The cabal prepares for their quest to Mexico and on into the Wendings of the Circle of Four. The White Lady returns unsuccessful from her journey to Kansas. However, she agrees to join them on their quest. Colt packs survival gear and ritually boosts his attributes. Mammon also takes the opportunity to boost his survival skills magically and gift them all with the knowledge of Spanish. Adele researches the wildlife in the Yucatan, hoping to avoid anything toxic. As a final preparation, she instructs Valkyrie how to take care of the guard dogs. Then she and Mammon open a portal a small distance from the town of Tekax near the supposed entrance to the Wending.
Colt, Mammon, the White Lady, Adele and her familiar Merlin arrive safely in Twilight. The jungle hugs the gravel road to town. Rather than involve the locals they decide to strike out into the jungle. Despite trackless foliage, Colt quickly finds his way, leading them along an overgrown but rocky path. Along the way they spot the ghost of a French explorer. His legs have been crushed and his head caved in by a rock.
Adele quickly determines he was murdered and retrieves the murder weapon, a worn stone. With the help of the White Lady and Mammon they translate the ghost’s story. He was a French explorer from the early 19th century. He stopped at Tekax on his way to the legendary fountain of youth but the villagers killed him. One of his anchors may be the cavern he hoped to find.
They press on, reading the resonances of the area. Secrecy and bloodshed mark the path while the sinkholes along the edge emanate murder and death. In the spirit world, they spot a vulture-like spirit of death, lean and hungry.
Suddenly the jungle stops and they find themselves at the edge of 100 foot wide hole going deep into the ground. Colt turns himself into an eagle and scouts the pit. The ground is over a 100 feet down and covered in jagged rocks. A pool of fresh water sits in the center of the base of the pit. Strangely it heals Colt’s paradox damage when he drinks it. He spots a smoother section to climb down from and directs the others to go there.
They set up a rope and belay down. Adele and the White Lady have no issues though Colt has to take his time. Mammon just teleports. As they reach the water the ghost moves on and dissipates. The pool has a strong resonance of life and is remarkably clear of pathogens. Merlin indicates that they need to swim to get to their goal. Colt grants them all gills and they swim underwater.
They emerge in a large dark chamber. Adele turns on a waterproof flashlight and scans the exit-less chamber. She detects a faint resonance of death. Meanwhile Colt pierces the warding hiding a doorway hovering in Twilight. Mammon broadcasts Colt’s visions to the others. Adele uses Matter magic to create steps leading up to the door. She walks up and pushes the doors open.
The doorway opens onto a corridor constructed of bones. The bones are massive and fossilized, the bones of dinosaurs. Moreover they have turned to Tass somehow. Colt leads the way and they enter. As they wander the maze of hallways and rooms, they spot flickering ghosts of humanoid but reptilian creatures. Strange machines also sit in each room, constructed of a strange iridescent metal.
Adele looks at the bones and finds each yields multiple causes of the death ranging from meteor impacts to disease to the fallout of thermonuclear war.
Colt suddenly spots a raptor skeleton lurking behind a corner, waiting to ambush them. They prepare for its attack and counter its ambush. Colt pistol whips its knee and then grapples it while Mammon breaks its back with a bone club. Adele unweaves the spell holding it together causing it to collapse.
As the bones clatter to the ground, they can hear many more of the things moving in the halls. As the skeletons hurry towards them, Merlin and Colt lead them to the exit.
The find another strange doorway with the doors already open. But the exit doesn’t show anything different on the other side. Colt rushes through anyway, ending up still in the room. Adele closes the door and hears the device grind its gears. She opens it again and the noise is even louder. Realizing the machine is broken she speaks to its spirit and begins to direct others where to make repairs. In quick order they activate the door and escape the room with time to spare.
The cabal finds themselves in the sunshine again, in the midst of a jungle with a deep crevasse behind them filled with the bones of animals who were swept down and were unable to escape. Shadow is rich and clean of human influence. There is no Gauntlet here and strangely Twilight is alive with the ghosts of animals and plants. The living things here have something like souls.
They head down the path for a mile until they reach a point where another path crosses their path. The three other paths lead either down, up, or twist through the jungle. Colt chooses upward and they continue on. The path is used mostly by small animals but occasional tracks of giant serpents can be spotted. Colt keeps his eyes open.
As they continue the path grows steeper and rockier. Suddenly there is a transition and the jungle vanishes. They find themselves on a mountain in a different wending. The landscape around them quickly fades to gray as if only this mountain exists. Above them a thunderstorm rages.
In the cold, thin air, they can hear someone shouting. Adele and Mammon use Space magic to zoom in on the figure who is being attacked by a bird with a 40 ft wingspan and rainbow colored feathers. Mammon realizes it is the Dark Man.
The cabal debates helping him, ultimately deciding they need to know why he is here. Unfortunately Mammon is unable to breach his mind to get answers directly.
Colt climbs up the mountain. He find the Dark Man who shouts that he needs a chunk of the glacial ice. Colt is nearly knocked off the mountain but scares off the bird and clambers down with a chunk of ice. The Dark Man ably follows him.
A tense discussion ensues and they come to a grudging alliance with the Dark Man who calls himself Kuri. It seems their would-be foe wants revenge on Nehjarra for destroy his people centuries ago as well as the Circle of Four. The ice if he needs to deal with the alien spirit from within the Antediluvian. With their goals aligned for now they press on.
They head back through the jungle. As they approach the crossroads, they see an old native woman wrapped in a leather shawl resting a on rock. The mage radiates potent Death and Prime magic. Her soul is potent but only a fragment of a true soul.
When questioned the crone claims to know all about them and their purpose. Colt explains their reasoning but she dismisses it. He tells her she has lost her way. The crone then destroys all sign of the paths, leaving them lost in the jungle.
However Colt overcomes her deception and leads them through the jungle to a pool of water radiating potent life and space magic. As they contemplate the portal a huge horned snake descends from above. It speaks to them, implying it wants to eat one of them. Colt confuses it and it attacks. He easily wrestles the snake down and pins it. With a knife to its throat, he interrogates it. They learn the old woman sent it to eat one of them. As punishment Colt turns it into a small snake and puts it into his pocket.
They return to the pool, Colt steps in and vanishes. On the other side he emerges from a pool of water as a wet rabbit. Adele pokes her head in after him and spies the rabbit through strangely monochrome vision. The Dark Man goes in next, emerging as a mangy fox. He licks his lips at the rabbit.
Adele soon follows shaking her crow feathers dry. The White Lady emerges as a black cat and Mammon as a small wild boar. They find they are perfectly normal animals, unable to speak. Mammon sets up a mental link so they can communicate. Adele flies up to scout the area.
She spots a deer. The creature approaches, curious about this menagerie of animals. Mammon mentally contacts the doe discovering it to be intelligent and curious. She talks to them briefly, learning they are mages. She shifts her form into that of a barely clad human woman.
The Deer Woman seems helpful but warns that there are wolves hunting between here and the river they need to cross to get to their destination. She reacts violently when she learns the Dark Man is with them, claiming he killed her people. Perhaps fortunately she is unable to harm him.
Calming down she agrees to lead them to the tribe.