But by then it was too late. The palace began to sink into the yellow sands of the beach, shaking and quivering. The castle walls, the sturdy gates and the ornate balconies disappeared, and even the proud towers were not spared. Within minutes, everything was silent, and only the cries of seagulls echoed along the shore. The palace disappeared, along with the whole city, and in its place the sand dunes stretched out as if they had always been there.
For months, merchants from neighbouring lands continued to arrive by the sea, only to return home in disbelief and with unfinished business. Their countrymen listened to their tales in amazement, hearing that where the once majestic fortress stood, they found nothing but barren sand. The most terrifying part of these stories was the disassembled robot girl who sat at the end of the road, staring accusingly at the superstitious travellers with her eyeless face.