Annabelle was still badly wounded, and was too busy analyzing the damage to her own body to respond.

"Here, let me heal you," Lorso said.

"Wait, what?" Darius said incredulously. "Mages aren't healers!"

"Normally, yes. I'm an exception." Lorso responded. She called up a small orb of fire, then threw it at Annabelle. It hit her before she could react, creating a small burst of warmth. Once she realized she was not, in fact, on fire, she sensed that she was recovering from her injuries. Her broken bones mended themselves in a matter of seconds, and soon she was back on her feet.

"Why does your healing bolt look like a fireball?" Annabelle asked. "That's almost certain to lead to a friendly fire incident."

"My healing isn't the conventional form used by the priests of Helios, but it works just the same."

"But you shouldn't be able to heal at all!" Darius exclaimed.

"Wait, I'm confused. According to what I've read about magic, it's capable of just about anything. Why would healing be off the table?" Sure, it might be complicated to regenerate the numerous complex components that made up a body, but apparently a random sorcerer had figured it out.

"That's the result of a divine conspiracy," Lorso claimed.

"Divine conspiracy," Darius said, incredulous. "What, Helios doesn't want mages-"

"Yes, Helios wants his followers to be the only ones capable of helping people. Mages have the physical capability to perform healing magic, but any knowledge of how to do it has been suppressed."

"I find that hard to believe," Darius replied. "Where's the evidence?"

"We can talk about that later." Annabelle interrupted. "I want to know how you know about 'psionics'." Her abilities had been called psionics by almost everyone on Earth, but no one called it that here for some reason.

"Psionics are a term used for an unusual and incredibly rare ability that is similar to, yet distinct from, magic. Most people think psions are a myth, and until I encountered Silence, I did too."

"I mean, I'm not even from this world," Annabelle said. "I've heard my abilities described as psionics at my home world before, but we might not even be talking about the same thing. How is his ability to have the strength of ten men related to my abilities?"

"Your abilities both come from the same source, though their applications differ."

The group heard shouting a distance away. Response teams were closing in on their position.

"We would both like to join you," Lorso said. "For multiple reasons."

"We're with the Resistance," Darius said. "I'm not sure if you're the type we're looking for. Especially given your attack on our ally."

"Attack on a neutral faction," Annabelle corrected. "Darius, the two of them are a very strong pyromancer and a powerful warrior. Having them on our side certainly wouldn't hurt."

"Unless they betrayed us," Darius muttered.

"Even if you're with the Resistance, you're still in danger," Lorso added. "Especially after meeting me. You need me on your side."

Annabelle opened a telepathic channel to Lorso. Not only would it be faster than talking, but it would be private.

What danger? Annabelle sent to Lorso.

The reason psions are a myth is because gods hunt them down, Lorso replied, without delay. If they decided to end you themselves, even your Sanctuary would barely slow them down.

She almost scoffed at the idea, but then she remembered something.

My commander, Raiks, has had a private discussion with a church leader about me. Could they be plotting my death?

I would consider it likely. Although, the fact that they had such a discussion at all likely means that Helios considers you useful enough to not wipe out with a bolt of divine lightning.

So, after she defeated Daraken, she might be the next target. You said that I would want you with me. Do you have any way to prevent divine wrath?

No, Lorso admitted. But I'm your best bet at finding a way to avoid divine wrath. Silence is also a psion, and even though he's been aiding me in raids on Helios' temples, Helios hasn't wiped him out. There has to be a reason.

Annabelle thought on the situation for a few moments. "So, I can probably get you into the Resistance along with me, but you won't like how I have to do it. And Darius, please just trust me. It's going to work out."

Darius opened his mouth to raise an objection, but nothing came out.

**********

Raiks and Julia turned the corner and came upon Annabelle, Darius, a sorceress (given by her unusual choice of apparrel and the fact that she was levitating above the ground), and what appeared to be a street thug trying to look respectable.

"Okay, I want an explanation, and I want it NOW," Raiks said.

