Rhy let go of his hand and then lowered her hood. "I have missed you, Champion."

Nix bowed his head formally. "I will fight on your behalf."

Light laughter, filled with warmth carried from the far side of the building. "So formal." A cloaked figure approached, she stopped in front of him and lowered her hood. "Thank you for coming."

Nix couldn't stop the smile that widened his face. "Shae..."

She gripped his face with her warm hands, kissing him a few times before pulling away. "Oh my... You've changed again. May I?"

Nix nodded. "Of course."

[Arch Elemental: Five Elements]

Fire: Nemesis

Ice: Lord

Air: Lord

Lightning: Spirit

Water: Spirit

Arch Elemental

All Elemental abilities and resistances are increased by .5 (.2+.1+.1+.05+.05)

"A water seed?" Shae clucked her tongue at him while shaking her head. "Who gave you such a thing?"

"Mina," Nix admitted.

"If it's Mina, then it can't be helped." Shae kissed his forehead before releasing his face and grabbed his hand. "There are a few people I would like you to meet."

Nix followed her toward another group, he glanced back to see if Rhy was following but noticed that she had joined a group of air elementals in casting a large air dome. "What are they doing?"

"There are eyes and ears everywhere, Nix; we've had to be very careful."

"What's going on here?"

Shae stopped and nodded to herself. "I should fill you in first, so you can prepare questions for them."

Nix couldn't help but smile when she popped a small pepper in her mouth. "You running out of those yet?"

"Of course not," Shae shook her head. "This is Elementia, a city hidden in a seed world. To enter this place, you need to be an elemental."

"Which explains why I've never heard of it. What is the problem?"

"A few weeks ago, the Air and Water elementals started disappearing from the city. Rhy came here to investigate, because..."

"Because Wilo was one of the Air Elementals that disappeared?" Nix knew that Ronnie's spirit companion stopped answering her summons a few weeks earlier.

Shae nodded. "Additionally, this city has been taken over by a very powerful Ice Elemental. He's very boorish and has the backing of the city guard."

"City guard? Are they elementals also?"

Shae nodded her head. "Earth spirits, more than I've ever seen in one place. In the past, they've been neutral, but suddenly they are doing his bidding."

"How many missing elementals?"

"Hundreds, possibly more. Lord rank and below so far, no one has attempted to take any Nemesis." Shae pulled his hand gently, and they resumed their walk toward the group.

A group of four people in cloaks stood in a half-circle waiting for them. Shae stopped a few meters away. "This is Nix, the one I mentioned."

Nix studied the group; they were comprised of three men and a woman. Two of the men were Water Elementals, and the third was an Air Elemental. For some reason, he couldn't get a good read on the female. "Greetings."

Shae pointed each person out as she introduced them. "This is Falad, and Tibero, twin brothers and both of them are Water Nemesis. This is Shoma, the Air Nemesis, and last but not least, Silia, the Ice Nemesis."

Falad frowned at Nix; he had short blond hair and pale skin. "I know your reputation Nix, but a single Fire Nemesis isn't going to be much help."

Tibero nodded in agreement. "We have plenty of Fire Mages already."

Shoma held up a hand to stop them from commenting further. "Don't be so hasty, none of us has garnered so much attention from Khione. There must be a reason."

Silia stared at him for a long moment; she had the typical Ice Nemesis coloring, white-silver hair, and pale blue eyes. "This is very unexpected."

Nix bit down on a smile that threatened to come. "Secrets out."

Tibero glanced back and forth between the two of them for a moment. "What secret?"

Silia stepped closer; she raised a hand to touch Nix, only to have Shae step in front of him. "Hmm... so protective. I'm not here to poach your mate. He is ready to rank up."

Shae's warm brown eyes showed her surprise. "An Ice Nemesis?" She turned to face him, her hand resting on his chest. "You were barely Lord rank when last I checked."

Nix had been caught up in Khione's trap; he had been able to separate Ice into Water and Air, someone stronger than him could definitely do the opposite. "I can help if you allow it. I already know why the Air and Water elementals are disappearing."

[Whisper: Nix to Shae] Can this Silia be trusted?

[Whisper: Shae to Nix] Yes, without a doubt.

Shoma's round face scrunched up; for a moment, he reminded Nix of Gil. "Explain it then."

"Questions first." Nix felt like a few pieces were missing. "Between Air, Water, and Ice, which element is the most powerful?"

