soup had circled back and came ash.o.r.e when Nix fell asleep . Ronnie and Mina were watching him .

"His head is sleepy?" Mina looked confused .

Ronnie shrugged, "it's an expression . Nix is cute when he sleeps . "

Mina pursed her lips together and considered it for a moment . "No . . . He is not . "

"Bring that guy to the tables Sis! We're starving . " Sharl shouted at them from the wharf, she was wearing the swimsuit that Nix had made her .

"Right . " Ronnie grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet . "Come on lazybones, girls gotta eat . "

Colonial System Event Message: Congratulations to all partic.i.p.ants of the Faction Event . Results are as follows .

[Victorious Battle of Glory Bay]

All Terran fleets receive 50 thousand faction points .

All Sea Farer fleets receive a reduction of 50 thousand faction points .

[Top Five s.h.i.+p performances]

Phoenix; Inferno: 39 kills

Venture: Inferno: 23 kills

Scimitar: Inferno: 19 kills

Crane: Inferno: 19 kills

Star Fire: Kings X: 15 kills

Notable Performances: Inferno defeats Leviathan .

[Victorious Battle of Glory Island and Faction Final Event]

All Sea Farer guilds are promoted one faction level .

All Terran guilds are demoted one faction level .

[Top 5 Individual Kills]

Nix: Inferno: 337

Caza: Resolute: 115

Ronnie: Inferno: 106

Gideon: Salamander (Upper Tier) : 98

Sori Dah: Scorched Earth Temple: 95

[Top 5 Individual Contributors]

Nix: Inferno

Gypsy-Rose: Inferno

Saintess: Inferno

Sharl: Inferno

Fajii: Inferno

[Notable Performances]

Chiba defeats Calyph

Nix defeats Glacio

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Top 3 Guild Contributors]

Inferno

Resolute

Silent Night

[Glory Island has received the Golden Settlement Expansion Award]

[Inferno has been promoted: New Guild Options are available]

[All Inferno Sea Captains and crews are promoted to Elites]

[You have received the 'Unstoppable' t.i.tle]

[Your Champion Metal has been upgraded]

[You have received an invitation to Shangri]

[You have received a letter from Morgan Bolo]

/Guildchat : Nix: Great job everyone!

/Guildchat: Ronnie: We win, we win!

/Guildchat: Pon: Bulls.h.i.+t! There's no way Ronnie topped a hundred kills!

/Guildchat: Sharl: I agree .

***********

A half-hour later the small group was sitting at a long table that they had a.s.sembled on the wharf . Semmi stood up and raised her pint . the small blonde had already finished two of them and was starting to talk loudly . "Cheers everyone! Let's give it up for the lovely Hyai who prepared all of this food for us!"

Nix raised his mug, he was sitting between Hyai and Banzi . "This is even better than the Kraken . "

/Guildchat: Ronnie: Anyone get an invite to Shangri?

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Everyone in Inferno did .

/Guildchat: Ronnie: Oh . . . What is Shangri?

/Guildchat: Sharl: Read the letter Ronnie, it explains everything .

Tess and Gypsy were sitting on the other side of Hyai, they were toasting each other .

Tess's smile continued to widen after each pint . "Finally, the healers get a little bit of love!"

Gyspy nodded in agreement, for the fifth time . "I worked hard keeping Pon alive!"

Tess covered a yawn with her hand . "I know right? A total gla.s.s cannon . "

Banzi laughed at their teasing, even the normally volatile Fire Mage took it in stride . "Thank you for the magnificent job healing us . "

Wylie noted that she was included in the thanks, she smiled and nodded her head . "I've never seen such great teamwork . "

Hyai slid an arm through Nix's . "Did my Inn take any damage?"

Nix shook his head, "the Terrans didn't step a single foot in our city!"