POV Achous Phantomwing:

The world around me flashes past in a blur. My eyes struggle to remain open as I plummet towards the darkness below. Toxic gas fills my lungs, and then, for a mere second, I can breathe again. As soon as it came, my short moment of respite ends. With a last deathly grin, my consciousness fades as I plunge into the endless, unforgiving ocean below.

Only my lonely dreams keep me company in this last, frightful slumber. The cold ocean currents gently rocking me towards my final destination. Maybe, this is how it’s all meant to end. Maybe, this is the plan that fate has in store for me since my birth. Well, I’ll accept my destination, after all the wrong I’ve done, it’s what I deserve…

As my body calms, the coldness gradually fades. With each passing second, the pressure around me becomes less. In my barely conscious state, I’m unable to discern my surroundings. I’m like a statue, completely paralyzed and almost without feeling. I can sense something guiding me towards safety, but that might just be my delusional hopes.

I’m carefully caressed out of my deep slumber, by the sounds of what I can only assume, is wind brushing through tree leaves. With some effort, I barely manage to open my eyes. As I survey my surroundings, the sight shocks me to the core.

I’m lying on a grassy plain, still half paralysed, with the sound of the ocean’s waves serving as background music. All around me, a deep white mist lingers, obstructing my view. I’m only able to see the ocean behind me because it’s within a ten-meter radius of my surroundings. From what I can deduce, there’s only one explanation of where I am… I’m on an island!

Because I’m still half-paralyzed, I’m only able to see my immediate surroundings and I’m still unable to move. Still, this has given me some time to think. The more I look, the stranger this island becomes. From all the islands that my people have visited before, from what I’ve read, they were all either barren, rocky islands or inhospitable deserts unfit for life, but this place is different.

The grass around me reminds me of the public parks back home. The air feels cool and fresh and I can smell fresh foliage all around me. This place isn’t a floating island, but it’s able to sustain live successfully as if it was a floating island. I should feel excited about the discovery of a new island, but I can’t shake my feeling of dread.

This miracle island, according to everything that I was taught in the academy, shouldn’t exist. Yet, it does. The more I think about it, the stranger this all seems. I can only sigh at my strange fortune. I’ve achieved the goal of finding an island, yet my whole team is dead, I have no idea where I am and everything about this island seems contrary to my peoples’ previous knowledge.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Calm down, calm down, just take this one step at a time,” I tell myself. This is currently my only option. I can feel the paralysis slowly wearing off. When I’m able to walk, I’ll try to explore the island, who knows what I’ll find. The sky is dark all around me, so I can assume that it’s still night, when the sun comes up in a couple of hours, then I can finally unlock this island’s mysteries.

After waiting over five hours, the paralysis has finally worn off. The sun, strangely, still hasn’t come up. I’ll ignore it, for now. I’ve waited around too long, and I should try to find some food or something. I’m still too weak to fly, but I can walk. Maybe tomorrow, I’ll be strong enough to fly away from this haunting place.

In one motion, I pick myself up from the ground and I manage to stand up. All around me, I don’t hear the usual sounds chirping of birds or the natural sounds of forest creatures. The only perceivable sound is the eerie, cold winds brushing through the tall forest trees. This place is getting stranger by the minute…

While taking a deep breath to gather my courage, I take my first step towards the unknown. The mist around me keeps visibility to a minimum, but I’m at least barely able to make out the direction that I’m going. The soft blue grass is moist and damp under my service boots and the air smells fresh. If I didn’t know any better, I would assume this is paradise. Away from all the troubles and tribulations that haunts my life.

As I make my way through the mist, I spot my first tree. It’s much larger than I expected, easily reaching over a hundred meters in height. It seems old, very old in fact, but that could just be my misconception, I’m not a tree expert. Apart from the trees and the grass, I haven’t seen any other forms of life, only still ponds and empty forests.

With each step, I travel further into the mist. I don’t know how far I’ve walked, but this island feels unending. Maybe I’m truly alone here? I don’t yet know if that’s a good or bad thing… My only option is to keep forging ahead, still, I can’t rule out any possibilities. This darkness is frustrating, I’ve been walking for hours, but it’s still dark as night.

After, what feels like, days of walking the mist still hasn’t cleared. I’ve found no other forms of life in this damned forest and I’m starting to go a bit crazy. I keep getting this feeling that I’m being followed, but every time I look, there’s nothing there. I must leave this place soon, but I can’t walk away from this place without discovering anything.

The feeling of being followed is growing stronger by the hour, I’m on the brink of abandoning this place. Off in the distance, I hear a stream of water. I’ll go there and rest, maybe the exhaustion and stress are driving me crazy?

As I approach the stream, the mist begins to thin out. As I look off, into the distance, my eyes widen in shock. The treetops around me begin to rustle with activity, but I ignore it. My eyes stay locked, on a strange fortress-like compound, in the distance of this impossible island.