Nix paused long enough at the breach to morph into the Rat-King. "Ionova is close to Khione's fortress, change into an animal form. It will mask our presence if anyone is looking for us."

Both Semmi and Wind changed into Ravagers; Pon's Ice Wraith form hovered over the seven white Orions waiting until Nix exited before herding them in.

/Alpha: Pon: Follow the leader! Don't do anything too stupid.

The breach exited at the former location of the Turtle House. Nix sighed heavily; Stewardship of Ionova was something he had enjoyed. Most of the citizens had been evacuated to the Nether. "Get those Ravager senses to work. We are looking for someone who doesn't belong. Use any means necessary."

Semmi and Wind disappeared in a blur, leaving the rest of the group behind.

/Alpha: Eri: What were those creatures, Nix? They seem formidable.

/Alpha: Nix: It's a mutation of the form you are using now mixed with a Nether Rat. More importantly, it has a lot of heightened abilities.

The Rat-King moved toward the ridge that overlooked both his property and the city of Ionova. In the recent past, old Ionova had been replaced with an updated version that boasted better amenities and water access. It had been bigger, better, and more pleasing to the eye. Nix had been tempted on many occasions to burn Old Ionova to the ground.

The crusted snow easily supported his weight as he stared at the ruins. Khione's counterstrike had leveled both old and new. With Neb's help, they started the rebuilding process, but that had been put on hold during the Bone Fortress. "No matter what happens, when this war ends, I will rebuild this town."

"Are they all dead?" One of the twins whispered from beside Nix.

"No. I had them evacuated." The Rat-King turned to stare at the Orion. "Can you sense anything living?"

"No."

Nix used his nose to point toward the wreckage that was old Ionova. Even covered in meters of snow, it was an eyesore. "How about from the old ruins?"

The Orion's nose sniffed the air several times; since he was not used to having heightened senses, he couldn't even begin to identify the different scents. There was one that stood out, but he couldn't place it. "There's a strong smell, or maybe a lot of similar smells that are strong together."

"Not bad, Corm. What you are sensing are rats. A lot of them. Like everything else, they are huddled together, trying to survive. They've created hundreds of tunnels beneath the snow, raiding our old storerooms to stay alive."

/Alpha: Semmi: Found him; he's created some sort of spatial anomaly inside the quarry.

/Alpha: Nix: Perfect. We will meet you at the entrance.

A half-hour later,, the group huddled just inside the entrance to the quarry. Several meters of ice and snow created a natural barrier to anyone trying to enter. A single tunnel, perhaps a meter in diameter, marked the only way in.

/Alpha: Nix: I'll brief everyone on the layout, then our scouts can fill in the blanks.

Nix spared a glance at Ravager Semmi, who was nodding her elongated head in agreement. The Rat-King could use hud interfaces while most puppets couldn't. "This tunnel widens considerably and advances eastward at a moderate angle for a hundred meters. It opens up into a large cavern that feeds into seven smaller tunnels."

Wind's sharp claws pointed at the central tunnel on Nix's map interface. "This one."

The Rat-King rubbed his sharp claws together. "Perfect, it dead-ends in a large chamber with three-tiered levels. What else?"

Semmi paused for a moment. "The anomaly I mentioned is blocking the entrance. If we can get past it, those tiers will provide cover, provided we can get inside."

Eri listened while the Inferno scouts detailed the layout. "Our ranged fighters can fight from cover." Is Toxin going to be tanking? Brell can heal some, but not enough to keep him alive."

"I'll summon Eron." Fajii broke her long silence. "He will handle heals and countermagic."

"Toxin will start off tanking, focus on interrupts. I'll call Morti after we get through the entrance." Nix studied the map; everyone had picked out their spots. The problem was the anomaly. "I should have brought Sinfaya. We have no idea what that does. Sem?"

"Don't look at me. It could be anything; deathtrap, portal, prison space... "

"Hmmm... This helps me, actually. I can't have a thriving rat colony in Ionova when my people return." The Rat-King stealthed and started down the passage. "We'll head down to the main cavern and wait for my army."

