After several hours of planning, Varos, Diedre, and Annabelle finally had a plan worked out. Diedre summoned everyone into the central cavern to be informed about the briefing.

But before they could begin, there was an interruption, as a gust of wind blasted through the caverns.

"Wait. There's new arrivals," Varos stated.

"New arrivals?" Annabelle asked.

"That's fresh air from a surface world rushing through the caverns, from a portal being redirected into this place."

Now that he mentioned it, Annabelle thought she smelled fresh air.

"New arrivals? How?" A random person questioned. Annabelle had the same question. Wasn't this place sealed off from the rest of the Shaderealm, based on Omega's plan?

"Maybe they're trying to keep this interesting."

Or maybe Omega did this on purpose, dropping new arrivals into the one group that would be making an escape attempt.

Varos called an intermission and went out to search for the new arrivals. After about an hour, he returned.

Behind him were five knights in shining steel armor, wielding longswords and shields. A symbol of the sun was emblazoned in several points on their armor, and on the amulet they wore.

"Crusaders of Helios," Darius whispered. He gripped one of his daggers, though Annabelle wasn't sure how the small blade could get through plate armor.

"Do you know of a person known as-"

"I'm right here," Annabelle said, stepping forward. It's not like they could be looking for anyone else.

"We are here to aid you in returning to Garnoth," the lead Crusader claimed. "There is a crisis. You need to-"

"Let me guess, Daraken's returned." If it was any other reason, they'd be wanting her dead, and probably wouldn't have came here in the first place. Although there was also the possibility of a trap…

"His apprentices claimed that he never died. We didn't believe them at first, but recent events have convinced us otherwise."

"And what if he is dead?" Annabelle asked.

"We may still need your aid to defeat his apprentices. Right now, we are preparing to storm Daraken's tower, to eliminate whatever force of evil remains in it."

So, Helios was moving the goalposts. Hey, if it meant she could stay alive for longer, it was good with her.

"How did you get here?" Annabelle questioned.

The Crusader launched into an explanation. "After you left, one of Daraken's apprentices launched a devastating attack against civilians. Because of that, Julia has declared war, a declaration that an enemy agent responded to by sabotaging our portal system. Julia's divinations detected the sabotage attempt determining it to be the same type of sabotage that he used to send you here. Instead of simply fixing it, she used it as an opportunity. We volunteered to go through the sabotaged portal, in hopes that it led to the same location you were banished to."

If they weren't lying, that was a massive risk they took to get her back. They must desperately need her aid.

If Daraken was sabotaging portals to banish people so that they would never threaten him, two separate instances of sabotage would probably lead to two different locations. Unless Daraken had taken a deal with the Shades, why would the portals-

Daraken took a deal with the Shades. It's the only possible explanation.

"When we get back, I will do everything I can to kill Daraken, or whoever took over after him. But first, we need to escape this place."

And, once she escaped, Annabelle would likely need time to recover before she could fight Daraken again. She almost lost the first fight despite entering it with a sizeable energy reserve, and if their escape was as difficult as she was expecting it to be, she would be lucky to have any energy left after escaping. Shadebreaker might give her an edge, but she didn't want to bet on it being enough to win.

"We were about to formulate a plan, before you arrived," Varos said to the Crusaders. Then, he turned to the rest of the assembled group. "Due to this new development, the briefing will be delayed by an hour."

The rest of the survivors began to converse among themselves, while Varos had a discussion with the Crusaders, explaining their opponents and asking about their capabilities. While that was going on, Annabelle went over to the brain-dead body of Xerxes, in order to use its mental connection to have another conversation with Omega.

Did you send these Crusaders here? Annabelle asked.

I didn't abduct them from Garnoth to drop them here, if that's what you're asking. But I did have some influence over their placement here.

What sort of influence?

I am in control of Shade operations over a sector of space that includes Garnoth, Omega explained. An hour ago, I received notice that the Crusaders had been sent here, and I had to determine where to place them. Normally, such a group would be scattered across five different hunting areas, to give those groups false hope while crushing the spirits of the skilled healers and paladins. But I instead had them all sent to this area by claiming that their healing efforts would prolong the suffering of starvation.