"It's not my fault, " Annabelle complained. "I was going to wait as ordered, but then this witch over here started creating explosions and all sorts of havoc, and I was forced to intervene. I subdued them using mind control, and now I believe they could be key assets of the Resistance."

"These individuals are under the jurisdiction of the temple of Helios, " Julia said. "They must face punishment here."

"Look, I don't want them either," Raiks added. "I'm not sure how long your control would last."

Raiks received a telepathic message from Annabelle. She's willing to help us of her own accord, or at least help me, due to something involving research of psionics. I'm not even controlling her right now, it's a bluff. She sent a few more details from her earlier conversation in an attempt to convince Raiks. Apparently this 'Lorso' was a mage who knew how to perform healing magic, at range.

Annabelle questioned Julia. "So, what exactly are you planning to do with her? And why is she more important to you than she is to our forces?"

"We've had encounters with this sorceress before, " Julia responded after a bit of a delay. "Lorso Razo is a blasphemer who has defiled our temples and stolen our texts multiple times before, and every time she found a way to slip our pursuit. If she leaves with you, she will find a way to escape and come back to create more mischief."

"If I control an individual for long enough, I can eventually destroy their original personality, leaving a subservient ally that doesn't need any further control." Could she actually do that, or was she just maintaining the bluff?

"Raiks, are you really dropping to this low?, " Julia said. "Perverting minds, letting individuals escape justice, just to win a war?"

Raiks considered the situation, and unfortunately decided on the side of necessity. "You yourself said that Daraken is attempting to become a god. What if Lorso is key to stopping him?" Annabelle and Darius seemed slightly stunned at the revelation.

"How could she be-" Julia tried to say.

"She probably knows more about the gods than you do." Annabelle declared, suddenly inspired. "Or, at least, more than you or your god are willing to disclose."

"Outrageous," Julia countered.

At this point, Lorso spoke up. "Do you know how Daraken plans to ascend? Did your god deem even his closest mortal ally worthy of that information? I doubt it."

"Alright, now shut up, " Annabelle said, pretending to be in control of her. "You see my point? It's more important that we stop Daraken than that we put one sorceress in prison, and her knowledge will likely be important to that."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Julia conceded, partially. "Fine. I'll concede that some of her information could be useful. You have one night. Interrogate her, get as much information as you desire out of her. But you may not leave this city, and in the morning, I expect her return."

Raiks accepted the deal. He wasn't sure whether or not he would keep its terms.

**********

Julia cleared a large room for the group in the temple's guest housing, just outside the boundaries of the temple itself. They held a meeting in one of the rooms, with Darius scouting out around the area in case Raiks decided they needed to make a quick getaway.

"So, I've basically had to call on pretty much all of my favor with Sanctuary just to get us to here," Raiks said. "I'm willing to consider just bailing on her and retreating to Sanctuary. But, unless you can somehow convince me that Lorso is worth more than our current favor in Dustreach, that's not going to happen." This was more trust than Annabelle really deserved here.

"She's not the only important person here," Annabelle said. "Her... associate, Silence is another anomaly. He has superhuman strength, speed, and durability."

"So? Anyone can have superhuman strength, speed, and durability if given the right magical enhancements, or even just a lot of training. Also, given his lack of speech or weapons skill, he's probably not that smart either. The Resistance already has several berserkers, and they can at least communicate with allies and use weapons."

"He's not stupid," Lorso said. "It's just a... quirk that he has."

"Really?"

"He has natural telepathy," Annabelle said.

"How did you-?" Lorso exclaimed.

"I can sense the telepathic messages between the two of you," Annabelle said. "Also, I've apparently annoyed him and now he's telling me to shut up."

"And his lack of weapons training?"

"He's strong enough to kill with his bare hands," Lorso claimed. "He'd likely break any weapon he tried to use."

"Okay, I stand corrected on the intelligence part," Raiks said. "But that still doesn't make the two of you worth more than the aid of Helios."

"Would they really cut off their aid, however?" Annabelle countered. "I believe the fear of Daraken rising to become a god would outweigh temporary outrage at losing the ability to deliver justice to two individuals."

