The heaving sobs ended after about a minute and Roran realized that Vennik was still patiently standing behind him with the torch. He used his sleeve to dry his eyes and cheeks. Without a word he stood and took a step towards the dark and death filled ballroom.
"You don't want to go in there, lad," muttered Vennik.
Roran stopped. Half the passageway was already filled with stones and broken columns. He heard another large piece of the tower break free and smash into the rest of the debris. A new rush of dust billowed out, sharp with the scent of wet granite.
"But he... I have to..."
"There's nothing that can be done. Which makes me sorry to do this."
Roran's mind whirled from thought to thought and then settled on the sound of a sword drawing clear of its scabbard. He turned in time to see Vennik thrusting his weapon forward. Roran spun to the side as the blade caught his vest and sliced it open. He tripped over a step and fell back, seated with his hands and feet on the ground. He looked up into the torchlight and the brandished sword. "What are you doing?"
"If you can sense Arcanum, well, that's just unnatural. So then the Chain can't allow you to live. And if the Chain can't allow it, I can't allow it."
Roran frantically looked around.
Vennik stepped forward. "Don't run, son. You'll just die tired."
Roran scuttled to one side and raised his voice. "I don't understand, you're with the Chain? You were fighting the Chain!"
"Those traitors? I was exterminating them." He took another step forward.
Roran held up a pleading hand. "Wait, wait! I can help you. I can help you find Arcanum!"
"Sorry, but that won't work for us." He flashed a quick smile. "Natural things don't like unnatural things."
Vennik took a final step forward when a longsword thrust through his back and out from his ribs. He dropped to his knees, coughing up a spray of blood all over Roran's boots. The torch fell to one side.
Chon stood behind him. He leaned in and growled, "Quickly now, have you summoned anyone? Told anyone what you've seen here?"
"No," whispered Vennik, his red skin lightening as blood poured out of his chest.
"Good." Chon twisted his blade to the side, severing most of what was left of Vennik's heart. He stood back, pulling his sword free and letting the body drop into the dust.
Roran looked up in both amazement and anger. "How in the seven saints are you still alive?"
"Language."
Roran scoffed and got to his feet. "You sound like father."
Chon smiled as he cleaned his sword on Vennik's armor. "Good move there, setting him up."
"What?"
Chon used his sword to point around the area. "You moved to the side and got his back to me so I could come through the door. You saw me coming through the other room, right?"
"I couldn't see anything! The torchlight was in my eyes. How did you survive the fall?"
"That was a lot of luck. I needed that Arcanum crystal to keep the holong solid while we fell. Then I needed it to portal me to safety at the last moment. I've never practiced a portal spell so I needed a whole lot of raw power." His face held an embarrassed older brother look. "Sorry, Roran, but I had to use all of it. Nothing left. All this was a wasted trip for you."
"I'm just glad to have you alive." Roran reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He held up a walnut sized Arcanum crystal and let it sparkle in the fire light. "Not exactly wasted. This is what the holong was really guarding. Found it on the floor while I was crawling around." He beamed with a victorious little brother look.
"Well done, there, you. Well done," said Chon, returning the smile. "Here's to the new Kings of Kyro, then."
