Darius went into the portal room. After he scanned it for potential threats, he beckoned Raiks to follow, before passing through the portal.

But when Raiks got to the portal room, Julia suddenly appeared in front of him.

"This is a disaster," Raiks admitted.

"Is that so?" Julia replied.

"I was forced to enlist the aid of heretics to evacuate a key asset."

"Helios has changed his mind. Daraken is the bigger threat, and Lorso will be allowed to live as long as she helps defeat him."

So apparently, they had somehow managed to get a god to change their mind on a key issue, rather than being punished for defying them. Annabelle and Lorso had played a dangerous game, and somehow forced a god's hand.

"Public opinion will still shift against us," Raiks said. "We still engaged this city's defenders in open combat."

"And Daraken is to blame," Julia said, planning a cover story. "He manipulated Lorso into aiding him and raiding our temple, and nearly sparked a war between us and the Resistance that opposes him. Tonight, she confessed and promised to work to end the threat."

Wait, did she know that Lorso was aiding Daraken, or was she just making something up that happened to be true?

"Good idea," Raiks said. "Make him answer for scheming around your cities."

Raiks pulled out a spare communicator from his belt. These simple devices were primarily utilized to allows Raiks to communicate with his allies in the field, but their access to the Resistance's communication network could easily be modified.

"Take this, in case we need to communicate further. If Daraken launches an attack against you, or you find out more about his schemes, I want you to be able to warn us."

"I'm not here to accept it," Julia said. Her body became transparent, revealing itself to be a simple projection. "And I already have ways to contact you, if necessary." Julia then reconsidered. "Although, there is no harm in an alternate communications channel."

Raiks planted his communicator in a nearby bush, hiding it so that Julia or one of her associates could pick it up later.

Then, he went through the portal to return to Sanctuary, and met Annabelle and Lunima in the Resistance's infirmary. Lorso was standing at the far end of the room.

"Yes, Raiks, she'll live," Lunima said as soon as he walked in. "Though it will take a few days to clear the poison from her system, and ensure there's no permanent damage."

"There won't be any permanent damage," Annabelle claimed.

"As long as you stick with treatment, that will be correct," Lunima said. "I'm not sure how, but your mind seems to have resisted any mental trauma from the poison. But even if your mind wasn't impacted, there's still serious nervous system damage that needs to be fixed, and it's going to take time to fix it."

Annabelle sighed.

"Alright, but can I at least interrogate the asshole who did this? I know Silence took him alive."

"Why would you-"

I can get information out of someone without them even knowing, Annabelle told Raiks. Only surface thoughts, normally. But if I'm willing to get aggressive, I can break into their memories and extract anything useful.

"Alright, I stand corrected," Raiks said. "As soon as Silence comes back with the assassin, you can interrogate them."

Just after he said that, Silence rushed into the infirmary and threw the assassin's body into a bed.

"Alright, now we can-" Annabelle said, before realizing something. "There's no mind in his body. It's brain-dead."

"When I said bring him in alive," Raiks told Silence, "I did not give you permission to hit him in the head so many times that his mind stopped existing."

I know how to be nonlethal. I did not kill him. Silence claimed, startling Raiks. He still wasn't used to having messages beamed straight into his mind.

So, maybe it was a kill-switch on the assassin, designed to keep him from being interrogated if he failed and was captured. Or maybe Silence was lying.

"Would your resurrection, or something similar, be able to restore his mind?" Annabelle asked Lunima.

"If the soul was willing, we could restore it. But I doubt this assassin will be willing to return only to be interrogated and held prisoner."

"Even though he'd likely just get converted into our assassin," Annabelle said.

"Alright, no permanent mind-control," Raiks ordered. "I know we could use extra assets, but it's just wrong."

"Worse than killing them outright?" Annabelle countered.

Raiks didn't have an answer, and made a compromise. "If you get in a situation where permanent mind control might give us a major advantage, clear it with me first. Do not do it without my approval."

"Since his body is still fully functional, I could currently take control of it. But without his memories or knowledge, it wouldn't be very useful. If there's no way to bring back his mind, his body should be destroyed."

Raiks called for two others healers, and ordered them to take the body away, strip-search the assassin, and then have him incinerated. He didn't expect the search to find anything, but it was worth it to check.

"Now that that's out of the way, I would like to talk to Annabelle and Lorso in private." Lunima complied, and left the room, while Lorso stepped up.

