The island was not just a piece of land surrounded by water, but a living labyrinth, pulsating with an eerie silence. The trees were tall, with intertwined trunks, almost resembling silent creatures watching from afar. Each step taken felt as if the very ground was watching, as if it knew who they were and why they had come.
The group slowly moved between the trees, observing the strange details of this place — unknown plants, cracked rocks in geometric shapes, and paths that abruptly ended in nothing.
Leon was the first to break the silence, looking around reflectively:
— "The island is wider than it seems... We can't wander around without a plan. It's best to build something for shelter, a place to rest, to store what we find. This will take time, but there's no other option."
Lloyd nodded, observing the rapidly setting sun:
— "You're right. The sun is about to set... and tomorrow we'll continue exploring."
Frank said, in a practical tone:
— "What about the night? We don't know what might emerge when the sun disappears. How about we take turns guarding? Each takes a part of the night. Just a precaution."
Everyone agreed to the idea. Their silence was evidence of their concern.
With simple materials, they began collecting algae, scattered wood, and some thick branches. Kai was skilled at tying them with tree bark fibers, and Zeldris discovered a sticky plant that helped secure the corners. Leon seemed accustomed to organizing and directing. Lloyd remained silent most of the time, doing as asked, but he was watching everyone... his eyes not settling on anything, as if a unspoken question lay within him.
After an hour and a half, a large tent was complete, big enough to hold five people.
They sat around crumbs of food they'd brought from their pockets — dry bread, gum, a single bottle of water. Then they entered the tent, and the night began to swallow the sky.
The first watch fell to Lloyd.
He sat outside the tent, his back resting against the algae wall, his eyes staring into the dark void before him. The air was uncomfortably still, no breeze, no insect, no sound.
An hour passed... then he began to feel something. Numbness in his limbs, a cold shiver on his neck.
Then... he saw it.
A shadow.
Moving among the trees, making no sound, having no features. Not human, nor animal, just a tall black shape, fading and reappearing.
Lloyd stood up abruptly, without screaming. As if his fear was too great to be uttered.
He approached the shadow's location cautiously, as if an invisible force was pulling him against his will.
Then...
A sound.
From behind him.
Quiet, deep, cold as death.
— "Do you love evil... Lloyd?"
His body froze. His eyes widened, his heart nearly stopped.
He turned slowly... and there it was.
The shadow person.
A featureless body, but a black smile appeared in its center, unnaturally split open, as if opening an inch from hell.
— "I repeat my question..."
— "Do you love evil?"
Lloyd said in a trembling voice, barely audible:
— "No... I don't love evil... never."
The black smile widened. Then the being said in a softer voice:
— "I hope you are truthful... in the future."
Then it vanished. As if it had never been there.
Lloyd stood for a minute, unable to move, unable to think.
The air around him grew heavier. The island, which had been silent moments ago, was now whispering in his ear, with sounds he didn't understand.
He returned to the tent with faltering steps.
There, at the entrance, Zeldris was standing, staring at him with narrowed eyes.
— "Where were you?" he asked with clear suspicion.
Lloyd tried to compose himself, and replied nervously:
— "I saw... something like a ghost... and I went after it."
Zeldris stared at him for a moment, then said:
— "Strange. But... I won't argue with you now. My turn has begun."
He walked past him and entered the darkness, while Lloyd stood for a few moments, then returned to the tent.
He lay down silently, but didn't close his eyes.
Something had changed. The island was not ordinary. And the bigger question now was not "where are they?" but...
"Why was he, of all people... the one this being appeared to?" When Lloyd returned to the tent, he lay down silently. His body was still, but his mind was swirling with a storm of thoughts, and the shadow... and the black smile.
He tried to sleep, to escape that face, that cold voice... But the sleep that came to him was not an escape.
Rather, it was a beginning.
At first, Lloyd saw a very wide river, flowing silently, as if it stretched across the horizon endlessly. The water was pure, reflecting the sky like a silent mirror.
He approached with hesitant steps... then he noticed the change.
The water's color slowly began to turn dark red, like ancient blood dissolving in the depths of the current.
Lloyd felt a heaviness in his chest, then he saw the river transform again... This time, into a glowing golden, as if it were liquid metal pulsating with unknown energy.
Before he could comprehend what he was seeing, the impossible happened.
The water rose.
The entire river rose towards the sky, as if gravity had reversed. A massive water tower formed from it, piercing the air with a cold shimmer, twisting and turning until it became a giant sphere, glowing with a power unlike light or fire... but something third, unearthly.
Lloyd looked at the sky — and it had changed. It became entirely red. No sun, no moon, just an intense redness suffocating the horizon.
And there... at the top of the sphere, was the shadow.
Standing, still, smiling.
A small smile, as if it knew him better than he knew himself.
Lloyd couldn't scream. Fear was no longer a natural thing... but had become an entity surrounding him from all sides.
Then...
The sphere exploded.
A silent roar, then a surge of energy threw him high into the sky, as if he had turned into a feather in the middle of a hurricane.
The vision faded, but he didn't wake up.
Instead, the scene changed again.
He landed in a strange place.
The ground beneath his feet was covered in a faint light, as if it were a page from an ancient book. He looked around, and found himself in the middle of an island — or so he thought.
But something about it wasn't logical.
The island had two faces — one side bathed in golden light, built with small, fantastical cities, with winding roads, transparent houses, and whispering trees. The other side, however, was shrouded in a dense shadow, its streets burnt, its buildings collapsed, and its inhabitants... not entirely human.
And in the middle of the island... was the glowing sphere, floating in the air, defying gravity, slowly rotating, sending pulses that Lloyd's heart heard before his ears.
He took two steps forward... then heard a voice behind him.
— "Finally... you've drawn closer."
He turned.
It was him.
The shadow.
But now it had golden eyes, wide, gleaming without reflecting any mercy.
— "Do you see now? You are not a visitor here... you were always a part of this balance."
Lloyd mumbled, anxiety gnawing at his throat:
— "What balance? What is this place? And why... me?"
The shadow smiled as if the answer was not to be told, but discovered.
Then it raised its hand, and pointed to the island:
— "This is your true island, but you haven't seen it yet... And the face you choose will rearrange everything."
Then the place began to collapse.
The earth crumbled, the sky bled, and the sphere glowed brighter, until the light covered everything.
Lloyd woke up panting, drenched in sweat, as if his heart had tried to escape his chest during sleep.
He opened his eyes to find everyone still asleep, and the night in its middle.
But a new feeling had settled within him.
It wasn't just a dream.
What he saw... was a sign. And the sphere... was not from his imagination.
He felt something small in his pocket. He hesitantly reached in..ط. and found a small, round stone, warm like a living heart, and with a faint golden shimmer.