The ocean had calmed, but the air felt colder, heavier, as if the very sky held its breath. The adventurers' boat sliced through the fog until a silhouette emerged: jagged cliffs rising from dark waters, shrouded in mist.
"Umbra's domain," Aric whispered. "The Faceless One."
As soon as they set foot on the shore, the fog thickened. Shadows flickered unnaturally across the cliffs, moving against the wind. Every sound seemed swallowed, then distorted, as if the island itself were alive.
Kael shivered. "I can't… remember if we stepped this way before. Did we?"
Liora tightened her grip on her sword. "Keep alert. This island isn't like Ignar's. No fire, no heat… just darkness… and traps."
Ahead stood the first puzzle: a stone arch covered in black carvings. Symbols twisted and shifted as they looked at them, impossible to focus on. Etched into the arch was a single riddle:
"I exist in absence, yet can erase all. I follow, I mimic, I take what you call. What am I?"
Aric frowned. "Absence… mimic… erase… shadow?"
A sudden chill swept the air, and shadows detached themselves from the fog. Shadow warriors glided forward, faceless and silent. Whispering spirits circled the adventurers, murmuring forgotten names and lost memories.
Kael staggered. "I… I can't remember my father's face… or how we even came here!"
The Faceless One, Umbra, appeared behind the fog, a tall figure of shifting darkness, his form constantly changing, face nonexistent. "Memory is mine to claim," his voice echoed in every corner of their minds. "Answer my riddle, or lose yourself."
Aric stepped forward, forcing focus. "A shadow," he said firmly, even as whispers clawed at his memory. "It erases, it follows, it mimics. It is a shadow."
The carvings glowed faintly, and the fog recoiled. Shadow warriors froze mid-step, hissing in frustration. Umbra's form flickered, showing the faintest outline of a humanoid body, vulnerable for a brief moment.
"Clever… but clever alone will not save you," Umbra hissed. Shadows surged again, and this time the adventurers had to fight with strategy rather than brute force. Light from ancient torches, carefully placed along the path, weakened the shadow soldiers, while silver-edged weapons cut through the whispering spirits.
Aric noticed a glimmer on the cliffside—a collection of ancient sun-stones, faintly glowing. "The scroll mentioned them! Direct light weakens him!"
Liora and Kael moved quickly, arranging the torches to shine directly onto Umbra's form. The shadows recoiled, and the Faceless One screeched, dissolving into a wisp of darkness that retreated toward the mist.
Breathing heavily, Aric turned to his friends. "Memory is fragile here. We need to stay focused… or Umbra will consume more than just our lives."
The fog slowly thinned. The stone arch now stood inert, the riddle solved, and the island seemed… quieter. But the adventurers knew the shadows would return, and other islands awaited, each darker and deadlier than the last.
The Island of Shadows had been survived, but its lessons were chilling: some battles were not only against demons, but against the mind itself.