And because they would also be able to escape?

That too. We don't have high regards for the followers of Helios, but even they don't deserve this fate.

The Crusaders mentioned that Daraken had returned, Annabelle mentioned, and I have reason to believe that Daraken has some sort of deal with the Shades.

If I knew of such a deal, I would have told you earlier, Omega replied. If we had a deal, he wouldn't be a potential threat to the Shades' invasion.

What intel do you have on Garnoth? Surely, she would have something, right?

I don't have any other agents on the ground in that area, Omega said. And given that key areas in the world are protected against remote viewing, I can't get anything useful that way. It's why they had to send Xerxes in as an agent to get an insider analysis.

Well, she would just have to trust the Crusaders, then.

**********

The Crusaders were here to aid them. But Lorso also saw this as an opportunity to expose a hole in their beliefs, in a place where they didn't have popular support. Especially after what she had learned from questioning the other mages here.

She waited until they were done conversing with Varos, and then confronted them.

"Hello, Crusaders. How do you feel about being proven completely wrong today?"

A Crusader immediately pointed his blade at her, an act countered by Silence stepping to the side of her to act as a bodyguard.

"We have our eyes on you, blasphemer. You only escaped justice because we could not lose the support of your friend. As soon as she is no longer required, you will be killed."

"You wouldn't say that to her face, would you?"

As Lorso expected, the Crusaders weren't that courageous. Especially when the commotion was already drawing a crowd.

Should I contact her? Silence asked privately.

Only if this escalates further.

"Now, I'd like to bring your attention to healing magic."

"A form of magic that you stole-"

"You're the ones who stole it from the mages. I just took it back."

"A laughable-"

"This place is home to natives of multiple worlds, including worlds where Helios is unheard of. Due to the nature of most arrivals to this place, a high proportion of the arrivals here are mages."

Surprisingly, the Crusaders decided not to interrupt her.

"You want to know something funny? On every world where Helios is either not present or only a minor god in the pantheon, healing magic is general knowledge. Many mages have chosen not to learn it, but several have. But on Garnoth, or on other worlds where Helios is the dominant power, healing magic is mysteriously only known to those followers."

"Healing magic is only possible for followers of the gods, not for followers of the arcane arts."

"A follower of the arcane arts is also a follower of a god. There's simply no other explanation."

"That's-"

"Impossible? Where do you think that the magic used by wizards and sorcerers comes from?"

The Crusaders pondered that, but Lorso continued before they could come up with an answer.

"Wizards at the College studied interactions between their magic and your magic, and found them to be identical to the point that dispelling effects worked the same on either source. If the magic came from separate sources, the interactions would likely be more like the interaction between magic and psionics, where the interaction is imperfect at best."

"If wizards followed a god, they would be actively spreading that god's faith."

"Unless they didn't know about it either," Lorso declared.

That drew more interest from the other mages in the group than it did from the Crusaders.

"You're lying," one mage said. "How could I be an unknowing follower of a god?"

"I've had a discussion with every mage here. Everyone who isn't a follower of a god experienced an event known as an Epiphany that awakened their powers, an event that they have no memories of. Now, what do you think the Epiphany is?"

"A test. A tenth of those who receive an Epiphany fail and are forever unable to learn magic."

It was a fifth on Garnoth, a quarter before Daraken's reign.

"A test administered by a God of Magic," Lorso theorized. "We don't know enough about the God of Magic to give them a name, but there is a force that determines who gains magic and who fails."

"I have had enough of this baseless conjecture," A Crusader said. He advanced aggressively. As Lorso stepped back, Silence stepped forward to oppose him, but the other Crusaders followed behind. Knowing from previous experience, they were outmatched unless the others joined their side.

"I had a private discussion with an archmage a few years ago. At one point, we discussed what caused those studying at the College to burn out. You want to know what he said the most notable factor in failure was?"

The Crusaders tensed up. They were about to attack.

"Faith in Helios."

That did it. The lead Crusader swung at Silence. Silence stepped forward and grabbed his sword arm, but the other four Crusaders retaliated with focused blasts of holy light, stunning him. The lead Crusader backed up and then stabbed forwards, putting the blade straight into Silence's chest. He retaliated with a haymaker that launched the Crusader four meters backwards into another Crusader, putting them both on the ground.

