Phoenix Phire

Chapter 73 - Bay Of Flames (part Two)

Nix grinned suddenly and retreated toward the rail when she advanced. "You have rocks in your shoes? Why so slow?"

"You call yourself a man?" The woman swiped her blade once, Nix felt something impact his shoulder and side.

[Lamia's Resistance: Viper's poison has been resisted.]

"You handle a blade well, sadly I can't test you at this time." Nix ignored the woman and faced the rest of the sailors.

"You dare turn your back on Bree, the son of Calyph?"

[Bree has been Charmed.]

Nix glanced at the rail, Ducky was shadowing his movements from the sea. "Wait... You're a guy?"

Breland flashed into the group of sailors and started cutting through them, his face was a mask of anger and outrage. Apparently charm didn't extend to facial expressions.

"We'll come back to that." Nix targeted the Mainsail.

[Comet Strike]

Nix spotted the captain, he was still at the helm and barking orders. A thundering crash in the distance caused a lull in the fighting, everyone glanced toward the Dreadnought.

[Soup has taken critical damage and has been unsummoned.]

Nix moved from behind the blur of blades that Bree had become and sprinted toward the enemy captain. He raised one hand and six emerald strands shot out, completely immobilizing him. The captain dropped something he had been holding, it looked like an antique lantern. He sliced his blade across the captain's throat. "I'll take this since it looks important."

[Bree has resisted charm]

Nix leaped backward, narrowly avoiding a slash from the swordsman.

[Flame Root]

"You son of a bitch." Bree's long hair hung in his eyes, his overly pretty face was splattered with blood. The root held him in place, drool ran from the corner of his mouth as he howled in anger.

Nix shrugged, "I'm going to kill you too, but not until my Ducky has made you her bitch."

[Bree has resisted charm]

He stored the lantern and then sprinted for cannon galley. The deck was suddenly bathed in flames, announcing the return of Fey. Nix ignored the pleasant feeling flames and kicked down the cannon galley door. He quickly targeted the black powder loads.

[Comet Strike]

[Bree has resisted Flame Root]

Nix ran for the rail but was cut off by Bree. "Resistant bastard, ain't ya."

"DIE!"

[Leap Attack]

In a flash of silver, Bree appeared in front of Nix.

Nix dived to one side and used a magic attack to back him up.

[Balefire]

Bree blocked it easily, triumph written on his maniacal face. "Your tricks have been used up!"

[Bree has been charmed]

Nix swung his blade and neatly beheaded the swordsman, his silver blade clattered on the deck next to his head, with a quick grab he snagged the blade and jumped for the rail just as several explosions rocked the ship.

[You have been stunned]

A blast wave slammed into his back and tossed him head over heels into the air, a moment later Nix splashed into the sea. He lay motionless for a moment before a pair of arms grabbed him and pulled him beneath the surface. "Okay... that hurt a bit."

[Combustion]

Nix's pain and wounds were washed away in a faint green glow.

Mina released him but kept ahold of his hand. "Are you okay?"

Nix shook his head dizzily, he had used Balefire by mistake when he was pressured. "Doing noob stuff again," he quickly drank a mana potion.

/Inferno: Jun Li: We are five minutes out.

/Inferno: Pon: Damn you punk! I see the smoke from here.

/Inferno: Nix: Sorry Pon... Attack at the edges, we've disabled the front ships. The Dreadnought is temporarily out of the battle.

/Inferno: Delphi: She took some damage from your companion, but not near enough to sink her.

Mina pulled him with her, the Aquarion assault team following closely. "Come with us back to the Phoenix."

A few minutes later Nix and the Aquarions climbed back onboard the Phoenix. Fey was waiting for them.

Nix patted her scaled head before glancing at the helm. "Status Captain?"

"We've torn the right flank apart, four ships down, two more disabled." Delphi had turned the Phoenix away from the battle to come-about and make another strafing run. "Nothing can take our teeth!"

Nix noticed that Ducky had climbed over the rail, she looked lost without Soup. "Ducky you'll stick with me, Fey you can take a break."

Fey nodded her scaled head, "Thanks to my gear, I was able to fight hard for quite some time. I need some rest."

[Whisper: Jun Li to Nix] Nix... We are being threatened.

[Whisper: Nix to Jun Li] So? Someone is always doing that.

