Pon heard Nix's warning and immediately started running. A powerful blast slammed into his back, knocking him to the floor. The crushing power made the old fire mage scream in agony until an equally strong power erupted in front of him and canceled it out. Pon lay flat on his back in the eye of the storm; the elemental releases destroyed the area around him. Rays of sunlight from nearly a half a mile up shone through.

/Alpha Team: Semmi: The hell was that?

/Alpha Team: Pon: That was a dragon and a salamander facing off. No worries.

/Alpha Team: Wind: We found the artifact, should we take it or break it.

/Alpha Team: Pon: Do it the Inferno way.

/Alpha Team: Semmi: Okay, so we break it. Good thing we were far away from that blast. Why do I see daylight?

/Alpha Team: Pon: Heading toward the other team boss, the only thing I can do here is die miserably.

The Emerald Salamander's aura erupted, pushing Gemini flames outward in all directions.

/Alpha Team: Nix: Go, I'm just a speed bump now.

Nix stepped carefully through the rubble; the Ice Dragon was nowhere near as big as it should have been. "You must have found something interesting all those years ago, an ancient corpse perhaps? You're not a real dragon."

Nefi reared back on her hind legs. She was nearly fifty feet long, and her enormous wings touched the crater on both sides when she extended them. "A Salamander?" The Ice dragon laughed loudly, her booming voice shaking the ruins around them.

/Alpha Team: Nix: She's a hybrid like me.

/Alpha Team: Fajii: So you can handle her?

/Alpha Team: Nix: No, she's still a dragon.

"You are a good guesser. Anything else you want to add before I let you experience my lovely Ice Flames?" Dragon Nefi's crystal blue eyes stared at Nix.

"Why haven't you left this area? I can't imagine hanging out in this Icecap is very exciting." Nix was starting to figure it out; she was either anchored here or couldn't bring herself to leave such a huge source of power.

"I have my reasons." She flapped her wings once, pushing Nix back several feet.

"There's more power to be drained, isn't there?" Nix extended their conversation, knowing that his team needed every second. "Where's the corpse? Why don't you share it with me?"

"WHAT?" Nefi shouted angrily, the blast knocking the emerald Salamander end over end through the rubble. "You want my power? Do I need to share with an insignificant lizard?"

[Balefire Burst: Gemini Flame]

Green and Silver flame erupted from Nix's extended hand, Nefi raised her wings to block the attack, not expecting that the Gemini flame would slice through both her wings and slam into her chest.

[Incinerate: Gemini Flames]

Nix has placed Nefi in a prison of fire.

The Ice Dragon reared back, trying to break free of the flames; they seemed infinitely more powerful when cast from the salamander form. She roared in anger, the Gemini Flames scorching her peerless dragon body. After a few seconds, the spell ended.

[Dragon Bolt: Ice Flame]

[Gemini Flame: Lance]

The two attacks crossed each other as they sped toward their respective targets.

[Flight of the Gryphon]

Nix used his jump attack to evade, his agonizing scream hurt his ears when the Ice Flames grazed him slightly.

Nix has scored a critical hit on Nefi.

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

"What kind of strike was that?" Captain Vooni shouted at her squad. They were all standing in front of a reinforced Training Dummy while she taught them a new attack.

/Fire: Nunzo: So much for happy and smiling Vooni.

/Fire: Omak: We need Pon here to put her in a better mood.

/Fire: Aja: You mean Pon the Magnificent.

The small group laughed amongst themselves, the mood quickly turning lighter.

"Watch one more time!" Vooni focused on the Dummy and then drew her sword.

[Severed Life]

The Dragon Descendant appeared next to the dummy and sliced through it like air. The top end stayed in place for a moment and then slid off with a soft thump.

"If you don't get it right this time..." Vooni seemed like she was about to curse them when her hud blinked on. A dark-haired man with horns jutting from his head appeared on her screen. Immediately her mood changed to respectful. "Commander!"

The man nodded pleasantly. "Power spike on the lower plane, sending you the coordinates. Take your team and investigate. This is an optional bonus mission."

Vooni saluted crisply. "My team is on it." The hud closed promptly after her acceptance. Silver fire wings appeared immediately on her back. She canceled the training dummy and turned toward her group. "Wing up, special bonus mission on the lower plane."

/Fire: Nunzo: We could use more points.

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

A few minutes later, four Archons flew over Fraya'Selene. They didn't bother to mask their arrival; the bright silver flames surrounding each of them were easily visible from the ground. Vooni turned directly south, even from miles away, the utter devastation was apparent.

