As the year draws to a close, Colt spends more and more time scrutinizing the city with Supernal Vision and Spirit Sight, investigating the city's mystic connections both in the Fallen realm and Shadow. He finds the ley lines pulsating with arcane symbols. The symbols, a degraded form of High Speech, seem to correspond to the resonances of the individual lines. Meanwhile in Shadow, a network of scars and wounds crisscross Chicago. Sections of the city are covered in ash or burnt to cinders. Other sections are covered in rust like much of the rest of the Midwest. In places blood oozes up from the earth and in others the shadow reflection seems dead and closed off.
As his studies continue Colt begins to see angels flying about the Chicago skyline. The streets and rails reveal minor pulsating leylines, like smaller parts of a circulatory system. The angels meanwhile move along the ley lines at frightening speed. Though distant he can make out a multitude of wings and other limbs. Colt redoubles his efforts at mapping the ley lines and other oddities of the city.
Finally on a cold day in January, as Colt is wandering the business district consulting the Chicago Workings Folio, Ellsworth appears. Standing in a nearby reflection, the ghost regards his old friend with a confused look. Ellsworth believes the city is trying to tell Colt something. Colt and Ellsworth chat about the situation and how Colt feels insignificant next to this grandness. Ellsworth says we "all push on the world, changing it. I like to think I'm still pushing." The two continue to travel along a ley line.
Colt soon begins to hear whispers in the air around him. Some are distant, others distorted or in foreign languages. A few snippets he can make out.
"The dead are awake, the living sleep."
Colt begins to think he is going crazy, his only reassurance being the spirit of a dead architect. Another message is made out from right behind his ear
"The fire awakens, the burning has begun"
He begins to look around and spots something truly scary. He sees threads leading from important locations in the city up into the sky, joined to a hand shaped cloud. The resonance of the cloud is full of scary levels of power, like some sort of immense false god. As the winter cold chills him, he quickly leaves frantic voice mail messages to the rest of the cabal.
As Colt races toward the nearest of these threads, the whispers grow in strength, hinting at terrible things in store.
"The spider is dying, the threads are broken."
Ellsworth worries that he going to be Colt's guide into Hell itself like Virgil to Dante. Colt grimly agrees.
"The mentor murders the watchers and topples the defender of a friend."
Colt find himself in the shadow of the Sears Tower. But he realizes the shadow is not from above. Not the tower or the cloud over it, but from below as if something was lurking beneath the city. Just below the surface. Even Ellsworth is shivering and they wonder if the creature is stirring. Colt puts his ear to the ground to check that something isn't burrowing or burning its way up from below. Instead he hears the approach of footsteps.
In a strange tripling of vision he sees a young mugger, an angry fire elemental and a strange creature of garbage and decay approach. The three threaten him and he feels with certainty that they can attack him back. He draws his knife and tries to frighten off the kid. The punk attacks while the fire elemental throws fire and the blight thing shuffles closer throwing garbage at Colt telekinetically. Colt slices the punk open, forcing him to flee, while Ellsworth throws bricks and struggles with the fire elemental. Ultimately Colt prevails. Then Ellsworth remarks on the odd sight down the alley.
The alley opens up into a park, one where the skyline is no longer visible. Colt marks his route with chalk and heads into the park. He finds himself in an unspoiled wilderness of forest and wetlands. As he approaches the ancient banks of the Chicago river, he spies a carve chunk of bronze slowly sinking into the swamp. He realizes Ellsworth is gone and heads down to investigate.
The ancient Altantean runes on the massive uncorroded piece of metal are somehow understandable to him. The writing tells of the people who lived here after the Fall and the doom that came to them. A terrible thing that fell from the heavens, tossed down by the false gods. It also records the unique legacy they developed the Circle of Four. As Colt finishes reading, joining the legacy, he hears one final message.
"Beware that which can eternal lie."
Then everything goes black.
He finds himself sitting in an abandoned lot. After a while, Colt continues to walk the city, searching for Ellsworth. He heads to the river. Looking out over the chunks of ice floating in the darkness, he says, "Lady, ever since I met you, things keep on get on weirder and weirder."