Vis explodes from cover, sprinting through mud toward Helmfrid and the two remaining raiders. Despite slipping, he crashes into Helmfrid, headbutts him unconscious, then drops the stocky man with two punches and grapples the red-bearded man into a log. During the struggle, Vis receives a slashing wound to his side but subdues all three.

An Anguis archer from the Theatre emerges with a drawn bow, addresses him as “Diago,” and forces him to disengage. She claims the raiders are Anguis, explains that more Anguis—around twenty—are on the way, and insists she only wants to talk. Calling herself “Sedotia,” she reveals the Anguis advanced a raid that was originally planned for a later, more valuable Transvect, and that they had orchestrated events so the Magnus Quintus would notice Diago and recruit him.

Sedotia presses Diago to leave with her for three to four weeks of preparation, warning that Ulciscor will test him constantly and that agents will soon probe every detail of his background. The Anguis want him not just to infiltrate but to become Domitor. Diago refuses, choosing Ulciscor’s path over the Anguis’. Sedotia then sets an ultimatum: meet her at a naumachia in Caten during the Festival of Jovan in one month or she will expose his identity, potentially triggering his execution and political chaos the Anguis can exploit. Before leaving, she yanks the arrow from Ulciscor’s thigh and departs as more Anguis approach.

With shouts closing in, Diago drags the unconscious Ulciscor into the Transvect’s forward cabin. Guessing at the controls, he throws the red lever and the craft lifts; the blue lever apparently detaches most of the Transvect, which crashes into the forest below; the yellow lever sends the nose section forward. Bleeding and fading, Diago slumps to the floor, flying them away while Ulciscor remains unconscious.