"Ice," Silia answered without looking at the other three Nemesis, none of them dared disagree with her.

Nix nodded; he had already guessed it. "Between the three of them, which is the rarest?"

"Ice," Silia answered again, her light blue eyes seemed amused. "The hybrid element is the most difficult to master."

"That's why they are disappearing. Khione is using them to power up, Air and Water make Ice." Nix could see the doubt in their eyes.

"Impossible Nix, it's true that Ice is a hybrid of Air and Water. The hybrid of them is a rare ability, but taking separate Water and Air powers and then combining them... it can't be done."

Nix stepped away from the group for a moment and faced them. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and focused, having never tried it outside of Khione's trap, it took him a while. Slowly the image of his fire seed formed in front of him; this was followed by his Ice, air, lightning, and water seeds.

Shoma stared at the seeds in the air, he could do the same thing himself, but it wasn't nearly as impressive. "Damn... that's a lot of seeds."

Nix nodded at Silia. "Can you send an ice beast at me?"

Silia raised a hand. "Something small, so there aren't any accidents."

A small Ice sparrow formed in the air over her head; a moment later, it dived toward Nix.

Remembering to accept and not resist, Nix used a simple water stream to pull it closer and then separated the two elements within it. There was a collective gasp when both the air and water seeds absorbed the sparrow.

"Now let's try the opposite, remember I'm a novice Ice user."

Falad and Shoma both sent small elemental creatures toward Nix, the first four attempts ended with Nix's fire aura killing them, but on the fifth attempt, he combined the air and water creatures into his Ice seed.

Silia stared at the Ice Seed; her expression showed real fear. "Khione is much more powerful than a Nemesis like me. If you can do that, Nix, then she can probably combine the entire seeds of Air and Water Lords."

Nix nodded. "She didn't use Ice Lords, because they are too rare."

Shae moved beside him and squeezed his hand. "It's like I said. Nix will figure it out."

"The barrier is failing! We've been discovered!" Rhy's voice shouted across the warehouse. "Fall back to the safe house!"

Shae grabbed Nix's hand and pulled him toward the exit. They ran into the street and quickly blended into the crowd. The sounds of fighting could be heard behind them.

[Whisper: Nix to Shae] Shouldn't we fight?

[Whisper: Shae to Nix] We can't afford to Nix.

Shae turned down an alleyway and then broke into a run until the next street where they once again started walking.

[Whisper: Shae to Nix] Rhy is already safe.

A shout from in front of them, caused Shae to break into a run and turn down the closest alley, unfortunately, it was a dead end.

[Whisper: Nix to Shae] Fly out of here Shae.

[Whisper: Shae to Nix] We'd be brought down immediately.

Three slim soldiers in leather armor approached them with weapons drawn. Their faces seemed to be made from a brown colored stone. The nearest of them stopped while the other two spread out.

"I'm Captain Helbak of the Elementia Guard; you will surrender yourselves for questioning."

"Careful Nix, these are Earth Spirits, and they are resistant to fire." Twin fire blades emerged from Shae's hands.

Nix focused on wrath and pushed Ice into it.

[Spellsword Ability Unlocked: Black-Ice Blade]

Nix could feel the Ice vibrating from the effects of the wrath hilt; his mind noted the occasion for later study; sonics turn Ice into black Ice.

[Storm Rider: Execution]

Combination Attempt successful.

Nix appeared behind his target and a moment later the Captain's head bounced off the ground, causing the other two guards to freeze.

[Daisy Chain]

An Earth Spirit Guard has been stunned.

An Earth Spirit Guard has been stunned.

Nix dispatched the two remaining guards while Shae kept watch, as soon as he finished she grabbed his hand and retreated into the street.

Nix pushed back his hood and removed Shae's. The redhaired Salamander nodded when he threw an arm around her. They fell easily into the role of lovers taking a stroll. A few guards ran by them while they walked, but none stopped to investigate.

"I've never seen a city like this." Even under the circumstances, Nix could appreciate the work that went into three and four-story buildings.

Shae leaned her head against his shoulder while they walked. "Earth and Wood elementals."

Nix gave her a confused look. "What's that mean?"

"Some Earth and Wood elementals can build very complex structures. This city is probably much larger than it once was."

Nix stopped and stared at her for a moment, and then took another look at the surrounding buildings. "F*ck... This must be Dyrekstad."