Mable stood and looked up at the tower, cocking her head at an angle to line up her vision to the slant of the tower. How did it even stand standing up at that angle. Looking at the path up ahead it was hard to believe the tower was even occupied, but the faint light in the window and thin tentacle of smoke trailing from the chimney spoke to its current occupation.

She started off down the winding path that lead through the jagged rocks at the base of the tower, using a minor fire incantation to clear the brambles from around her ankles. She noticed her hair waving slightly in front of her face as if in the breeze, but she felt no wind. Something about this place wasn’t quite right.

About twenty minutes later she reached the base of the tower. The large wooden door stood slightly ajar, the undetectable breeze pulling a latch of grass outside the doorway into the portal within. Mable side stepped through the open cavity, avoiding touching the door as she did so. She stood for a few moments inside, allowing her eyes to adjust to the gloomy interior.

Casting a minor light incantation, she started towards the stairs. The small bauble of warm yellowy light floated a few feet in front of her. It casted king shadows over a foyer that had obviously been empty for some time. Whoever was here clearly didn’t use the ground floor very often.

Walking up the stairs she proceeded to climb up towards the tower true. The spiral staircase got narrower as she climbed, worn stone steps seemed to twitch beneath her feet as her hand gripped the rickety rail that looped around the outside of the stairwell.

As she reached the top she looked to the door ahead. The landing was dark, cold, barren. However, she could feel the energy radiating from the room inside and saw the crack of light around the edge of the doorway. She let the light bauble fade from existence with a flick of her finger and focused on trying to feel the energy through the door.

Suddenly the door exploded, a million tiny shards of wood hurtling towards her in a hailstorm of inevitable death. She barely had time to drop to her knee and form a quick energy shield around her before the shards pierced her body. The splinters bounced off her shield and dropped to the floor harmlessly, a gentle clattering sound announcing their arrival on the stone floor. Mable looked up at the black clad figure now stood in the doorway.

“I was wondering when you’d arrive” it said, the voice gravelly and low. “I’d almost given up.”

Mable smiled a grim grimace as she got to her feet. This wasn’t going to be easy.