/Alpha: Wind: Army?

/Alpha: Pon: The new guys are going to think you're crazy.

/Alpha: Nix: Raid Sheet, Sem. Finalize the assignments while I bring in the boys.

Nix led the way down the tunnel, his yellow eyes immediately turning green as he switched to night vision. Unlike the Nether Rat puppets, the Rat-King didn't have a 'Dominate' ability. The Rat-Kings version was called [Rat Army] and didn't mention a limit.

[Ethoryst Raid Sheet]

Morti: Tank

Toxin: Tank

Brell: Shaman

Eri Dale: Ranger

Corm: Javalier

Retric: Javalier

Ainsba: Sand Shadow

Dune: Sand Shadow

Pon: Fire Mage

Fajii: Scorched Earth Mage

Wind: Gemini Thief

Nix: Spellsword, Fire Mage

Semmi: Gemini Thief

The Rat King waited near the entrance of the middle tunnel while the rest of the raid took cover just outside. Since Nix was unsure of the control he would have, they decided the best course of action would be to have the rats rush into the anomaly room.

/Alpha: Semmi: This doesn't require a real brief; we're going to wing it mostly. This tunnel is only thirty meters long; it stops at the chamber where Ethoryst is. The rats will spring whatever trap is waiting for us. We'll follow them in and assume our positions. Feel free to switch back to your natural forms after that.

/Alpha: Nix: Here we go...

Nix has cast [Rat Army].

46,332 Rats have answered your call. How many Rats would you like to promote?

The Rat-King stared at the interface that popped up in front of him. "Promote? Holy crap. That's a lot of rats.

[Available Promotions]

Rat Leader: Requires a minimum of 1,000 rats, promoting a Leader sacrifices 100 rats.

Rat Commander: Requires a minimum of 10,000 rats, promoting a Commander sacrifices 1000 rats.

Rat General: Requires a minimum of 100,000 rats, promoting General sacrifices 10 Commanders.

"Commanders sound nice."

You have promoted 4 Commanders at the cost of four thousand rats. Your Rat Army stands at 42,332. You may give direct commands to your Commanders. The default name for your commanders are numerical designations. You may change it at any time.

[Rat-Commander 1]

[Rat-Commander 2]

[Rat-Commander 3]

[Rat-Commander 4]

Nix shook his head slightly. "Too complicated for this mission." He focused his vision down the corridor and targeted the anomaly.

[All Rat-Commanders, Attack my target]

It took several minutes for the first wave to enter the quarry tunnels, understandable since the city was a distance away. One moment the corridor was empty, and the next it was flooded in a sea of black fur.

/Alpha: Semmi: This isn't Rat Domination.

Nix shook his rat head slightly. A few meters back from the front line of rats was a wide gap, perhaps a meter wide. Inside that space was a huge rat, two or three times bigger than normal. "That must be one of my Rat Commanders."

/Alpha: Nix: No, this is Rat Army. Forty thousand plus coming our way, so stand fast.

The front line attacked the anomoly fearlessly, the swirling circle glowed as rats disappeared by the hundreds. Without fail, the ones from behind pushed forward and attacked. Nix watched the first of his Rat Commanders leaped forward with its teeth barred, only to vanish a moment later.

/Alpha: Semmi: Are they being killed?

Nix checked his Rat-King hud, it didn't monitor the rat army but it did have the Rat-Commander's health bar. The first one through hadn't taken any damage.

/Alpha: Nix: No. If its a trap, then it is holding all of them.

The scratching of sharp claws on the rock floors echoed against the backdrop of thousands of chittering rats gnashing their teeth. The pungent smell of rat filled the quarry, by the thousands they disappeared, like lemmings charging off of a cliff. The rat army was down to its last few dozen rats when the anomoly suddenly vanished.

/Alpha: Semmi: Get into position! GO!

