Orion and Ragnar let nothing stop their descent, breaking the limps of guards and pushing past any sort of quick and half-assed resistance as they made their way below. Fortune and surprise were still on their side, and the Palace was so large he wasn't even certain the Duke was privvy to any intrusion as of yet. He hoped that was the case at least, and judging by the lack of alarm he was likely correct. 

The catacombs beneath the palace were baroque and ancient, made of less modern metals and stone from the bosom of the world. Ragnar recited a litany to one of his old gods, and though it grated Orion to hear it he wasn't going to reprimand him at the moment. There were ancient spirits in the deep places of the known worlds and Orion was simply glad the road they were on was relatively well lit.  

Once they found themselves on a corridor that looked miles long, there was a screech in the distance. Far off and hard to pinpoint, to Ragnar it sounded like a bird sound or maybe an echo from above. Orion knew it to be Annika's voice immediately. He started to run, and soon he was like a freight train running past the abandoned rooms. Ragnar did his best to keep up, and though Orion outdistanced him he still kept the Knight in sight. 

Despite his barreling run, when he made it into the tabernacle he saw a cloaked man laughing as if the funniest joke in the world had been concocted. Dark tendrils wrapped around Sister Annika and Mobius too! Orion shouldn't have been surprised the Ducal guard had been telling the truth. What's more, he recognized the gloating too. The voice was from one he wouldn't forget. It was Chamberlain Engel... 

"I've changed my mind." the darkly clad Chamberlain said, raising his gloved hand and closing it into a fist. The tendrils curled around Annika with overwhelming strength, shoving the air out of her body. Mobius looked close to dead, if he wasn't already. "I see trying to convince you to join my cause is, for lack of a better term, a lost cause. So I think I will simply kill you now and be on my way to larger things." 

As two large, sharpened tendril's raised in the air, he chuckled. "Fear not, Annika. At least you'll join your precious Sir Pentecost in the afterlife, or so you believe." 

The Confessor's eyes widened in horror, which made Engel smile all the more. "Oh yes, he is dead, just as the Pancreator. And now it is your turn!" 

The shadowing energy that kept Annika and Mobius lifted suddenly dispelled, as did the two monstrous tendrils threatening to kill both of them. Annika hid the ground, and when she recovered herself she saw a blood covered sword had thrust out of Engel's chest, the Chamberlain falling into oblivion. Where he once stood was Orion. 
[@Penny]