In the middle of the night, the mages put their plan into practice. Accompanied by a pair of guards, Firenze and Turb entered the prison complex, and walked up to Saphus' cell. Saphus immediately reacted to their presence.

"You realize I'm aware of your presence, right?" Saphus said.

"Yes, I'm aware that elves don't sleep. Such a lovely advantage, isn't it?" Firenze remarked. He didn't have enough elven blood in him to go without sleep entirely, but he still required much less sleep than a normal human, something that gave him a significant edge in his studies.

"We've managed to find a way to conduct a necessary interrogation in a safe manner. Come with us."

One of the guards opened the cell door, while the other stood guard at the opening. Saphus didn't immediately rush the door, instead taking up a defensive stance at the back of her cell.

"She might be trying to lure us in," Firenze warned. "Advance with caution."

As Firenze and Turb both began quiet incantations, the two guards walked in, cornering Saphus. When they grabbed her, she did not resist, even as they removed her from her cell.

The instant she was outside of the null-magic boundaries, Firenze activated his spell. A sphere of force manifested around Saphus, an inverted warding shield intended to imprison a target. As Firenze lifted the sphere into the air, Saphus panicked and attempted to break free.

She first summoned a pair of blue energy blades and attempted to stab them into the sphere of force, to minimal effect. Then, she attempted to launch her body into the sphere's wall with magic, but without enough room to build up momentum, all she accomplished was stunning herself.

"I would not recommend attempting to break the barrier. The results would be… messy." Firenze briefly had the sphere shrink to prove his point. If he had to, he could apply enough force to crush Saphus to death.

Saphus, after realizing her predicament, suddenly calmed down, shifting from an agitated panic to lazily lounging inside the sphere in an instant. Firenze found it almost disconcerting.

He looked over at Turb, who hesitantly nodded, giving Firenze the requisite signal. While Firenze had employed the trap, Turb used his divination to analyze the near-future and ensure that Saphus did not escape from the bubble of force she was in. As he had explained, he couldn't give a more overt signal without potentially giving the assassin a signal to put their escape plans into practice. Even if it was implausible for Saphus to wait until after Turb gave the all-clear to use the secret technique that would allow her to escape, it wasn't out of the question.

Then, they walked to an interrogation room, levitating Saphus behind them. There was a table with three chairs, but while Firenze and Turb sat down, Saphus was kept inside the bubble in midair. She didn't seem to mind.

There was a small crystal in the middle of the table, a truth crystal.

"Let me guess: if I lie, that crystal will glow or something." Saphus confirmed her theory by stating that she was a lizard, causing the ball to briefly flash red.

"You're quite intelligent," Firenze noted. Would she know that she could remain silent without being identified?

I'm curious, does this work? You're a cow. Firenze sensed a powerful voice in his mind, one that almost drowned out his own thoughts.

"Get. Out." Firenze didn't know what Saphus just did, but it wasn't good.

"Okay, now that I know that that little trick ignores truth spells, I'm- shit!” Saphus cried out as Firenze compressed the sphere, nearly crushing her to death.

"Next time, you're dead." After several seconds, Firenze returned the sphere to normal.

"Now," Turb said, "What exactly did you discuss with Daraken's assassin?"

Saphus took a few seconds to respond. "Just getting to the meeting was difficult," she finally said, going off on a tangent. "It's pretty difficult to get a job in my line of work without getting arrested. However, I was able to ask around, and managed to get in contact with a higher-up in the Black Legion before being driven out of the city."

"What does that have to-"

"When I made contact with their assassin, he mentioned that there was an opening in their ranks, an opening that I could fill. Before I could even give him my offer, he gave me an offer far above my normal rates, including a free allotment of gear to aid in my missions."

"Did you accept any form of deal from the assassin?"

"No." Saphus said. The truth crystal did not glow as a result.

"So, you have absolutely no arrangement with Daraken or his allies."

"That is correct."

"Why didn't you take their deal?"

"They didn't say who the targets were," Saphus immediately replied. "He wanted me to take a deal before he would tell me what the targets were. I was arguing with him over that point when the Event happened."

That was an interesting point of view, to say the least. The truth crystal still supported her statement.

"So, your reason for refusing a deal was because they didn't tell you who your targets would be," Turb summarized. "Why is that important to you?"

That question stumped Saphus. She didn't respond.

"If you were informed that we were your targets, would you have taken the deal?"

"No." The truth crystal glowed red in response to that, stunning her.

"I'd recommend explaining further."

"I-I'm not sure how that's a lie. I don't want to go after the Resistance." That particular statement wasn't recognized as a lie, stumping both mages.

Turb and Firenze looked at each other. Neither of them had an explanation.