"That may or may not be true," Lorso admitted.

"What crimes, exactly, are you wanted for?"

"A lot of things. It's a long story."

"We have all night, " Raiks said. "And we are after information."

Lorso took a long time to consider her story, before she finally began. "So, like most sorcerers, my abilities manifested at a young age, in the form of pyrokinetic abilities. My old family wanted nothing to do with someone with those powers, so they sent me off to the College to train and hone my abilities."

Wait, the College still exists? Annabelle asked Raiks.

Yes. He's technically in charge, but it's one of the few things he really doesn't interfere with. We've recruited just as many of the graduates as he has.

"The problem is, the College doesn't exactly take kindly to sorcerers. In their eyes, while they had spent years of study to get their abilities, I had done nothing to deserve them. They begrudgingly allowed me to stay, but I still struggled to understand the theories."

"At one point, I had a moment of inspiration. From what I had read on the topic, healing was impossible with the arcane arts. But yet, magic from the priests of Helios had most of the same fundamental properties as the magic practiced by the mages in the college. In an attempt to improve my reputation with the college, I left to try to see what I could research about the topic in Dustreach. Maybe, I might be able to let them replicate it."

"When I got there, I realized that though their archives were supposed to be limited to members of their own clergy, their defenses weren't capable of handling a mage breaking in. I managed to raid the temple's archives, grabbed three books that looked relevant, and flew out before they could stop me. Then, once I was safely clear of pursuit, I opened the books."

"I think one of the books was warded, and when I opened it, it released a blast of flame that burned most of the skin off of my hands. Oddly, my future attempts at healing the damage proved ineffective, so I ended up having to conceal the injuries with gloves. Later analysis determined the damage to be the result of some sort of divine curse, one that they couldn't figure out how to lift."

"But the books were unharmed by the burst of flame. I spent the next few days studying them, and discovered that healing effects could be created with any form of magical gift. In fact, the energy requirements for healing and for fire were close enough that with a bit of effort, I was seemingly able to replicate a healing burst, testing it on a small critter or two."

"Eventually, I brought the stolen books to the College, along with a demonstration that healing was possible through arcane magic. Most of the mages were unable to replicate the feat, and some even questioned the source of my research, but one of the higher-ups in the College met with me. He said that he knew where the books had came from, and that he desired more information from Dustreach's archives. With his support, I made multiple raids on the temple of Helios, until one raid went wrong. I was forced to fight my way out, and though I escaped, the archives were severely damaged in the fire."

"That's not that much to actually be wanted for," Annabelle said. "Just stealing books?"

"Stealing information, accidental arson, and political hatred, " Lorso replied. "I suspect there's at least some personal grudge at play here. They are, most likely, seeking my execution as soon as possible."

"Execution? Seems a bit harsh," Annabelle said.

"Well, they don't exactly have a prison, at least not one capable of holding mages. So what do you think they would do to get rid of a sorcerer known for constantly outmaneuvering them?"

"Right..."

"So, if your last mission went wrong, why did you come back?"

"Well, I found Silence, realized he was a psion, and wanted to seek some sort of information on his abilities. The College didn't have much information on psionics, but the Temple of Helios did."

"How did you first encounter him?" Annabelle asked.

Lorso and Silence looked at each other for a few seconds. "Silence requests that I do not share that information, and I believe he has good reason to do so."

Raiks considered the information that had been gathered. This duo were, in fact, lawbreakers, and Helios likely had good reason to arrest them (maybe not enough to execute, but they didn't have a prison that could handle a rogue mage). Especially given that she had spied on Helios and delivered sacred information to someone who was most likely an associate of Daraken (if not Daraken himself). But on the other hand, she seemed perfectly willing to divulge that information to anyone.

He started with a question that Julia had not been able to answer. "We are currently attempting to stop Daraken's efforts to ascend. Do you have any clue how he would accomplish such an objective?"

