Morning came, but no sun rose in the Depths. All Nakate could hear was the occasional sound of a bell being rung, always followed by a scream of pain that echoed endlessly through the dark waters. Two days had now passed.
Nakate gripped his now trusted rapier in his right hand and secured his Storm Dagger at his back with a belt. He was ready to escape this hell. Cole and Lix remained silent, packing the last of their supplies before descending the ladder.
Gamma walked up to Nakate and asked, "So, what is it you have in Lumen that you're so desperate to return to?"
"I guess… nothing yet," Nakate replied. "But maybe a future on Owlisland."
"The Owlisland? Never heard of it. Is it some smaller island ruled by the Authority?"
"Well, no I don't think so. At least, Cole and Lix talked about it like it was some pretty big and well-known place."
"I don't know… those two give me weird vibes anyway. I get you're forced to stick with them for now, but I wouldn't trust them too much. Who knows, maybe it's just the Depths chewing on my sanity—but Lix and Cole feel… the same. Like one soul, one thought, one mission. Creepy, right? Eh, don't get me wrong—you can take it as just a half-mad warning not to trust everyone you meet. Hah."
"Right, but I guess we'll meet again," Nakate said as he gripped the cold ladder and started to descend.
Gamma's voice came after him, low and serious. "To be honest, I hope we don't—but that's just for your safety."
Nakate looked back, but Gamma just stared for a moment before turning and walking away. The sound of his footsteps faded, leaving Nakate alone.
He continued down the ladder, the space between him and his party feeling heavier than just distance. Even here, in the quiet of the Spire, the Depths seemed to remind him that trust was fragile.
***
After finally descending the ladder, Nakate, Cole, and Lix began carefully picking their way down the narrow cliff. The air around them was thick and still, heavy with the muted hum of the Depths. A deep, endless blue stretched in every direction, like walking through water without ever getting wet, and the faint fog clung to their skin and clothes.
Far ahead, a city rose from the gloom. Its edges were shadowed, sharp angles cutting into the endless blue like shards of glass. There were no lights, no smoke, no signs of life—just dark shapes that seemed to drift in the haze. The city felt impossibly still, like it had been frozen in time, and the deeper the trio stared, the more it seemed to pulse with quiet anticipation.
Nakate's grip tightened on his rapier. "So… is that it?" he asked, his voice almost swallowed by the thick, blue haze of the Depths.
Lix and Cole both nodded, their expressions calm despite the eerie surroundings. Cole broke the silence, his voice low. "I guess we got lucky. The city doesn't show up in the same spot every time—it's like the first layer is always shifting."
A white monster, resembling a shark with a coral-studded back, feasted on the corpse of a massive jellyfish. 'No doubt—that's a Sharko,' Nakate thought. 'It's not blue like the one we fought. Could it be… just a regular one? I hope so. That might mean we can beat it.'
In an instant, the Sharko snapped its head straight at Nakate, ignoring Cole and Lix as if they weren't even there.
'Sharko… that's what people at the Spire called Megalodaunts. I guess it's because they look like sharks,' Nakate thought, holding perfectly still as the creature's gaze pinned him.
The monster slowly turned its head back to the jellyfish, continuing to feast. 'Ah… I guess it just wants to eat. I do want to try out my new skills, but attacking it right now is probably a terrible idea.'
The group continued walking in silence, watching monsters fight and devour one another. Oddly, each creature seemed to lock eyes on Nakate for a fleeting moment, as if Lix and Cole didn't exist. Then, just as quickly, they returned to their previous actions, leaving Nakate uneasy and tense.
***
Pitch-black feathers began drifting down around the group as they traced the massive wall encircling the city. They were searching for a gate to enter, but the falling feathers made Nakate even more uneasy than he already felt. What unsettled him further was the complete absence of monsters, almost as if they instinctively avoided this particular stretch of the wall.
The feathers swirled around the group, dancing through the blue haze of the Depths before converging into a single point. From that point, the creature appeared an unnatural, twisted version of an owl.
Its head was distinctly owl-like, pale and rounded, with large, dark, hollow eyes that gave it the look of a bone-white mask. In contrast, its body was broad and hulking, covered in jet-black feathers that draped over its muscular frame. Long, thick arms hung low, ending in hands that resembled oversized talons, each finger tipped with sharp, curved claws. Its legs were short and birdlike, ending in clawed feet sharp enough to pierce any of them with a single strike.
Nakate froze as a creaking yet strangely motherly voice echoed in his head."A little mouse squeaks its way into my nest. What possesses it to do so? Please, sate my curiosity."
"O-oh… W-we're just passing through," Nakate stammered, his voice trembling.
"Ah. Carry on then, little mouse. I'm sure you have places to be. But tell me—who is this we you speak of?"
Its head slowly rotated until it was fully upside down. Nakate's throat tightened, unable to find the words.
"U-um, can't you see my group?" he said, glancing desperately toward Lix and Cole. They stood still, eyes locked on the owl without moving a muscle. "A-also, not to be rude, but why can you talk? I thought mon—"
"My, my… such impertinent squeaking. The mice of this land never fail to amuse me." The owl cut him off, twisting its head back to normal. For an instant—though its expression was impossible to read—Nakate felt it: the creature was afraid.
"Fine. Your group may carry on."
The owl vanished into thin air, leaving behind only the faint flutter of feathers.
Cole exhaled as if nothing had happened. "Well… I guess we got lucky. That's nice."
"Yeah, I just don't understand how it spoke," Nakate said, a confused look on his face.
"Is your sanity crumbling? It didn't say a word," Lix replied, chuckling softly.
Ahead, they came upon a vast gap of void, forcing them to cling to the side of the great wall to cross to the other side. The surface was unnaturally cold—so cold that it seemed to bite into Nakate's fingers, numbing them and slowing the blood in his veins. From within the wall itself came faint, muffled sounds—screams, some bestial, others unmistakably human—echoing as if trapped inside the stone.
'It kind of hurts to touch… but at least it's better than falling down there,' Nakate thought, glancing into the endless darkness below.