Chapter Seventy

Interrogation

The king met with us each morning to update us on any additional correspondence or information he'd received. Melima asked again about the mage in our orb. Her father told us that he'd found an open cell in The Winter Talons Prison—a high-security facility—that would prevent him from casting magic, but there was no telling what the orb would do if we brought it into the anti-magic field. We'd have to get him out, then figure out how to get him in the cell without him teleporting away.

I suggested casting a silencing spell, since most spells had to have something spoken, but the king wanted to make sure that he would have no way to get away and put the least amount of people in danger. We needed more of a plan than preventing him from speaking.

The king suggested that not only should we cast silence after getting the mage out, someone should be ready to cast a counterspell in case the mage was still able to perform magic in an area of silence. Jörgen was able to do that, though the king was willing to step in to do that if none of us could. We all agreed it was better to keep the king out of it if we could.

A plan was starting to formulate. I could feel a sense of relief already. "Let's question this bugger. I don't dislike people very often, but for him, I can make an exception."

"Why are you so mad at him?" Melima asked.

"Because he's a lot like Brox'l Tor, who almost killed me. Plus, he's also probably associated with Loltha, so..."

Later that day we headed to the prison. The king brought a few guards with us, though I could tell we'd be more useful than them in a fight. We came down a few steps, then turned left into a corridor. There were several cells lining the way to the end, where an open cell awaited our prisoner. Most of the cells were only barred, though the bars on the open cell were more of a lattice.

The corridor ended into another corridor, but it only went as far as the side of the cells next to it. We'd be able to place some of ourselves there to keep him from getting away and cast spells as necessary. Ari'yasa offered to be on the right side of the door, ready to close it once the mage was in. Melima wanted to be to the left, ready to push the mage into the cell with her enhanced strength from her gauntlets. We decided Jörgen would be next to her.

I wanted the cleric casting the spell to let the mage out next to me in the main corridor so I'd be close to the orb, and the most open space for the mage to appear would be next to the cell. Sephra would hold the orb for the cleric to touch as he cast the spell so it wouldn't get damaged or kicked into the cell in whatever scuffle might happen, then back away down the corridor.

Jörgen said that once we were ready, he'd cast a spell on Melima to make her faster. I mentioned that she'd want to make sure she was shoving the mage, not pulling, because once she crossed the cell's threshold her gauntlets wouldn't work.

"I have a slight plan B," Sephra said, "if things go wrong. I have a slight plan, if you want to hear it."

King Caylus welcomed additional planning. "My plan B," she continued, "hate it or not, I can cast my darkness without speaking, making it so he can't see, then I can get to him with my misty step, then pull him into the cell."

We agreed it was a good backup plan. King Caylus ran us through the plan one last time before we went through with it. The cleric would cast the greater restoration spell to release the mage, and as soon as his finger touched the orb I would cast silence, then Sephra would get the orb put away safely. Melima would rush the mage and push him into the cell, Ari'yasa would be nearby, waiting to cast her entangling vines if it was needed, and Jörgen would be nearby waiting to cast a counterspell if needed. The king would be a little behind us with the guards, ready to cast a spell if needed.

The jailer gave Ari'yasa the key to lock the cell, and we all got in position. The cleric joined us, and I was quick to notice his robes were that of the Platinum Dragon. A fellow cleric of my own deity. How many people followed him? Was it mere chance that I encountered more people that followed him than any other deity?

King Caylus gave the cleric a pouch of diamond dust to perform the spell. The cleric cast the spell and touched the orb. The orb glowed slightly, and I cast my silence spell. Everything went completely silent, I couldn't even hear my own heartbeat. The mage appeared directly in front of me, but facing Sephra and the orb.

Sephra moved back, and Ari'yasa took her place next to the door, placing the key in, ready to close it. I knew the plan was for Melima to push him in, but he was right there. Anger flared up within me. I wouldn't be shown up again by one of these mages.

I shoved him towards the door. I kept going. I reached the door and shoved him in, backing up so Ari'yasa could slam the door and lock it. The mage moved his hands to cast a spell, but nothing happened. He was unable to cast anything. We had succeeded.

I dispelled the silence I had created, and we could now hear the mage shouting. Melima laughed. "Ooh. You learn that from your mother? Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

The mage moved his hands in a motion to cast a spell again, still with no effect. He continued shouting. He had similar tattoos to the ones Brox'l Tor had—including the symbol of Loltha—but they almost blended into his dark Drow skin.

"Well done," the king said. "That was... impressive! Not all plans always go according to plan— I know from experience."

"Thanks," Melima said. "I told you these guys were awesome."

The king let us know we'd be free to interrogate him later, but with the anti-magic field, we wouldn't be able to use any magical means of coercion or torture. Melima nudged me. "But we can get an arrow through, right?"

I laughed, but immediately felt ashamed. Though my hate for him was strong, I didn't wish to torture anyone.

Sephra wanted to question him right then, but the king shook his head. "If you want to try to ask him questions now, that is fine, but I doubt you're going to get anything from him. I'm going to take my leave now."

On our way back, Sephra asked if any of us had a way to disguise her without her ring. Melima suggested she use it to look like her mom as much as she could. Then she could berate the mage and get him to reveal information.

