She stayed on the roof of the mill for many hours, watching the sea of lights above her head. Eventually, she must have fallen asleep, because when she opened her eyes again, warm sunbeams were tickling her nose. Van’s coat lay spread out over her. She blinked sleepily, then got up and stretched her stiff limbs. As she stood, a gust of fresh wind blew through her hair, swirling it around her head. Smiling, she tamed it with both hands and tied it into a ponytail with the thin leather band she always wore on her wrist for that very purpose. As proper as long hair might be back home, up here in Firmament it would only get in the way. Maybe Salome would cut it off at the next opportunity.

When she descended the mill’s stairs, she found Van curled up and sleeping peacefully in the grass next to the exit. A few of his messy black hairs hung over his mouth, rising and falling with each breath. With a whispered “thank you,” she placed his coat beside him and stepped out through the wide gate into the golden morning light.

She was just taking a sip of water—collected from the dewy blades of grass in her cupped hand—when Van yawned his way out of the old mill. He stretched at length and brushed the hair from his face. “You always get up this early?” he asked sleepily.

“Almost never,” Salome replied.

“I see,” murmured Van. He pulled his coat on and lazily fiddled with the buttons. “By the way, I managed to roughly determine our position last night. No wonder you don’t see any ships around here, as far east as we are.” His gaze grew thoughtful. “This pillar’s got to be quite a distance from the nearest harbor.”

“How do you know that?” Salome asked in surprise.

“The stars told me,” Van replied with a wink. Salome couldn’t tell if he was serious or just teasing her. “And what now?” she asked cautiously. She wasn’t in a hurry, but she knew that sooner or later they would have to eat something. This island was beautiful, but she hadn’t seen a single tree or any other plant that might bear edible fruit. And apart from birds, there didn’t seem to be any animals here that could provide food—not that Salome would ever have any chance of catching a rabbit or something similar. Besides, Van didn’t exactly seem like a skilled hunter either.

“For now, we should explore the rest of the island,” said Van. “We’ll figure out a way to get out of here eventually.” There wasn’t a hint of worry in his voice. Salome gave him a questioning look, but he just gazed at the sea of clouds, enjoying the wind that tousled his hair.

They continued their march from yesterday, always staying close to the edge, with the wind at their backs and the warm sun on their faces. Every now and then, she asked one of the thousand questions buzzing in her mind, and Van did his best to answer them. As they made their way through the tall grass, the wind swept more clouds over the plain, and soon a dome of misty fog spread around them, hiding everything within a mile and softening the light. The cloud fragments formed dense walls, tall towers of air and rain, like fleeting castles carried along by the wind. The longer Salome looked, the more castle-like shapes and details she thought she saw—tall railings emerging from the white, elongated windows and gates opening in the fluffy walls, fluttering pennants crowning wavering battlements, and elegant arches reaching toward the sky for a moment before dissolving in the wind.

Salome blinked. There may be countless forms to see in the clouds – especially with her imagination – but she had just caught a glimpse of something she definitely wasn’t imagining. Something that was really hidden behind the mist. Following a sudden feeling, she veered off the trodden path of grass in front of her.

“Hey, where are you going?” Van called when he noticed her sudden change of direction.

“Did you see that too? Over there behind the clouds…” Salome called, captivated, without looking back.

“What?” said Van, but she paid him no heed. The closer she got to the undulating mass, the more the veils cleared and revealed more of what was hidden inside.

Just as she thought. It wasn’t her imagination.

A ruin emerged from the clouds, unlike the half-collapsed houses that had lined the road until now. The facade of a massive mansion—almost a small palace—rose from the ground in the middle of the empty landscape. A gable roof covered with blue tiles, surprisingly still intact, stretched over the whole thing, while a lacy dome adorned the main building. Moss and climbing plants overgrew the walls, reaching up to an almost completely covering something resembling a coat of arms set just below the highest point. Two slender corner towers soared on either side into the sky, their peaks broke drifting mists. Where elaborate frescoes and ornaments did not decorate the walls, large arched windows opened into the vast ruin. A paved path led to the wide entrance gate. The wooden doors were long rotten—only a skeleton of bent, rust-eaten hinges remained. A heap of rubble blocked the entrance.

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Astonished, Salome approached the gigantic building, tilting her head back to see the dome. The wet outer walls appeared darker than they really were because of the moisture in the air. Somehow, an image of white stone, like marble, formed in her mind.

“Incredible…” murmured Van, who had followed Salome and now stood beside her. “What, by the pillars, is that? Who’d build something so monstrous in the middle of nowhere…?”

He took a few steps toward the entrance. Behind the mounds of debris, parts of a tall corridor could be seen. Salome held him back. “Wait a moment. What are you doing?”

“I want to take a look inside. Something wrong?” Van asked, genuinely surprised.

