Blackbird and Terrence picked their way across a swath of the battlefield. Groups of skeletons covered large patches, but in between there was often open turf. Some hours ago Blackbird had noticed that when she picked up her hooves they were stained with red. It left her uneasy, but this was a place of ancient magic and it had seen untold suffering. Anything was possible, but she hoped it was magic. She hadn't brought herself to sniff at the substance. And even if it was what it looked like, it wasn't like there was anything Blackbird could do about it.

Up ahead a partially collapsed tower broke the rolling landscape. As the pair drew nearer it became clear that the tower's staircase was still intact. Terrence gave her a nod, as if giving her permission. He seemed set on picking through the various item in the stone tower's ground room. Blackbird's need for information drove her to the stairs. How many Coursers had ever seen an aerial view of this dungeon? Surely she'd be one of the few.

So she carefully put a leg onto the lowest stair riser, and tested it with her weight. It seemed surprisingly sturdy. She tested a few more steps before she was fully confident they would bear her weight. She didn't fancy the idea of plunging through a rotten stone step. But they seemed solid enough. So step after ancient step, up she went. Spiral after spiral after spiral. She had to watch her footing carefully, as many of the steps had strange crumbled sections. She started to breath hard, and hoped that her ascent would soon be over. But it wasn't. The corkscrewed stairs went on an on. Just as exhaustion was starting to overwhelm her, she reached a platform at the top.

The platform was made of the same ancient, pale stone as the tower. It had a few crumbled chips missing, as if the stone had rotted away. But stone didn't rot. At least no stone Blackbird knew about. She mentally added the stone to the tally of things that needed further study. She scraped her hoof along the stone, curious if she could dislodge a few flakes for study. But the stone didn't budge. Curious.

Blackbird stepped onto the tower top, eager to survey the landscape. At first her eyes swept back the way they'd come, through the battle. It had been huge. Hard to even contemplate. It made her feel a sense of sorrow. As she contemplated the scope of that battle, she turned to look the other way. Perhaps the distant horizon would offer more hints of what had happened here.

And then it hit her. This new direction was also the aftermath of a great battle. She spun, searching another way. Skeletons and ruins. As far as the eye could see. In every direction. Her knees felt weak. It was almost impossible to even comprehend this much suffering. Blackbird closed her eyes, feeling great sorrow. Whatever had happened here had been catastrophic.