The hot desert air was tense and silent. Nothing moved, no creature scurrying about, no hawk casting a shadow as it rode the thermals, not even dusts blown by an errant wind. Nothing but heat shimmers.

The stillness would not last for long.

The earth rumbled and cracked, like an earthquake that just kept going. There was a faint impression of something that seemed to fade in and out of existence. Rocks from the cliff face came tumbling down from the shaking, sending small critters scurrying from their shaded hiding spaces as something else intruded upon their reality.

With a massive crack the canyon floor shattered, sending a spiderweb of fissures as something forced it aside. A cloud of dust and chips of rock filled the canyon. Over several long seconds, it cleared, revealing the Tower.

Where once there was empty trail and canyon, there was a now a tower, towering against the cliff walls, made from carved stone brick and columns of dark purple stone, inlaid with gold runes that shone in the desert sun. The barred glass windows of the upper levels gleamed like mirrors in the light, beacons shining across the desert. Below as a set of massive oak doors, seemingly the only way in or out of the mysterious bastion.

After a few moments, the dust settled, the earth stilled, and the canyon fell into an uneasy silence.

It didn't last long.

There was a sound, like the heartbeat of some great beast, and a pulse of magic emanated from the tower, stirring the dust like an unfelt wind. From deep within the tower came the faint sounds of industry, of change.

Of something new.