"Wait. I might've learned something that changed my mind after the Event," Saphus explained.

"Let me guess, they 'misled' you with bad information?" Turb guessed.

"They said the Resistance was a force of evil that was trying to tear down and undermine Daraken's legitimate government. But from what I now know, that's not true." The crystal faintly glowed, as if it was an edge case.

"So, here's a hypothetical situation," Firenze said. "Say that they had told you about us, and managed to get you to infiltrate our Sanctuary. Would you have defected after realizing the truth?"

"Maybe?" Saphus replied. "But if I knew what I know now, yes."

"What made you change your mind?" Turb asked. Maybe she would only have defected because of the knowledge that the Resistance could catch her infiltration or kill her in the field.

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"Put simply, I'm in this line of work for the thrills. But, I'm not willing to go after everyone. Most of the time, the situation's morally grey enough that I can justify working for either side. But this is a fight between a Resistance that worked overtime to save hundreds of enemies, and a Black Legion that murders dozens of civilians for supporting the opposite side."

"How did you figure that out?" Firenze asked. Where was she getting that sort of information while stuck in a prison cell?

"I'm pretty good at overhearing things," Saphus claimed. "Also, I overheard that Daraken's assassins are all stuck with kill switches that eliminate them before they can be interrogated, a detail that they conveniently ignored when offering their deal."

So, an assassin with a slight conscience. It was just barely enough for them to work with.

"Just to make sure: do you have any intentions whatsoever to kill any member of this Resistance?" Firenze asked.

"I will not kill any member of the Resistance," Saphus said. They looked at the crystal, and it didn't glow. Theoretically, that meant Saphus was entirely trustworthy.

"Will you share confidential information with the Black Legion?"

"No. Even if I had such information."

"Will you take any other deliberate action to disrupt this Resistance's efforts?"

"No."

Firenze asked several more questions. All of the answers indicated that Saphus was not a threat to the Resistance, and none of them were lies.

After that, the two mages left the room to hold a private conversation.

"She's not a threat, and the truth crystal supports her," Firenze whispered. "But I still have doubts."

"Daraken's defied the laws of magic before. There's a chance he found a way to beat our simple lie detector. But she isn't Daraken, and I doubt she is one of his apprentices."

"We don't know what any of his apprentices look like."

"While it is theoretically possible for him to know exactly what Annabelle was planning, plant one of his apprentices as an assassin candidate, and then have her express a willingness to work with us and give away key information just to have her use a unique anti-truth spell to trick us, I don't think it's plausible."

Firenze opened his mouth to voice an objection, but he knew that Turb was right. "I still don't trust her."

"Concern noted." Turb walked past him and back into the room, and Firenze quickly followed.

"For the record, I totally have the ability to fool your truth detector." The truth detector immediately glowed red in response.

"Why are you-" Firenze saw Saphus messing around with this serious interrogation, again.

"If I had magic that could scramble a truth detector, I could lie without setting that off."

"I think Daraken would be smart enough to make a spell that's selective like that. But I've already established it as practically impossible for you to be a plant by Daraken."

"Good. So, can you let me out now?"

Firenze looked at Turb, and after he gave a signal, suddenly dispelled the sphere that Saphus was trapped in. He expected to embarrass Saphus by dropping her to the ground suddenly, but she reacted and managed to twist around in midair (likely with the aid of magic) to land on her feet.

"Finally. Now, what do you-"

"You're going back in your cell for now," Firenze said.

"Are you kidding me!?"

"It will take time for us to arrange living quarters for you."

"I don't need living quarters," Saphus claimed. "I'll go in a spare alleyway, if you need me to."

"Also, we don't want to lose track of you."

Despite Saphus' objections, she complied as she was returned to her cell.

**********

"According to Helios, neither death is confirmed. Helios has investigated, with no results."

Raiks pondered the morning's update from Julia, and it seemed to confirm his worst nightmares. If Daraken wasn't dead, and divinations had no result, he was most likely holed up in his tower, recuperating. There was a possibility that he was instead at a distant base in a distant land, but it didn't seem likely.

The only good news was that Annabelle, their 'savior', was potentially still alive. Although, it was also likely that she was exiled to a distant land and wouldn't return.

So, in between managing key aspects of the Resistance, Raiks ran an analysis. If Daraken was alive right now, what would he be doing?

His first guess was that Daraken was still recovering, a guess he attempted to run past Lunima.

"Yes, it's true that it takes people a few days to return to full strength after being resurrected. However, he has almost certainly had enough time to recover," Lunima explained.

"That's with our form of resurrection," Raiks said. "Helios's resurrection. Daraken's almost certainly using a different method." It was incredibly unlikely that a high-ranking priest of Helios would be on Daraken's side, even if they would remain neutral.