Lorso had to think about that. "Potentially. One thing I did discover is that a god's power is heavily based on the amount of souls that reach the afterlife. Thus, he most likely needs a significant amount of souls to successfully ascend. But I found nothing about how he would actually acquire those souls, or how he would use them."

"That's more than Julia was willing to say, " Raiks said. "Though I'm not sure if that's even something we can exploit."

"What, exactly, is a soul?" Annabelle asked. "According to the science of my world, souls don't exist. Are they incorrect, or do people from my world not have souls?"

"It's likely they lack the proper means to detect a soul, " Lorso said. "Unless specifically harnessed by an effect, a soul is intangible, doing almost nothing for its owner."

Annabelle seemed to have a moment of inspiration. "Wait. The energy for my psychic abilities has to come from somewhere. Since studies into my ability weren't able to figure out where the energy was coming from, could it be coming from my soul?"

"That's the most common theory, " Lorso said. "It is known that psions get their power from a non-divine power source, and according to the church's literature, they are considered to be blasphemies due to using their own soul in an unknown manner."

Blasphemies? Julia had stated that the risk with Annabelle was primarily due to her raw power and potential threat, but did she have a deeper motive?

"And they really thought the power just came from our brains..." Annabelle muttered.

"Thank you for the information, Lorso, " Raiks said. "Even though much of it may not be relevant to us. But, as much as Annabelle would wish your support, I unfortunately do not see much of a case for allowing you to join us."

"You can just say I slipped loose, again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm leaving." With a short incantation, she activated her flight spell, and was just about to leave when Darius walked in and interrupted.

"That's a bad idea. The building's surrounded by guards. If you tried to leave in the middle of the night, they would shoot you down."

"It's better odds than trying to leave in the morning."

"That depends on how they come to collect you, " Annabelle said. "I have a fairly good chance of being able to take control of their commanders to reverse their orders down the whole chain of command. Especially if Julia herself arrives."

"What part of she is not joining us did you not understand, Annabelle?" Raiks almost shouted. "Especially if it involves any form of mind control or other mental attack on the leader of our only major ally."

Annabelle just stared back at him with an incredulous expression. Raiks realized that she didn't have very much leverage over the psion if she decided to force the issue, and Annabelle knew it. But why was she so desperate to force the issue?

"Think about it this way. Right now, we have a dozen healers and crusaders in our ranks, and the ability to recruit more. But if we let these two escape to join us, we're giving up that aid. What makes these two worth more than the others?"

Annabelle struggled to come up with an answer. "First off, the discovery of flight on my world revolutionized warfare. Being able to attack from above opens up a massive array of potential attack options, and negates many threats from the opponent."

"Flight is an uncommmon power here," Raiks admitted. "It would pose an unconventional threat, yes. But without armor, she'll be vulnerable to anyone armed with a bolter. Even with those, Daraken currently possesses both airborne forces of his own, and long-ranged weapons that could counter an airborne assault." Although, she might be able to pose a threat to an unprepared hostile force, and the risk of her presence in a battle could force Daraken to adapt his entire defensive scheme.

"Secondly, she's both a powerful pyromancer and an adept healer. That has to count for something, right?"

"It's a cool trick, but not that practical," Raiks countered. "Unless she could figure out how to do both at the same time, or heal any allies caught up in her fire attacks."

"I might actually be able to do that, given time to research," Lorso claimed.

Annabelle decided to contact Raiks through telepathy, and he hardened his mind in case she was about to try mind control. According to her, I'm in danger from potential divine intervention. She has a way to help with that problem.

If a god was seriously interested in your death, you would be dead already, Raiks sent back. And given what I know from Julia, you're not at risk of being smited from above. At least, not yet.

I'm still not quite willing to take the risk. Thankfully, I believe that I can find a way to get her back to Sanctuary without losing the support of Helios.

Fine. But if you ruin our alliance here... Raiks wasn't sure what he would actually do to her, but the ambiguous threat seemed to be enough.

The discussion seemed to be over, and they went to bed. At least, Raiks did. If Annabelle was right, Lorso and Silence would probably be in Sanctuary (or in a safe area where they could be extracted from) by morning.