Two other Crusaders stepped forwards, while the last one healed the two on the ground. Lorso took flight (even though the cavern wasn't high enough for her to get out of melee range, she could still move faster with a flight spell than with walking) and then threw a bolt of healing fire into Silence as he ripped the blade out of his chest.

STOP. The psychic blast dazed everyone for a brief second, as Annabelle rushed into the middle of the fight, glowing purple with psychic energy. Lorso knew her glowing meant almost nothing, but the Crusaders were suitably intimidated.

"The blasphemer was-" A Crusader attempted to claim.

"I trust that 'blasphemer' more than I trust you at this moment," Annabelle told the Crusaders.

"We cannot work with her. She is constantly-"

"This is a desperate situation I'll give you the chance to declare a truce. But if you don't, I'll have to figure out whether it's worth it to use mind control on you."

"You- what?"

"I'd have to make a cost-benefits analysis to determine whether it would be worth it to mind-control you or just to carry you back as prisoners, costing either a significant portion of my energy or your ability to aid us. I'd much rather not lose either."

Surprisingly, after a few tense moments, their leader decided to stand down. He dropped his sword, and the rest of the Crusaders dropped theirs as well. "You're right. We have bigger priorities, for now."

Annabelle's aura faded, and she turned back to Lorso. "Now, what was it that you were saying?"

While Lorso finished her statement, the Crusaders left the room. At least they wouldn't pose a problem.

"Now, where was I?" Lorso took some time to recover her argument. "Right, I was discussing why burnouts occurred. And, instead of the biggest factor being knowledge or talent, it was faith in the divine."

"Okay, how does that prove the existence of a god of magic?" Annabelle asked. She had missed a bit of the presentation.

"It's still a theory," Lorso admitted. "But the evidence for it is strong, and there is no other theory available."

"What evidence?" Annabelle asked.

Lorso reiterated her evidence. "Firstly, 'Arcane' magic used by wizards and sorcerers is identical in composition to the divine magic utilized by followers of Helios, with both interacting equally with magic-disrupting effects. If they were truly different forms of magic, they would function by different rules, like with your abilities."

"Or, magic could be some innate property of the universe, and favor from a god is just one way to control it," Annabelle countered.

"Secondly, all wizards have an Epiphany, a sudden event where they gain their powers. But a small proportion of those burn out instead, becoming forever incapable of performing the arcane arts. The most common theory is that it is a test, and a test would require an intelligent entity to administer it."

"I've heard of that," Annabelle said. "It's not foolproof evidence. Maybe the Epiphany is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reach out and grab power, and some fail to do it."

"And thirdly, an archmage I had discussed things with was able to demonstrate an apparent correlation between faith in the existing gods and failure in the Epiphany."

That would be from Daraken himself, I presume? Annabelle asked. Lorso confirmed the source of her statement.

"That's- actually somewhat convincing. But there's still no hard proof. And even if it was, what's the point? How does this help us defeat the Shades?"

Lorso didn't have an answer for that.

"We need the Crusaders on our side," Annabelle declared. "Don't antagonize them again."

She walked back over to her private discussion with Varos.

**********

After the commotion, Varos and Annabelle quickly finalized their new plan and restarted their briefing, hoping to get everyone organized before another incident could occur.

"In a few hours, we will launch a desperate mission. We will either escape this place, or die trying."

"The Shades have responded to the threat we pose by cutting us off from the rest of their realm," Annabelle continued. "They cut off our food supply because of that. But we have an agent on the inside, a rogue Matriarch. When the time comes, they will open a portal into the Shades' city."

"From there, we have to cross a few city blocks to reach the extraction point, a portal to the realm of Garnoth. I am aware that only a small portion of this group is native to that world, but any world is better than this place."

The gathered survivors nodded reluctantly.

"So, it's just a few city blocks?" One of them asked.

