When I think back on it, it's strange I only needed a deep breath to step through the entrance to the mines. It even dawned on me once more before I did so: if Sebastian didn't just so happen to be there that night, I probably would have died. Died a death. Committed the not-living.
A little part of me thought that maybe, that was fate's way of telling me to live the rest of my life without ever trying to come in here again.
But the rest of me refused to live in fear.
I wondered if I'd get back to the floor the incident had taken place on. One of two things had to be true; these caves had someone maintaining and cleaning them... or my blood had dried on the rocks, painting a natural picture of the time I'd almost died.
But if someone saw that someone had lost THAT much blood, the mines would have been closed for sure. That had to mean...
I shuddered, before realizing that maybe, the rocks would be so dark that my blood may not even have been visible unless you purposely bent down to look at it.
This train of thought was getting me nowhere. I had a vision to create, and for that, I needed to press onward and find some quartz.
With each level that I escaped from with not so much as a scratch, my guard lowered, and I was starting to feel as if maybe, nothing had even happened. I was just down in the mines, poking things with my sword and picking up rocks. What do you mean "I almost died"? Nonsense.
At one point, I was floored when I uncovered the next ladder and looked down at the next floor.
The first thing I'd noticed when the rock covering the hole had shattered was that there was a freezing draft.
I then looked down to find that the whole cave was completely frozen over. Even the ground was a solid sheet of ice.
There was no way I'd be on my feet for more than a few seconds at a time. And when I wasn't on my feet, I was on the ground. And when I was on the ground, my range of movement was limited, and when my range of movement was limited, I couldn't fight as well... and if I couldn't fight as well, the chances were heightened that I'd be handing my life away like a birthday present.
Maybe someday, I decided, when I had some better ice-navigating shoes. So I turned away from the hole.
A piece of quartz then fell from my bag. It was time for me to head back to the surface.