"I do not know of any form of healing that would take more than a week to recover from," Lunima said.

So, though it was possible that Daraken's version of resurrection was inferior and left him weakened, it was unlikely. If Daraken was alive, he would likely be at full strength by now.

After getting a status report on the condition of Nexion and the colony on Redemption Rock, Raiks asked Derrin what he would do if he was Daraken. Derrin, the notable pessimist, had some pretty convincing ideas.

"I think it is highly likely that Daraken is using this opportunity to continue his research," Derrin proposed. "It's the same thing he's been doing all these years."

"And yet, he allowed us to bring most of our army to bear in Nexion, without taking the opportunity to wipe it out." Based on previous assumptions, if they had half of their army in the field at once, Daraken would obliterate them from orbit with meteors.

"Maybe he's changed his strategy," Derrin suggested. "Or maybe he would never have opposed such an army, and our evaluations were inaccurate."

"It's a possibility," Raiks admitted. "But it's a possibility we can't track." It would be functionally identical to his death, until he completed his ascension, or was forced into action to defend himself.

"What do you expect? Why would he change course after resurrection, especially after disposing of his biggest enemy in the process?"

"Before the Event in Arexia, Daraken's legion never went after civilians. But after his death, suddenly one of his apprentices gets free reign to decimate a town. If this was just business as usual for him, he wouldn't have allowed that attack."

Derrin realized something. "That wouldn't require much of a shift for him. Maybe he was doing it to make us think he was dead, to lure us into a reckless action that he would then obliterate."

"-Such as a direct all-out assault against his tower." Raiks finished.

So, they could have walked into a dangerous trap.

"As usual, you have made me very concerned about the fate of the Resistance."

Raiks walked away.

But he already had the chance to kill half of our army. With the attack in Enos, he even had the capability to kill me! Why didn't he take it?

Speculation was getting them nowhere. If Raiks wanted answers, he would need to hunt them down.

**********

About half a day after her interrogation, Saphus was led out of her cell again. This time, she was finally brought out of the prison. She didn't have much time to admire the sunlight before she was brought to Raiks' personal residence. As the guards closed the door behind her, she found herself face-to-face with the leader of the Resistance.

"So, is there a reason why, after verifying that I was not a threat, your mages just threw me back in a cell?"

"We had no other quarters prepared," Raiks claimed.

"I mean, I'm not above resting in an alleyway," Saphus replied. In fact, that was what she usually did, both to save on costs and to evade suspicion and searches. "But I did not enjoy spending any more time in a jail cell than absolutely necessary."

"Yes, I will admit that was disrespectful. After you complete your next mission, I'll make sure the necessary arrangements are in order."

So, as expected, Raiks was offering a mission. "What would that mission entail?"

"I need you to gather information."

"That's-" Saphus was about to say that it wasn't the sort of mission she specialized in. But, she did have exceptional hearing.

"With any luck, it will lead to a major breakthrough in this war."

"Fine." An information-gathering mission was better than nothing, at least.

Raiks explained the mission. "During the Event, Daraken was killed. His apprentices have taken over, but they're acting unpredictably, and there are rumors that they have managed to resurrect Daraken. I'm going to need you to infiltrate their ranks and figure out what's going on."

"You want me to join their ranks as a double agent?"

"Though intelligence on Fiora and its tower are also useful, the most important objective is to get a read on their motives. The best way to do that is to join their ranks."

"I've heard of what Daraken does to his agents. He implants them with kill-switches, deadly curses that kill them the instant they fall into the wrong hands. I don't want to have one of those one me, especially not when my objective involves working against them."

"That is the doing of Daraken himself. His apprentices likely lack the capability to impose such curses."

"And, I don't have much of a cover story. Especially if they employ the same form of magic your interrogators did."

"About that…" Raiks said, with a bit of hesitation. "I have a cover story for you. I think you'll enjoy it."

Raiks explained his plan, while also handing out several

"That's actually a genius plan. But, it's quite a risk." As long as Saphus could avoid bringing up this particular conversation with Raiks, it would give her the perfect cover story.

"I am aware of what I am undertaking."

"Well, in that case…" There was just one thing she had to do.

With a quick motion, not even an incantation, she summoned a blade of energy and stabbed it straight into Raiks' chest. He did not resist, and after she pulled the blade out of his chest, he slumped to the ground, lifeless.

She made a quick effort to clean the blood off of herself, before leaving the residence. Two guards were outside, but they didn't take notice of her deed. If she was lucky, they wouldn't investigate for some time.

She walked up to the portal room. A guard at the gate challenged her, but she gave him one of Raiks' codes. She passed through to Nexion, and from there began her journey to the capital.