"A few city blocks through a territory controlled by a rogue god, where the Shades keep their most elite forces," Varos replied. "In addition to their hunters, we will be fighting beasts that can tear apart armies, mages that can manipulate minds, and warriors that can rip apart space itself. Our insider will attempt to distract Nyxl as long as she can, but the faster we get to safety, the less chance that Nyxl finds us."

Annabelle had told Varos of a second group of allies, some of her old friends, that would also be arriving. However, given that the odds of anyone finding this place were implausible, and that the only evidence of said arrival was a dream, Varos saw fit to disregard it. If they showed, they showed, but they weren't part of the plan.

"Warriors that can rip apart space?" Diedre asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"They have warriors equipped with heavy armor and spatially-rending glaive weapons. Not only can they cut through almost anything they hit, but they can also warp space to greatly augment their mobility, almost to the point of allowing them to teleport."

"Wait, this is suicide," another replied. "Even if their elite forces don't show, we'll be easy targets for them, running straight through their streets unprotected."

Maybe Varos shouldn't have elaborated on what threats they were facing. The morale impact seemed to be higher than the advantage of knowing their enemies.

"We have stolen and reverse-engineered a dozen of their warding devices, and will be handing them out. There are not enough to protect all of you, but there are enough to protect key members of the team."

Varos could see the discontent. Arguably, having gear to protect a quarter of the team was worse than having none, since those who didn't get it would feel like they weren't useful.

"If you have magic capable of killing a Shade, or capable of blocking incoming projectiles, step forward."

No one stepped up, not even the Crusaders.

"I will do whatever it takes to get you to safety," Annabelle said. "But I can't do this alone. If you're not willing to fight them yourself, at least support those of us who are willing."

The lead Crusader stepped forward, the rest following behind. They really should have stepped up earlier, given that they had already been briefed ahead of time.

"We will provide the blessing of Helios, replenishing your strength. It will give you enough stamina to sprint towards the exit at top speed."

"We have also identified a weakness," Annabelle added. "The Shades are highly light-sensitive, their eyes adapted to seeing in the dark caverns of their own realm. The Crusaders, followers of a god of the sun, will also be using that to blind them, while simultaneously lighting our path."

After hearing about that plan, Varos had quickly prepared adaptive goggles that would darken in response to light. Similar day-vision goggles were used by field agents (and likely by the Shades' invasion forces), but they likely wouldn't have them in the dim lighting of their own city.

"Now, what are the rest of you going to offer?" Annabelle said.

"You mentioned beasts." That came from Menos, a nature-focused mage who was reduced to little more than a healer by this situation. "I might be able to pacify them."

"They aren't normal animals, they're magic-infused abominations that hunt non-Shades on instinct. It might not be possible, but if it is, you'll stop a major threat."

"I can put up barriers," another said. "Weak barriers, but they might stop a few bolts."

"Even one bolt stopped is a life saved."

"I might be able to take down a few with lightning blasts," a third said. "If I can overload their wards, that is."

"How well will their wards handle anti-magic blasts?" a fourth said.

"I might be able to conceal a few of us with magic," a fifth added.

One by one, the mages stepped forward. But there were others in this group who weren't mages, who had nothing useful to give. Morale was only high for the quarter of the group that had magical abilities. A few of them offered to take warding charms and shield the rest of the group, but the rest weren't going to be able to provide any significant amount of assistance.

"For those of you without magic, I also have eight stolen Shade crossbows," Varos offered. "They will take sustained fire to get through the Shades' wards, but they're better than nothing."

Eight people stepped forwards to take those weapons. Darius also approached Varos, but for a different reason.

"I just realized something. In my battle against their agent, one of their knives went through my stolen wards entirely. I disregarded them because their pain aura would incapacitate any unshielded allies near the wielder, but you might be able to fix that. If you can break them down and apply that enchantment to other weapons, it could completely nullify their main defense."

It wouldn't be effective against their rending warriors, but against anyone else? If Varos could do it, it could be a massive advantage.

"I will see what I can do." It was a bit of a last-minute idea, but hopefully Varos would be able to get something done.

A few others suggested some ideas, but they had limited viability at best. Varos concluded the briefing and went to analyze the Shades' daggers, while Annabelle organized the rest of the group and waited for the portal to open.

One way or another, this was going to end.