It was asked about contacting Elora to see if she could help by using her non-magical ability to force people to tell the truth, potentially scrying on her and sending her a message. I doubted it was worth getting her to Felspring from wherever she might be, possibly Grenmar, and she probably wouldn't want to abandon her mission again.

That night Sephra asked us what questions she should ask the mage, or how to trip him up. Jörgen suggested figuring out what he wanted—as everyone has a price—and maybe she could see if barter was an option. She liked the idea of going in as her mom and berating him. I suggested that she ask if he even got to where he was sent. She agreed, "I want to tell him 'I wonder if I should just kill you now,' and ask if he even accomplished his mission."

Ari'yasa suggested trying to appear like she were an astral projection. Sephra liked that idea in case he asked her to let him out, though it was also suggested she could say it was his punishment for failing. I suggested that she say no one could know that she was there.

We arranged with the king to get Sephra to the prison safely in her Drow form so she could talk to the mage using her ring to appear as her mom and not be interrupted. The next morning she left with several guards to return to the prison.

We waited anxiously for her to return to the palace and let us know what happened. At last, the door to Melima's room opened and Sephra entered.

She immediately started telling us how it had gone. "Once the guards were gone and I could see the cell, I dimension doored to the door, using my ring to look like my mom. He was hunched in the corner with his robes pulled around him and hood pulled up. He didn't seem to recognize me at first, so I told him, 'you fool! How could you get yourself captured?'

"He asked me who I was, and his eyes went wide at my mom's name and he got up. He asked me how I got there, which I said wasn't important. When I asked if he'd finished what he was sent to do, he told me how he was captured and put into the cell.

"He didn't know of a way to get out when I asked how he was going to fix the mess, and looked like he was in big trouble and had messed things up. He said that if he were let out for even a moment he could get away. He looked pretty embarrassed.

"He said that he and the giants had been halfway between the city and the Tree, but weren't able to get to the Tree to distract the guards. He told me, 'I'm sorry, my mistress.' He was totally afraid of me and kept calling me that, 'my mistress.' My mom must be pretty high up.

"I asked him what the plan was, and where it went wrong. He said 'the plan was always your plan, to get the guards away from the tree.' He said he got the giants and they were on the way to the Tree to lead the guards away when he was captured.

"I asked him, 'but you were successful in getting the giants on our side?' then he looked at me strange. He said, "the giants have always been on our side...' and took a step back.

"He continued stepping back and wouldn't answer any more questions. He pulled his robes closer and put his hood up. I touched the door to show him my true form, telling him I've been looking for my mom and had questions if he was willing to answer.

"He stared at me, then said the mistress has no child. I told him he was wrong. He didn't speak. I tried to convince him that I am Alybreena's daughter and am on her side, believing in her cause.

"He said that unless I provided solid information, he refused to believe me. He was locked in a cell and I had just deceived him. I told him 'I had to know you were close to her in order for this to work.'

"He told me 'if you can get me out of here, then I will trust you.' I told him, 'I will take you up on that and get you out.' Then I dimension doored out."

Her interrogation definitely didn't go as we had hoped it might, but we did know that her mom was involved. I said we should send word to inform the White Guard that there were plans to divert them from the Tree.

Sephra was hoping that the mage could lead us to her mom if we let him out, or tell her that she's looking for her. I had a hard time with that idea. After all the effort we'd put in to imprison him, and with the magic that he was capable of and who he served, I didn't want him out.

It was suggested that maybe we could get the Stones then let the mage lead us to her mom. Sephra was sure her mom loved and would trust her. She left her in the care of humans because she loved her.

I said if we let him out, it would have to be a jailbreak, not releasing him, or it would be too obvious, and we would have to be ready to move immediately.

Another concern I had if we let him out was that it would be obvious as we went after the Astral Stones that Sephra was with us. She said she'd be willing to play the double agent card the whole way.

I also thought it would be too suspicious if he got out too quickly. We agreed that if we found no other way to find her mom after finding the Stones, letting the mage out would be the last resort.

We went with Sephra when she told King Moonfeather about how her interrogation went. He also didn't like the idea of letting the mage out unless it was absolutely necessary. He said our mission to find the Stones should be of the utmost secrecy. If Alybreena found out we are looking for them, she would do all she could to stop us. She was probably banking on the fact that they are so ancient and impossible to find and just letting them be.

King Moonfeather told us a little more information that he had learned. Each ritual Sephra's mom had to do had to be said with the original language of that plane. Melima told us what each of those languages was. The original language of the Feywild was Celestial, the Material Plane's was Primordial, and the Shadowfell's was Abyssal. King Caylus was still doing more research for what we had to do. The hardest part would not only be getting the Stones, but getting to the locations to reverse the ritual. Melima suggested that maybe we could use the sphinx to get there. It was an idea.

Ari'yasa wanted a letter from the king with his seal confirming her identity and that she could be trusted. I didn't really think that I needed one, but it wouldn't hurt for one person to have something like that, especially the person who was the guardian of the Air Stone.

We knew enough to start finding the other Astral Stones, had gotten the mage out of our orb, and were done shopping. There really wasn't any reason for us to stay in Felspring any longer, so we planned to leave for Zephrah the next morning.