Chapter 63: Floating Island
Soon, the small party pressed eastward. They seldom encountered mutated creatures, for most had already veered towards other directions to form new paths, scattering as they went.
Yet the island felt curiously hollow. Routes seemed to lead endlessly into others, linking different directions, but never back to the same point unless one marked the trail with care.
It was as though the land itself shifted. For instance, if a beast travelled west to south and a man set out south to west along the same line, they would never meet. The island bent their paths apart, as if it refused to let them cross.
Because of this, they slowed their pace to avoid stumbling into anything they wished to steer clear of. After roughly half an hour, they had advanced only a few metres from their original position.
Na-Ri took the lead, searching ahead for any sign of the light she had seen. She also employed her floating orb to steer them away from danger and to guide them along clear paths. Adela followed next, treading softly behind her. From time to time she lifted her gaze to the empty, bright sky, narrowing her eyes as if she hoped a miracle might descend.
Kyle and Orion walked side by side at the rear. Neither had spoken a word since leaving the central ground.
Eventually, frustration compelled the handsome youth to sweep his blond hair back from his eyes. He cast Kyle a dazzling smile, his white teeth gleaming as though he were advertising some natural product.
’Nice teeth.’
Truth be told, he might have been a born model, had the world still cared for such things.
As they followed the path the floating orb revealed, Kyle began to notice a subtle incline beneath his feet. The trees grew taller the further they went, while weeds and wildflowers sprouted more densely until they reached past their legs.
Before long, they found themselves forcing a way through thick blooms and steering aside from trees that clumped together in clusters.
A scowl darkened Kyle’s face once he realised they could no longer see what lay ahead. They now relied entirely on the orb to guide them, moving like a band of blind wanderers.
’Well, that feels oddly reassuring,’ Kyle thought with a dose of sarcasm at their dilemma.
"Heh. We are really following that orb, and it looks like death’s own servant. Amusing," Orion said with a chuckle, staring at the floating light.
He clearly shared the same thought as Kyle.
Na-Ri, however, ignored his remark. Adela offered little more than a roll of her eyes and a dismissive scoff.
Her trust in Na-Ri was firm enough to silence doubt, though even trust had its limits, regardless of who inspired it.
Finally, they pushed through the last tangle of brush and emerged onto a raw ledge that dropped straight into the sea.
Kyle nearly took a step forward, but Orion flung out a hand in front of him, halting him on the spot. The four of them narrowed their eyes, staring wide at the sight before them.
"What in hell is this...?" Kyle muttered hoarsely.
From here the island looked cloven in two. The lower slopes sprawled beneath their feet while above loomed another half, hanging like a world apart. The hills rose sheer and immense, their crowns swallowed in pale, unbroken cloud so that the high ground seemed detached, a floating mass suspended over the ocean.
Adela’s eyes tightened as she followed the broken ridge into the haze.
"...So that is why we never found our way back to the shore. We were already on the far side beneath that cursed mass, and every climb only brought us closer to its summit."
Orion gestured towards the phantom heights.
"If you don’t know which half of the island you’re standing on, you’ll never find the shore again."
The beautiful stranger dismissed her floating orb and studied the scene with calm detachment, offering no reply.
"Perhaps this is the reason the zealots could never escape, since the island itself is a sprawling madness," Kyle reflected quietly, casting a raised glance at Na-Ri.
Orion rested his hand on his chin and observed the view at length, a probing look in his eyes as a half-smile crept across his lips.
"Strange. It reminds me of Delos, the island that wandered the seas until Zeus anchored it for the birth of Apollo and Artemis. A drifting refuge, forever out of reach until the gods willed otherwise. Not that I’m saying the myths are real gods."
Kyle turned his head sharply with a questioning expression.
"Delos?"
Adela’s tone softened as she giggled lightly again and responded:
"It seems you really know nothing of mythology, arts, or... definitely not going to mention the last one. Anyways, the story goes like this: Leto was forbidden from giving birth anywhere the sun touched, thus found no place to rest until Delos appeared, an island that floated and was untethered. Only then could she bring Apollo and Artemis into the world."
She glanced sidelong at Orion.
"Of course, this just seems similar to the mythology and doesn’t really claim it’s something that actually happened, just like Mr Blonde here mentioned."
Na-Ri’s gaze stayed on the cloud-choked ridges. Ultimately, she spoke:
"An island that hides its own shape... fitting. The zealots might believe the gods bound them here, when all that holds them is a trick of stone and cloud."
Kyle nodded, looking away to the clouds. The beautiful stranger had the best theory about what was going on in the zealots’ minds. Besides, that was exactly what the leaders would have told them.
Realising this, Na-Ri looked at the others, pointing at the first narrow stone that rose above the clouds, then she said to Adela:
"Ad, can your element diffuse if there’s an illusion or path along the way?"
Kyle shot a glance at Adela as she nodded and closed her eyes.
A brilliant dark-and-white light enveloped her in an instant, her hair lifting with the wave of energy as her eyes fluttered open in a sharp white radiance.
’...Is that her Element’s aspect?’