CHAPTER 83: LIST OF NAMES

Darius pulled the spy’s sleeve up, exposing pale flesh. He raised the needle, but rather than injecting it into his skin, he squirted the liquid down a few inches above it. The moment it touched the arm, it shot for the veins, seeping into them.

’I’ve never seen a potion do that, I thought they had to be ingested to work!’

With a start, the spy jerked forward, taking a gasping gulp of air.

His eyes shot open as he twisted his head around, the sight of everyone standing on the other side of the table shocking him to his core.

"Where... what is going on?"

Darius calmly handed the syringe to Liam as he took the seat opposite the spy.

"Hello, Mr..."

The man opened his mouth to reply, before sitting back, his head snapping to the side as if refusing to speak.

Red, however, was happy to fill in.

"The weed is called Phillip Ertlin."

Darius shot her a small smile.

"Mr. Ertlin. You are currently in the Wall. In case you are unfamiliar with it, it is an impenetrable holding that you will most likely never see the outside of. We do not need your cooperation, as you have surely noticed, but it will do wonders to expedite your stay."

The spy, Phillip, looked from Darius to Red, and then back to Darius, understanding dawning behind his eyes.

"A mind mage! I knew the Fort was dumb, but to allow those freaks to walk around? You are suicidal!"

His hatred of mind magic made the bulk of the group share a look, with Emerius and Charon being left out.

’Do they know something we don’t?’

Darius steepled his fingers.

"So you are from the Clayton Republic? Your people’s disdain for the God of the Mind is well documented."

Phillips’ lips thinned into a straight line, his eyes burning holes in Darius’s head as he realized his mistake.

It didn’t matter; the information had been shared whether the man liked it or not. Red made sure of it, eagerly involving herself in every question asked. Whenever he tried to distract himself to change his thoughts, Darius would ask a question again, forcing it to the forefront of his mind.

Eventually, he came around to the idea of a deal.

"What do I gotta do to leave this place alive?"

Darius grinned.

"That is the question. If you share everything you know and answer all of our queries, then you will be able to leave the Fort after a short stint in prison. Mostly a formality, of course, so you are not publicly outed as compliant. Information does little good if they know we are aware of it."

The spy mulled it over for a minute as he chewed his inner cheek. His shoulders were hunched defensively, and he kept looking around as if hoping to find some way to escape, yet nothing presented itself.

Finally, with a sigh, he relented and agreed.

"Splendid. Our first question is, who are you working for? With details, please."

Phillip glared daggers at Darius for a moment, his gaze flicking to Red before he scoffed.

"The Clayton Republic, as you already said. I’m part of their intelligence operation."

He stopped there, causing Darius to rhythmically tap his fingers on the desk.

"With details, I said."

Grimacing, he continued, every word like acid spilling from his tongue.

"I was recruited by the Senate. They voted for me to pull off the mission of gathering intelligence, given that I was one of the few who had been to the Fort before. The task was simple: spend a few months here, make a list of potential contacts, and report back."

He grumbled and spat on the table.

"I was told that there wasn’t any way I’d be caught. I look like anyone else, and the Fort isn’t exactly a closed system. If I were from any of the free states or the kingdoms, you wouldn’t have given me a second glance!"

Darius shook his head and exhaled.

"Instead, you were from an enemy nation, sent here to try and break us from the inside out."

He scooped the documents up in his hands and spun them around so the spy could read them. The man’s face blanched, all color draining away.

"Explain these."

Phillip huffed and puffed, sweat collecting on his forehead as he hyperventilated, the action only stopping once he accepted the fact that the jig was up.

"Notes. Everything I was told to collect. They had told me to be frugal, write down anything and everything, so I did just that. People who seemed to dislike the status quo, those unaffiliated with the High Elders, and those who like money more than loyalty. I found as many as I could."

Red tapped Darius’ shoulder, who turned to Liam and nodded. With a predatory grin, the hulking giant stepped around the table and unceremoniously slammed the spy’s head onto the metal, blood exploding from the point of impact.

He screamed as he lurched back, his restrained hands clenching and unclenching as he struggled to cover the wound.

"You bastards! What was that for? I told you what I know!"

Darius sighed and shook his head.

"No, you have not. You left information out. Try that again, and my friend here will be less forgiving."

Phillip sputtered, his spittle shooting out, causing Charon to recoil in disgust.

’What is it with the Claytons and having a general disregard for cleanliness? I grew up in poverty and still have more manners than this crap!’

"Forgiving!? You call that forgiving!? My head is swimming! I feel like I could vomit!"

Liam jerked forward as if to hit him again, and the spy flinched.

"Okay, okay! Outside the notes, I made contact with a few people to see how receptive they were. I didn’t write those down; all sorts of tracking spells can search out names."

Annie rested her hand on the back of Darius’ chair as she moved beside him. She frowned and responded in his stead.

"So you’re saying you have already convinced some of our people to be contacts for the Claytons?"

He gritted his teeth but still nodded in the affirmative, Annie’s eyes going wide in response.

"God’s be good. We have traitors within the city, and no one came forward about it, at least no one we knew. This could be a massive security breach."

Darius seemed to agree with her, his hands balling back into fists.

"You said this was separate from your notes. I am going to need you to write me a list of names. Do not attempt to hide a single one, or we will know."

He took one of the sheets with blank space and pushed it within reach of the man’s shackles, followed by a pen. Muttering a few curses, he wrote down a few names before pausing. Red raised her hand to tap Darius, which caused him to hastily write down a handful more.

By the time he finished, the better half of a page was covered in various first and last names.

Pulling the page back, Darius glanced down and scanned the first few lines, his eyebrows rising with each name until he looked away in indignation.

"Traitorous bastards."

Annie leaned over his shoulder to look at it herself, a similar expression crossing her face before she pushed away from the table and huffed.

"We should have known."

Unsure if it was the right time to involve himself, Charon also stepped closer to read the list. A series of names he couldn’t identify was scribbled in poor penmanship, but he could recognize some of the ranks written before them.

’There are sergeants, lieutenants, even a captain on this list!’

He leaned in closer as a specific name caught his eye, or more accurately, the rank before it.

’Mage Argo Vius.’

His breath caught.

’A Mage? They managed to convince a full-fledged Mage to change sides?’

Although it sounded like a normal name to refer to any magic user, there was a clear distinction between the title "mage" and the rank "Mage." One was a blanket term for those blessed by the gods, and the other was a sign of great elemental power.

It was the fifth rank of eight, and was the point where incredible feats became almost laughably easy. Emerius had explained to him that the gap between a Mage and a normal human was comparable to the gap between a god and a Mage.

’There must be a dozen or fewer Mages in the Fort, and if one of them is listed as a turncoat... This could spell disaster for the entire city!’

By the looks on everyone else’s faces, they must have agreed.