The View from Here

You stand to leave the dining area. The closest cat lowers his gaze. You hear the women in the kitchen but ignore them headed for the guarded door. The guard sees you coming and stiffens to an attention. He says nothing as you walk past him into a dark hall way. At the end you see a set of stairs and climb them.

As you're headed up the stairs your mind reaches into shadow and you call forth Argentum. As soon as you think about it, you feel the weight upon your finger. You reach again into shadow to find your trumps, this time you feel something else... someone listening. You feel your trumps in the possession of another, who resists you. He knows where you are!

You break the link and feel a slight headache. Dizzy, for just a moment you look around, still in the staircase, only a bit of light pours in from the small windows. The person who has your trumps is relatively nearby... you can feel it.

You finish climbing the stairs and stand in a tower overlooking a valley. In the distance you see a pillar of strange smoke which undulates oddly. Occasional bolts of lightning appear within it, seemingly moving from ground to sky. Further on, over the mountain ridge you can make out another pillar, and yet another even further. You can just make out the ocean through the haze.

Whatever kind of battle this is, there is sorcery of some sort involved.

You know that your enemy lies near that nearest pillar. You watch it move and shimmer and notice movement away from its base headed in your direction. You watch just long enough to realize that it is an army, of some sort, and they're headed toward you and the hospital.