As summer approaches Valkyrie is fiercely training. Realizing her order needs a true leader and that the choices are severely limited, she is working hard to achieve the necessary skills personally. But a major obstacle remains. She must master the Arcanum of Forces. She decides to ask her cabal to aid her quest. Bringing the subject up over dinner, they discuss the prospect of another long Astral journey. They all agree to help, partly because they support her as a cabal mate, partly to augment the group’s capabilities, and partly because a strong Arrow may be necessary to protect the city. Adele volunteers to research the Astral: what path to take and what obstacles they might face along the way. She already knows where they must go: the Aeonic citadel of the Aether, the dwelling of the Aeon of Forces, Azezel. The group also decides to plan a time to go and Mammon brings up the subject of what else they might accomplish along the way. One thing they may be learn more about is the Great Fire Spirit.
As they prepare for their journey, they purchase a book from the Black Quill, which contains references to the deepest parts of the Astral. It talks of Salamanders and the warns of the last of the Jinn. Evan meanwhile is sent off to summer camp. He is worried but supportive of his mother. He also is eager to hear the stories of her trip. The cabal enlists Miguel and White Ash to watch over their bodies as they meditate. As a final preparation, Mammon sets up a central location to meet in Tenemos, the Astral reflection of the sanctum.
After a few hours of meditation they descend into the Astral, passing their personal dream spaces along the way. Adele passes a mall marred by fire, empty and silent except for the ghosts. Colt moves through through the familiar desert scrub of Africa on an icy cold night. Mammon drives past a cathedral letting out for mass. The sky is bright and sunny but the air is icy and cold. Valkyrie finds herself passing through the Georgia hills in winter. The cool air is filled with the smell of wood smoke.
Mammon arrives at the sanctum first, almost overshooting into the Anima Mundi. Colt and Adele soon join him, while Valkyrie takes a bit longer. They all pile into Mammon’s car and head deeper into the Astral. Soon the car turns into wagon, with Mammon at the reigns in surprisingly lower class garb. The women are dressed in Victorian era dresses while Colt is in the outfit of a Union soldier. They soon identify the wilderness around them as Georgia and from the smoke in the distance, that this realm represents an aspect of Sherman’s March to the Sea.
Their trail leads towards a burning town. Along the way Colt spots the trail of something strange, something that reads like the opposite of a mage. The trail enters the town up ahead, where they can see Union soldiers burning the town while the townsfolk look on. Valkyrie quietly kills the flames, raising cries of surprise from the soldiers. They also hear a hissing voice directing the soldiers towards them. As the soldiers approach, Colt adroitly defuses the situation, using his apparent superior rank. They learn that the superior officer is acting weird and are directed around the town.
Finally they arrive at a massive stone covered in runes. As during their last visit, they breath in the mists that rise from the cracks in the stone and decipher the runes. After singing the stone open, they descend into the rock, entering a vast labyrinth. Amid the twists and turns they find a man sleeping, clutching arcane scrolls. Mammon wakes him up and they learn that this is the mage Plotimus, resting after a harrowing Astral journey. They exchange directions for ascending and descending and part ways. The path soon leads to a dead end with a single archway sealed off by solid stone. Examining the surroundings they find numerous mushrooms, tinged with the resonance of insight and hallucinations. After some discussion, Adele takes the mushrooms, with Colt and Mammon studying her carefully. She can see a way out and walks through the seemingly solid wall. They all take the mushrooms and head through the archway.
The cabal soon found itself on the side of a vast mountain. Still tripping and with a long climb ahead of them, Colt purges their systems of the drug, while Mammon imbues them with enhanced climbing skills. Valkyrie increases the coefficient of friction for the first leg of their journey and they begin to climb.
As they climb, Colt can see another climber up ahead. The figure is pitch black like a hole in reality. The journey is long and tiring. At one point Colt almost falls off the mountain but catches himself at the last moment. About two hours in they hit a sheer slope blocking their path. They decide to climb it anyway rather than lose time circling around. After a tough climb they reach the top of the slope exhausted. With half of a mountain left to climb though they need to rest. They spot a gleaming tower of steel and glass in the distance and decide to investigate.
As they approach, they notice clusters of abandoned buildings nearby. Schools, homes, and offices sit crumbling and decayed. They begin to feel slightly queasy and notice the word “Challenger” written on a wall in peeling orange paint. They also hear the sounds of children nearby but there is no physical trace. Colt however detects the signs of a resonance corresponding to his legacy. It is old but powerful and it leads to the tower.
They then see a man approaching. Dressed in a shabby suit, he says “you again?” to them. When questioned he calls himself Arronax, a Chicagan mage. As he guides them to the tower, (to avoid the radiation, he explains) they notice a weird stuttering effect about him. Adele is also able see that he is a ghost, a fact he readily admits. He explains his cabal died while in the Astral and are trapped here. The tower itself is a gleaming, seemingly post modern, construct. But signs of decay are evident with windows broken and lighting non-functional or flickering.
Arronax explains they were in the Astral seeking an Artifact. When asked what it does, he cryptically says that perhaps Colt can explain it. The mage also reveals that one of their number stayed behind: Challenger. Taking an elevator up, they are soon introduced to the other members of the cabal: Pergama and Marenetti. The last member, Stone, is absent. They reveal that they have been here for about 25 years, since the days of the Mage War. The Ebon Cross explains that the war is over. In the course of their discussion, it becomes clear that this dead cabal, the Ascendant Singularity know about the trouble lurking beneath Chicago. Arronax explains that they were trying to open a gateway to the Supernal using the fallen god beneath the city. This could lead to mass Awakenings or even Ascension.
They decide to check out the Artifact housed in the basement of the tower. There amid the flickering florescent lights they find a large bronze obelisk. It is almost exactly as Colt remembered it from his initiation into the Circle of Four. But unlike previously, this obelisk is worn by time. Arronax says that when they first found it was untarnished but someone must be observing the original, changing its appearance. Adele and Mammon study the Artifact intently planning to scry it when they return to the Fallen World.
But then suddenly each of the cabal members realizes that the others have vanished. Adele and Colt’s awareness is cut short when a mysterious figure, presumably Stone appears alongside Marenetti. A powerful mind spell is cast and their patterns are partially drained of mana.
Mammon however is able to detect that he is being effected by a potent hallucination. After a short delay he uses the Space Arcanum to compensate for his deceived senses. Adele and Colt are leaving the room while Marenetti and the new figure are approaching him. Valkyire also realizes something is wrong as Arronax becomes quiet. She scrutinizes the area and spots the spell. Using her Prime magics she is able to dispel the effect on herself, seeing the entire situation.
Mammon fills Stone’s mind with a hallucination of his own, switching his position with Marenetti’s. As Stone mindwipes his ally, Mammon regroups with Valkyrie. Stone soon realizes his mistake and tries to dispel Mammon’s mental shield but fails. Valkyrie dispels the hallucination on Mammon and the two flee.
As they race down the hall they spot the others who blissfully think that the last few hours never happened and that they are still descending into the Astral. Stone enters the hall and destroys the elevator. Mammon grabs Colt and starts to drag him away to the stairs. Valkyrie stops the illusion that Adele sees and directs her to the stairs. Adele seals the doorway to the stairs behind them.
Soon they are all free of their delusions and they race towards the ground floor and freedom. Nearly there, they are stopped by Arronax who warns them that Stone is waiting for them. He leads them out via a tunnel. As they leave he tells them he forgives Challenger for betraying them.
As they head back to the mountain they realize that Challenger must have been their ally, Cicero.