Nix morphed into his human form and ran toward the lowest tier, drawing both of his bone hilts he pushed silver dread flames into the blades.

[Summons: Mortimer]

The Titan cub appeared in front of Nix, his sharp eyes taking in everyting. He turned slowly toward the focus of Nix's attention. "Smells like rat in here. What are we fighting?"

"RATS! RATS IN MY RUBICON? WHO DARES?"

The raid group winced collectively as the shouting rose to a near deafening level, an instant later, a man with horns appeared in front of them. Ethoryst had arrived.

"DRAGON?" Morti went from calm cub to angry titan in the span of a heartbeat. Bone spikes emerged from his shoulders, his body expanding slightly as his claws lengthened considerably, the process completed when a row of jagged spikes formed a ridge down his spine.

Mortimer has activated [Bone Emperor].

[King's Order][Push Back][Life Force]

Triple combination successful.

Ethoryst must limit his attacks to Mortimer for the next 60 seconds.

Morti was a step away from Ethoryst when the dragon produced both a shield and staff. The cub's enormous paw batted the shield to one side, sending it skidding across the cavern. Lowering his shoulder, he slammed into his target, driving him back several feet. The cub's teeth clamped down on the elbow of the arm holding the staff and wrenched to one side, effectively turning the the target's back toward the entrance.

Mortimer has reinforced the life force of the raid.

[Quick Heal][Escape]

Partial combination.

Ethoryst has healed his broken elbow.

Escape is not possible at this time.

Nix followed in Morti's wake, both blades pulled back for a stab when he was suddenly presented with the dragon's back.

[Double Stab][Air Burst]

Combination Successful.

The two blades sunk only a few centimeters into Ethorysts back. The blade's air burst widened the superficial wound, splattering Nix with dragon blood.

Corm has activated [Hunter Shot x 5]

Retric has activated [Hunter Shot x 5]

Eri Dale has activated True Arrow.

Eri has landed a critical hit.

Several javelins pierced the back of Ethoryst, his back quickly turning into a pincushion.

/Alpha: Eri: Thick skin!

[Backstab][Sand Storm]

Combination Partially Successful.

Dune has landed a critical strike.

Ethoryst's vision has been reduced by five percent.

[Backstab][SandFection]

Combination Successful.

Ainsba has landed a critical strike.

Sand has entered the wounds of your target, creating a mild poison.

[Void Strike][Backstab][Hamstring]

Semmi has landed a critical strike.

Semmi has landed a significant strike.

Ethoryst has been stunned.

Ethoryst's movement is restricted by thirty percent.

Nix targeted the shouting dragon's legs, a have dozen silver strands wrapped around Ethoryst's calf pulling him off-balance.

Brell has cast [Tar Pit]

Ethoryst's reaction time is decreased by thirty percent.

[Dual Chain][Void Strike]

Combination successful.

Wind has followed up Semmi's attack with significant strike.

[Rockshield][Boulder Bash][Rock Golem]

Triple Combination Successful.

Your allies are protected by a rock shield.

Fajii has followed up Wind's attack with a significant strike.

Ethoryst has been stunned.

Fajii has summoned [Rock Lord].

A half dozen head-sized boulders slammed into Ethoryst, knocking him forward. The Rock Lord was a lumpy looking fiend that carried a shield in one hand, his free hand ended in a large rock that he wielded like a weapon. It charged forward, stopping a few meters from Ethoryst before entering defensive mode.

[Balefire: Hex][Dread Fire: Master's Strike]

Combination Successful.

Pon has followed up Fajii's attack with a significant strike.

Ethoryst has been stunned.

Pon has landed a mortal strike.

[Critical Clause][Evacuation]

Ethoryst has sacrificed a portion of his Dragon Marrow to nullify his restraints.

A breach to Tembai Academy has opened up.

Nix stumbled backward as his flame strands vanished unexpected, Morti was also forced to release his hold. "He's running!"

The wounded dragon ran for the breach, electing to flee rather than continueing to fight.