The final island in the archipelago was a stark contrast to the serene beauty of the one they had just left behind.
This island was a vast expanse of endless sand dunes, stretching as far as the eye could see. The harsh sunlight glinted off the golden sand, making the island appear to shimmer with a heat that seemed almost unbearable.
From the safety of their manta ray's flight, the trio could see no life, no vegetation, not even a single building. It was as if the entire island had been swallowed by the desert itself. The sand dunes rose and fell like waves, their smooth surfaces occasionally disturbed by gusts of wind that swept the grains into violent whirls. There was something oppressive about the way the island seemed to swallow up all sound and movement.
As they drew nearer, the atmosphere grew heavier and the temperature rose. Vastarael squinted against the harsh glare of the sun, his usually steady breath momentarily disrupted by the suffocating heat. The island's air shimmered with a distorted haze, making it almost impossible to discern where the earth ended and the sky began. In the distance, a massive sandstorm loomed on the horizon, its swirling fury threatening to consume everything in its path.
"It looks... lifeless," Sirithiele muttered, her sharp eyes scanning the desolate terrain. "Nothing lives here. And those sandstorms... Not even the most dangerous lands we've crossed have felt this... dead."
"This island..." Phaenora began, the words catching in her throat. "This island screams death."
As they continued to circle the island, the landscape only became more menacing. The dunes shifted with the wind and in some places, massive whirlpools of sand rose like violent spirals of a cursed force, twisting the very fabric of the air. It was impossible to get too close without risking being sucked into one of the deadly storms, which could rip apart even the toughest of beings.
He did not get close to the island like the others. It was too creepy.
Sirithiele glanced at Vastarael, noting the usually confident prince's rare hesitation. She knew he had been through a few battles but this island, with its endless, oppressive sands and deadly storms, was something beyond even his experience.
There was no sign of life here, and yet, it felt as though something was watching, waiting for anyone who dared to tread too close. Vast stretches of the island were likely untouched by time, with some forces that had lingered far longer than the sandstorms. Whatever lay buried beneath this barren landscape was ancient and the storm that raged above it seemed to guard it fiercely.
"Do you think this is where the Frozen God comes from?" Sirithiele asked, a chill creeping into her voice despite the desert's heat.
Vastarael turned his gaze to the horizon, where the storm raged with relentless fury.
"It's possible," he mused. "But I suspect there's more to this island than just the Frozen God. This place feels like it's been cursed. It might hold answers that could explain the origin of the gods, or the destruction of an ancient civilization."
Phaenora's grin faded slightly as she too felt the heavy weight of the island's presence.
"You don't think it's the tomb of the gods, do you? Or something worse?"
Vastarael paused, his expression becoming unreadable.
"I don't know... but we'll have to find out. Just not now. This island will be the last place we visit. We need to be prepared for whatever we find. Wait a sec. We need to go up."
Vastarael gave a mental command for the manta ray to go even higher. There were no clouds in the expansive blue sky so they would be able to see the entire Erna Isles in aerial view.
As Vastarael's mental command guided the manta ray higher and higher, the world around them seemed to open up. The vast expanse of the Erna Isles stretched out beneath them, the landmass of islands suspended in the middle of an endless ocean. The soft hum of the manta ray's wings faded into a quiet, almost eerie stillness as they soared, higher than they had ever gone before.
There was no mainland. The Erna Isles was in the middle of an endless ocean.
The islands were no longer just scattered pieces of land. From this height, it was as if the entire expanse of the Erna Isles was a gigantic, dormant creature, its form sprawling across the ocean like an ancient leviathan.
The tail, Volxane Island, swayed gently in the distance, while the skull, the Desert Island, loomed ominously at the far end. They could see now that the islands themselves formed the shape of a spine, a colossal serpent, stretched across the ocean, its body coiled and sprawling, as though frozen in time.
The islands were parts of a gigantic, once-living creature. The sheer scale of it was overwhelming. A serpent, gargantuan in size, slumbering beneath the sea, stretching its body across the endless ocean. Each island was a segment of its anatomy, from the vertebrae to the tail, the head, and even the internal organs.
Sirithiele's breath caught in her throat, her wide eyes locked on the twisted vision below. She trembled involuntarily. The sheer horror of the revelation rippled through her and for a brief moment, she thought she might fall from the massive manta ray.
"That's it. That's the truth. The Hidden Truth of the Erna Isles."
The horror of what they were seeing began to sink in.
The islands weren't just positioned around this enormous creature. They were its skeleton, its spinal structure, frozen in the ocean's depths for untold centuries.
Sirithiele's pulse quickened, the shock of the sight freezing her in place as her mind struggled to piece together the significance. Then, a cold shiver crept down her spine as something ancient stirred in her memory.
"I—" She gasped, barely able to speak. "I've heard this before."
Vastarael turned his gaze to her, sensing the change in her demeanor.
"I heard an ancient tale," Sirithiele continued, her voice trembling. "Centuries ago, the Supreme Entities fought against an entity known as Krepsunas. It was an ancient, Phantasm Rank serpent from Dimensium. This creature was so powerful, so immense that even the Supreme Entities could hardly handle it."
Her voice faltered as her eyes scanned the massive expanse below them.
"The Phantasm Rank creatures... they are like the Nexuses, beings of unimaginable power. It's said that even the world itself aided in defeating it."
Her breath caught again as she stared at the islands.
"The creature was said to be slain, but no one knows exactly where it was killed. All that's known is that the Supreme Entities fought it and destroyed it somewhere out of sight, perhaps even beyond this realm, in Dimensium. And now... now its body remains here."
Vastarael, his gaze never leaving the islands, nodded slowly, his mind piecing together the horrific revelation.
"It makes sense now..." he murmured. "The islands, their shape, the strange phenomena..."
Sirithiele's eyes widened, and she turned her head toward him, suddenly grasping the terrifying truth.
"You're saying... this entire island chain is the body of a dead creature? A creature that was once so powerful, it could rival the Supreme Entities?"
Vastarael met her gaze, his golden eyes reflecting the weight of their shared realization.
"Exactly. And the Desert Island must be the head and the Halo Islands must be where the heart was. Those are the most dangerous islands in the Erna Isles."
The horror of the truth began to settle in their bones, but the uncertainty of the future loomed just as large. The islands were the remains of an ancient beast and whatever lay ahead in their exploration would reveal more secrets that could reshape the very understanding of their world.
They were sent to deal with something more than just the Frozen God in the Erna Isles. Something bigger was at play.
"Are are fucked, aren't we?" Phaenora sighed. "I'm a hundred percent sure that the Halo Islands is where the soul of the Phantasm Krepsuna is sealed. And knowing the Epoch Cycle, it's going to make us go through all of them."
"Yeah. Let's just head back to the lake for now. It's already late afternoon and we still haven't planned on what to do next."
As Vastarael have a mental command for the manta ray to descend, he knew that whatever Spheraphase wanted to show him by sending him here, it was not going to be good for him.
'Now I see why Thyrexxa told me that I would suffer.'