Alex had begun to expand into the mines, going deeper than ever before. As she traversed the terrain though she found new challenges. She would often find the mines would open up and leave massive spacing where monsters would appear. She could always tell how close the monster was by how close the sounds were, and how close the skeletons could shoot their arrows at her.

  More dangerous than the monsters however were the sudden shifts in terrain. More than once Alex opened up a section only to find herself on the edge of a cliff. She had no idea how far down the chasms went but she had no intentions of finding out.

  So she stayed clear of them and tried her best to work her way down slowly. After a few days though the trips were taking too long and so she spent the next several days creating a minecart system to get her all around the discovered areas. Overtime she found herself skipping past the more abundant minerals such as coal, iron, and even copper. She made note of where the gold and Lapis Lazuli ore were located but she had no real need for either of them.

  No, her focus remained on the emerald ores. Although after some time she accidently stumbled onto a single diamond ore and three Redstone ores. She had never encountered these before, but they seemed rare from what she could tell so she dug them up and added them to the list of ores to keep an eye out for.

  Searching for more of the new materials Alex began to dig further in the direction she had found them in. She broke through a yer of wall and stopped, pcing a torch on the ground. She realized she was once again on the edge of the chasm. Shaking her head she turned around to head back to the minecart and leave when she felt an arrow bite into her armor.

  Alex was forced back by the blow, her feet at the very brim of the cliff as she looked over to spot a Skeleton aiming at her. She moved forward, but every two steps forward meant one step back as the Skeleton kept on firing.

  Alex was making progress however slowly, until another monster came forward. This one was a rge Slime that blocked Alex's path back and kept her on the ledge. She wouldn't go down easy though and drew her sword to fight the monster. It wasn't a hard fight and soon enough it was sin.

  However Alex did not realize the Slime would produce more, smaller versions of itself upon death. Suddenly Alex got tackled by four Slimes at once. Alex felt herself lose her footing, and another arrow to her chest pushed her past the edge.

  Alex felt her eyes grow wide as she began to plumet. The cave getting dark and cold, the sounds of monsters bustling about surrounding her. She could hear arrows flying all around as unseen foes tried to kill her even as she fell to her doom. The light of her torch disappearing behind the darkness.

  She felt the moment of impact when she hit the ground, she felt how her body shattered and scattered. A rush of pain and then nothing...

  She could just faintly make out movements in the darkness as death told hold of her. As her life slipped away and she lost consciousness. Why did this all feel familiar? Why did this feel... almost normal?

  Suddenly Alex awoke with a jump in her home. She looked all around in shock and confusion. She was alive? But how? Alex checked and it seemed she had lost all the items she had been carrying. But how? How was any of this possible?

  Alex took a breath to steady herself and gathered up some items. This time, she had a pn. She once again went into the mines, taking the minecart to where she had found the diamond. She walked to the edge of the chasm and put down a bucket of water.

  As predicted the water began to rush down towards the bottom of the chasm, down to where she had died. She jumped in and rode the water all the way to the bottom, pcing torches all around to help her see.

  She could see where all of her items were, but there was no body. Her body, which had been mangled and destroyed was all gone. Alex could feel her heart racing, her body getting tense. She took a deep breath to steady herself and recovered her items.

  Death, why did it feel so familiar? Why did Alex have this sensation that she had been here before? That she had been through worse? Alex recovered her items and began her slow but steady climb back up. Creating a makeshift staircase to her minecart.

  Alex could only guess how long it took, perhaps a week, perhaps several. Luckily she managed to get back up just as her food was running out. She rode the cart back to the entrance and walked home.

  Once inside she crashed onto the bed and simply stared up into the ceiling. In her mind though she continued to look up at the cave as she descended. The endless void of darkness that had consumed her. She closed her and she heard a roar of power.

  Somehow Alex knew it wasn't a dream. A memory perhaps? A roar through the darkness, carried on bck wings. Alex closed her eyes and through the darkness she saw two rge purple eyes gring down at her, they seemed vengeful and angry.