The city was sunken.

Water seeped from every direction, flooding the golden view of the city. Majority of it was flooded yet the tallest buildings stood strong. Gold does not rust or get tarnished so the buildings remain glistening for centuries to be uncovered.

Veritas, awestruck by the destruction of the city from the fairy tale of his childhood, stood still, gazing upon the destroyed city from afar.

Questions lingered in his mind asking about what had happened to this formidable city. What caused this or rather who caused this?

He did not know.

The only thing that he knew was that it was destroyed in the present. It was also flooded, hiding the beauty of gold underwater.

"Fuck."

He knew of the dangers lying beneath the water as he had been told by his Father many times, he said:

"Beware of the Deep"

Such a statement only shook his nerves, what was lying inside the deep and why was his Father so wary of it?

Yet he felt attached to this palace, he felt attracted as if something of his belonged to this place.

"Could it be?"

Could it be that my soul resides here? But how? It doesn't make sense at all as to why my soul would be tethered to a place such as this.

Questions arose within his mind yet he did not have the answers to all of them. So, he decided to head over to the Sunken Golden City, hoping to learn of the truth.

Looking back, Veritas saw the Golden Door standing still above the hill. He had covered a considerable distance for a short amount of time. He was unsure of the dangers that lie within so he kept his guard up.

In the horizon, the Sunken Golden City is getting nearer, yet his surroundings seemed to be getting darker.

Looking up, Veritas saw the Sun slowly turning black as if something was blocking it. It was an eclipse! And if an eclipse were happening then it must mean that time flows in this place!

That was another piece of information that he'd gathered.

"I must move on before total darkness covered this place."

Thus, he rushed towards the Sunken Golden City. Veritas is alarmed by the situation, somehow he felt that he was being hunted or watched. He felt that he had a time limit.

Once the darkness envelops the area, the watcher.. or thing that was watching him would appear! He did not want that. Although he was capable in battle, the disturbing uncertainty of the mysterious watcher appearing dwindled his chance in winning.

In the darkness, the mysterious watcher had the advantage of attacking him at any direction, Veritas would have to focus greatly and rely on his senses.

So, his decision was to seek shelter and fight the mysterious watcher at a single point without risking a surprise attack. The only shelter he could think of is one of the sunken buildings in the Golden City.

"Shit."

The dark was approaching fast and Veritas hastened his pace. He ran, feeling the winds on his body, resonating with its speed to increase his acceleration.

He ran like the wind, dodging every tree that appeared on his path. His legs kicked the ground so fast the it left dust behind, getting closer to the Sunken Golden City.

However, the dark began to cover the landscape, light was beginning to vanish and the winds are turning silent. Veritas still rushed through the environment and aimed to arrive at his destination.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

After pacing for a couple of minutes, he had arrived at one of the sunken houses from the Golden City. The house was only sunken at a knee's level of height, so it was not much trouble.

"I made it."

Veritas panted, catching his breath, yet still kept his guard up while waiting for the unknown watcher to attack.

While resting, he scanned the surroundings, seeing that the house had 4 windows and a singular door eased him. The windows were already golden thus it was hard to break, the door was slightly opened because he had just entered so there was only one angle where the mysterious attacker could arrive.

It was pitch black yet his eyes were already adjusting to the darkness, preparing his knife on one hand and steadying his body gave him comfort and confidence.

His knee was submerged in the water, so he had to be weary of that too. Whatever lurks in the water had to be dangerous, especially in this Golden City or... it could just be harmless fish.

Nevertheless, he had to be weary.

The absence of light made Veritas remember the dream that he had before he arrived to Elrod. His Kingdom, devastated and gone, while he laid on the floor, bloodied and half-dead.

He had not consulted with his Father yet about that matter. So once he had gotten out, he needed to ask for guidance.

The darkness lingered, yet the mysterious watcher never came.

Soon, the light emerged.

Finally freed from the darkness, Veritas exited the sunken house and looked at the scenery. Golden houses were in ruin, destroyed by something large. It looked like there was an explosion, or a calamity that came. But what calamity would destroy a city of gold?

The lingering feeling of being watched never left his senses. But Veritas still had to move on and uncover the mysteries of the Golden City.

The house that he had resided in was in a higher altitude than the city, it was a lone hut atop a hill, thus it was only semi-flooded.

Veritas looked around and saw the deeper parts of the city. It was completely submerged underwater. It was as deep as the seas, scaling below 500ft or more!

Veritas could not swim that deep, as the pressure would kill him and he would run out of breath! Thus he decided to traverse to the buildings closer to him.

One such building that caught his eyes was a tower. He did not know how high the tower was but it was high enough to peek through the deep water.

For starters, he had to make a boat but with everything around him turned into gold, that was near impossible to do.

"Hmm. What to do I do?

Now that he was in the Golden City, Veritas decided to check soul once more. He made his way inside the golden house and meditated, gazing upon his soul.

"Ah!"

To his surprise he could now see his soul! Although it was faint and small, it meant that he could finally use his Attunement.

Veritas opened his runes and read his skill:

[Skill:

Windsong

- Shape the winds with your voice.

Will of the Winds

- Shape the winds with your will.

Galebreathe

- Your lungs are always filled with the winds, you never run out of breath and you never feel winded. Your energy is boosted and your blood circulates well. ]

"Galebreathe! This is essential, I could breathe underwater. I have to test this."

Although Veritas could now see and feel his soul, it was still faint. With that, he tapped within his soul and resonated with it. He could now feel the winds traversing with his body. He could feel a faint breeze touching his skin.

"Now. I have to try and submerge my head first."

With those words, Veritas laid down the water and went under. He waited for seconds, then minutes, and finally raised his head back again.

"I didn't need to breathe! This could actually work haha!"

A success! Galebreathe allowed him to stay underwater without breathing for long periods of time! This solved one of the problems that he faced.

However, it did not solve the issue of being attacked while being underwater. While he is still unsure if there are creatures beneath, his Father's warning about the depths echoed in his mind.

"Shall I try Windsong?"

Veritas resonated with his Soul and activated Windsong. He held his hand out, hoping to catch something and then opened his mouth, feeling like it was full of air.

"Rock."

Suddenly, a piece of translucent rock appeared on his hand.

"Yes!"

Veritas gripped the rock, pulled his arms back and tried to throw it away at the golden wall.

*PANG!*

The walls vibrated, the rock was more durable than he had thought it out to be. It was made of winds yet it was as durable as a real rock. Visualizing was really a crucial step when becoming a Whisperer.

Veritas then breathed out and deactivated Windsong.

"Next is the Will of the Winds"

He resonated with his soul and activated Will of the Winds. Suddenly his mind was filled with air, making Veritas feel dizzy and winded. His vision became blurrier and his actions were becoming slower.

But, he focused his mind and calmed down. He the aimed to form a rock like before but now it was with his mind.

He focused and determined to form one, his head was starting to hurt and he was getting even more dizzy. Until finally, his nose started to bleed. Thus, he had to stop the skill.

"Not yet I guess."

Maybe once his soul has fully returned will he finally be able to use Will of the Winds. But now is not the time.

With the newfound abilities that he learned, he formed a plan to traverse the depths and reach the golden tower. He felt that as he got closer to the heart of the city, the more that he would regain his soul and perhaps escape this place.

"For now! I have to make a blade."