[Vooni has joined the Fire group Chat]

/Fire: Vooni: Listen up, exercise caution. There is no guessing what powers are at play here, and dying during a bonus mission carries a considerable penalty.

/Fire: Nunzo: Understood, Captain.

The group rocketed toward the massive crater in the ice, a multitude of different flames impacted repeatedly as an all-out elemental battle was being waged.

Aja was the first in range; immediately, she dived for the crater. The Fire Drake used all the speed at her disposal to close on the battlefield.

/Fire: Vooni: I said to use caution!

/Fire: Aja: It's Pon!

/Fire: Vooni: What? GO! GO! GO!

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

"You won't last much longer, little salamander." Nefi exhaled loudly; her exhaustion was apparent by her slow movements. She noticed him bent over the corpse of Yor. "Looting my minion? Join him in death!"

[Fire Bolt: Ice Flame]

Nix managed to leap to one side as the ice blue flames struck Yor's corpse. It crackled loudly and turned blue before rupturing in thousands of ice shards.

[Advanced Execution: Gemini Flame]

A thick strand of razor-sharp flame sliced toward Nefi.

The Ice Dragon attempted to block with a tail-whip, she screamed in mortal agony when half of her tail was sliced cleanly off.

"ENOUGH! FACE MY DRAGON FLAMES!" Nefi reared back on her hind legs and expanded her chest, a funnel of Ice Blue fire erupted from her mouth and roared towards Nix.

Nix slipped slightly in his own blood and pushed all of his Gemini Flames into the Archon Armor. He winced reflexively while awaiting the strike, but it never came.

A loud crash sounded in front of him. A figure, bathed in fire, landed and sliced through the attack with a quick strike of her sword. The Fire Drake's feet dug deep gouges into the rock as the power pushed her back, three more Archons appeared by her side a moment later.

[You have joined the Fire Team Chat]

/Fire: Nix: You guys come to visit me? That's very sweet.

Vooni's pale face was red with anger. The Emerald Salamander was missing a hind leg, and most of his tail, he was riddled with wounds. She turned to face the Ice Dragon, who suddenly looked terrified. Pon, the Magnificent had wounded her severely despite the massive difference in levels. The Fire Captain's straight nose sniffed the air, immediately discovering the dragon corpse.

/Fire: Vooni: There's an Earth Dragon corpse nearby, collect what you can and then destroy the body. Bring all the bones with us.

"Who are you?" Nefi already realized she couldn't match the new arrivals. "Why are you interfering with a fight on the lower planes?"

Vooni's lip curled in a snarl, the soft sound of her weapon being drawn filled the crater. "Let me guess. You came here to die and found the Earth Dragon near his death. You bound your blood to his and then feasted for a hundred years."

"Two hundred." Nix's voice carried from behind her. "This area was the seat of an entire civilization. Her Ice buried a half dozen cities."

Nefi dropped her dragon form and fell to her knees, coughing up blood. Her ice-blue eyes stared at Nix in hatred. "This is your fault! You brought them here."

"Sure... and now Captain Vooni is going to f*ck you up."

Vooni nodded in agreement, her eyes blazing with anger. "Putting your hands on a member of my team. It's my deep regret that you can only die once."

Nefi's eyes took on a maniacal look. "You will beg for death!"

[Death Curse: Eternal Prison]

Vooni raised her sword, her snarl turning into a roar of anger. A flash of blue from behind her caused her to turn around just as Nix disappeared in a cube of Ice Flames. "You Bitch!" The dragon descendant blurred towards the Ice Dragon only to find that Nefi was already dead.

/Fire: Nunzo: Earth-Dragon destroyed, we have the bones.

/Fire: Vooni: Come at once.

When the three members of the training group returned to the crater, they found Vooni staring at a large cube of flames that hovered in the air.

/Fire: Aja: What is that, Captain?

/Fire: Nunzo: Where's Pon?

/Fire: Vooni: It's Ice Flame. The result of an Ice Elemental leeching the power from a dragon. It's not something fire elementals can withstand. I want each of you to touch it carefully.

Aja advanced slowly and placed a hand out. Immediately she yanked it back with a loud howl.

/Fire: Aja: It burns!

Vooni watched as each of her students touched the cube. "It's ice so cold that it burns Fire Elementals."

/Fire: Vooni: I'm afraid that Pon is trapped inside.

/Fire: Aja: What? He is inside this?

/Fire: Omak: So we wait until it kills him and use revive on him.

/Fire: Vooni: It's a cursed prison, powered by the demise and will of dragon blood. If he dies in the cube, he will most likely respawn in there also. This is called an Infinity Curse.

/Fire: Nunzo: His status says unavailable. No communication allowed.