Chon put his hand up. "Wait. Hear that?" he whispered.
They stood at a doorway leading out onto a wide circular area with two wings of a grand staircase sweeping up around either side. From somewhere up above came sounds of wood crashing and metal clanging. A fight had just broken out.
They edged out into the room, underneath a recessed walkway with columns supporting the area above. The wall across from them was bracketed by the stairs and overgrown with vines and stringy grey-green moss. Roran was craning his neck to see further up the staircase without walking out into the open when a Rennon body dropped out of the dark and smacked into the floor.
Roran jerked back, feeling blood speckle his face. "Mother of Saints!" he whispered.
It was then that severed fingers began raining down.
Roran took another step back. "All right, that's disgusting."
Chon had his head canted, listening for anything else. He held up a hand to quiet his younger brother. After a moment he nodded to himself. "This actually might not be a bad plan. I heard some footsteps faintly, probably at least halfway up. But no voices, no shouts of coordination or congratulations." He stepped closer to the broken body and crouched next to it. Roran followed and stood behind him.
The Palan Ranger reached out with a gloved hand and rolled the body slightly. "Same clothing as the other one. Not quite a uniform but very similar." He suddenly stopped. "Oh, no. This is bad."
"What?" asked Roran, stepping forward.
"See that belt buckle of iron chain? And that stitching of a chain on his sleeve? He's with the Chain."
"You're right, that's bad." The Chain was an organization that existed beyond the control of any King or Council. They said they linked the past to the future and often used flowery words like duty and honor when speaking publicly, but everyone knew that they wanted order above all else.
Chon looked up at the sweeping stone staircases. "I think we have a group of these Chain guardsmen spreading out throughout the castle hunting down one man. And that one man appears to be winning."
"So that's good then. He's on our side?"
Chon looked back over his shoulder. "I don't know what side he's on. We don't know anything about what's happening here. That's why it's so dangerous."
"Sorry, right." Roran shifted back on his feet, looking uncomfortable. "All right, I'm sorry. If you don't think this can be done, I won't push for it any more."
His brother paused for a long time. Just when Roran thought he was going to agree and head for an exit he said, "No, I'm here for the holong. It shouldn't be this far from the Center. I can't let it stay." He touched two fingers to his chest, the sign all Palan Rangers made to symbolize their oath to protect civilization from the various creatures and haunts that plagued the center of the continent. "If there's still an Arcanum Crystal sitting there after I'm done, so much the better." He turned and started up the staircase.
Roran smiled and followed.