"What? Are you going to send me back?" Lorso asked, with a bit of sarcasm.

"No, though you are lucky that is not the case. Helios himself has forgiven you, and I believe it is only because he considers Daraken the bigger threat."

"I'm glad he's figured out his priorities," Annabelle snarked.

"You aren't taking this seriously," Raiks said. "Even if he has forgiven you, we're still going to take a massive public relations hit for this. I had been willing to allow you to extract Lorso in private, without a scene, but we've engaged Dustreach's guards in open combat."

"Unless you blame it on Daraken's interference," Annabelle replied.

"Even then. For most of the populace, he's considered a benevolent ruler, and we're considered a rogue group of outsiders." Although if Julia was going to corroborate, it might be a bit more convincing, at least for those that supported Helios.

"Wait," Annabelle realized. "If Helios has only forgiven us due to the threat Daraken poses, there's a decent chance that as soon as Daraken is stopped, we'll be next in his crosshairs."

"That is a possibility, yes," Raiks admitted.

Helios had stated that Annabelle and Daraken had to die on the same day, or else disaster would occur.

"Now, I'd like to know what an angry god can do. Clearly, they can't just kill people with bolts of divine lightning, or Daraken wouldn't have gotten anywhere near ascension."

"That's a big unknown," Lorso said. "I don't know for sure, but I have a theory."

"Well, explain the theory, then."

"There are more gods than just Helios," Lorso explained. "Most other gods have a lesser presence, at least in the mainland of Garnoth but they still have a presence. Maybe, the gods have created an agreement limiting each other's involvement, to avoid a destructive cascade."

"Mutually assured destrution?" Annabelle asked.

"Yes. If Helios did something like obliterating a mortal he disagreed with, other gods might see that as leverage to kill people they dislike, such as supporters of Helios. That could easily escalate into a divine war that would leave the world uninhabitable, a result mutually detrimental to the gods. So, it's better for them to agree to limit their interference to communicating with and empowering their followers, as long as it means no escalating conflict."

Annabelle paused for a few seconds, likely to take in the information. Annabelle and Lorso glanced at each other for a bit.

"So, any threat to me would come from Helios' mortal allies," Annabelle said. "Which might make a play against the Resistance to get to me. Raiks, what would you do in such a situation?"

Raiks had composed a plan for a hypothetical war with Dustreach and the High Temple of Helios two years ago, but it was significantly outdated. And, the war would end poorly for Helios. Dustreach wouldn't be able to reach Sanctuary (except possibly with a massive amount of divine guidance), and if they launched an offensive war against Resistance territories in Garnoth, they would lose popular support.

But would he support Annabelle in such a war?

"I hope it does not come to that," Raiks said. "But if it did, I would protect you the same way I would protect any other member of the Resistance facing an external threat." He wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not.

**********

"So, you're looking to join the Resistance?"

Darius was in Arexia, the largest city on the Needle, and the city that currently supported the Black Legion's military outpost. He was here to meet Xerxes, a potential future resistance operative in the city. It took most of the day to track him down, but he eventually managed to meet with him and guide him to a resistance safehouse in the city for a private meeting.

"Yes."

"And what skills do you bring to the Resistance?"

"I'm a master illusionist," Xerxes said, as he demonstrated his abilities by changing appearance, changing from human to elf. "I can change my appearance at a whim, outsmarting enemies with ease."

"That would be potent," Darius said. "But it also makes it difficult for us to trust you, for obvious reasons."

"So, I assume you're going to want me to prove my loyalty?"

"Yes. We know that Daraken has a large complement of apprentices, and we need to be sure you are not one of them."

Proving loyalty was normally a simple process: take the new arrival through Sanctuary's null-magic field to clear out any illusions and potential mind-control, then interrogate them with a truth-detection spell. But he wasn't going to elaborate on those measures just yet. And though Xerxes' true form would be revealed by the null-magic field, his magic might be able to fool truth-detection magic.

"I'm not with Daraken, I can assure you," Xerxes said.

"If only such a statement was all we needed." Darius started with a simple question, one that would weed out anyone with a bad cover story. "Who are you, and why do you wish to fight Daraken?"

Xerxes jumped straight into an answer. "I come from a land in the Outer Regions that is soon to be threatened by Daraken's advance."

"Which kingdom?" He had a quick answer, but it was a vague answer.

