“Well, doesn’t this feel familiar.” Looking up from his map, Kaius walked to the bow of the ship, his hand tightly gripping his staff.

The island was within their sights, a splotch of black in a sea of blue, like a drop of ink in a cup of water. The fog was extremely concentrated, but somehow, it stopped at the coast, as if a barrier was preventing it from spreading further.

It was certainly different compared to the first time they set foot on the island. The caution they exhibited was great, the ship quickly slowing to a crawl as they advanced. The island had lost all its charm, yet none of the mystery. It was like going back to an old town, being very familiar with the layout yet completely alien with the people and architecture. Except… there was no one nor buildings to welcome them.

There was only barren land, and the vegetation that was there… Where did they go?

Kaius took out another map, the one that he had made during their stay on the island. The topography seemed about the same, but where there were masses of green, roughly painted on the paper to represent the forest, there was now only gray. Well, it must be the fog obscuring their vision. He could only wish it was only the fog.

“Ready yourselves,” Tamarkrh said. “The island is not what it was to us years ago.”

They lowered the anchor to the sea floor before they hoisted a boat over, just as they had before. Kaius carefully stepped into it, feeling a slight chill on his neck. The winds, formerly so comfortable, were now sharp and even a little painful. There was only the light from his gem, powered through a gradual release of his energy. At the very least, they could see further than their outstretched hands.

Soon, they left the ship to its own devices, making their way to the shores once more.

The waters sloshed about. It was actually quite calm, but they all flinched whenever a bit crept too close. Where Kaius remembered some of them spread out their arms to embrace the Elyfesta’s light and warmth back then, there was no such bold gesture now, the seven of them huddled closely together, the darkness so claustrophobic and increasingly suffocating.

A bump. The boat had reached its destination without any of them even rowing. Being the leader, Tamarkrh stepped out first, feeling the abnormally cold waters surrounding his boots. Other than that, however, he seemed to be perfectly fine, marching forth rather courageously, his hands swinging around to clear up the fog at least a bit.

They followed, and for some peculiar reason, they could see a little clearer now. Kaius hesitated for several moments, but taking a deep breath, he at last stepped off, quickly darting across the water and onto dry land. The darkness was still as prevalent as ever, and perhaps it was this that still reminded him of the incident so long ago.

“Is the fog clearing up?” Deilsa asked, observant as always. As a fisherwoman, her keen sense of the change in environments was quite useful in her fishing expeditions. Sadly, that wasn’t enough to save her from the rapidly deteriorating state of the island those years ago.

Kaius remembered seeing Deilsa’s exhausted body, her boat just a short distance away from the shore. He still didn’t know why to this day, but he dived into the water, rushing towards her. Instead of being weighed down by his wet clothes, he felt as if he was flying. He had reached her at astonishing speeds. Yet as soon as he carried her on his back, the water seemed to strangle him, cold hands squeezing at his neck. He was drowning. He felt that. He couldn’t remember much of what happened after, only that he had survived somehow.

Now, ten years later, he has returned. For what reason, he does not know for sure. He only remembered a sudden passion for magecraft… and here he was now.

“Wait… look.” Ulin pointed in front, the exact area where their campsite was. The logs, the tents, the pot, as well as various scattered objects were all there. It felt like everything was frozen in time… except everything had become stone, rooted to the ground. The coldness as they touched the objects that were formerly theirs, left behind for all these years. And to think they had once lived here for several days…

Beyond the former camp lay the forest, or what was the forest. Instead, there were now white pillars and spikes that once resembled trees, dotting the landscape. Their surface smooth and blank, it was almost a representation of the island itself, so barren and desolate. The entire island of Atrurh, so beautiful before, now just a stone hill protruding from the sea.

And at the center of it all, the tower, still the same as it was, unmoved, unchanged. Eternal.

It was only ten years.

“Just what happened to this place?”

The fog seemed to bend and weave, much like the waves of the sea or the swaying of leaves, its movement almost as if it was delicately controlled. The wind had become almost melodic, bearing its own voice, whispering amongst the adventurers. It was as if… the entire island was expecting them.

With their glowing jewels, they obviously could see each other in the darkness, but it felt a little too clear, their vision almost unimpaired as if in the light of the Elyfesta. Yet beyond their close circle, the fog was like a wall, the stone pillars and ground blending into a mass of gray. An imitative illusion of vision in darkness, their eyes only able to see each other and nothing more.

Come. Come and I shall show you. It was a girlish voice, so clear yet so distant in its whispers. It felt a little familiar, in fact, but none of them could really make sense of what or who exactly it was. It only felt a little creepy, if Kaius had to admit, the ghostly wisps of sound intertwined in his ears.

Come. The fog began to part, a pathway cleared for them to the tower. The ground itself began to move, forming large, simple slabs and steps, the pillars bending a little into incomplete arches. The tides stopped, leaving them only with the gentle howls of the wind, so eerie, so haunting. A fine description for the island itself.

“Can anyone explain this?” Deilsa asked, staring stunned at the shifting landscape.

“... Beyond even magic,” Nal could only answer.

They had no choice, or so they thought, but to follow the steps. There they would find their answers, or so their minds convinced them. Really, they had no idea. They had just set foot on the island after a decade, not even setting up some sort of camp yet, and they were already making a trek to the center of it all, the tower that had always stood so stoically, so silently in all the change.

They entered the path, and behind them, the fog again closed in, quietly shutting them off in a pocket.

At the top, a crack resounded across the tower’s roof, as a foot stepped off the pedestal onto the cold bricks. Pulses steadily rippled across the animated statue, powered by the dark stone. To the side, a necklace, long petrified, lay still, the central gem dead and unmoving.

Come. Come and I shall show you the night.