“No, it’s just… don’t you find it strange? Until now, there were only these small ruins, and then suddenly there’s an entire palace. I mean… isn’t that… eerie?” Salome looked at him intently, but Van just shrugged. “Eerie or not, you don’t see something like this every day! Come on, let’s take a look inside!”

Without another word, he stepped onto the paved path, climbed over the scattered rubble, and soon disappeared behind piles of debris in the shadowy interior of the building.

Salome hesitated. To be honest, she really wanted to explore the ruin, but something held her back. It was as if the gate were just waiting to… devour her. Also, what was up with Van’s enthusiasm? Was he never afraid?

Alone in the cool shade of the ruin, she suddenly became aware of the strange silence that seemed almost tangible in the air. The stone colossus was surrounded by an aura of abandonment and loneliness—it was one of those places where you feel watched, as if hidden pairs of eyes were fixed on you. Even the constant rustling of the wind sounded unreal and distant. She couldn’t help but shudder. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw swirling towers of clouds that mostly hid the sky. The uneasy feeling in her stomach made her shift from one foot to the other. But hanging around here alone wasn’t helping either. So she took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and hurried after Van.

Finding a way past all the rubble was not easy at all. She had to watch out for loose pieces underfoot, as well as small stones that would crumble away beneath her immediately. She was just glad that for her little outing with Van she had chosen her sturdy trousers. The skirt she usually wore would have been extremely impractical here.

She had to climb a pile of debris in front of the gate to reach a gap through which she could squeeze. When she finally, cursing under her breath, entered the interior of the ruin, there was no sign of Van. Cautiously, she took another step when suddenly a block of stone slid away under her weight. With a surprised cry, she fell onto her backside, and as if that weren’t enough, she triggered an avalanche of smaller rubble that carried her down the rest of the heap. She quickly got back on her feet and looked around with burning cheeks, checking if anyone had noticed her little slip. She half expected Van’s mocking chuckle, but it remained silent. Did he go further in already?

The room into which she had slid so elegantly was a hall of impressive size. Two rows of thick columns lined the central aisle from the entrance, rising several stories high and supporting a vaulted ceiling. On either side of Salome, broad staircases led up to a gallery, from which several tall passageways descended deeper into the building. Moss and climbing plants also spread inside the ruin, covering the walls and columns as if they had always been part of the simple, unadorned structure. At the far end of the hall was another gate, opened just a crack, through which bright light streamed. It was made of stone.

She noticed that the tiles in the middle of the hall were arranged into a mosaic forming a kind of symbol. It was a large circle, surrounded on each side by three smaller circles. The circles on one side were made of gray stone, while those on the other were as white as the central circle. Maybe it was some kind of coat of arms?

An almost reverent silence reigned—even though the arched windows held no glass whatsoever. The constant rustling of the wind was completely absent. When Salome took a step, the sound of crunching stones under her boot could be heard throughout the hall. There was no echo.

“Van?” she called softly. Even her voice was not reflected by the high walls. “Van, where are you?” she called again, this time a bit more forcefully, but there was no answer. Where, by the endless pillars, had that chaotic guy gone?

She eyed the large passageways suspiciously. Behind the doorless openings, an eerie, yawning darkness reigned. She could make out occasional rays of sunlight that fell through cracks in the walls, but they were too faint to illuminate the hallways. She called out for Van once more. This time her voice sounded strangely muffled and weak. Had she maybe been intimidated by the ancient grandeur of the ruin? She pulled herself together and continued through the hall. Her steps sounded hollow on the stone floor. And they grew… quieter? Even her clothing did not rustle, she noticed.

Salome stopped. “Van?” she called again—and drew a sharp breath. Her voice sounded as if she were speaking into a pillow.

Something was wrong.

Her heart began to race. She looked around the hall again, feeling watched. Pressing her back against a column, she swallowed hard. And then she felt it. Someone—or something—was here. She knew it, even though she couldn’t see any movement. A presence weighed upon the emptiness of the hall—and upon Salome. She wanted to call out, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. Her voice was gone!

She grabbed her throat and choked, yet no sound reached her ears. She felt dizzy. Panic welled up inside her, and she began to stumble toward the gate on the other side of the hall. Her footsteps made a dull thumping sound that grew quieter with each step. It was as if something was absorbing all the sounds around her, gnawing away at her very heartbeat. As she approached the gate, even her breathing was just a soft whisper.

Suddenly, she heard… singing? The sound was so faint, so unreal, that at first she thought she was imagining it. But in the unnatural silence of the hall, Salome could clearly make out a voice humming a wordless melody. It came from the gate. And that light…

In a panic, she threw herself against the gate. The scratching sound of stone scraping against stone rang out, and she was bathed in golden light.