Round 24

The wards' magic pulsed like a hungry heart, each beat drawing power from the tower's ancient darkness. A deliberate shadow moved behind an upper window—a predator acknowledging its prey.

Jeane circled twice at a higher altitude, her wings cutting through the still air. The tower loomed above, a monument to forgotten sorcery and whatever horrors had festered within its walls for centuries. From this vantage point, the ward patterns became clearer—no static defenses, but pulsing networks that seemed to... feed something inside. "Everyone, listen," she called down, her voice carrying an edge of barely-controlled urgency. "These wards aren't barriers. They're active predators...

Halie stood at the base, her silver cross catching what little moonlight filtered through the clouds—a symbol of defiance against the encroaching darkness. She could feel it—the tower's ancient hunger, feeding on the wards' magic, growing stronger with each passing minute. We have maybe fifteen minutes before whatever sleeps upstairs decides whether we're worth waking for dinner or just more… midnight snacks, she thought, her stomach twisting with apprehension. Merrin, mark those stones with care—every suspicious slab counts now. Varrika, help her. And Jeane—fly higher, but don't linger near that main window. The shadow I saw moving suggests someone—or something—is deliberately watching us. We need to decide: accelerate entry or back away while still undetected?