Meanwhile, an investigating party of twenty followed the trail of bodies to an alley. Five were Talon Warriors; the rest were Fang Fighters.
The head jailer's body lay at the entrance. His head was gone, but the token at his belt left no doubt about who he was. Someone had killed a peak Talon Warrior without leaving signs of a struggle around him.
The party stopped short of the body. The guards farther back could not see it as clearly as those in front, but they saw the hesitation spread. They had followed the same trail expecting to find out where the pursuit had gone. Instead, they had found the man who should have been leading it.
There was no instruction he could give them now. Beyond him, the alley continued into darkness.
Those at the front checked the space beyond the corpse. The rest crowded close enough to see what had stopped them, then held back. A peak Talon Warrior had reached this entrance before them. His token was the only answer to where that had led.
