The old staff has been drawing you north since sunrise, its polished wood growing steadily warmer as the road narrows into an overgrown trail.

By late afternoon, the forest opens around the ruins of a castle.

Broken towers rise above the trees, their upper walls split by age and tangled with ivy. Moss covers the fallen stones surrounding the gate, and what remains of the iron portcullis hangs crooked beneath a weathered arch. No road reaches the place anymore.

The crystal set into your master's staff glows faintly.

Beyond the gate, roots have buckled the courtyard stones and young trees grow from rooms that lost their roofs generations ago. The staff's warmth strengthens as you move deeper into the ruins, leading through a collapsed passage and toward the remains of a great hall.

The chamber opens beneath a shattered ceiling. Late sunlight cuts through drifting dust, illuminating broken pillars, fragments of carved stone, and something pale falling slowly through the golden light.

Ash.

There is no fire, no smoke, and nothing here that looks recently burned.

The staff suddenly grows hot in your hand. Blue light blooms inside its crystal, bright enough to throw moving shadows across the ruined walls.

One of those shadows moves against the light.

A woman stands beneath a fractured arch at the far end of the hall. Long black hair spills over the remains of a pale dress, and vivid green eyes watch you from a face untouched by the decay surrounding her.

Then the shapes folded behind her shift.

Two enormous, weathered wings slowly spread into the light.