[Whisper: Jun Li to Nix] It's Salamander Nix, they have made demands.

[Whisper: Nix to Jun Li] F*ck Salamander. We are kicking their ass.

[Whisper: Jun Li to Nix] Wrong Salamander Nix, this is the upper level one. Level seventy and above.

Nix understood that both Sharl and Jun Li were once guild leaders in the mid-range guilds. The Daybreakers and the Salamanders both had at least one higher tier guild.

[Whisper: Nix to Jun Li] F*ck Salamander.

[Whisper: Jun Li to Nix] The Dreadnought in the bay belongs to them, they loaned it to their mid-tier guild. They have five more and they are all headed toward us.

[Whisper: Nix to Jun Li] F*ck Salamander... Wait. Did you say they have five more Dreadnoughts?

[Whisper: Jun Li to Nix] Aye.

[Whisper: Nix to Jun Li] Can they do that? Higher-tier guild coming at a mid-tier like us?

[Whisper: Jun Li to Nix] It's against protocol, but usually mid-tier guilds have their own high-tier guild to protect them.

[Whisper: Nix to Jun Li] What are their demands?

[Whisper: Jun Li to Nix] They want the unconditional return of the Silversword. Did you kill Bree? Calyph's son?

[Whisper: Nix to Jun Li] Is that the very attractive female that is actually a guy?

[Whisper: Jun Li to Nix] This is very complicated Nix, you should consider returning the sword.

[Whisper: Nix to Jun Li] I'm sure it is. Let's dumb it down a bit. They want something we have and are threatening us to get it.

[Whisper: Jun Li to Nix] When you say it like that, it makes us look like bitches if we give in. F*ck Salamander!

/Inferno: Nix: New plan, concentrate your attacks on the right flank. Let's take the Dreadnought.

Nix spotted Semmi standing next to Delphi, "I have a mission for you."

Semmi nodded, "I need something to do, we haven't even boarded anyone yet.

"I want you to scout out that Dreadnought from below. Soup hit it pretty hard, she was bound to do some damage."

Milat was standing close by and overheard the conversation. "I'll accompany her."

"Fine, stay stealthed and don't engage." Nix watched Semmi and Milat go over the side together. "Captain, find us a ship that we can board."

Delphi scanned the bay carefully, a good portion of the ships was still on fire. Counting the ships that Nix and the Aquarion Assault team had sunk separately, Inferno had put a half dozen ships on the bottom of the bay. A half dozen more were on fire but remained battle-ready. The issue was that they couldn't maneuver properly. She spotted a ship moving away from the battle and immediately steered toward her. "There! We have a runner."

Nix smiled when he saw one ship retreating, "Looks like one of them has some common sense."

Wylie was standing at the rail staring at him, the Knight Captain did not look happy. "Sir quit going off on your own."

"Sorry. You can be my battle buddy when we board this ship"

Wylie raised an eyebrow, she wasn't familiar with the term. "What does that mean?"

Nix grinned at her expression. "Nothing bad, just that we'll count on each other when things get dangerous."

"Of course Sir." She smiled suddenly, her cold demeanor instantly unfreezing.

/Inferno: Ronnie: We are here Nix! You are rescued.

/Inferno: Wind: Leave anything for us?

/Inferno: Semmi: Just scraps.

/Inferno: Nix: Focus on disabling the perimeter ships.

/Inferno: Pon: Nice of them to crowd together like this.

/Inferno: Jun Li: They were here to deter a fight with their numbers. Who would pick a fight with thirty ships?

/Inferno: Sharl: We would.

/Inferno: Wind: Damn straight.

The Phoenix cut through the water, easily overtaking the slower vessel that was fleeing the battle.

"Prepare the hooks, bring her in!" Delphi watched as a few dozen grappling hooks sailed into the space between the ships. She was quickly reeled in.

Nix was the first on the deck.

[Aura Ignition]

Unexpectedly the deck was suddenly filled with fully armored men streaming up from the hold.

Wylie was flanking Nix when she saw them. "Why would there be Knights on this ship?" She shook her head at the idiocy. Wearing such heavy plate armor on a ship was a sure way to end up on the bottom of the ocean.

/Inferno: Nix: Everyone pick your kills very carefully here, it looks like there might be a high-value target onboard.