"I do not wish to disclose that."

"Are you an agent of a foreign government?" Granted, it wouldn't be a deal-breaker to get an agent from another power joining their forces, but it could result in a conflict of interests if that power turned hostile.

"Yes. At least formerly. I've been given authority to act as a free agent to disrupt Daraken any way I can, and I believe joining the local Resistance will be the best way to accomplish this."

"That could result in a political entanglement," Darius said. "What if your government asks you to betray us?"

"They would not do so," Xerxes claimed. "And if they did, I can and will ignore them."

"What about after Daraken's defeat?" Darius asked. "Would you use your position in the Resistance to try to get favor in the future government of Garnoth?"

"No," Xerxes said, after a bit of hesitation. "Although, after my mission is accomplished, I may return to my home."

"I still don't trust your loyalties," Darius said. Even though he couldn't pick up any obvious signs of lying, it was quite possible for an illusionist to conceal their tells.

"I believe I can prove my loyalty by aiding one of your operations," Xerxes claimed. "You have plans to assault the Black Legion base outside this city, correct?"

"I cannot confirm or deny that." The answer was yes, but he needed to be careful with what he disclosed.

"I'm pretty sure you do," Xerxes continued, "even if they're plans you don't expect to be able to utilize. Imagine how much more effective those plans would be when you have illusions on your side."

"What can you do?" Darius asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Xerxes said, as he disappeared. Darius, suddenly wary, drew one of his daggers, and his dispelling wand.

A dozen Resistance members (or at least good fascimilies of Resistance members) appeared around him.

"I can create a small army of illusions," Xerxes boasted, his voice seeming to emanate from every one of his images. "I can create entire attacks where none exist."

"Attacks with no physical substance," Darius countered. "There's only so far that you can go with images before the enemy realizes that they're not a threat."

"I know my limitations, and I know how to work around them," Xerxes replied. He felt something touching him from behind, turned to see a person attacking him, and tried to strike back, only for his attack to pass through the image.

Suddenly, Darius felt a surge of fear, as several images jumped forwards. Even though they shouldn't be real, he still panicked, leaping to the side. The images passed through each other, reoriented, and were about to charge again when Darius fired a dispelling burst from his wand, breaking most of the images, but Xerxes himself remained invisible.

"I can also manipulate minds, inducing fear, spreading terror. If I was working for Daraken, I would have captured you by now."

Darius considered that a fairly impressive display, and he admitted that he probably would have lost had Xerxes been one of Daraken's apprentices, due to having let his guard down. But though the "If I was working for Daraken, I would have already brought you down" argument was convincing, it assumed Daraken wasn't willing to plant a long-term agent in the Resistance's ranks.

"Alright, you've proven to be useful. Soon, you will be able to prove your loyalty."

Xerxes cancelled his invisibility, and re-appeared in a human body, albeit a different form from the one he had first used. Darius was fairly certain none of the faces he had seen were Xerxes' true face.

"When I contact you next, I will have an operation planned, and I will expect you to use your abilities as directed to ensure the success of that operation. Succeed, and you will join us in the Resistance."

"I will not disappoint you."

**********

Annabelle knew she was in grave danger.

Lorso had stated that gods would normally be unwilling to interfere in mortal affairs, but she had also told Annabelle privately that gods, plural, hunted down psions due to seemingly posing a threat.

If the gods are agreeing to hunt down psions like me due to posing a threat, wouldn't they make an exception in their agreement for me and any other psions?

Yes, Lorso had responded. So, in your case, the normal limitations against divine intervention might not apply.

Based on that, the only reason she wasn't dead was because the major god found her useful, and the other gods didn't know about her. As soon as her usefulness was at an end (or potentially sooner if another god took a close look), she would likely be wiped off the planet.

Her best bet at survival would be to find a way to get off this planet after Daraken died. Or maybe even before, given that she'd likely burn most of her energy in a final battle against him and might not recover fast enough to escape before divine intervention struck. She had arrived here with a wormhole. If she could figure out how to replicate it, she just might be able to escape in time. But even if she managed to create a controlled wormhole, how would she navigate back to Earth? The stars in the sky were completely different on this world, and even if she had an astronomy degree, she probably couldn't figure out which one of them was Earth's sun, even if they happened to still be in the same galaxy.

At least she had plenty of time to figure this out while she was stuck on bed rest. But it seemed hopeless.